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IRA WARREN, A.M., M.D 







THE 


Household Physician 


A TWENTIETH CENTURY MEDICA 


A PRACTICAL DESCRIPTION IN PLAIN LANGUAGE OF ALL 
THE DISEASES OF MEN. WOMEN AND CHILDREN 

WITH THE 

LATEST DISCOVERIES IN MEDICINE AND MOST APPROVED METHODS OF 
TREATMENT. BY A CORPS OF EMINENT SPECIALISTS, 
PFIACTISING PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS 


HERBERT E. BUFFUM, M.D. 

Fellow of the Massachusetts Medical 
Society. 

IRA WARREN, A.M., M.D. 

Fellow of the Massachusetts Medical 
Society, etc. 

WILLIAM THORNDIKE, M.D. 

Fellow of the Massachusetts Medical 
Society, and Member of Boston 
Society for the Improvement 
of Medicine, «tc., and others. 


A. T. pVERING, M.D. 

Member of the Faculty of Boston Uni¬ 
versity School of Medicine. 
Member Boston Homoeopathic Medical 
Society. 

A. E. SMALL, A.M.,M.D. 

Ex-President of the Hahnemann Medi¬ 
cal College, Chicago, Ill. 

J. HEBER SMITH, M.D. 

Professor of Materia Medica, Boston 
University School of Medicine, and 
late President of Massachusetts 
Homoeopathic Society. 


Veterinary, CHARLES P. LYMAN, F.R.C.V.S. 

President United States Veterinary Medical Association 
Veterinarian-in-Chief to the Agricultural Department at Washington, D. C. 
Member Massachusetts Veterinary Society, 

Fellow of Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, England, 

Professor of Theory and Practice, and Dean of the School of Veterinary Medicine 

in Harvard University. 

Secretary of the Board of Cattle Commissioners of the Commonwealth of 

Massachusetts. 


FULLY ILLUSTRATED WITH MANIKINS, COLORED AND HALF-TONE PLATES 


THIS BOOK IS PUBUSHED STRICTLY AS A SUBSCRIPTION BOOK 
AND TO BE SOLD ONLY AS SUCH J ,, 

i * ’ 


BOSTON 

PHYSICIANS’ PUBLISHING COMPANY 

James T. Wetherald, Pres. Fred’k O. Woodruff, Treas. 

1905 








LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two Copies Received 


NOV 27 1905 


. Copyrifht Entry ^ 
CLASS A XXc, No. 

fZfSlOi 

COPY B. 


Copyright, 1905 

PHYSICIANS’ PUBLISHING CO. (INC.) 

THE HOUSEHOLD PHYSICIAN 
Is registered as a Trade Mark, 

Entered in Stationers’ Hall, 
London, England. 


Right' of Translation is Reserved. 








EMINENT AUTHORITIES CONSULTED 

WHOSE WORKS ARE WELL KNOWN 


ALLOPATHIC TREATMENT 


MEDICINE. 

Reginald Fitz, A.M., M.D. 

H. C. Wood, A.M., M.D. 

Herbert A. Hare, M.D., B.S.C. 

VENEREAL DISEASES. 

Robert W. Taylor, M.D. 

Prof. Isodore Newman of Vienna. 

DISEASES OF THE SKIN. 

L N. Hyde, A.M., M.D. 

Prof. Moriz Kaposi of Vienna. 

DISEASES OF THE EAR. 

Dr. Adam Politzer. 


SURGERY. 

Dr. Roswell Park, 

F. S. Dennis, A.M., M.D. 

J. A. W. White, M.D., Ph.D. 

W. W. Keane, M.D. 

CHILDREN’S DISEASES. 

Thomas Rotch, A.M., M.D. 

DISEASES OF THE EYE. 

G. E. deSchweinitz, A.M., M.D. 

DISEASES OF WOMEN. 

H. J. Garrigues, A.M., M.D. 

H. A. Kelly, A.M., M.D. 

E. P.. Davis, A.M., M.D. 
Richard Norris, A.M., M.D. 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT 


MEDICINE. 

William Osler, M.D., F.T.S., F.R.C.P., 
Baltimore, Md. 

James M. Anders, M.D., Ph.D., 
LL.D., Philadelphia, Pa. 

H. R. Arndt, M.D., 

Grand Rapids, Michigan. 
William Borrtcke, M.D., 

San Francisco, Cal. 

J. M. Dacosta, MtD., LL.D., 
Philadelphia, Pa. 

Dr. Wilhelm v. Leube, 

Wurzburg, Germany. 

A. C. Cowperthwaite, M.D., Ph.D., 
LL.D., Chicago, Ill, 

Timothy F. Allen, A.M., M.D., 

New York. 

DISEASES OF THE EAR, NOSE AND 
THROAT. 

Seth Scott Bishop, M.D., 

Chicago, Ill. 

Horace F. Ivins, M.D., 

Philadelphia, Pa- 

D. Braden Kyle, M.D., 

Philadelphia, Pa. 

E. B. Dench, Ph.B., M.D,, 

New York. 


DISEASES OF THE SKIN. 

W. Allan Jamieson, M.D., F.R.C.P., 
Edinburgh, Scotland. 


SURGERY. 

William W. Keen, M.D., LL.D. 

Philadelphia, Pa. 

Prof. E. con BerGmann, 

Berlin, Germany. 

C. E. Fisher, 

Chicago, Ill. 

T. L. Macdonald, 

Washington. 

H. R. Wharton, M.D., 
Philadelphia, Pa. 

DISEASES OF THE STOMACH. 

Prof. C. A. Ewald, 

Berlin, Germany. 

DISEASES OF THE HEART. 

Robert H. Babcock, A.M., M.D., 
Chicago, Ill. 

VENEREAL DISEASES. 

Prince A. Norrow, A.M., M.D,, 

* New York. 

URINARY ORGANS. 

Clifford Mitchell, A.B., M.D.. 
Chicago, Ill. 

DISEASES OF CHILDREN. 

C. Sigmund und Raue, M.D., 
Philadelphia, Pa. 

L. Emmett Holt, M.D., LL.D., 
New York. 

Charles E. Fisher, M.D., 

Chicago, Ill 


y 






PHARMACODYNAMICS. 

Richard Hughes, M.D., F.R.C.P., 
London. Eng. 

GYNECOLOGY. 

G. R. SouTHWiCK, M.D., Boston. 

J. C. Wood, A.M., M.D., Cleveland, O. 

C. N. A. L. Reed, A.M., M.D., 
Cincinnati, O. 

HYGIENE. 

Charles Harrington, M.D., Boston. 

FEVERS. 

H. C. Allen, M.D., Chicago, Ill. 

OTOLOGY. 

Gorham Bacon, A.B., M.D., 

New York. 

NERVOUS DISEASES. 

Francis X. Dercum, A.M., M.D., 
Ph.D., Philadelphia, Pa. 

W. R. Gowers, M.D., F.R.C.P., 

F.R.S., London, England. 

Dr. Ludwig Hirt, 

Breslau. 

Charles M. Dana, A.M., M.D., 

New York. 

F. Savary Pearce, M.D., 
Philadelphia. 


DISEASES OF THE EYE. 

L. Webster Fox, A.M., M.D., 
Philadelphia, Pa. 

Charles H. May, M.D., 

New York, 


PATHOLOGY. 

Alfred Stengel, M.D., 
Philadelphia. 


RONTGEN RAY. 

Carl Beck, M.D., New York. 


MENTAL DISEASES. 

Henry D. Berkley, M D., 
Baltimore. 

S. H. Talcott, A.M., M.D., Ph.D. 
Middletown, N. Y. 


OBSTETRICS. 

J. Clifton Edgar, M.D., 
New York. 

B. C. Hirst, M.D., 

Philadelphia, Pa. 

G, W. Varman, M.D., 
New York. 


PREFACE 

TO THE 

Household Physician. 


This book is written for the people. It is based on the assumption 
that every man—the mechanic, the farmer, and the day laborer, as 
well as the professional and business man—has a right to all the 
knowledge he is capable of acquiring, on all subjects, medicine not 
excepted. The book aims, therefore, to popularize and adapt to the 
many what has been claimed as belonging only to the few. 

We do not hesitate to avow that our sympathies are with the great 
masses, who may be called the bone and muscle of the race. They are, 
in the main, more shrewd, more endowed with common sense, more 
simple and true in their natural instincts, and consequently less per¬ 
verted, than many of those who claim more refinement and a higher 
place in the social scale. 

^^All men,” says Hippocrates, one of the great fathers of medi¬ 
cine, “ought to be acquainted with the medical art. We believe 
that knowledge of medicine is the sister and companion of wisdom.” 
Such knowledge would shield the many from the impositions of quack¬ 
ery. No one who reads this book thoroughly will be often imposed 
upon thereafter by quack nostrums, or quack doctors. Every man’s 
physical organization is his own; and he is charged with the responsi¬ 
bility of taking care of it. To do this properly, he needs knowledge 
of it, and to withhold this from him is another form of the old oppres¬ 
sion, which decreed knowledge and power to the few, and ignorance 
and obedience to the many. 

In accordance with the design of the work, it has been written in 
plain, simple English, and brought within the comprehension of all 
who have medium powers of mind. 




PREFACE. 


This book was prepared by a number of Medical Experts on differ¬ 
ent diseases, the work is not a compilation, but based on large prac¬ 
tice and wide experience. In dealing with each disease we have 
aimed to sketch a brief pen-and-ink portrait, so like it that every 
reader shall know the original whenever he sees it; we then give, in 
the fewest words, the best treatment. 

No work of the sort has ever explained the reasons or given the 
whys and wherefores of medicine anything like the extent of this 
book, thousands of which are on their mission of instruction, and 
carrying comfort and relief to as many homes throughout the land. 

No pecuniary effort has been spared to include every known dis¬ 
covery of medicine and nursing to make this book absolute perfec¬ 
tion, and to those who make of it a careful and intelligent study, 
it will prove to them in value “ its weight in gold.” 

The book is extravagantly illustrated with engravings done ex¬ 
pressly for this work, the colored lithographs and manikins were 
drawn under the supervision of expert surgeons, and add much to 
its value. 


PHYSICIANS^ PUBLISHING COMPANY. 



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CONTENTS 


, PAGE 

Preface ........... 'r 1 

General Introductory Remarks . . . . 6-14 

Anatomy —Structure of the body—Chemical Properties of the Body—Physi¬ 
cal Properties of the Body—Vital Properties of the Body—Anatomy of 
the Bones—Bones of the Head—Bones of the Trunk—Bones of the 
Upper Extremities—Bones of the Lower Extremities—The Joints—Uses 
of the Bones—The Muscles—The Teeth—Uses of the Teeth—Digestive 
Organs—Urinary System—Respiratory Organs—Organs of Circulation— 
Absorbent Vessels—Organs of Secretion—Vocal Organs—Skin—Nervous 
System—Organs of Sight—Organs of Hearing .... 16-57 

Hygiene—Life, the Infancy of Being—Nervous System—Sensations—Sym¬ 
pathetic Nervous System—Food and Digestion—Nature and Destination 
of Food—Cost of Food—Amount of Food Taken—Animal and Vegetable 
Food—Proportions of Animal and Vegetable Food—Tea and Coffee 
—Water — Exercise—Passive Exercise — Rest and Sleep — Objects of 
Clothing— Bathing and Cleanliness—Air and Ventilation—Travelling— 
Amusements .......... 59-127 

Temperaments and Constitution of the Body and Symptoms of Diseases— 
Medication and Temperaments—The Constitution—How to Examine a 
Patient—Explanatory Table of Symptoms—Temperature of the Body 
—Strength and Warmth from Food and Drink—Sickness During Life— 
Human Longevity—Weight of the Human Body—Symptoms of Differ¬ 
ent Diseases .......... 12S-123 

Skin Diseases—Congestive Inflammation of the Skin—Measles—Scarlet 
Fever—Smallpox—Varioloid—Chicken Pox—Cow Pox—Erysipelas— 
Nettle Rash—Rose Rash—Inflammatory Blush—Watery Pimples— 
Eczema and Salt Rheum—Shingles—Itch—Rupia—Pemphigus—Mattery 
Pknples—Crusted Tetter—Papulous Scall—Scaly Eruptions—Leprosy 
— Psoriasis — Pityriasis—Dry Pimples—Lupus—Warts and Corns— 
Mother’s Marks—Nerves of the Skin—Color of the Skin—Disorders of 
the Sweat Glands, Oil Glands and Tubes—Barber’s Itch—Disorders of 
the Hair and Tubes—Lice—Bed-Bugs—Freckles—Corns—Bunions— 
Dandruff—Baldness ......... 155-185 

Diseases of Brain and Nerves—Brain Fever—Softening of the Brain—Ab¬ 
scess of the Brain—Tumors of the Brain—Delirium Tremens—Ine¬ 
briety—Enlargement and Shrinking of the Brain—Water in the Head— 
Dropsy of the Brain—Cerebro-Spinal Fever—Diseases of the Spinal Cord 
—Apoplexy—Sunstroke—Paralysis—Hydrophobia—Locked Jaw—Epi¬ 
lepsy—Catalepsy—St. Vitus’ Dance—Cramps—Pains of Nerves—Tic 
Douloureux—Sciatica—Insanity—Melancholy—Mania—Dimentia—I d i- 
ocy—Hypochondria—Hiccough—Fainting—Dizziness of the Head— 
Nightmare—Headaches ...... .1 . 188-234 

Diseases of the Throat—Nasal Catarrh—Sore Throat—Inflammation of the 
Mucous Membrane—Inflammation of the Windpipe—Elongation of 
the Uvula—Tonsilitis—Influenza—La Grippe—Inflammation of the 
Epiglottis—Mumps ......... 236-257 

Diseases of the Chest—Consumption—Causes of and Cure for—Diet in Con¬ 
sumption—Bronchitis—Swelling of Lungs—Enlargement of Air Cells— 
Pulmonary Apoplexy—Air and Water in the Chest—Pleurisy—Lung 
Fever—Pneumonia—Typhoid Pneumonia etc.—Asthma—Hay Fever 

236-304 


1 







2 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE. 

Diseases of the Heart—Sounds of the Heart—Enlargement of the Ventricles 
—Dilatation of the Ventricles—Tumors of the Heart—Softening of the 
Heart—Fatty Degeneration of the Heart—Shrinking of the Heart— 
Inflammation of the Heart Case—Inflammation of the Heart Case and 
Heart—Inflammation of the Lining of the Heart—Disease of the 
Heart Valves—Water in the Heart Case—Palpitation of the Heart— 
Neuralgia of the Heart—Polypus of the Heart—Displacement of the 
Heart ........... 306—322 

Diseases of the Abdominal Cavity—Inflammation of the Liver—Congestion 
of the Liver—Cirrhosis of the Liver—Inflammation of the Spleen— 
Jaundice—Gall Stones—Inflammation of the Stomach—Indigestion— 
Dyspepsia—Heart Burn—Cramps in the Stomach—Water Brash— 
Vomiting—Seasickness—Milk Sickness—Inflammation of the Peri- 
tonium—Inflammation of the Bowels—Appendicitis—Cancer of the 
Intestine—Intestinal Obstruction—Colic—Air Swellings—Constipation 
—Piles—Diarrhoea—Cholera Morbus—Asiatic Cholera—Dysentery— 
Worms—Inflammation of the Kidneys—Inflammation of the Bladder— 
Bright’s Disease—Diabetes—Bleeding from the Kidneys—Suppression, 
Retention and Inability to Hold Urine—Gravel—Phosphatic Deposits— 
Oxalic Deposits—Acid Deposits—Bladder Stones—Dropsy of the Belly 
—General Dropsy ......... 324-392 

Venereal and Sexual Diseases—Pox—Clap—Self-Pollution . . 394-413 

Female Diseases—Inflammation, Ulceration and Enlargement of the Neck 
of the Womb—Inflammation of the Ovaries—Whites—Absence of the 
Menses—Profuse Menstruation—Painful Menstruation—Green Sickness 
—Cessation of the Menses—Hysterics—Polypus of the Womb—Inflam¬ 
mation of the Womb—Falling of the Womb—^Tumors of the Womb— 
Cancer of the Womb—Ovarian Tumors—Inflammation of the Fallopian 
Tubes—Inflammation of the Vagina—Itching of the External Parts— 
Tubal Pregnancy—Sterility—Prevention of Pregnancy—Midwifery— 
Miscarriage—Abortion—Labor—Antiseptic Dressings—Milk Leg—Child- 
Bed Fever—Convulsions—Hemorrhage—Nursing Sore Mouth—Broken 
Breast—Sore Nipples—Married Ladies’ Calendar .... 415-451 

Care of Children and Diseases—How to Nurse Sick Children—Inflammation 
of the Mouth—Inflammation of the Gums—Canker of the Mouth— 
Difficult Teeth Cutting—Croup—Spasm of the Glottis—Whooping 
Cough—Diarrhoea—Summer Complaint—Colic—Falling of the Bowel— 
Gastric Fever—Rickets—Mesenteric Disease—Blue Disease—Fits . 483-508 

Diseases of the General System—Miscellaneous Diseases—Blood—Anjemia_ 

Chlorosis—Leucocytosis—Bacteriology—Fever—Typhoid Fever Pre¬ 
vention of Typhoid—Bilious Remittent Fever—Congestive Fever 

Fever and Ague—Yellow Fever—Rheumatism—Gout—Scrofula—Scurvy 
—Purple Disease—Diphtheria—Canker ..... 510-540 

Diseases Peculiar to Modern Times—Old Age and its Diseases—Changes Oc¬ 
curring in Advanced Life—Medical Treatment of the Old—Diseases of 
the Old—Bronchial Flux ........ 542-558 

Accidents from Noxious Vapors—Drowming—Lightning—Hanging_Fire_ 

Water—-Poisoning and Antidotes for Same—Mineral Poisoning_Vege¬ 
table and Other Poisons 560-569 

Surgical Diseases—Modern Surgery—Inflammation—Suppuration and Abscess 

—Mortification—Pyaemia—Ulceration and Ulcers—Boils—Carbuncle_ 

Malignant Pustu'e—Burns and Scalds—Frost Bite—Chilblains Me¬ 
chanical Injuries—Septic Wounds—Incised Wounds—Rules for Examin¬ 
ing and Dressing Wounds—Antiseptic Dressings—Way Wounds Unite 
—Punctured Wounds—Lacerated Wounds—Gunshot Wounds—Poisoned 
Wounds—-Fractures—Way Broken Bones Unite—Dislocations—Sprains 
—Pereostitis—Different Diseases of Bones—White Swelling—Bunions— 
Tumors—Cancer—Felon—Polypus—Piles—Wry Neck—Deformities of 
the Spine—Rupture—Varicose Veins—Aneurisms—Wens—Stye — Op- 
thalmia—Imperfect Vision—Short and Long Sight—Affections of the Ear 
—Ingrowing Toe Nail—How to Stop Flow of Blood—Compression of 

Arteries—Anaesthetics—Care of the Teeth—Ulcer of the Stomach_ 

Glanders—X-Ray—Radium—Flatfoot—Bandages—How to Put them 

. 571-680 


CONTENTS. 


3 


PAGE 

Homoeopathic Treatment of Diseases—Forms of Medicine for Administration— 
Selecting and Using Remedies—Care of Medicines—General Considera¬ 
tions—Diseases of the Ear—Diseases of the Eye and Eyelids—Diseases 
of the Respiratory Organs—Baldness—Ringworm—Blackheads—Ery¬ 
sipelas—Prickly Heat—Malignant Pustule—Skin Diseases—Diseases of 
the Digestive Organs—Diseases of Organs of Circulation—Diseases of 
the Genito-Urinary Organs—Diseases of Infants and Children—Diseases 
of^ Women—Surgical Diseases—Diseases of the General System and 
Miscellaneous Diseases—Diseases of the Nervous System . . 682-892 


Processes of Hydropathic Treatment —Different Baths—Sea Bathing—In¬ 
jections—Rules for Using Water—Wet Bandages—Compresses—Wet 
Sheet Pack—Wet Dress—Half Pack—Folded Wet Sheet—Rubbing Wet 
Sheet—Douche, Shower, Cataract, Hose, Wave, Plunge, Head, Leg, Sitz, 
Wash Tub, Sponge, Foot, Nose, Eye and Ear and Mouth Baths . 894-917 
Domestic Management of the Sick Room —Fumigation—Freezing Mixtures— 
Attendants—Prognostics—Bed Sores—Diet in Disease and Convales¬ 
cence—Fluid Aliments .... 

Art and Science of Cooking for the Sick Room 
How to Prepare Wines and Tonics for the Convalescent 
Dieting in Regard to Health .... 

“ “ Disease ...... 


920-952 
. 953-962 
. 963-969 
. 970-972 
. 973-974 
. 975-978 
982-1140 
1141-1146 
1148-1166 
Jitsu—Special 


Bathing—Russian, Turkish, Vapor and Other Baths 
Medicines and Their Preparations 
Proprietary and Patent Medicines 

Woman Beautiful—A Treatise on How to Keep Young 
Physical Culture—Gymnastics—Dumb-Bell Exercise—Jiu 

Course in Physical Culture—Whitely Exerciser . . . 1169-1214 

Veterinary Medicine—Definitions—The Pulse—Respiratory Organs—Temper¬ 
ature—General Diseases Common to all Animals—General Plethora— 
Anaemia—Blood Poisoning—Anthrax—Expressions Peculiar to Ani¬ 
mals—H y drophobia—Rabies—Glanders—T uberculosis—Lock j aw—Pox 
—Lump Jaw—Horse Ail—Epizootic—Pneumonia—Distemper—Foot 
and Mouth Disease—Texan Cattle Fever—Hemorrhage—Rinderpest— 
General Inflammation—Catarrh—Sore Throat—Bronchitis—Heaves— 
Asthma—Congestion of the Lungs—Pleurisy—Hydrothorax—Disorders 
of Organs of Digestion—Diseases of the Intestines—Diseases of Urinary 
Organs—Diseases of the Brain—Diseases of the Spinal Cord—Diseases 
of the Skin—Diseased Condition of the Joints—Diseases of the Foot— 
Shoeing—Parasitic Diseases—Methods of Giving Medicine—Table of 
Doses—Prescriptions ....... 1217-1403 

Glossary 1405-1408 




ILLUSTRATIONS 


This book contains about five hundred illustrations, the principal ones of which are 

given below. 


HALF-TONES. 


A Perfect “Cupid Bow” Mouth 
A Physical Culture Student 
Back and Shoulder Development 
Bandages 
Blackberry Vine 
Body Poise 
Cayenne Pepper 
Celery 

Chest Expansion 
Compression of Arteries 
Correct Way to Walk 
Dandelion ..... 

Development of the Female Figure after 
Exercise for Stout Women 
Exercise for Strengthening the Back 
Exercise to Reduce Double Chin 
Exterior of the Cow 
Flatfoot ... 

How to Lift the Sick and Injured 
Hydrangea 
Jiu-Jitsu Holds 
Lemons .... 

Lifting Heavy Dumb-bell . 

Making the Arms Plump . 

Manicuring 
Massaging Forehead 

Neck and Shoulders 
Scalp 

Medicine Cases 
Muscles of the Horse 

Human Body 

Nerves and Arteries of the Brain 
of the Face . 

Perfect Arm Development 
Plaster Treatment for Wrinkles 
Points of the Horse . 

Poke 
Pumpkin 

Reduction of Obesity 
Removing Hairs from Eyebrows 
Rested by Music 
Skeleton of the Cow 
“ “ Horse 
“ “ Human Body 
;; “ “ Sheep . . 

“ and Internal Organs of the Dog 
Skull Cap . 

Star Grass 
Steaming the Face 


Physical Culture Treatment 


PAGE. 

1165 

1168 

1171 

674-6^0 

1097 

1149 

1097 

1097 

1171 

658-660 

1149 

1097 
1205 

• 1151 
1151 

1159 

1398 
672 

568-569 

1098 
188-1198 

1094 

1174 

1157 

1160 

1156 

1157 
1163 

892 

1392 

31-32 

186 

876 

1173 

1156 

1389 

1098 

1098 
1203 
1163 
1160 

1399 
1395 

21 

1402 

1403 

1099 
1099 
1154 














ILLUSTRATIONS. 


5 


Teeth. 


PAGE. 

499 

“ of the Cow ...... 


1401 

.Horse. 


1397 

The Way the Baby Should be Held in Quieting and Feeding 

485 

Tomato ........ 


1098 

Tulip Tree ....... 


1099 

Use of Flesh Brush ...... 


1154 

White Pond Lily ...... 


1099 

Woman Beautiful . . . ■ . 


1147 

COLORED PLATES. 

Manikin of Human Head .... 

Facing 

Table of Contents 

Muscles of Human Body . . . % . 

Facing page 29 

Arteries and Veins of the Human Body 


“ “ 658 

Manikin of Human Trunk 


“ 60 

Nerves of the Human Body .... 


“ “ 66 

Measles and Scarlet Fever .... 


“ 156 

Small Pox 


“ 160 

Erysipelas ....... 


“ 163 

Results of Strong Drink ..... 


“ 194 

Heart, Lungs, Stomach and Kidney . 


“ 310 

Syphilitic Eruptions ..... 


“ 396 

“ Affections of the Throat 


“ “ 404 

Diseases of the Womb ..... 


“ 420 

Womb , . ...... 


“ “ 442 

Internal Organs of Human Body 


“ 682 

Medicinal Plants (Aloes, etc.) 

“ “ (Bittersweet, etc.) 

“ “ (Dandelion, etc.) 

“ “ (Ground Ivy, etc) 

Between pages 988 and 1064 

“ “ (Hemlock, etc.) 


. ■* 

“ “ (Mullein, etc.) 

“ (Plantain, etc.) 

“ “ (Thoroughwort, etc.) 

Internal Organs of Horse ..... 

Facing Title page 1215 

“ “ “ Cow. 

4 ( 

“ 1272 

“ “ “ Sheep. 

il 

“ 1306 

“ “ Dog. 

Ci 

• 

“ 1342 



f 


















GENERAL INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 


Progress of Medicine. 

Medicine may be divided into a science and an art. It is a science 
as it presents facts and evolves principles; an art as it consists of 
rules for practice. For its present attainments, it is indebted partly 
to researches scientifically conducted, and partly to empirical and 
haphazard discovery. 

As a science, medicine is chiefly indebted, and must ever be, to the 
members of what is called the “ regular profession.” This body of 
men, while it contains numerous persons whose talents and attain¬ 
ments do not raise them above the merest quacks, does yet embrace 
large numbers of men who are alike ornaments of the race, and lights 
of their profession. It is to the writings of this class that every stu¬ 
dent must go who would qualify himself for the proper discharge of 
the duties of a physician; and he who attempts the practice of medi¬ 
cine without a knowledge of standard medical writings is either a 
fool or a knave —either without the brains to understand science, or 
destitute of the honesty to deal fairly with men. 

While this is said, however, it must be granted that a respectable 
portion of the facts which make up the science of medicine have been 
contributed by the industry of men who have not had what is called 
a regular standing in the profession. I am sorry to be obliged to add 
that the great body of this class have been quacks and charlatans, 
while only a few of them have had talents and acquirements. 

Nevertheless, they have been too indiscriminately condemned. 
Their labors have been useful in various ways, and have contributed 
to the advancement of medical knowledge. A regard for truth, not 
less than justice to these persons, requires this statement. 

One-Idea Men — The “ irregulars,” as they have been called, have 
generally had their hobbies, which they have ridden with singular 
diligence, and often in little better than John Gilpin plight. Yet they 
have drawn attention to great truths, which the regular profession 
either did not see, or would not commend; and they have done this 
by dwelling incessantly upon some single idea. 

The one-idea men, of every class, have been ridiculed in all ages; 
and indeed have always exhibited some singular obliquities. Yet 
when they have been men of learning and talents, they have accom¬ 
plished great things, either for good or evil. 


0 



GENERAL INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 


7 


Martin Luther was strictly a one-idea man. The whole force of 
his extraordinary character was given to the propagation of the single 
doctrine of justification by faith; and by the incessant efforts he made 
for this purpose, he sank the doctrine deeper into the heart of Europe 
than a hundred equally powerful men could have done by giving it 
only an ordinary share of attention. 

William Ellery Channing was a one-ideaist. Man^ the noblest 
work of creation, to be developed, educated, adorned, loved, made 
like unto God, was the thought of his life, — a thought which he em¬ 
bellished and moulded into all the forms of beauty which our flexible 
language is capable of producing. Under the mild promptings of 
his genius, and the workings of this thought, philanthropy, quick¬ 
ened into a new life, spread out her arms, and embraced the world. 

Sir Isaac Newton was a one-ideaist. So entirely did he devote his 
great powers to astronomy and the higher mathematics, that he be¬ 
came unfitted for the duties of social and domestic life — so unfitted, 
that when induced by his friends to give a little attention to courtship, 
he fell into one of his abstractions, and detected himself in using his 
lady-love’s fore-finger to poke down the ashes in his pipe ! But Sir 
Isaac advanced mathematical science to a point far beyond its previ¬ 
ous attainments, and laid it under such obligations as no general 
scholar could have done. 

It is in this way, though in a vastly less degree, and without the 
scientific method, that one-ideaists in medicine benefit the world. 
They seize upon some single remedy, — generally one which has been 
overlooked—and using it themselves to the exclusion of all others, 
they press it upon the world as the panacea for all its ills. With 
them disease is a unit, and they have found its one all-important 
remedy. Thus convinced, they press it upon others with the enthu¬ 
siasm of fanatics. Testing it in all cases, they develop all its virtues. 
Those who have the good sense to turn their attention to it have 
only io use it in those cases for which its adaptation is proved. 

It is in this way that these men become, incidentally, medical dis¬ 
coverers ; and not being burdened with modesty, they never with¬ 
hold their importunities till the world acknowledges whatever value 
there is in their discovery. And although they may do some mis¬ 
chief with the single-edged tool which they handle so industriously, I 
doubt if they do much more than many better workmen who use too 
many. At all events, wise and generous men thank them for their 
gift to the profession, small though it may be, and use it in the light 
of a clearer knowledge. 

Hydropathy. — As an illustration of what I have just been saying, 
I may refer to hydropathy, or the plan of treating all diseases by water. 

The singularly careful avoidance, by the whole medical faculty, for 
many ages, of the article of pure water as a medicinal, or, rather, 
health-imparting agent, was anything but creditable to the profession. 

It is now admitted by all sensible men that water, cold and warm, 


GENERAL INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 


S 

used at proper times and to a reasonable extent, has great power over 
several diseases, and is a powerful promoter of health. No physicians, 
except those who are too indolent to know what is going on in the 
world, or too fast locked in old prejudices to touch new things, now 
omit its use in many cases. How warm and sincere my own approva^ 
of water as a remedy is, almost every page of this volume will attest. 

Indeed, it may honestly be allowed that the hydropathists have 
fairly drowned the almost criminal professional prejudice against 
water. They are in all the more need of this concession, since in 
their absurd zeal to cure all diseases by water, and make aquatic an¬ 
imals of men, they have also drowned their own common-sense. 

Homoeopathy.— This mode of practice is of comparatively recent 
origin; but it has already sunk itself deep into the popular heart, 
and has drawn to its support many of the wealthy, the cultivated, 
and the intelligent, in our most refined communities. I do^not pro¬ 
fess to comprehend and appreciate its principles, nor would it be 
honest in me to pretend to see how its infinitesimal doses can pro¬ 
duce the results which it often shows, and which it is fair to confess 
look like singular success; and saying this, I can neither adopt nor 
approve the violent denunciations and censures which so many are 
induced (by fashion, I fear) to employ towards this generally well- 
cultivated class of practitioners. I hold them as useful members of 
the profession, and mean ever to cultivate towards them fraternal 
feelings. They give great attention to exercise, diet, the use of 
water, etc.,—things which contribute very powerfully to preserve 
health, and to restore it when lost. In this thing, the old-school 
practitioners ought to learn a most important lesson from them. In 
truth, they are learning it, but very slowly and reluctantly^ I am 
sorry to say. 

The central idea of the homoeopathist, that “ like cures like,” the 
“ great law of cure,” as he styles it, I do not feel called upon to dis¬ 
cuss — theories being of much less consequence than rules of prac¬ 
tice. The old-school men have certainly much to learn from him 
respecting the augmented power of medicine from the greatest possi¬ 
ble division by trituration. We have learned from him, too,— 
though many are too ungenerous to confess the source of the infor¬ 
mation, — that we may gain our purposes with much less medicine 
than we were once in the habit of giving. 

Eclectics.— There is a large and growing class of physicians, called, 
at first, after the founder of the school, Thomsonians. Subsequently, 
they were generally known as Botanic Physicians. Now they pass 
under the title of Eclectics. 

These men, directing their attention, at first, chiefly to cayenne 
and lobelia, have gradually extended their zealous researches over 
the vegetable kingdom, and have gathered much information worthy 
to be preserved. These researches have revealed a sadly neglected 
duty on the part of old-school practitioners. 


GENERAL INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 


9 


The education and talents of this class of practitioners have grad¬ 
ually risen, year by year, until they have several medical schools, 
where students are well instructed in the principles of medicine, by 
men of real ability. They have also a literature of no mean signi¬ 
ficance, especially in the department of materia medica. The list 
of remedies they have given to the world, drawn from our home 
plants, are a boon of no small value. I regard them as equal in 
value to all we were previously in possession of from the vegetable 
kingdom. The substitution of vegetable remedies, in most cases, 
for mercurials, can hardly be too highly prized. 

Physiologists.— Besides these various direct practitioners of medi¬ 
cine, there is the large and quite intelligent class of physiologists, 
including the phrenologists, who nearly discard medicine, and ap¬ 
pealing to the laws of life established by the Creator, urge temper¬ 
ance in eating and drinking; exercise in the open air; securing of 
pure air by ventilating dwellings, school-houses, and churches; bath¬ 
ing in cold and warm water; cheerfulness of mind ; and the cultiva¬ 
tion of the Christian virtues, as the only rational modes of securing 
health and life. 

I confess myself inclined to forgive this class their error in ban¬ 
ishing medicine, in view of their zeal and success in disseminating 
hygienic information of the utmost value and importance to man¬ 
kind. Put man into harmony with nature, and establish over him 
the empire of reason, and their theory would be excellent; but ‘as 
things are, medicines, like prisons, and alms-houses, and large cities, 
are “ necessary evils.” 

Other Practitioners.— Finally, we have Mesmerists, Pathetists, 
Electro-biologists, Spiritualists, Nutritivists, and what not, all pre¬ 
tending to cure disease by processes peculiar to themselves. They 
are all experimenters in different departments of nature, — now 
spreading over our eyes a large plaster of humbuggery, and now 
drawing a small curtain and giving us a peep into the large and 
well-furnished rooms which nature has fitted up for our reception, by 
and by, when we are better instructed. 

All Useful in a Degree.— On the whole, I am disposed to regard 
all the operators in the different departments of medicine as useful 
in their degree ; excepting always those mercenary quacks, who lie 
about their remedies to make money. Each of all these (I mean all 
sincere and true men who believe what they teach) is aiding in some 
measure the general advancement. And though the truths, as they 
gather and present them, are but fragmentary, they are useful in the 
hands of those true Eclectics, who have the wisdom and independence 
to select the best things out of all systems. 

General Conclusion.— This brings me to remark that there is but 
one truly liberal and philosophical school of medicine. It is the Ec¬ 
lectic, — composed of those who have liberality enough to reject 


10 


GENERAL INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 


every exclusive system^ and to select out of all systems those things 
which are approved by experience and reason. 

I have already spoken of the school of practitioners called Eclectic. 
To a certain extent they are entitled to the name, but I think not 
entirely. They have formed a separate and exclusive school. They 
have turned some articles out of the materia medica possibly for no 
better reason than because their party is committed to their rejec¬ 
tion ; whereas they should have no party, but allow each man to act 
as if he were a citizen of the world only, and not a member of any 
restricted association. But I will not quarrel with them on this 
point. I think they are becoming eclectic. 

Progress of Medicine.— There have been long periods when the 
science and the art of medicine made scarcely any progress. They 
are now advancing, — in some departments quite rapidly. 

The Chemistry of Man, commonly called Animal Chemistry, is 
opening new sources of light. 

The writer was in the habit of asserting, many years ago, that 
most of the true progress in medicine must come through Animal 
Chemistry; and the developments of the last few years have made 
good the assertion. Liebig, a diligent student in chemistry, has done 
much to open the way for inquirers in this department. Simon has, 
perhaps, done more. Mialhe is a yet later explorer, and has made 
valuable discoveries. 

The result is that students have now before their minds, and are 
endeavoring to solve and act upon as fast as possible, inquiries and 
propositions like these: — 

What is the chemical composition of the solids and fluids of the 
healthy human body ? 

What is the nature of the changes which occur in the composition 
of the solids and fluids during disease? 

What alterations in the chemical composition of the solids and 
fluids take place during the operation of medicines ? 

Before it can exert any remote action on the animal economy, a 
remedy must be absorbed. 

Before it can be absorbed, it must be soluble in the fluids of the 
living body. 

Medicines are subject to chemical changes during their passage 
through the system. 

These changes are regulated by ordinary chemical laws, and may 
therefore, to some extent, be foretold and made available in the cure 
of disease. 

These chemical laws are disturbed and varied, to some extent, by 
the law of vitality,—just as the magnetic needle is made to vary by 
distur})ing forces. 

What are those disturbances, and to what extent, and under what 
circumstances, do they occur? 

With these and similar inquiries and propositions before his mind. 


GENERAL INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 


11 


diligently studied, a man will in time learn to prescribe with some 
intelligent aim. He will not know everything, to be sure, but what 
he does know, he will have a reason for knowing. If he give a 
medicine, he will have in view the chemical changes of the solids 
and fluids of the body, known to be produced by the disease he is 
combating. He will also keep in mind the solution of the medicine 
in the fluids of the body, and the chemical reaction between its com¬ 
ponents and the acids, alkalies, etc., found in the alimentary tube 
and elsewhere. 

As the science of medicine advances, and becomes liberal and ec¬ 
lectic in its character, gathering from all systems the best attested 
facts, and using them to the exclusion of all mere theories, these 
facts must not themselves degenerate into mere petted theories, but 
must be held in subordination to future experience. Medical prac¬ 
titioners, who would meet the wants of the age, must be men of 
progress. The light of to-morrow, with them, must modify and im¬ 
prove the light of to-day. They must knock every hour for admis¬ 
sion into some new apartment of nature. 

Need of Liberality. — That medical progress may be real, physi¬ 
cians must be free from bigotry. They must have no narrow preju¬ 
dices against any man, or class of men; but be ready to examine 
candidly any new thought or new remedy brought to their notice, 
from whatever source it may come. 

They should not hedge themselves about with such restrictive by¬ 
laws and societary rules as are calculated to fetter their thoughte, 
and turn their investigations, by a sort of moral necessity, into the 
narrow channels of party conservatism; remembering that he who is 
once enclosed by such restrictions must hew a path for his feet 
through bigotry, and even malevolence itself, before he can escape 
them, or be a free man in any noble sense. 

The members of medical societies do themselves no credit, in the 
nineteenth century, by putting on airs, and telling others to stand at 
a distance. This would do better, had medicine become an exact 
science ; but while the primary effects of even opium are not settled 
— some physicians considering it as primarily stimulant, others as 
sedative, others as stimulant to the nerves and sedative to the 
muscles, others as neither, and still others as alterative, — such ex¬ 
clusiveness seems neither wise nor modest. When the professors of 
the healing art can hoard medical knowledge as misers hoard gold, 
and can submit its purity to equally certain tests, it will appear in 
better taste for them to grow exclusive. Until then, the most be¬ 
coming badge they can wear is the Christian direction : “ Let each 
esteem others better than himself.’’ 

Medical societies, with liberal by-laws, are fitted to do good; but 
it would be hard to show that those with stringently restrictive rules 
can operate otherwise than as checks upon progress. In truth, they 
are apt to become mere catacombs in which to embalm dead ideas. 


12 


GENERAL INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 


They are very liable to be made the instruments for accomplishing 
the ambitious purposes of a few leading men. They tend to suppress 
all sympathy with everything outside their organization ; and they 
beget a feeling like that which would forbid the fixed stars to drop 
their light into our atmosphere without first coming down and joining 
the solar system. 

Conservative Leaders. — There are no influences which hold so 
steady a check upon medical progress as the conservative leaders in 
many of our medical associations. Not that they are opposed to im¬ 
provement in the medical art, or would object to any amount of dis¬ 
covery, if it could come to the profession through channels which they 
have the honor of opening. But against all light from outside, or 
from obscure sources, they will draw down the curtains, and close the 
doors; and, if it chance by any means, in spite of them, to get within 
the sacred enclosure, they will call it darkness, and, as priests of the 
temple, will attempt to atone for the indignity offered to the god of 
medicine, and fill the whole sky with murky clouds from their altars. 

These men have strong faith in caste, and in the right of the few 
to govern the many. In the low places of society, they look for 
nothing but ignorance and poverty. Notwithstanding that the light 
of every natural day breaks in the horizon, and ascends^ they so far 
despise analogies as to insist that all medical light breaks at what 
they call the zenith of the profession, and comes down. With them 
the temples of Esculapius are all rebuilt, and they are the priests; 
and to offer in sacrifice the smallest medicinal plant is a sacrilege, 
unless it be entrusted to their hands. 

Such persons measure and weigh a man by the amount of money 
he has. Property is their god, which gives laws to everything. 
With thern, knowledge, like property, goes to posterity by will, — 
they being the principal testators. Like their money, too, it goes 
chiefly to their sons, and to certain favored institutions, by whom and 
in which it is to be hoarded, and whence it is to go out only in certain 
approved channels, weighed and stamped, like coin from the mint. 

These are the men who regard knowledge as a contraband article, 
unless regularly entered at the custom-house, with bills of lading 
properly certified by the conservative magnates at some other me¬ 
tropolis. With them, knowledge is not like the west wind, fanning 
the brow of the peasant as gently as that of the king — not like the 
light of heaven, entering the small, clean window of the hut, as 
readily as the larger one of the palace ; not a boon which comes alike 
freely to all, and which is to be everywhere amplified, changed as 
circumstances and conditions require, and especially adapted to the 
present hour. It is rather, as they too often view it, like litho¬ 
graphed letters of advice, printed upon stamped paper, and carefully 
sealed up and addressed to posterity. And then, if they can be 
made the mail-carriers, and be permitted to pass, unchallenged, with 
the precious bag, from post to post, and pass it over, carefully sealed, 


GENERAL INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 


13 


to the next generation, they will think it has done its work, and that 
they have fulfilled their mission. 

I would not be unjust or severe, but I cannot but remark further, 
that these men present but one view of humanity. They are monot¬ 
onous objects of inspection. Look at them a thousand times, and 
you see only the same unaltered phase of life. To the mariner on 
life’s ocean, they are not safe lights. If he approach them on the 
dark side they remain black as night to him, until he comes round to 
their shining front. They are not revolving lights. They have 
light: it may be bright and genial; but it gleams out upon the 
waters only in one direction. It does not sweep round, and throw its 
rays upon every mariner’s path. 

Such men are useful, but only to a certain class. They have in 
them no true omnilogy — they are not all-teaching. Their lives are 
ins ructive to their friends, their clique, their party, their school; 
but a stumbling-block, a hindrance, an oppression, an offence to every¬ 
body else. They are like porcupines, with fronts smooth and easy 
of access; but their backs bristle with quills to stick into those on 
the wrong side. They are not whole men. Humanity has infused 
into them only one or two of its elements. They have length, but no 
breadth. They are citizens of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, or 
Cincinnati, but not of the world. Within certain circles, they are 
genial friends, but cynics and haters outside of them. From their high 
places they come down to their humble followers with tokens of 
friendly recognition ; upon others they frown and lower like armed 
castles. 

The True Physician.—How different the character of the true man 
and physician! He is genial in his disposition. He has no dislikes 
and antipathies, and hates no men except tyrants. He accepts knowl¬ 
edge, though it come from the humblest source ; believing there is no 
experience but will repay a study of it, and no husbandman’s plough¬ 
share but turns up a soil worth analyzing. He belongs exclusivel3^ 
to no party, and can be approached easily by respectable men of 
every stamp. Whether belonging to the same society with him or 
not, you may take hold of his nature and draw it out, without hav¬ 
ing it slip from your fingers, and spring back from your presence into 
a thousand kinks, like an overtwisted thread. He is a whole man. 
God made him for the world, and not for a party. By some strong 
influence you may possibly, for a time, draw him from the world into 
some narrower sphere, but not only will his reluctant nature, like a 
retiring tide, run back continually to embrace the continent, but will 
Soon break from its confinement, and, like a full sea, come back, boil¬ 
ing and running over. 

What is now Wanted.— The foregoing remarks indicate one great 
leading want, in order that medical knowledge may increase. It is 
liberality in the true and full sense. We want true men in high 
places, who will not only let their own light shine everywhere, but will 
tease- to hinder other mens light from shining. 


14 


GENERAL INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 


Beyond this, and of nearly equal importance with it, we want med~ 
ical knowledge diffused among the people. We want — what the 
world has never seen — a popular medical literature, We want the 
temples of Esculapius pulled down, and the priests turned into the 
streets to become teachers of the multitude, rather than worshippers 
in the inner sanctuary. 

I know this want will be stoutly denied, but not, I think, on well- 
considered grounds. We do not think it necessary to confine a 
knowledge of the soul to the ministers of religion. There is no 
branch of theology which we do not deem it proper for laymen to 
study; we even popularize it for our children. In the obscurest 
towns of New England, laymen who follow the plough or push the 
plane, become, in many cases, eminent theologians. Why should 
they not study the lower science which relates to the body? They 
have not been able to heretofore, because its mysteries have been 
purposely hidden under technicalities. These coverings should be 
torn off. 

It is said that those who begin to read upon medicine are very apt 
to imagine themselves afflicted with the various symptoms they find 
described. To some small extent this is true; but it is also true 
that the light they obtain relieves them from many apprehensions 
which their previous ignorance allowed to prey upon them; as boys 
lose their fears when the light of the morning changes to some 
familiar object the ghost of the preceding night. 

Physicians oppose the popularizing of this kind of knowledge too 
often, I fear, upon the sordid ground of self-interest. They think 
their own services will be less sought. 

We do not dispense with the services of ministers because the 
people study theology, neither shall we cease to employ teachers and 
practitioners of medicine when each man and woman is wise enough 
to study the healing art. The principal change we shall witness will 
be much larger attainments in knowledge among practitioners,— 
just as the ministers of religion now know, and are obliged to know, 
ben times as much as in those darker periods when the people re¬ 
ceived all spiritual knowledge from their mouths. The teachers of 
any art or science are obliged to keep in advance of their pupils. 
Let medicine become a popular study, and we shall have very few 
ignorant physicians, and quackery will become one of the impossi¬ 
bilities. Homoeopatliists, Eclectics, Hydropatliists, and Physiolo 
gists, believe in scattering medical books, stripped of their techni- 
calites, among the multitude, and their people purchase very few 
secret, advertised medicines; — these being chiefly bought and con¬ 
sumed by the followers of those who believe this kind of reading 
fosters quackery i 


ANATOMY 


iCnotD SiipsieM 

Every person should know themselves physically; therefore read 
carefully the followingf chapters—first, on Anatomy; second, 
on Hygfiene—which are not only instructive, but 
interesting^, and will assist very materially 
in avoiding and preventing disease* 




ANATOMY. 


Anatomy describes the structure and organization of living be 
ings. 

Special Anatomy treats of the weight, size, shape, color, etc., of 
each organ separately. 

General Anatomy investigates the tissues or structures from which 
organs are formed. 

Surgical Anatomy or Regional Anatomy considers the relations of 
organs to one another. 

Physiological Anatomy treats of the uses or functions of organs in 
health. 

Pathological Anatomy describes the alterations made upon dif¬ 
ferent organs by disease. 

We shall here introduce a very brief compendium only of Special 
Anatomy. 

It is of great consequence that every person should have some 
knowledge of anatomy and physiology. Self-knowledge ought to 
extend to the body as well as the mind. To know one’s self, physi¬ 
cally, is to gain a new insight into that wonderfully skilful adjust¬ 
ment of means to ends which is never absent from the works of God. 
Without this knowledge, one cannot know how to take care of the 
health; and without health, life loses most of its value. 

structure of the Body. 

The human body is composed of solids and fluids. 

The fluids are most abundant in children and youth. It is this 
which gives softness and pliancy to their flesh. In old age the fluids 
are less abundant, and the flesh is more hard and wrinkled. 

The fluids contain the whole body, as it were, in a state of solu- • 
tion; or rather, they hold the materials out of which it is manufac¬ 
tured. 

Chemical Properties of the Body. 

The four elements, oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, and nitrogen, make 
up nearly the whole bulk of the fluids and soft solids of the human 
body. A number of other elements, chiefly in a state of combina¬ 
tion, and in much smaller quantities, enter into several of the tissues. 

Binary Compounds. — Thus, we have carbonic acid in blood, urine 
and sweat; and we have water universally diffused through the sys¬ 
tem, — each of these substances being a binary compound, that is, 
composed of two elements. 

Compounds of more than two Element^ are widely distributed 
over the body; as. 


16 



ANATOMY. 


17 


Carbonate of Soda in serum, saliva, bile, mucus, sweat, and tears. 

Carbonate of Lime in cartilage, bone, and teeth. 

Phosphate of Lime in bones, teeth, and cartilage. 

Phosphate of Iron in blood, gastric juice, and urine. 

Chloride of Sodium in blood, brain, muscle, bone, cartilage and 
pigment. 

Chloride of Potassium in blood, gastric juice, milk, and saliva. 

Chloride -of Calcium in gastric juice. 

Sulphate of Potassa in urine, gastric juice, and cartilage. 

Sulphate of Soda in sweat, bile, and cartilage. 

Sulphate of Lime in bile, hair, and scarf-skin. 

Oxide of Iron in blood, black pigment, and hair. 

Organized Compounds. — Besides the above inorganic elements 
and compounds, several organized substances, or proximate elements^ as 
they are called, exist largely in the body. The chief of these are 
albumen, fibrin, gelatin, mucus, fat, and casein. Others need not be 
named. 

Albumen is found in great abundance in the human body. It is 
the raw material out of which the flesh and other tissues are made. 
The white of an egg, which is nearly pure albumen, is a good speci¬ 
men of it. 

Fibrin, when removed from the human body, changes from a solu¬ 
ble to an insoluble state. In other words, it coagulates in a kind of 
net-work. Nearly the same thing takes place constantly in the living 
body, when the liquid fibrin leaves its soluble state, and is deposited 
as solid flesh. Fibrin bears the same relation to albumen that wool¬ 
len yarn does to wool; it is spun from it in the busy wheel of or¬ 
ganic life. And the flesh or muscle is related to fibrin as the cloth 
is to yarn; it is woven from it in the vital loom. Fibrin has been 
called liquid flesh. 

Gelatin exists largely in the ligaments, cartilages, bones, skin, and 
cellular tissue. When dissolved, five parts in one hundred of hot 
water, it forms a thick jelly. Isinglass is a form of gelatin obtained 
from the air-bladder of the sturgeon and the codfish. Glue is still 
another form of gelatin. It is extracted from the bones, and parings 
of hides, and the hoofs and ears of cattle, by boiling in water. Black 
silk, varnished over with a solution of gelatin, forms court-plaster. 

Mucus is a sticky fluid secreted by the gland-cells. It is spread 
over the surface of the mucous membranes, and serves to moisten and 
defend them from injury. 

Fat consists of cells held together by cellular tissue and vessels, 
and contains glycerin, stearic acid, margaric acid, and oleic acid. It 
has no nitrogen. If the stearic acid be in excess, the fat is hard; if 
the oleic acid preponderate, it is soft. The stearine extracted from 
fat is used for making very hard candles. 


18 


ANATOMY. 


Casein is abundant in milk and constitutes its curd. It held 
in solution in milk by a little soda. When dried, it is cheese. It is 
found in blood, saliva, bile, and the lens of the eye. It forms the 
chief nourishment of those young animals which live on milk. It is 
found in peas^ beans, and lentils. Vegetable and animal casein are 
precisely alike in all their properties. Fibrin and albumen contain 
almost exactly the same amount of oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, nitro¬ 
gen, and sulphur, which is found in casein. This latter, when taken 
into the stomach, therefore, goes, without much change, to the forma¬ 
tion of the albumen and fibrin of the body. 

Physical Properties of the Body. 

The Tissues.—The solid organized substances of which the human 
body is composed, are called tissues. There are various kinds of tissues. 

The Cellular Tissue, commonly called areolar^ is made up of small 
fibres and bands woven together into a sort of net-work, with numer¬ 
ous little spaces opening into each other. These spaces are filled with 
a watery fluid; and when this is greatly increased by disease, so as 
to cause the parts to swell, and the skin to shine, the person has ana¬ 
sarca, or celWropsy. The uses of this tissue are to give parts and 
organs a kind of elastic cushion to rest upon, so that they may not be 
bruised and injured by the shocks of life; to make a kind of safe 
highway for delicate vessels to pass from one part of the body to 
another; and to furnish a beautifully arranged lodgment for the wa¬ 
tery fluid which gives such roundness, smoothness, and grace to the 
human form. The opening of the cells into each other explains the 
reason why feeble persons have swelled feet and ankles in the even¬ 
ing, and not in the morning — the fluid settling down fiom cell to cell, 
into the lowest parts, while they are up during the day, and running 
back to its proper place while they are lying down during the night. 

The Mucous Tissue, or mucous membrane^ lines all the cavities 
which communicate with the air, as the mouth, stomach, bowels, lungs, 
etc. It is supplied with numerous small glands which secrete a 
sticky kind of fluid called mucus, to protect the surface from any 
injury which might be inflicted by air, or by irritating substances 
suspended in it. 

The Serous Tissue, or membrane^ lines all the cavities which do not 
communicate with the air, that is, all those which are shut, and have 
no outward opening. The skull, the ^hest, and the belly are lined by 
this kind of membrane. The membrane itself forms a closed sac, 
—one layer of it being attached to the cavity it lines, while the other 
is folded back upon and around the contents of the cavity, which are 
left outside of the sac. A wateiy fluid oozes from the inner surface 
of the sac, to make its sides glide easily upon each other. When 
some disease causes this water to be poured out too freely, so as to 
fill or partly fill the cavity, we have dropsy of the brain, or chest, or 
abdomen, as the case may be. 


ANATOMY. 


19 


The Dermoid Tissue covers the whole outside of the body. We 
call it the skin^ or cutis. It is similiar in structure to the mucous 
membranes, wliich are a mere continuation of it. It is harder than 
the mucous membrane, because more exposed to injury. In health, 
it never ceases to secrete and throw off a fluid which we call insen¬ 
sible perspiration wliile it is in the form of an invisible vapor, and 
perspiration, or sweat, when it is so increased as to be seen. So 
great is the sympathy between this dermoid covering of the body 
and the mucous membranes, that when it is chilled so as to stop the 
invisible perspiration, the internal membrane becomes affected, and 
we have a sore throat, or diarrhoea, or running at the nose; that is 
to say, when the skin cannot sweat, the mucous membrane begins to 
sweat. 

The Fibrous Tissue consists of closely united fibres, and for what¬ 
ever purpose used, forms a fine, dense, and enduring body. In some 
cases it takes the form of a membrane, as the dura mater., which lines 
the interior of the skull and spinal column. The ligaments which 
hold the bones together, and the tendons or cords., which fasten the 
muscles to the bones, are fibrous bodies. It is this firm substance of 
which rheumatism frequently takes hold, and tins is the reason why 
it lingers so much about the joints. It sometimes takes hold of the 
ligament which fastens the deltoid muscle to the bone of the upper 
arm, about two-thirds of the way from the elbow to the shoulder. 
This muscle lifts up the arm. In this form of rheumatism, therefore, 
the arm hangs helpless at the side. 

The Cartilaginous Tissue covers the ends of the bones where they 
come together to make a joint. It is well fitted to make the joint 
work easy, being smooth, hard, and elastic. 

The Osseous or Bony Tissue varies in its composition, density, 
and strength, according to the age of the person, and the uses of the 
bone. 

The Muscular Tissue, or muscle., being made for a great deal of 
pulling and lifting, is formed something like a rope, except that 
there is no twisting. Many small 
fibres or filaments unite to form 
fasciculi. A fasciculus is a bundle 
of fibres surrounded by a delicate 
layer of cell-tissue called sarcolemma., 

— just as a cord is a number of 
smaller threads of cotton or hemp 
bound together. A number of these 
fasciculi united together make a 
muscle, — just as several cords, called 
strands, twisted together, make a 
rope. Figure 1 gives us a good view of the fibres and bundles, 
highly magnified. 






20 


ANATOMY. 


The Adipose Tissue is the material which the human body works 
up into pots and cells containingIt is found chiefly under the 
skin and muscles of the belly, and around the heart and kidneys. 
By the increase of this tissue, persons may become enormously en¬ 
larged without having their muscles at all increased in size. Such a 
condition is to be deplored, — the body having become merely the 
storehouse or depot of myriads of pots of fat. 

The Nervous Tissue is composed of two distinct kinds of matter, 
— the one gray and pulpy, called cineritious^ the other white and 
fibrous, called medullary. The external part of the brain and the in¬ 
ternal portion of the spinal cord are composed of the gray or ash- 
colored tissue; the nerves are made only of the white or fibrous 
matter, and are inclosed in a delicate sheath called neurilemma. 

Vital Properties of the Body. 

Bodies begin their growth with a simple cell., which is a delicate 
little bladder or shut sac. Cells take their rise in that portion of 
the blood which is capable of being organized., and which is called 
blastema. 

In animal bodies each cell generally begins as a minute point in 
the blastema, and grows until a transparent bladder or vesicle springs 
out from one side of it, and soon appears to enclose it. The bladder 
is then called the cell, and the point or dot is its nucleus. Within 
this nucleus appears another dot, which is called the nucleolus. 
When fully ripened, the cell bursts and sets the nucleus free, and 
this, in its turn, matures and yields up its contents. Thus all cells 
have their origin in germs produced by previously existing parent- 
cells. They are multiplied with great rapidity. Having grown to 
a certain extent, they lose their fluid contents, and their walls col¬ 
lapsing or coming together, they form simple membraneous discs. 
In this way, with some variations, the simple tissues of the body be¬ 
gin to be, and the foundation is laid for the noble structure of man. 

Anatomy of the Bones. 

The human skeleton is composed of two hundred and eight bones, 
the teeth not included. 

When fastened together by natural ligaments, the bones are said 
to form a natural skeleton; when attached by wii*es, an artificial skele¬ 
ton. 

In Figure 2, — 1, 1, represent the spinal column; 2, the skull; 3, 
the lower jaw; 4, the breast-bone (sternum) ; 6, the ribs; 7, the col¬ 
lar-bone ; 8, the bone of the upper arm (humerus) ; 9, the shoulder- 
joint; 10, the radius; 11, the ulna; 12, the elbow-joint; 13, the 
wrist; 14, the hand; 15, the haunch-bone; 16, the sacrum; 17, the 
hip-joint; 18, the thigh-bone; 19, the knee-cap (patella); 20, the 
knee-joint; 21, the fibula; 22, the tibia; 23, ankle-joint; 24, the 
foot; 27, 28, 29, the ligaments of the shoulder, elbow, and wrist; 


\ 

























































22 


ANATOMY. 


30, the large artery of the arm; 31, the ligaments of tne hip-joint; 
32, the large blood-vessels of the thigh; 33, the artery of the -g; 
34, 35,. 36, the ligaments of the knee-cap, knee, and ankle. 

The protuberances or swellings in certain parts of the bones are 
called processes, and are the points to which muscles and ligaments 
are fastened. 

The bones are supplied with nutritive vessels, and, like other parts 
of the body, are formed from the blood. At first they are compara¬ 
tively soft and cartilaginous. After a time, in the young animal, 
they begin to change to bone at certain places, called points of ossifi¬ 
cation. They are covered with a strong, fibrous membrane called the 
periosteum. A somewhat similar covering upon the cartilages has 
the name of perichondrium., and that which covers the skull is the 
pericranium. 

The bones are compounded of earthy and animal matter. From 
the former — phosphate and carbonate of lime — they receive their 
strength; from the latter — cartilage — they derive their life. 

Put a bone for a few days into diluted muriatic acid, — one part 
of acid to six of water, — and the phosphate and carbonate of lime 

will all be removed, while 
the bone will remain the 
same in shape. It will now 
be comparatively soft, and 
may be bent, or even tied 
into a knot without break¬ 
ing. Place a similar bone 
in the fire for a few hours, 
and it vdll also retain its 
shape, but the cartilaginous 
Fig 3 . portion will be gone. It is 

now brittle, and may be 

picked in pieces with the fingers. 

The bones are divided into those of the head, thirty ; of the body, 
fifty-four; of the upper limbs, sixty-four; and of the lower limbs, 
sixty. 



Bones of the Head. 

The bones of the head are divided into those of the skull, the ear, 
and th.Q face. 

The skull has eight bones. They are composed of two plates, one 
above the other, with a porous partition between. These two plates 
are capable of giving the brain very powerful protection against in¬ 
jury, the outer one being fibrous and tough, — the inner one, hard 
and glass-like, and hence called vitreous. 

The middle layer has the name of diploe. Its spongy nature 
deadens the jar from a blow inflicted upon the outer table. In early 
life, when the bones are tender and yielding, this porous layer is not 
needed, and is not found. 



ANATOMY. 


23 


That the bones of the skull may not easily slip by each other, and 
get out of place, they are dovetailed together in curious lines called 
sutures. In advanced years, these gen¬ 
erally close up, the bones uniting firmly 
together. In early life they are quite 
open, the firm bones not covering the 
whole brain. The opening of the 
coronal suture in childhood is called a 
fontanelle. It presents a soft place 
upon the top of the head, where the 
finger could be pressed down into the 
brain. In Figure 4, — 1, 1, show the 
coronal suture on the front and upper 
part of the skull; 2, the sagittal suture 
on the top of the skull; and 3, 3, the 
lamb loidal suture, running down on 
each side of the back part of the skull. 

Figure 5 shows the skull-bones separated from each other at the 
sutures : 1, the frontal bone ; 2, the parietal; 2, the occipital: 4, the 
temporal; 5, the nasal; 6, the malar; 7, the superior maxillary; 8, 

the nnguis; 9, the in¬ 
ferior maxillary. Ar- 
nott has demonstrated 
that the form of the 
skull is the best possible 
for sustaining weights, 
and resisting blcws. The 
summit of the head is a 
complete arch, like that 
of a bridge. 

The ear has four 
small bones, which aid 
the sense of hearing. 

The bones of the face 
are fourteen in number. 
They hold the soft parts 
in place, and aid in 
grinding the food. 

Bones of the Trunk. 

In the trunk there are twenty-four ribs; twenty-four pieces in the 
backbone or spinal column; four bones in the pelvis and hips ; one 
breast-bone, called sternum; and a bone at the base of the tongue, 
called os hyoides. They are so put together as to form two great 
cavities, namely, the thorax or chest, and the abdomen or belly. 

The ribs,, connecting with the backbone behind and the breast-bone 
in front, form the thorax, which contains the lungs and heart. Fig. 



Fig. 6. 



Fig. 4. 


24 


ANATOMY. 


6 shows the natural form of the healthy chest: 1, is the spine ; 2, 2, 
the collar-bones; 3, 3, the seven upper, or true ribs; 4, 4, the five 
lower or false ribs; 5, the breast-bone, to which the true ribs are 

united; 6, the sword-shaped 
cartilage which constitutes the 
lower end of the breast-bone, 
called ensiform cartilage; 7, 7, 
the upper part of two lungs; 8, 
8, the right lung, seen between 
the ribs ; 9, 9, the left lung ; 10, 
10, the heart; 11, 11, the dia¬ 
phragm, or midriff; 12, 12, the 
liver; 13, 13, the stomach, 14, 
14, the second stomach, or 
duodenum; 15, the transverse 
colon; 16, the upper part of the 
colon on right side; 17, upper 
part of colon on left side. 

Each piece of the spinal col¬ 
umn is called a vertebra. Upon 
every one of these are seven 
projections, called processes — a part of which are for linking the 
bones together, and the rest to furnish 
attachments for the muscles of the back. 

The projections are linked together in 
such a way, that a continuous channel or 
opening runs down through the whole, 
in which is lodged the spinal cord, or 
medulla spinalis. This nervous cord is 
connected with the base of the brain, and 
is a kind of continuation of it. 

Between all the vertebrae are certain 
cartilaginous cushions, which, when com¬ 
pressed, spring back, like India rubber, 
and thus protect the brain from being injuriously jarred by running, 

leaping, or walking. 

The pelvis has four bones : 
the two nameless bones — in- 
nominata, the sacrum^ and the 
coccyx. In the side of each of 
the nameless bones is a deep, 
smooth cavity, called the ace¬ 
tabulum. Into this the round 
head of the thigh-bone is nicely 
fitted. When the bone is 
thrown out of this cavity, the 
hip is said to be out of joint. 
The sacrum took its name 










I 


anatomy. 


25 


from the fact that the heathens used to offer it in sacrifice. With 
them, it was the sacred bone. The coccyx is the lower termination 
of the backbone. These bones are represented in Fig. 8 : 1, 1, being 
the innominata; 2, the sacrum; 3, the coccyx ; 4, 4, the acetabulum: 
a, a, the pubic portion of the nameless bones; d, the arch of the 
pubes; the union of the sacrum and the lower end of the spinal 
column. 


Bones of the Upper Extremities. 

The shoulder-hlade (scapula), the collar-hone (clavicle), the hone of 
the upper arm (humerus), the two hones of the forearm (ulna and ra- 
dius), the hones of the wrist (carpal bones), the hones of the 
\ palms of the hand (metacarpal bones), the hones of the 
thumb and fingers (phalanges), — these are the bones of 
the upper limbs. 

The collar-hone is fastened at one end to the breast-bone, 
at the other end to the shoulder-blade. It keeps the shoul¬ 
ders from dropping forward. Many persons allow it to fail 
of this end by getting very much bent in early life. This 
happens at school, when children are allowed to sit in a 
stooping posture. In the French, a race re- s 

markable for a straight, upright figure, this 
bone is said to be longer than in any other 
people. 

The shoulder-hlade lies upon the upper part 
of the back, forming the shoulder. It has a 
shallow cavity (glenoid cavity), into which is 
inserted the head of the upper arm-bone. Sev¬ 
eral strong muscles are attached to the eleva¬ 
tions of this bone, which keep it in its place, 
and move it about as circumstances require. 

Fig. 9. The upper arm-hone has its round head fas1> 
ened in the glenoid cavity, by the strong capsular liga¬ 
ment, forming a joint capable of a great number of move¬ 
ments. At the elbow it is united with the ulna of the 
fore-arm. It is a long, cylindrical bone, represented by 
Fig. 9: 1, is the shaft of the bone ; 2, the large, round / 
head which fits into the glenoid cavity; 3, the surface! 
which unites with the ulna. 

Of the two bones of the fore-arm, the ulna is on the inner side, and 
unites with the humerus, making an excellent hinge-joint. The 
other bone of the fore-arm, the radius^ lies on the outside of the arm, 
— on the same side with the thumb, — and unites, or articulates, as 
we say, with the bones of the wrist. In Fig. 10: 1, is the body of 
the ulna; 2, the shaft of the radius; 4, the articulating surface, with 
which the lower end of the humerus unites; 5, the upper extremity 
of the ulna, called the olecranon process, which forms the elbow- 
joint ; 6, the point where the ulna articulates with the wrist. 







26 


ANATOMY. 


The eight bones of the wrist or carpus are ranged in two rows, and 
being bound close together, do not admit of 
very free motion. In Fig. 11: s, is the scaphoid 
bone; L, the semilunar bone; c, the cuneiform 
bone; P, the pisiform bone; T, T, the trapezium 
and trapezoid bones ; M, the os magnum ; u, the 
cuneiform bone. The last four form the sec¬ 
ond row of carpal bones. 11, 11, are the meta- 
^carpal bones of the hand; 2, 2, the first range 
[ of the finger-bones; 3, 3, the second range of 
I finger-bones; 4, 4, the third range of finger- 
bones ; 5, 6, the bones of the thumb. 

Of the five metacarpal bones, four are atr 
tached below to the first range of the finger- 
bones, and the other to the first bone of the 
thumb, while the whole are united to the second 
range of the carpal bones above. 



Fig. 11. 


Bones of the Lower Extremities. 

These are the thigh-bone (femur), the knee-pan (patella), the shinr 
hone (tibia), the small hone of the leg (fibula), the hones of the instep 
(tarsal bones), the hones of the middle of the foot (meta¬ 
tarsal bones), and the hones of the toes (phalanges). 

The thigh-hone is the longest bone in the system. Its 
head, which is large and round, fits admirably into the 
cavity in the innominatum, called acetabulum, and forms 
what is called a ball-and-socket joint. In Fig. 12; 1, is 
the shaft of the thigh-bone (femur) ; 2, is a projection 
called the trochanter minor, to which some strong mus¬ 
cles are attached; 3, is the head of the femur, which fits 
into the acetabulum; 5, is the external projection of the 
femur, called the external condyle; 6, the internal con¬ 
dyle; 7, the surface which articulates with the tibia, 
and on which the patella slides. 

The knee-pan or knee-cap (patella) is placed on the 
front of the knee, and being attached to the tendon of 
the extensor muscles above, and to the tibia by a strong 
ligament below, it acts as a pulley in lifting up the leg. 

The shin-bone (tibia) is the largest of the two in the 
lower leg, and is considerably enlarged at each end. 

The small bone of the leg (fibula) lies on the out¬ 
side, and is bound to the larger bone at both ends. Fig.i 
13 shows the two bones of the leg: 1, being the tibia ;l 
5, the fibula; 8, the space between the two; 6, the 
junction of the tibia and fibula at the upper extrem¬ 
ity ; 3, the internal ankle; 4, the lower end of the tibia that unites 


Fig. 12. 






ANATOMY. 


2; 


with one of the tarsal bones to form the ankle-joint; 7, the upper 
end of the tibia, which unites with the femur. 

The instep (tarsus) has seven bones, which, like those of the 
wrist, are so firmly bound together as to allow but a limited motion. 

The metatarsal hones^ corresponding with the palm of the hand, are 
five in number, and unite at one end with the tarsal bones, and at 
the other with the first range of the toe-bones. 

The tarsal and metatarsal bones are put together in the form of 
an arch^ the spring of which, when the weight of the body descends 
upon it in walking, prevents injury to the organs above. (Fig. 14.) 

The phalanges have fourteen bones. The great toe has two ranges 



Fig. 13. 


of bones; the other toes have three. Fig. 15 gives a view of the 
upper surface of the bones of the foot: 1, is the surface of the as¬ 
tragalus where it unites with the tibia; 2, the body of the astragalus; 
3, the heel-bone (os calcis); 4, the scaphoid bone ; 5, 6, 7, the cune¬ 
iform bones; 8, the cuboid; 9, 9, 9, the metatarsal bones; 10, the 
first bone of the great toe ; 11, the second bone; 12, 13, 14, three 
ranges of bones forming the small toes. 

The Joints. 

That bones may be of any use, they must be jointed together. 
Joints are of the greatest importance. It is necessary they should be 
so constructed that there shall be no harsh grating of the bones upon 
each other, and no injurious jars in walking, etc. To prevent these 
things, a hard, smooth, and yet yielding, cushion-like substance is 









26 


ANATOMY. 


required between them in joints. Such are the cartilages. Fig. 16 
gives a specimen of these intervening cartilages. D, is the body of 

a bone, at the end of 
which is a socket; C, 
the cartilage lining the 
socket, thin at the sides 
and thick in the centre; 
B, the body of a bone, at 
the end of which is a 
round head ; C, the investing cartilage, thin at the sides and thick 
in the centre. 

Cartilage grows thinner, harder, and less elastic in old age. Hence 
old people are not quite as tall as in middle life, and a little stiffer 
in their joints. 

The synovial membrane is a thin layer covering the cartilage, and 
being bent back upon the inner surface of the ligaments, it forms a 
closed sac. From its inner surface a sticky fluid oozes out, which 
helps the joints to play easily. 

There are other smaller sacs connected with the joints, called 
bursa mucosae. They secrete a fluid similar to that from the syno¬ 
vial membrane. 



Fig. 16. 



Fig. 17. 


Fig. 18. 


Fig. ifl. 




The ligaments. To retain the bones in their places at the joints, 
some strong, flexible straps are required to stretch across from one 
to the other, and to firmly unite them. Such are the ligaments. 

They are the pearl-colored, lustrous, shining parts about the joints, 
in the form of straps and cords. There are a number of them so 
woven together as to form a complete covering of the joint, called a 
capsular ligament. In Fig. 17 : 1, 2, are ligaments extending from 
the hip-bone, 6, to the femur, 4. In Fig. 18: 1, is the socket of the 
hip-joint; 2, head of the femur, lodged in the socket; 3, the ligament 
within the socket. In Fig. 19; 1, is the tendon of the muscle which 
extends the leg; 2, the knee-cap (patella); 3, the anterior ligament 

















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MUSCLES OF THE HUMAN BODY. 











anatomy. 


29 


of the patella; 6, the long external lateral ligament; 4, 4, the syno¬ 
vial membrane; 5, the internal lateral ligament; 7, the anterior and 
superior ligament that unites the tibia with the fibula. 

Uses of the Bones. 

The bones are to the body what the frame is to the house. They 
hold up and retain the other parts in their proper places. They fur¬ 
nish points of attachment for the muscles, to hold the body together 
and to give it motion. They also furnish strong, bony cavities for 
the lodgment and protection of such delicate organs as the eye, the 
brain, and the heart. 

A single bone, examined by itself, might not seem to have much 
beauty or design about it; it might even look clumsy and misshapen. 
But when all the bones are inspected with reference to each other, 
we immediately discover a general plan upon which they are made, 
and are compelled to admire their beautiful harmony, and the sym¬ 
metrical grace with which they act. They show us that God can 
command our wonder, even in the bony frame of our bodies. 

The JTuscles. 

That part of the animal’s body which we call lean meat is com¬ 
posed of muscles. We have already explained that muscles are com¬ 
posed of threads, etc., put together in great numbers, forming bundles. 
So numerous are these threads and bundles in some cases, that the 
muscles which are composed of them have a strength truly wonderful. 

Toward the end of the muscle, the fibres cease, and the structure 
is so modified as to become a white cord of great density and strength. 
This cordy substance is fastened to the bone so strongly, that it is 
impossible, except in some rare cases,, to detach it. Generally the 
bone will sooner break than this attachment will give way. Some¬ 
times this cord spreads out like a membrane. It is then called 
or aponeurosis. 

The fibres of a muscle have the peculiar property of contracting 
under a nervous stimulus sent to them by the will. These contrac¬ 
tions cause them to act as pulleys, and to move the bones, and conse¬ 
quently the limbs and body, in such direction as the will commands. 
This is the special use of the muscles. All our movements are caused 
by them. They pull us about, not blindly and at a random, hut 
under the direction of an intelligent will. 

The manner in which a muscle acts, with the cord attached, may 
be seen by examining the leg or “ drum-stick ” of a fowl. If the cord 
on one side be pulled, the claws are shut; if that upon the other 
side be drawn, they will open. If both be pulled, they are held fast 
in one position, neither opening nor shutting. 

An examination of a piece of boiled lean meat will show the 


30 


ANATOMY. 


threads of which it is composed. With proper instruments, these may 
be unravelled, as it were, until fibres will be found not larger than a 
spider’s web. These, covered with sheaths of great delicacy, extend 
beyond the fleshy fibre, and with the cell-substance connecting the 
fibres, are condensed into tendon. 

Millions of these sheathed fibres are gathered into a bundle, and 
covered with a sheath, and thus form what is called a fasciculus. A 
muscle is a number of these fascicula made into a bundle, and cov¬ 
ered with a sheath called fascia (Fig. 1). 

The arm is a number of muscles bundled together, and covered, 
likewise, by a fascia. 

The fibres in a fasciculus being parallel, act together. But the 
fasciculous bundles which make up a muscle act in various ways. 

Shape of the Muscles. — Some muscles are fusiform or spindle- 
shaped, so that the attachment occupies but a 
small space (Fig. 20). 

Other muscles are radiate or fan-shaped (Fig. 
21). Such is the temporal muscle, the thin 
edge of which is attached to the side of the head, 
without producing an elevation or deformity. 

In some cases the fasciculi are arranged upon 
one or both sides of a tendon. In this way a 
great number may concentrate their action upon 

a single point. Such muscles are called penni- 
form., — being shaped like a feather (Fig. 22). 

In other instances, the fasciculi form circular 
muscles, — orhiculares., or sphincters., as 
they are called. These surround certain openings into the 
body, which they are designed to close, either in whole or 
in part. They surround the eyelids, the anus, the mouth fig. 23. 
of the womb, etc. (Fig. 23). 

In still other instances the fasciculi are ranged side by side in 

rings, forming muscular 
tubes. By the successive 
contraction of these rings, 
any substance is driven 
through the tube, — as food or drink through the gullet of a cow. 
Fig. 24 is a section of the gullet: a, 6, show the circular fibres; 
c?, the longitudinal. 

Sometimes the fasciculi curve around in parallel layers or inter¬ 
lace with each other, forming a bag or pouch. By the contraction 
of these fasciculi, the contents of the bag will be turned from side 
to side as in the case of the stomach, or driven out, as in that of the 
heart. Fig. 25 shows the muscles of the stomach : L, represents the 
fibres running in one direction ; c, in another ; E, lower end of gullet 
o, pvlorus; d, beginning of duodenum, or second stomach. 



Fig. 24. 




Fig. 22. 



Fig 21 



Fig. 20. 





.Redus, 

dbdominis 

■Externd! 

obli(jue 

—Tensor fasciae 
I femoris 

%•“ Pect/neus 


5terno - c/eido - mastoid 
- Trapezius 


- — Pectorafis major 


i.ll|l'^~*-£)ri'6/75<7/’ carpi 
radiaHs 
-•Extensor . 
communts 
di^itorum 


SM- -Pdductor /ongus 


—- 7/bialis an ficus 


F/exor carpi. 
ulnaris 

flexor carpi...A _ __ __ __ 

radiahs fW.W//\ 

E/cepe - i 

(or front arm' 

amicus ^ ’ 

Triceps - 

(or back arm') ^ ' ■" . 

Laiissimus dorsf 

oerratus may n us 

Sartor/US .-imilit^^ 

__ 

Pectus femoris 

Vastus externus 

\ 

Vastus internus 
Patella (or knee pan) 

i'jfM 

Tibia (or shm bone)- . 

Annu/ar Liyament — 


r— Gastrocnemius (or calf) 


— Flexor ton^us diyitoram 


■Extensor /onyus c/iyttorum 


The Muscles of the Human Body. 


COPYRIGHT 1905. 


PHYSICIANS PUBLISHING CO., BOSTON, MACS. 














Sterno -wastoid 
Splenius _capitis 


Trapezius *■ 


Txtensor carpi ^ 
radial is /ongior 
Extensor carpi 
radiatis brevior- 
Ex tensor communn 
digitorum 


Gluteus medius——' 

Biceps 
Semi-tendinosus -• 
Semimembranosus 


lon^us 


Posterior portion of' external obli(jue 


Tr/ceps 
--Deltoid 


- Teres minor 
— Teres major 


Infraspinatus 


Triceps 


Laiissimus dorsi 


- - Gluteus maximus 


$oleus—C 


- Vastus externus 


Gastrocnemius 


Tendon achiUk 


The Muscles of the Human Body. 


COPYRIGHT 1905., 


PHYSICIANS PUBLISHING CO., BOSTON. MASS. 












ANATOMY. 


33 


Number of Muscles. — The muscles of the body are as numerous 
as the ropes of a ship, — there being five hundred or more. Some 
anatomists reckon more, some less. 

They are divided into those of the head and neck^ those of the 
trunks those of the upper extremities^ and those of the lower extremi 
ties. 

They are too numerous to be named and individually described in 
this brief account of them. A part of them are voluntary, that is, 
under the control of the will; 
while another part are involun¬ 
tary, moving without reference to 
the will. The heart is of the 
latter kind, it being necessary for 
it to keep moving when the will 
and mind are asleep. 

On the back there are six 
layers of muscles, one above an¬ 
other. Such a number are neces¬ 
sary to perform the numerous 
movements of the back, neck, 
arms, etc. Every expression of the human face, as joy, sorrow, love, 
hate, hope, fear, etc., is produced by the gentle pulling of muscles, 
made expressly to indicate these emotions. 

The diaphragm is a large flat muscle, reaching across the great 
cavity of the body, and dividing the chest from the abdomen. It is 
penetrated by the gullet going to the stomach, and by the great 
blood-vessels leading to and from the heart. It is shaped like the 
cover of a dinner-dish, the convex surface being turned up. When 
the breath is drawn in, it sinks down towards a level, thus enlarging 
the chest at the expense of the belly. When the breath is thrown 
out, the reverse takes place. 




Mode of Action.— The contractihility of a muscle, of which I have 
spoken, is simply its power of shortening itself. The hand is raised 

5 by the shortening of a mus¬ 
cle in front, attached to the 
bone above the elbow, and 
to a bone below the elbow. 
The contraction of an an¬ 
tagonistic muscle behind^ 
also attached above and be¬ 
low the elbow, brings the 
hand back to its place. Fig. 
26 . 26 shows how all joints are 

moved: 1, is the bone of the arm above the elbow; 2, one of the 
bones below the elbow; 3, the muscle which bends the elbow; 4, 5, 
attachments of muscles to bones ; 6, the muscle that extends the 






34 


ANATOMY. 


elbow; 7, attachment to elbow; 8, weight in hand. The muscle, 8, 
contracts at*the central part, and brings the hand up to 9, 10. 

The complication, variety, and swiftness of motion, executed by 
muscles, are past conception. Every movement which a human be¬ 
ing makes, from the heavier motions of the farmer in cultivating his 
fields, up to the magic touches of the painter’s brush, and the method¬ 
ical frenzy with which the great master’s fingers sweep the piano, are 
ail made by muscles obeying an intelligent will. 

The Teeth. 

The teeth are not like other bones, either in composition, method 
of nutrition, or growth. When broken they do not unite, not being 
furnished with the necessary power of reproduction of lost parts. 

Both the upper and lower teeth are set into bony sockets, called 
alveolar processes. These, with the fibrous gums, give the teeth 
very firm setting. 

Origin.— The teeth have their origin in little membranous 
pouches within the bone of the jaw, which, in their interior, have a 
fleshy bud. From the surface of this the bone or ivory exudes. The 
tooth and the bony socket are developed and rise up together, — the 
former, when sufficiently long, pushing itself through the gum. 

Number.— The first set of teeth are only temporary, and are called 
milk-teeth. There are but twenty of them. Between the age of six 
and fourteen, these become loose, and drop out, and the permanent 
teeth appear in their places. Of these there are thirty-two, sixteen 
in each jaw. 

Names.— The four front teeth in each jaw, a, 5, Fig. 27, are the 
cutting teeth (incisors); the next one, <?, is an eye-tooth (cuspid); the 



Fig. 27. 


next two, d, e, are small grinders (bicuspids) ; the last three, /, 4, 

are grinders (molars). One appears late on each side, from the age 
of twenty to twenty-four, and is called wisdom tooth. 



ANATOMY. 


35 


Composition.— A tooth is composed of ivory and enamel. The 
internal part is ivory, which is harder than bone. The coating upon 
the surface is enamel^ which is still harder than ivory. That part 
which rises above the jaw-bone is called the crown ; it is this only 
which is covered with enamel. The part within the jaw is called the 
root or fang; this is composed of bony matter, through which small 
vessels pass in to nourish the tooth. Small white nerves also pass 
into the tooth, — of the presence of which we have terrible evidence 
in tooth-ache. 


Use of the Teeth. 

The incisors cut the food asunder; the molars break down its 
solid parts, and grind it to a fineness which fits it for the stomach. 

In masticating the food, the lower jaw has two movements, the up- 
and-down motion, like a pair of shears, and the lateral or grinding 
motion. These two movements are performed by different sets of 
muscles. Flesh-eating animals have only the up-and-down' motion; 
vegetable-eating animals have only the lateral or grinding motion; 
while man has both the up-and-down and the lateral. This seems 
a pretty clear intimation that he is to eat both flesh and vegetables. 

The teeth aid us in articulating words, and they give a roundness 
and symmetry to the lower part of the face. When well formed, and 
kept in good condition, they add much to the beauty of the face, and 
their decay is an irreparable loss. Their proper care and treatment 
are spoken of in another place. 

The Digestive Organs. 

The alimentary organs are the mouth, the teeth, the salivary glands, 
the pharynx, the gullet (oesophagus), stomach, bowels (intestines), 
chyle vessels (lacteals), thoracic duct, liver and sweetbread (pan¬ 
creas). 

The preparatory process of digestion, the mastication of food, 
takes place in the mouth, where the food is mixed with saliva, a se¬ 
cretion of the salivary glands. Of these glands there are six, three 
on each side. 

The Parotid Gland lies in front of the external ear. It has a duct 
opening into the mouth opposite the second molar tooth of the upper 
jaw. This is the gland that swells in the disease called mumps. 
Hence the disease is also called parotitis. 

The 5ubniaxillary Gland is inclosed within the lower jaw, in front 
of its angle. Its duct opens into the mouth by the side of the bridle 
of the tongue (fraanum linguae). 

On each side of this string or bridle, and under the mucous mem¬ 
brane of the floor of the mouth, lies the sublingual gland, which 
pours its saliva into the mouth, through seven or eight small ducts 


36 


ANATOMY. 



A disease called the frog consists in the swelling of this gland. 
Fig. 28: 1, the parotid gland; 2, its duct; 3, the submaxillary; 
® > i' 6 ^ . 5 ^ the sublm- 

gual. 

The Pharynx is a con¬ 
tinuation of the mouth, and 
is the cavity just below the 
soft palate. The two pas¬ 
sages going to the nose 
(posterior nares), the one 
going to the stomach 
(oesophagus), and the one 
going to the lungs (larynx 
and trachea; all meet in 
this cavity. In Fig. 29: 
1, is the trachea; 2, the 


28- larynx ; 3, the oesophagus ; 

4, 4, 4, muscles of pharynx; 5, muscles of the cheek; 6, the muscle 
which surrounds the mouth ; 7, the mus¬ 
cle forming the floor of the mouth. 

The Gullet or oesophagus is a long tube, 
descending behind the windpipe, the 
lungs, and the heart, through the dia¬ 
phragm into the stomach. It is composed 
of two membranes laid together, like two 
pieces of cloth. The inner one is mucous, 
the outer muscular. The two sets of 
fibres composing the muscular coat are 
arranged circularly and longitudinally 
(Fig. 26). 

The Stomach lies in the upper part of 
the belly, to the left, and directly under 
the diaphragm. It has an upper opening, 
where the stomach-pipe enters it, called 
the cardiac orifice. This is the larger end of the stomach, and lies 
on the left side; the smaller end connects with the upper bowel, at 
which point it has an opening called the pyloric orifice. In addition 
to mucous and muscular coats, similar to those which compose the 
oesophagus, the stomach has still another over both, a serous coat, 
very strong and tough, to give this working organ additional en¬ 
durance. Within, it has many glands to secrete the gastric juice. 



FlQ. 29. 


The Intestines, or alimentary tube., or bowels.^ are divided into the 
small and large intestines. 

The small intestine has a length of about twenty-five feet, and is 
divided into three parts, — the duodenum., the jejunum., and the ileum. 
Of these three divisions, the duodenum is the largest, and is about 






ANATOMY. 


37 


a foot in length. It begins at the pyloric orifice of the stomach, and 
passes backward to the under surface of the liver, whence it drops 
down perpendicularly in front of the right kidney, and passes across 
the belly behind the colon, and ends in the jejunum. 

The Jejunum continues the above, and terminates in the ileum. 

The Ileum is a continuation of jejunum., and opens, at an obtuse 
angle, near the haunch bone, into the colon. A valve is located here, 
to prevent the backward passage of substances from the colon into 
the ileum. 

At this point the large intestines begin, and here is situated the 
coecum., a blind pouch, or cul-de-sac, attached to which is the appenr 
iix vermiformis^ a worm-shaped tube, of the size of a goose-quill, and 
from one to six inches long. 

The Colon, or large intestine, is divided into the ascending colon., the 
transverse colon., and the descending colon. 

The Ascending Colon rises from the right haunch-bone to the under 
surface of the liver, whence it bends inward, and crosses the upper 
part of the belly, below the liver and stomach, to the left side. This 
portion which crosses over is the transverse colon. F'rom this point, 
on the left side, it turns down to the left haunch, and has the name 
of the descending colon. Here it makes a curve like the letter S, 
which is called the sigmoid flexure. 


The Rectum is the lo.wer portion of the large intestine, terminat¬ 
ing at the anus. 

The Lacteals are small vessels which begin in the villi, upon the 
mucous membrane of the small bowels. From here they pass be¬ 
tween membranes of the mesentery to small 
glands, from which larger vessels run to 
another collection of glands; and after 
passing, for a space, from one collection of 
glands to another, at each stage of their 
progress increased in size and diminished 
in number, the lacteals pour their contents i 
into the thoracic duct. This having passed I 
ip through the diaphragm, out of the I 
belly, makes a sudden turn downward and 
forward, and empties its burden into a 
large vein which ends in the right heart. 

Fig. 30: 1, is the bowel; 2, 3, 4, the 
mesenteric glands through which the lac- 
teals pass; 5, the thoracic duct; 7, the spinal column; 8, the 

of a magnifying glass, an infinite number of these 
small vessels may be seen starting from the rough, shaggy internal 
coat of the bowel. 



Fig. 30. 




38 


ANATOMY. 


The mesentery is a thick sheet of membrane, formed of several 
folds of the peritoneum, and spread out from the vertebrae like a lan. 
The bowels are attached to its edge, and are held by it in their place, 
and at the same time have free motion. Between its layers are a 
great number of glands, which sometimes become diseased and swol¬ 
len in childhood, and prevent the chyle from passing along to the 
thoracic duct. Thus affected, children are not nourished, and waste 
away with a disease sometimes called mesenteric consumption. 

The Liver is a large gland, lying under the short ribs on the right 
side, below the diaphragm. It is convex on the upper surface and 

concave on the under, and is 
composed of several lobes. Its 
office is to secrete bile. It 
weighs about four pounds, 
being the largest organ in the 
body. Fig. 31 represents the 
liver: 1, being the right lobe; 
2, left lobe; 3,4, smaller lobes; 
10, gall-bladder; 17, the notch 
into which the spinal column 
is fitted. 

The Gall-Bladder lies on 
the under side of the liver, and receives, it is supposed, the surplus 
bile, which is reserved for special occasions. It opens into the gall- 
duct, which carries the bile along, and pours it into the duodenum. 





Fig. 32. 


The Pancreas, Fig. 32, is a long, flat gland, something like the 
salivary glands. It lies transversely across the back wall of the ab¬ 
domen, behind the stomach. 

It secretes a colorless, al¬ 
kaline fluid called the fanr 
creatic juiee^ the office of 
which is to emulsify the 
different classes of food, 
so that the lacteals can ab¬ 
sorb it. This fluid is car¬ 
ried by a duct, and poured into the duodenum just where the bile- 
duct enters. 




The Spleen has an oblong, flattened form. It lies on the left 
side, just under the diaphragm, and close to the stomach and 
pancreas. It is supposed to be a reservoir for holding the surplus 
blood of the liver. It was thought by the ancients to be the seat of 
melancholy. The blood in passing through it loses a portion of its 
red globules. 

The Omentum or caul is a doubling and extension of the perito¬ 
neum. It is a kind of fatty body, which lies upon the surface of the 



ANATOMY. 


39 


bowels and is attached to the stomach. Its use seems to be to lubri¬ 
cate the bowels, and especially to protect and keep them warm. 
Hence it is often called the apron. 


The Urinary System. 

The organs of this system are devoted to separating the urine f:om 
the blood, and carrying it out of the body. These organs are the 
kidneys^ the ureters^ the bladder^ and the urethra. 

The Kidneys lie one on each side of the backbone, in the lumbar 
region, behind the peritoneum. They are four or five inches long, 
and two and a half broad. They are in shape like the kidney-bean, 
and weigh about half a pound each. In the centre there is a bag 
called the pelvis, which tapers like a funnel, and unites with the 
ureter which conveys the urine to the bladder. The texture of the 
kidney is dense, presenting in its interior two structures, an external 
or cortical, and an internal or medullary. The cortical portion has 
the blood-vessels, the medullary is composed of tubes which cany 
away the urine. 

The Ureters are membranous tubes of the size of a goose-quill, 
and eighteen inches long, which run down the back wall of the abdo¬ 
men, behind the peritoneum, to the bladder, into each side of which 
Vhey empty their contents. 

The Bladder is located in the pelvis, in front of the rectum. It is 
composed of three coats; the external is serous, the middle muscular, 
and the internal mucous. The external coat is strong and fibrous; 
the internal is drawn into wrinkles, which makes it thick and shaggy; 
it secretes a mucus which prevents it from being injured by the cor¬ 
rosiveness of the urine. The urine is retained in the bladder by 
means of a circular muscle, called a sphincter^ which draws the mouth 
of the organ together. When the quantity of urine is so increased 
as to give some uneasiness or pain, this muscle, by a sort of instinct, 
relaxes and lets it out. 

The bladder is attached to the rectum, to the hip-bones, to the 
peritoneum, and to the navel, by several ligaments. In the female 
the bladder has the womb between it and the rectum. 

This organ is wisely provided as a receptacle for the urine; which, 
without it, would produce a great inconvenience by being constantly 
dribbling away. 

The Urethra is a membranous canal which leads from the neck 
of the bladder. It is composed of two layers, a mucous and an elas¬ 
tic fibrous. Through this channel, which is curved in its course, the 
urine passes out of the body. 


40 


ANATOMY. 


The Respiratory Organs. 

These organs consist of the windpipe (trachea) ; divisions any 
subdivisions of the windpipe (bronchia) ; air-cells; ana the lungs or 
lights. 

The Windpipe (trachea) extends from the larynx —the seat of the 
voice—to the third dorsal vertebra, where it divides into two tubes, 
called bronchia. It runs down the front part of the throat, with the 
oesophagus behind and between it and the spinal column. It is com¬ 
posed mainly of rings of cartilage, one above another. 

The Bronchial Tubes are, at the division of the windpipe, two in 
number, but they divide and subdivide until they become very nu¬ 
merous. 

The Air-Cells or Vesicles are small, bladder-like expansions at the 
ends of the tubes. They are elastic and swell out when the air 
passes in. 

The Lungs fill the greater part of the chest, the heart being the 
only other organ which occupies much space in the cavity. The 
size of these organs is large or small, according to the capacity of the 
chest. Each lung — for there are two — is a kind of cone, with its 
base resting upon the diaphragm, and its apex behind the collar-bone. 
They are concave on the bottom, to fit the diaphragm, which is con¬ 
vex on its upper side. 

The right and left lungs are separated from each other by a parti¬ 
tion called the mediastinum^ formed by two portions of the pleura, a 
smooth serous membrane coming off from the spine and closely en¬ 
veloping each lung; the heart, covered by the pericardium, lies 
in the centre, between them. The right lung is divided into three 
lobes; the left into two. 

Each lobe of the lungs is divided into a great many lobules., which 
are connected by cellular tissue. These lobules are again divided 
into very fine air-cells. Besides these, the substance of the lungs is 
composed likewise of blood-vessels and lymphatics, and is well sup¬ 
plied with nerves. 

In the foetal state, before the lungs have been filled with air, they 
are solid and heavy, something like other flesh, but after all their 
cells have been filled with air, and breathing has been established, 
they are exceedingly light and spongy, and float upon water. 

In cases where infanticide is suspected, and where it is desirable 
to know whether the child was still-born., or born alive and killed 
afterwards, the specific gravity of the lungs, compared with water, 
will often settle the question. 


ANATOMY. 


41 


The Organs of Circulation. 


The food having been digested, changed to chyle, absorbed by the 
iacteals, carried to the veins, poured into the right heart, sent up to 
the lungs, and prepared for nourishing the body, will still be useless, 
if not distributed to every part of the system. The organs for ef¬ 
fecting this distribution are the hearty the arteries^ the veins^ and the 
capillaries. 


The Heart is placed obliquely in the chest, with one lung on each 
side, and is enclosed between the two folds of the mediastinum Its 
form is something like a cone. Its base is turned upward and back¬ 
ward in the direction of the right shoulder; the apex forward and to 
the left, occupying the space between the fifth and sixth ribs, about 
three inches from the breasf>-bone. It is surrounded by a membranous 
case or sac, called the pericardium. 

The heart is a muscular body, and has its fibres so interwoven that 
it is endowed with great strength. It is a double organ, having two 
sides, a right and a left, which are divided from each other by a mus¬ 
cular partition, called a septum. The right heart sends the blood to 
the lungs ; the left heart distributes it to the general system. Each 
side is divided into two compartments, an auricle and a ventricle. 

The Auricles have thinner walls than the ventricles, being only 
reservoirs to hold the blood until the ventricles force it along to other 
parts. 

The Ventricles have within them fleshy columns, called columnce 
carneoe. The walls of the left ventricle are thicker than those of the 
right, being required to contract with more force. Each of the four 
cavities will contain from one and a half to two ounces of blood. 


The Tricuspid valves are situated between the auricle and ventricle 
on the right side, and consist of three folds of a thin, triangular 
membrane. The mitral valves occupy the same position on the left 
side. Small white cords, called chordce tendince, 
pass from the floating edge of these to the 
columnee carnese, to prevent the backward press¬ 
ure of the blood from carrying the valves into 
the auricles. 


The pulmonary artery is the outlet of the 
right ventricle; the larger artery, called aorta, 
of the left ventricle. At the opening of these 
arteries are membranous folds, called semilunar 
valves. Fig. 33 gives a fine view of the heart: 

1, is the right auricle ; 2, the left auricle; 3, the 
right ventricle; 4, the left ventricle; 6, 6, 7, 8, 

9, 10, the vessels which bring the blood to and carry it away from 

the heart. 



Fig. 33. 


42 


ANATOMY. 


The Arteries are the round tubes which carry the red blood from 
the left side of the heart to every part of the body. 

The sides of arteries are stiff and hard, and do not fall together 
when empty. They may often be seen open in a piece of boiled beef. 

The arteries have three coats,— an external, which is cellular, firm 
and strong; a middle, which is fibrous and elastic; and an internal, 
which is serous and smooth, being a continuation of the lining of 
the heart. They are surrounded by a cell vestment called a sheath^ 
which separates them from surrounding organs. 

The Pulmonary Artery starts from the right ventricle in front of 
the opening of the aorta, and ascends to the under surface of the 
aortic arch, where it parts into two branches, sending one to the right, 
the other to the left lung. Having divided and subdivided to a great 
extent, they end in the capillary vessels, uniting, joining their mouths, 
and becoming continuous with the pulmonary veins just where they 
pass around the air-cells. 

The Aorta is the largest artery in the body. It takes a slight turn 
in the chest, called the arch of the aorta^ from which are given off the 
arteries which carry the blood to the head, etc.; thence it descends 
into the belly along the side of the backbone, and at the bottom of 
the abdomen it divides into two arteries, called the iliac% — one going 
to each of the lower limbs. The branches the aorta gives off a supply 
of red blood to every part of the body. 

The Veins carry the dark or purple blood. Being made red and 
vital by meeting atmospheric air in the lungs, and then conveyed to 
every part of the body in the arteries, the blood loses its redness in 
the capillaries, and comes back to the heart in the veins, dark and 
purple, and unfit to support life. The veins are more numerous and 
nearer the surface than the arteries. They have, likewise, thinnei 
walls, and when empty, they collapse or fall together. They begin 
in the small capillaries, and running together, they grow larger and 
larger, and finally form the great trunks which pour the dark blood 
into the right auricle. The veins are composed of three coats, simi¬ 
lar to those of the arteries, with the exception of being thinner and 
more delicate. These vessels have valves all along their inner sur¬ 
face, to aid in circulating the blood. 

The large vein which receives all the dark blood from above, and 
pours it into the right auricle, is called the vena cava descendens ; the 
one which takes it from below, and disposes of it in the same manner, 
is the vena cava ascendens. 

The pulmonary veins bring the red blood from the lungs to the left 
auricle, and thus are exceptional in their use, — being the only veins 
which carry red blood. 

The Capillaries are the extremely fine network of vessels between 
the ends of the arteries on the one side, and of the veins on the other. 


ANATOMY. 


43 


They inosculate, or join their mouths to the very small arteries at 
one end, and to the equally small veins at the other. They are the 
industrious little builders of the human frame. Keceiving the blood, 
red, and full of life, from the terminal extremities of the arteries' 
they take the living particles out of it, and apply them to the renewing 
and vitalizing of the^ body, and then pass it along into the hair-like 
beginnings ot the vein^^, dark and bereft of vitality, to be carried up 
tor another freight of chyle, and to be again vitalized by being touched 
in the lungs by the breath of heaven. 

In Fig. 34 we have a good ideal illustration of the whole circu¬ 
lation. From the right ventricle of the heart, 2, the dark blood is 
thrown into the pulmonary ar¬ 
tery, 3, and its branches, 4, 4, 
carry it to both lungs. In the 
capillary vessels, 6, 6, the blood 
comes in contact with the air, 
and becomes red and vitalized. 

Thence it is returned to the left 
auricle of the heart, 9, by the 
veins, 7, 8. Thence it passes 
into the left ventricle, 10. A 
forcible contraction of this 
sends it forward into the aorta, 

11. Its branches, 12, 13, 13, 
distribute it to all parts of the 
body. The arteries terminate 
in the capillaries, 14, 14. Here 
the blood loses its redness, and 
goes back to the right auricle, 

1, by the vena cava descendens, 

15, and the vena cava ascend- 
ens, 16. The tricuspid valves, 

17, prevent the reflow of the 
blood from the right ventricle 
to the right auricle. The semi¬ 
lunar valves, 18, prevent the 
blood from passing back from the pulmonary artery to the right 
ventricle. The mitral valves, 19, prevent its being forced back from 
the left ventricle to the left auricle. The semilunar valves, 20, pre¬ 
vent the backward flow from the aorta to the left ventricle. 

By a careful examination of this diagram, with these explanations, 
the reader may understand the circulation very well. 

The passage of the blood from the right heart, through the lungs, 
and back to the left heart, is called the lesser^ or pulmonic circulation; 
its passage from the left heart through all parts of the body, and back 
to the right heart, is the greater or systematic circulation. 



44 


ANATOMY. 


The Absorbent Vessels. 


The vessels which absorb the chyle from the small intestines, and 
convey it onward towards the blood, are the lacteals. They have 
been described. The veins are also supposed to have the power of 

absorption, particularly the small 
commencements of the veins. 
These have likewise been de¬ 
scribed. 




The Lymphatic vessels resemble the lacteals. They abound in the 
skin, the mucous membranes, 
and the lungs. They are 
very small at their origin, 
and, like the veins, they in¬ 
crease in size, as they dimin¬ 
ish in numbers. Like the 
veins, too, they travel to¬ 
wards the heart, and their 


Fig. 36. 


Fig. 37. 


contents are poured into it. 
Their walls are composed of 
two coats; the external is 
cellular, and distensible ; the 
internal is folded into valves, 
like that of the veins. 

These vessels, on their 
way to the heart, pass 
through soft bodies, called 
lymphatic glands^ which bear 
to them the relation that the 
mesenteric glands do to the 


Fig. 38, 












ANATOMY. 


45 


lacteals. These glands are a collection of small vessels. The 
lymphatic glands are most numerous in the neck, chest, abdomen, 
arm-pits, and groins. They are also found, to some extent, in other 
parts of the body. Fig. 35 shows a single lymphatic vessel, much 
magnified; Fig. 36 exhibits the valves along one of the lymphatic 
trunks; Fig. 37 shows a lymphatic gland with the vessels piissing 
thi'ough it. 

Fig. 38 represents the lymphatic vessels and glands. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 
6, show these vessels of the lower limbs; 7, the inguinal glands; 8, 
the commencement of the thoracic duct, into which the contents of 
lymphatic are poured; 9, the lymphatics of the kidneys; 10, those 
of the stomach ; 11, those of the liver; 12, 12, those of the lungs; 
13, 14, 15, those of the arm; 16, 17, 18, those of the face and neck; 
19, 20, the large veins ; 21, the thoracic duct;- 26, the lymphatics of 
the heart. 

A cold will often cause lymphatic glands to swell. These swell¬ 
ings are called kernels. They often swell, also, without the irritation 
from cold, and become very much and permanently enlarged, particu¬ 
larly in scrofula. In scrofulous subjects they sometimes suppurate 
and break, forming bad sores upon the neck. 


The Organs of Secretion. 

The exhalants,, the follicles,, and the glands are the organs of secre^ 
tion. 

The Exhalants are the sweat-glands. These have external termi¬ 
nations upon the skin, thus communicating with the air, and internal 
terminations upon the surfaces of organs not having an outward ex¬ 
posure. 

The Follicles are small sacs, located in ithe true skin and mucous 
membranes. The pores of the skin are the mouths or outlets of these 
little bags. Veins and organic nerves are sent to these vessels. 

Glands are soft organs, having a variety of structure, and perform 
ing many kinds of secretion. A gland is made up of several lobules, 
united in one mass, and each of these lobules 
has a small duct, communicating with a 
main duct which forms the outlet. Fig. 39 
shows a gland ; 2, the small ducts spread 
through its body, and running together; 

1, the large duct, through which the secreted 
substance is carried away. 

The mesenteric and lymphatic glands 
merely modify the fluids which pass through 
them; others secrete from the blood either 
fluids to be used in the body, or such as are to be cast away. 



46 


ANATOMY. 


The Vocal Organs. 

No sounds touch the heart like those of the human voice, for no 
mechanic, however scientific and skilful, has ever been able to make 
an instrument which could produce sounds as beautiful, tones as 
varied, a timbre as melodious, and inflexions as manifold and agree¬ 
able. It has been compared to wind, reed and stringed instruments. 
In touching expression, it is mc»st resembled by the concert-horn, the 
bassoon, and the hautboy. 

Vocal sounds, past all question, are produced in the larnyx^ but 
these sounds are grouped^ or formed into articulate speech, by the 
pharynx, the nasal cavities, the tongue, the teeth, etc. 

The Larynx is a kind of cavity or tube at the top of the windpipe, 
formed by the union of five cartilages, namely, the thyroid^ the cricoid^ 
the two arytenoid^ and the epiglottis. Ligaments bind these together, 
and muscles move them. 

The Thyroid Cartilage is composed of two parts, and has a con¬ 
nection with the bone of the tongue above, and with the cricoid car¬ 
tilage below. 

The Cricoid Cartilage is shaped like a ring, and hence its Greek 
name. It is narrowest in front, and broadest behind. It connects 
with the thyroid cartilage 
above, and with the first ring 
of the trachea below. Fig. 40 
gives a side view of the car¬ 
tilages of the larynx : 1, bone 
at the base of the tongue (os 
hyoides) : 2, the ligament con¬ 
necting hyoid bone and the 
thyroid cartilage ; 3, the front 
of the thyroid cartilage ; 4, the 
thyroid cartilage ; 6, the cri¬ 
coid cartilage; 7, the wind¬ 
pipe. 

Fig. 41 is a back view of 

the cartilages and ligaments of the larynx : 1, is the back surface 
of the epiglottis; 3, 3, the os hyoides ; 4, 4, the lateral ligaments 
connecting the os hyoides and the thyroid cartilage; 5, 5, the back 
face of the thyroid cartilage; 6, 6, the arytenoid cartilages; 7, the 
cricoid cartilage; 8, the first ring of the windpipe. 

The Arytenoid Cartilages are upon the back part of the cricoid, 
and are connected with the thyroid cartilage by the vocal cords. 

The Epiglottis is a fibro-cartilaginous lid, shaped like a leaf, which 
covers the upper opening of the larynx. It is connected by a carti- 




anatomy. 


47 


lage to tlie bone of the tongue (os hyoides) and to the thyroid carti¬ 
lage. Breathing opens and shuts it; and in swallowing, it closes 
down upon the top of the larynx, to prevent food and drink from 
passing down the windpipe. 

The Vocal Cords are two ligaments, formed of elastic and parallel 
fibres, enclosed in a fold of mucous membrane. They are about two 
lines in width, and inserted behind into the 
anterior projection of the arytenoid car¬ 
tilages, and passing forward, are fixed to 
the anterior angle of the thyroid. There 
are four ligaments crossing the larynx, 
two superior and two inferior, — the lat¬ 
ter being called vocal cords. The interval 
between them is the glottis. The liga¬ 
ments themselves are sometimes called 
the lips of the glottis. The depression be¬ 
tween the superior and inferior ligaments 
is the ventricle of the larynx. 

Fig. 42 represents a view of the larynx 
from above : a, <?, the thyroid cartilage, enclosing the ring of the 
cricoid; A, A, e, e, the arytenoid cartilages connected by the trans¬ 
verse arytenoid muscle ; ^, the vocal cords ; c, o, the crico-arytenoid 
ligaments. 

The muscles which are attached to the cartilages have the power 
of pulling them about so as to change in various ways the shape of 
the laryngeal cavity; to enlarge or diminish the size of the glottis : 
and to relax or tighten the vocal cords. By these means, and some 
others, the sounds of the voice receive their various modifications. 
Tightening the cords, for example, raises the pitch. 



The Skin. 

The skin is a membrane composed of two layers, covering the 
entire person. The outer layer is the scarf-skin or cuticle ; the inner 
is the true skin or cutis or corium. These layers differ in their struc¬ 
ture and uses. 

The Scarf-Skin, called also cuticle and epidermis, is a thin mem¬ 
brane, partially transparent, like a thin shaving of horn. Having no 
blood-vessels or nerves, and consequently no feeling, it appears to be 
a simple covering to protect the true skin from injury by external 
agents. It is thickest on those parts most exposed to friction. 

The scarf-skin is the production of the true skin, — an exudation 
from it in the shape of a fluid which is spread out as a thin layer, 
and dries up into flattened scales. The cuticle is composed chiefly 
of these scales, and is constantly being rubbed off as scurf, while 
new layers are forming underneath. 


48 


ANATOMY. 


The lower, softer layer of the scarf-skin, called the malpigUan 
layer, or rete mucosum^ is the seat of color. In this part the cells 
contain a pigment incorporated with the elementary granules, which 
gives to the various races their several shades of color. The depth 
of hue is dependent entirely on the amount of this coloring matter. 


The True Skin, which is called cutis, derma or corium, is a kind of 
web, woven of small fibres collected into strands. In the upper por¬ 
tion, the web is fine and firm, but grows coarser below. Connected 

/ / / 



Fig. 43, 



Fig. 44. 


with its under surface is a fibrous web in which the fat is deposited. 
Upon its upper surface is the sensitive or papillary layer, composed 
of blood-vessels and nerves, doubled into loops, which give little 
prominences called papillae. Fig. 43 gives an ideal view of these 
elevations, composed as they are, of a nerve, an 
artery, and a vein, lying side by side; 1, 1, 
represent the true skin; 2, 2, the papillary 
layer; 3, 3, the arteries; 4, 4, the veins; and 
5, 5, the nerves of the papillae. 

The arteries, veins, and nerves are spread 
over the true skin in great numbers, — so pro¬ 
fusely, that it is impossible to push the point of 
the finest needle into it, without piercing a 
blood-vessel and a nerve. 

Fig. 44 gives a view of the skin: a, a, the 
cuticle; 5, h, the colored layer of the cuticle; 
c, (?, d, d, the true skin; e, e, e, fat-cells ; /, /, /, 
sweat-tubes. 

The lymphatics are very numerous in the skin, besides which there 
are oil-glands and tubes, and sweat-glands and tubes. 



Fig. 45. 


The Oil-Glands are imbedded in the skin, and communicate with 
the surface by small tubes. They are most abundant on the face, 




















ANATOMY. 


49 


nose and ears. Fig. 45 shows an oil-gland, — a, being the gland, 5, 
the tube, and <?, its mouth. 

1 2 



3 2 Fig. 46. 

The Sweat-Apparatus consists of small tubes which pass down 
through the true skin, and terminate in the meshes at the bottom, 
where it coils upon itself into a kind of bundle, called the perspira¬ 
tory gland. Fig. 46 gives one of these tubes, with the gland, mag¬ 
nified forty diameters: 1, being the coiled tube or gland; 2, 2, the 
two excretory ducts from the gland. These uniting form one spiral 
tube, which opens at 4, which is the surface of the cuticle; 3, are the 
fat-cells. 

The hair and the nails are appendages of the skin. 


The Nervous System. 

The Nervous System consists of the brain and spinal cord^ con¬ 
nected with each other, and called the cerebrospinal axis ; the cranial 
nerves ; the spinal nerves and the sympathetic nerve. 

The Brain is that mass of nervous matter lodged within the skull- 
bones. It is made up of three prin¬ 
cipal parts, — the cerebrum.^ the cere¬ 
bellum., and the medulla oblongata. 

These are nicely covered and pro¬ 
tected by three membranes, the dura 
mater., the arachnoid., and the pia 
mater. 

Fig. 47 shows a considerable por¬ 
tion of the brain, — the skull-bones 
and membranes being removed. 

The scalp turned down is repre¬ 
sented by A, A; E, E, E, show the cut 
edge of the bones; c, is the dura 
mater, drawn up with a hook; F, 
the convolutions of the brain. 

The Cerebrum is the upper and 
larger portion of the brain, and is 
















50 


ANATOMY. 


divided into two hemispheres by a fissure. A portion of the dwra 
mater dips into this cleft, and from its resemblance to a sickle, is 
called th^falx cerebri. The design of this seems to be to support 
each half of the brain, and to prevent it from pressing upon the other 
half when the head reclines to one side. 

The undulating surface of the cerebrum is produced by what are 
called convolutions. The lower surface of this organ is divided into 
three lobes, — the anterior, the middle, and the posterior. 

The surface of the cerebrum is of a gray color, called cortical,, or 
cineritious; the central portion is white and fibrous, and is called 
medullary. 

The Cerebellum is about one-sixth the size of the cerebrum. It 
lies just under the posterior lobe of the cerebrum, and is separated 
from it by an extension of the dura mater, called the tentorium. It 
is composed of white and gray matter; when the former is cut into, 
there is presented the appearance of the trunk and branches of a tree,, 
called arbor vitce. 

The Medulla Oblongata is the top of the spinal cord; but being 
within the enclosure of the skull, it passes for a portion of the brain. 
It consists of three pairs of bodies, united so as to form a bulb. 

The Dura Mater is a strong, fibrous membrane which lines the 
skull and spinal column, and sends processes inward to support the 
brain, and forward, as sheaths for the nerves which go out from the 
brain and spinal cord. 

The Arachnoid is a serous membrane, and like all other serous 
membranes, is a closed sac. It is reflected upon the inner surface of 
the dura mater. 

The Pia Mater is a vascular membrane, and lies next to and in¬ 
vests the whole surface of the 
brain, — dipping into its con¬ 
volutions. It furnishes nu¬ 
triment to the brain. 

The Cranial Nerves which 
go out from the brain are in 
twelve pairs. In reading a 
description of them, let the 
reader keep his eye on Fig. 48. 

The First Pair, olfactory 
(6), passes through several 
small openings in the ethmoid 
bone, and is distributed to 
the mucous membrane which 
lines the nose. Destroy this, 
and the sense of smell is gone. 



Fig 48. 


ANATOMY. 


51 


The Second Pair, optic nerve (7), passes through the ase of the 
skull, and enters the cavity of the eye where it is expanded upon the 
retina. It is a disease of this nerve which occasions a gradual loss 
of sight, called amaurosis. 

The Third Pair, motores oculorum (9), passes through the sphe¬ 
noid bone to the muscles of the eye. 

The Fourth Pair, patheticus (10), passes to the superior oblique 
muscle of the eye. 

The Fifth Pair, trifacial nerve (11), like the spinal nerves, has two 
roots, and divides into three branches, one going to the eye, forehead, 
and nose, called the ophthalmic branch; another going to the eye, 
the teeth of the upper jaw, etc., called the superior maxillary; and 
the third going to the ear, the tongue, and the teeth of the lower 
jaw, and called the inferior maxillary. It is a painful condition of 
the branches of the fifth pair which constitutes the terrible neuralgic 
affection called tic-douloureux. 

The Sixth Pair, abducentes (12), passes the opening by which the 
carotid artery enters the cavity of the skull, and goes to the external 
straight muscle of the eye. 

The Seventh Pair, portio mollis (13), is distributed upon the in¬ 
ternal ear. 

The Eighth Pair, facial nerve (14), is distributed over the face. 
It sends nervous filaments to the muscles. 

The Ninth Pair, glosso-pharyngeal nerve (14), passes through the 
same opening with the jugular vein, and is distributed upon the mu¬ 
cous membrane of the tongue and throat. 

The Tenth Pair, pneumogastric nerve (15), sends its branches to 
the pharynx, larynx, gullet, lungs, spleen, pancreas, liver, stomach, 
and bowels. 

The Eleventh Pair, spinal accessory nerve (16), connects with the 
ninth and tenth pairs, and is distributed to the muscles of the neck. 

The Twelfth Pair, hypo-glossal nerve (17), goes to the tcngue, 
and is its motion-producing nerve. It is a nerve of great energy in 
those who talk much. 

The Spinal Cord extends from the medulla oblongata, where it is 
in connection with the brain, down to the second lumbar vertebra. 
The upper end of the cord presents a bulbous swelling, or enlarge¬ 
ment. Another swelling is found where the nerves are given ofi 
which go to the upper extremities; and a third near the end of the 
cord, where the nerves begin which go to the lower extremities. 

Fissures dip into the cord before and behind, and divide it into 
two lateral parts, which are united by a thin layer of white substance. 

These lateral columns are divided by furrows into anterior.^ lateral., 


52 


ANATOMY. 


and posterior columns; — the anterior being supposed to be the motor 
column, the posterior that of senscLtion^ and the lateral divided in 
function between motion and sensation. 

The Spinal Nerves, connecting with the cord, are in pairs, of 
which there are thirty-one. Each pair has two roots,—a motor root. 


C, Fig. 49, arising 
from the anterior 
columns of the 
cord, and a sensi¬ 
tive root, D, spring¬ 
ing from the pos¬ 
terior columns. A, 
is a section of the 
cord, surrounded 
by its sheath. B, 
is the spinal nerve, 
formed by the 



B 


Fig. 49. 


union of the motor and sensitive roots. After the union, the nerve, 
with its motor and its sensitive filaments, divides and subdivides 
as it passes on, arid is distributed to the tissues of the several 
organs. 

The thirty-one pairs of spinal nerves are divided into efglit pairs of 
cervical^ twelve pairs of dorsal^ five pairs of lumbar^ and six pairs of 
sacral nerves. 

Fig. 50 gives a view of the brain and spinal cord, with the nerves 
given off by the latter: 1, 1, being the two hemispheres of the brain; 
3, 3, the cerebellum; 4, the olfactory nerve; 5, the optic; 7, the 
third pair; 8, the pons varolii, so called ; 9, the fourth pair; 10, the 
lower portion of the medulla oblongata; 11, 11, the spinal cord; 12, 
the spinal nerves; 13, 13, the brachial plexus; 14, 14, the lum¬ 
bar and sacral plexus. 

The Brachial Plexus is formed by the interlacing of the four lower 
cervical and upper dorsal pairs of nerves. It gives off six nerves, 
which are distributed to the muscles and skin of the upper extremi¬ 
ties. 

The Lumbar and 5acral Plexus is formed by the last dorsal and 
five lumbar nerves, from which nerves go to the muscles and skin of 
the lower extremities, and the last lumbar and four sacral, from 
which nerves are sent to the muscles and skin of the hips and lower 
extremities. 

The Sympathetic Nerve consists of a series of knots (ganglia), 
lying along on each side of the spinal column, and forming a knotted 
chain. There is a knot for each intervertebral space, the neck ex¬ 
cepted. These knots are composed of both cineritious and medullary 
matter. 















ANATOMY. 


53 


Each knot is a distinct centre, and gives off branches upward, 
downward, externally, and internally. All the internal organs are 



Fig. 61. 


supplied with branches from the S 3 anpathetic nerve. It is called the 
nerve of organic life, and is supposed to 
preside over nutrition, secretion, etc., as the 
nerves of the brain and cord preside over 
motion and sensation. 

Fig. 51 is a fine representation of the 
great sympathetic, with its knots, and con¬ 
nections with other nerves. A, A, A, is 
the semilunar ganglion and solar plexus, 

^ying just under the diaphragm and behind the stomach. Its pres¬ 
ence in this region is the reason why a blow upon the pit of the 
stomach sometimes destroys life. D, D, D, are the thoracic ganglia; 
E, E, the external and internal branches of the same; G, F, the 
right and left coronary plexus upon the heart; I, N, Q, the inferior, 
middle, and superior cervical ganglia; l,the renal plexus around the 



Fig. 62. 









54 


ANATOMY. 


kidneys; 2, the lumbar ganglion; 3, the internal branches : 4, the 
external branches ; 5, the aortic plexus. 

Fig. 52 represents a plexus, showing how the filaments of one 
nerve pass to be enclosed in the sheath of another. In this way they 
change at once the direction of their journey, and their companions 
upon the way. 

The Organs of Sight. 

The organs of vision are the optic nerve, the globe of the eye, the 
muscles of the eye, and the organs of protection. 

The Optic Nerve begins by two roots at the base of the brain, the 
fibres from wliich meet, as they come forward, and some of them cross 

each other. The two nerves then sepa¬ 
rate, and enter the back part of the 
globe of the eyes, and then spread out 
into a kind of membrane. In Fig. 53: 
1, 1, show the globe of the eye ; 2, the 
crossing of the optic nerve; 8, the 
origin of two pairs of cranial nerves. 

The Globe of the Eye is a better 
constructed optical instrument than 
man ever made. Its interior is filled 
with what are called refracting humors 
Fig. 53. or mediums, which are surrounded and 

held in their place by membranes, called coats. 

The Coats are the sclerotic and cornea ; the choroid, iris, and ciliary 
processes ; and the retina. 

The Sclerotic Coat is a fibrous membrane, covering the largest 
portion of the globe. To this the muscles are attached. It is the 
part which is called the white of the eye. It has a beveled edge in 
front, into which the cornea is fitted. 

The Cornea is a transparent layer which projects in front, and forms 
about one-fifth of the globe. It is shaped like a watch-glass. Its 
blood-vessels are too small to receive the red particles of blood. 

The Choroid Coat is a vascular membrane. Its color is brown ex¬ 
ternally, and black within. It is connected with the sclerotic coat 
externally, and internally with the retina. It is composed of three 
layers. 

The Iris is named from its having a variety of colors in different 
persons. It is the partition between the anterior and posterior cham¬ 
bers of the eye, and has a circular opening in the centre called the 
pupil. Of its two layers, the fibres of the anterior one are radiating, 
and dilate the pupil, while those of the other are circular, and cause 
its contraction. 




ANATOMY. 


55 


The Ciliary Processes are a number of folds formed from the im 
ternal layer of the choroid coat. 



The Retina has three layers. The external is extremely thin ; the 
middle is nervous, being an expansion of the optic nerve ; the in¬ 
ternal is vascular, and consists of a ramification of minute blood 
vessels. 

The divided edge of their coats may be seen in Fig. 54, namely, 
the sclerotic, the choroid, and the retina: 2, is the pupil; 3, the 
iris; 4, the ciliary process; 5, the scolloped border of the retina. 


Fiq. 51 


Fig. 66, 

The Humors of the Eye are the aqueous^ the crystalline^ and the 
vitreous. 

The Aqueous or watery humor is situated in the chambers of xhe 
eye. It is an albuminous fluid, with an alkaline reaction, and a spe¬ 
cific gravity a little greater than distilled water. 

The Crystalline Humor is immediately behind the pupil. It is a 
Zgws, and is convex both on the posterior and the anterior surface. 

The Vitreous Humor is also an albuminous fluid something like the 
aqueous humor, but more dense. 

In Fig. 55 we have in E a good view of the cornea fitted into the 
sclerotic coat; A, is the choroid; B, the pigmentum nigrum, C, 
the retina; K, the vitreous humor; D, the optic nerve; I, the lens; 
C, the Iris, painted on the backside with pigment; F, the aqueous 
humor. 

The muscles of the eye, six in number, are attached to the bones 
of the orbit behind, and to the cornea in front, by their tendons. 
These tendons give the eye its pearly appearance. In Fig. 56, 
five of the muscles are indicated by a, 5, t?, iZ, e; /, is the optic 
nerve. 

If the internal muscle be too short, the eye is drawn in towards 
the nose, and the sq^uinting called ‘‘ cross-eye ” is produced. 



56 


ANATOMY. 


The Orbits are bony sockets which enclose the eye. The optic 
nerve passes through a large hole at the bottom. 

The Eyebrows are the projecting arches above, covered with short 
hair. They prevent the sweat from running down into the eyes, and 
also shade them from strong light. 

The Eyelids are the curtains which rise and fall in front. The 
smooth membrane which lines them is called the conjunctiva. It 
secretes a fluid which makes the eyelids open and shut easily. 



The Lachrymal Gland is at the upper and outer angle of the 
orbit. Several small ducts open from it upon the upper eyelid, 
through which the tears run down upon the conjunctiva. 

The Lachrymal Canals begin near the 'internal angle of the eye, 
by two small-tear points, which communicate with the sac at the 
upper part of the nasal duct. 

The Nasal Duct is a canal ^bout three-quarters of an inch long, 
which runs down to the inferior channel of the nose. 

Fig. 57 shows these organ : 1, being the lachrymal gland ; 2, the 

ducts leading to the upper eyelid; 3, 3, the tear-points (puncta 
lachrymalis); 4, the nasal sac ; 5, the termination of the nasal duct. 

The Organs of Hearing. 

The External Ear is composed of the pavilion of the ear (the pinna), 
and the auditory canal (the meatus auditorius externus). 

The Pinna surrounds the entrance to the auditory canal. It stands 
out from the head, and is in common language called the ear. 

The fleatus Auditorius in a canal about an inch long, partly bony 
and partly cartilaginous, which goes from the pavilion of the ear to 
the drum of the ear. 

The Drum of the Ear (membraha tympani) is an oval-shaped thin 
membrane, inserted into a groove around the auditory canal. 




ANATOMY. 


57 


The rympanum is a cavity within the temporal bone. 

The Eustachian Tube is a 

channel of communication be¬ 
tween the tympanum and the 
upper part of the pharynx. 

The object of this is to convey 
air to the drum of the ear, as 
without air no sound can be 
produced. 

The Labyrinth is a series of 
chambers through the petrous 
bone — embracing the vestibule^ 
a three-cornered cavity within 
the tympanum; the semi-circu¬ 
lar canals^ communicating with 
the vestibule, and the cochlea^ 
which makes two and a half turns around an axis, called the 

modiolus. 

In Fig. 58, a, is the pa¬ 
vilion of the ear; <?, the 
auditory canal; the mem- 
brana tympani; the tym¬ 
panum ; e, the bones of the 
ear ; 5, the semicircular ca 
nals ; /, the cochlea; A, the 
vestibule ; ^, the eustachian 
tube; d, the auditory nerve. 

In Fig. 59, we have a 
view of the labyrinth laid 
open, and highly magnified: 
1, 1, being the cochlea; 2, 
3, the channels that wind 
around the central point 
(5); 7, 7, the vestibule; 8, 
the foramen rotundum; 9, 
the fenestra ovalis; 4, 6, 10, the semicircular canals. 





HYGIENE 


Physiological Laws of Life and Health 


It is absolutely necessary that every person should be conversant 
with Hygficnc, to understand the laws of health. 




PHYSIOLOGICAL LAWS OF LIFE AND 
HEALTH. —HYGIENE. 


Life, the Infancy of Being. 

It may be stated as a general truth that man has but just learned 
to live when he is ready to die. We expend a large portion of our 
lives in searching out our mistakes, and in striving to undo the mis¬ 
chiefs they have occasioned. This is true in reference both to our 
moral and our physical life ; and I draw from it the conclusion that 
the present must be only the infancy of our being, and that our blun¬ 
ders and consequent sufferings here will cause us, in the great here¬ 
after, to place a higher value upon knowledge, and to struggle with 
new fortitude to rid ourselves of eveiy bondage. 

A life which has just begun to take shape and symmetry, cannot 
be permitted, I think, under the rule of a benevolent Creator, to be¬ 
come extinct. We shall certainly be permitted to take up the broken 
thread of life, and, in the clearer light of the future, with the warning 
experience of the past, and surrounded by better guards, to try again. 
In the meantime, while here, the sooner we become acquainted with 
the laws of life, and the better we obey them, the more we shall en¬ 
joy- 

The Nervous System. 

Man is brought into connection with the outward world through 
the senses of feeling, seeing, hearing, etc. These communicate with 
the brain and mind through the nerves of sensation. 

The nervous system is divided into two great central portions, 
the brain and'the spinal cord; and these together are called, by the 
learned, the cerebrospinal centre. There are numerous pulpy white 
cords, called nerves, which at one end are connected with this great 
axis or centre, and from thence run to all parts of the system. A 
portion of these nerves start from the base of the brain and run to 
the eye, the ear, the tongue, etc. (Fig. 48) ; while another, and a 
larger part spring from the cord which runs through the backbone, 
and are distributed over the body and the lower extremities (Figs. 
50 and 60). One portion of these cords produce feeling; another 
part, motion. The former we call sensitive ; the latter, motor. Both 
kinds are widely distributed over the body. Those which spring 
from the spinal cord have two roots, one uniting with the hack^ the 

59 



60 


HYGIENE. 



other with the front part of the cord. Cut off the back root, and the 
part to which it is distributed loses its feeling. As we say in com¬ 
mon language, it be¬ 
comes numh^ though it 
may move as well as 
before. Cut the front 
root, which is motion- 
producing, and the part 
to which it goes cannot 
move. It is palsied^ 
though it may still feel 
acutely. The numerous 
nerves that spring from 
the spinal column are 
pretty well represented 
in Fig. 60. 

If the cranial nerves 
of motion which go to 
the face be cut, no emo¬ 
tion or passion can be 
expressed. The features 
will all be immovable, 
like statuary. To smile, 
to laugh, to frown, to 
give expression to the 
feeling of pity, or an¬ 
guish, or love, is alike 
impossible. And yet a 
breath of air upon the 
face will be felt as readi¬ 
ly as before. Paralysis, 
or palsy, as it is called, 
partial or general, is the 
result of injury upon few 
or many of these motion- 
producing nerves. Neu¬ 
ralgia, tic douloureux, 
etc., arise from some 
disease, perhaps inflam¬ 
mation, of the nerves of fig. 60 . 

sensation. 


How the Mind gets Knowledge. Everything the mind knows 
of the external world, it learns through the the organs of sense, which 
communicate with it through these nerves. Thus, the nerves are 
acted on by external agents, and then they act on the brain and cause 
sensations. When the hand is burned the nerves of sensation run 
with the intelligence to the brain, which, quick as thought, through 





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HYGIENE. 


61 


the nerves of motion, despatches orders to the muscles to repel the 
injury. 

Comparison. — The arrangement and operation of the nervous 
system are like those of the electric fire-alarm system of a city. 
The brain is the intelligent centre, like the central office. The 
nerves of sensation which carry to the brain, with electric speed, 
intelligence of what is going on outside, are like the wires which run 
to the central station from the several boxes. The quick carry¬ 
ing to the brain of any information of injury done to some part of 
the body, is like sending to the central station from an alarm-box 
the intelligence of fire in one of the districts. The rapid transmis¬ 
sion of orders from the mind to the muscles is like flashing the alarm 
over the wires to every part of the city. And, finally, the powerful 
action of the muscles in warding off danger is like the dashing of 
firemen over the pavements and the energetic playing of the 
engines. 

Sensations. 

An effect produced on the mind through a nerve is called a 
sensation. Hunger is a sensation. It is an effect produced upon the 
mind through a certain nerve by the condition of the stomach. 
Thirst, pain, heat, cold, are sensations in a similar sense. Nausea 
is a sensation produced by some injurious substance acting upon the 
coats of the stomach. 

Strength of Sensation. — Some sensations are much stronger 
than others; some are very intense. A very strong sensation is 
called a feeling. It is common to say, “ I feel cold,” or, “ I feel hot.” 
We simply mean by this, that the temperature of the weather makes 
a very powerful impression upon us. 

Kinds of Sensation. —Sensations are either pleasurable or pain¬ 
ful. Pleasurable sensations arise from the proper exercise of some 
healthy part of the body; and they are a suitable reward for any 
care the mind may take of the corporeal organs. 

The sensations arising from a proper amount of exercise are 
pleasurable. The muscles find a sort of enjoyment in action. He 
who leads a sedentary life, either from choice or necessity, loses much 
enjoyment. Hence, there is pleasure in labor; and the working-man, 
though often pitied.by the wealthy, is generally the happiest of men. 
The eye and the ear, when directed to agreeable sights and sounds, 
derive the most agreeable sensations from exercise. The air of a 
beautiful spring-morning gives impressions which none can describe, 
but which all know to be delightful. These impressions are well 
fitted to reward us for taking at that season, in the open air, the ex¬ 
ercise we so much need. 

Moral Uses of Sensations. —How little we reflect upon the 
amount of happiness it is in our power to create by making agreea e 


62 


HYGIENE. 


impressions upon others. A civil and polite address makes a pleasant 
impression. A kind word, fitly spoken, makes the heart glad. Heads 
of families might do much to increase the happiness of their domes¬ 
tics in the kitchen by meeting them with a pleasant countenance, and 
dropping in their ear, now and then, a word of approval. Such little 
acts of benevolence are easily performed, and they make the most 
agreeable and lasting impressions upon persons in the lower stations 
of life, — creating attachments, in fact, which end only with death, 
and which in hours of future sorrow, which come to all, may refresh 
us like springs of water in the desert. 

“ Full many a shaft at random sent, 

Finds marks the archer little meant; 

Full many a word at random spoken, 

May heal a wounded heart that’s broken.” 

Sib Walter Scott. 

In aiming to make agreeable impressions upon domestics, we should 
be governed by the simple desire to create happiness. Their sources 
of happiness are comparatively few. They spend their days below 
stairs,—shut out from a portion of the light of day, and from the 
refining influences of the drawing-room, — having little time for rest 
or for recreation. How unfeeling to treat such persons with harshness, 
to wear a frowning face in their presence, and thus wither the few 
flowers of happiness which bloom around them! 

Every human being is endowed with the beautifu’ nervous organ¬ 
ism of which I have spoken, and is daily receiving impressions, pleas¬ 
urable or painful, from thousands of sources. In all the relations of 
life, it should be our aim to touch delicately this sensitive structure. 
Wives may add much to the happiness, and I may say, to the affec¬ 
tion of their husbands, by always wearing a pleasant face; and the 
heart of the wife may be made light and glad by gentle words from 
the' husband. We cannot but love those who make pleasurable im¬ 
pressions upon us, and we necessarily dislike such as impress us pain¬ 
fully. Most of the coldness and alienations which grow up between 
the heads of families, spring from the habit of one of the parties, of 
saying, or doing, or looking something which painfully impresses the 
other. A woman who habitually wears a “sour” face cannot be 
loved either by her husband or her children. The man or the woman 
who desires to be loved, must cultivate a manner, a look, a speech, a 
life, the whole scope of which is fitted to make pleasurable impres • 
sions upon others. It is against nature to love what gives us pain. 

Agreeable Sensations a Source of Health. — Pleasurable sensa¬ 
tions not only beget love, and increase happiness, but the}^ add much 
to health. They exhilarate the spirits and drive away melanclioly. 
Travelling promotes health and prolongs life, by the nuinber and 
variety of the pleasing impressions it makes upon the mind. 

Care of the Sick.— If the above statements be correct, how im¬ 
portant that the sick should be so dealt with as to have none but 


HYGIENE. 


63 


agreeable sensations made upon tbem. Many a life has heen sacri' 
ficed to the peevish temper of a nurse. When the nerves are weak 
from disease, even slight causes make powerful impressions; and if 
these impressions are of a painful kind, the results are most deplora¬ 
ble. To treat harshly the sick, especially those whose nervous system 
is broken, implies either great thoughtlessness or extreme cruelty. A 
single harsh word, which would scarcely move one when well, may 
send the same person, when sick, almost to distraction. Every word 
spoken to persons in sickness should, therefore, be gentle and sooth¬ 
ing. Every feature of the face should express either cheerfulness, 
or tenderness and pity. 

As the painful impressions which disease is making tends to de¬ 
press the spirits and create melancholy, it is not expected that persons 
when sick will exhibit as amiable tempers as when well; and for 
this all due allowance must be made. 

Effect upon the Disposition. —This leads me to say that pleasur¬ 
able sensations improve the temper and disposition. This is a fact of 
very great importance, and parents should never lose sight of it in 
dealing with their children. There are few children but would grow 
up amiable and useful members of society, were they dealt with in 
the gentle and tender manner which their young and impressible 
natures require. From the moment the young mind wakes to intelli¬ 
gence, it will be occupied with something. Parents and guardians 
should aim, therefore, to turn it to all those things which will impress 
it pleasantly, and at the same time do it no harm. Exercise, songs, 
playthings, flowers, —to these and other entertainments it should be 
led by gentle hands. No thoughtful parent will ever pain a child 
by harsh threats and denunciations, or shock it by an oath. 

Bad Effect of Unpleasant Sensations. — If pleasurable sensations 
improve the health and temper, unpleasant ones do just the opposite. 
They break down the health and spoil the disposition. 

They are intended to give us a warning of impending injury. 
Thus, we have painful sensations when we have overworked the body 
or mind. The sensation of weariness tells us that the muscles have 
worked as long as their good requires, and that they need rest. Were 
this sensation unheeded, exhaustion and entire prostration would be 
the result. 

When fatigue begins to be felt, either of body or mind, the sensa¬ 
tion may be dissipated by strong tea, or intoxicating drink, or opium; 
but to drive it away in this manner, for the purpose of working longer, 
is wrong, and leads, in the end, to disease or exhaustion. It was said 
that one of the most brilliant advocates of recent times was dependent 
upon opium for the stimulus to carry him through liis extraordinary 
flights of eloquence; but his restless motion and nervous face reminded 
one that he had bent his bow very nearly to the snapping point, and 
that a sudden collapse of his vital powers, at no distant day, might 
be feared as the result of such tension. 


G4 


HYGIENE. 


Persons in affliction, whose spirits are aepressed and broken by 
sorrow, should have their thoughts turned away from all sombre ob¬ 
jects and contemplations. They should be taken into the open sun¬ 
light, and be diverted by the beautiful things of nature. They 
should visit cheerful society, and open their hearts to pleasurable im¬ 
pressions. 

When we permit any part of the body to remain idle, neglecting 
to use it as much as we ought, unpleasant sensations remind us of 
our fault. The muscles, when unused, waste away and become 
feeble. This is sure to produce an uneasy, nervous state of feeling, 
which says to us as plainly as a sensation can, that the muscles are 
hungry for exercise, and that it is injurious to let them rest longer. 

Need of a Healthy Brain. — In order that we may get correct 
ideas of the external world, it is necessary that the brain, the nerves, and 
the organs of sense through which sensations are made upon the 
mind, should be in a healthy condition. ^ It is evident that if the in¬ 
struments of sensation be diseased, the sensation cannot be natural, 
and will make a false report to the mind. It is of the highest im¬ 
portance, therefore, that the brain should be sound. 

Improper Intermarriages. — This organ, like every other, may 
inherit disease from parents. Insanity, which springs from a dis¬ 
eased brain, is often hereditary. When both parents are diseased, 
the offspring are of course more liable to partake of their defects. 
Among the wealthy, and particularly among the royal families in 
Europe, nervous diseases and sterility are very common. This 
arises, in a great part, from intermarriages among blood relations, — a 
practice under which any people will degenerate, and finally perish. 
The wisdom of the Old Testament prohibition of marriage within 
certain degrees of consanguinity has been established by the obser¬ 
vation of philosophers and the experience of mankind. Let those 
who will transmit to their descendants a sound mind in a sound 
body, observe the laws of life, and avoid all marriages with blood 
relations. 

Need of a Good Supply of Blood.— For a proper performance 
of its duties, the brain requires and receives a larger supply of blood 
than any other part of the system. One-tenth of all the blood goes 
to this important organ. If the quantity or quality be materially 
lessened or changed, great disturbance of the brain follows. A large 
loss of blood occasions dizziness and fainting. If an atmosphere 
charged with too much carbonic acid gas be breathed, as in a deep 
well, the blood is not vitalized in the lungs, so as to sustain the 
brain, and unconsciousness soon follows. If the air be vitiated in 
any way, or have its oxygen extracted, as in large assemblies, where 
it is breathed over several times, it becomes unfit to support the 
brain, and the result is languid feelings, inability to apply the mind, 
headache, fainting, hysterics, and other nervous manifestations. 


HYGIENE. 


65 


Ventilation. — This shows the great necessity of having dwellings, 
churches, and school-houses well ventilated. 

Were a good system of ventilation adopted in all our churches, 
ministers would seldom preach to sleeping audiences. A congrega¬ 
tion sitting in one of our places of public worship, where the air in 
a single afternoon is as many times used over as the minister’s ser¬ 
mons are in a lifetime, can neither hear with attention, nor compre¬ 
hend with clearness. 

In many of our school-houses, the ventilation is quite as bad, and 
the consequences worse, because they are occupied six ‘hours of the 
day instead of three, and five days of the week in place of one. In 
the small school-houses which our children filled to overflowing in 
former years, in which there was no ventilation, unless they happened 
to be blessed with an old-fashioned chimney and fire-place, the effects 
upon the nervous system of the children was deplorable. Many of 
the diseases which afflict the present generation of men and women 
had their origin in the bad air of those crowded nurseries of edu¬ 
cation. 

Our dwellings were partly ventilated in olden time, when the 
open fire-place received the “back-log,” the “top-stick,” the “fore¬ 
stick,” and other sticks to match; but since we have been warmed 
by the stove and the furnace we have known little of the luxury of 
pure air at the domestic hearth. 

Need of Exercise for the Brain. —- Health requires that the 
brain should be properly occupied with vigorous thought. The 
same reasons may be given for this as for the exercise of the muscles. 
It is governed by the same laws which apply to other parts of the 
system. Use improves its strength and vigor; idleness causes it to 
grow feeble. Of course the labor it is put to should be only reason¬ 
able in amount, and should not be too long continued at any one 
time. With the weakening of the brain, the whole bodily forces, 
and indeed the whole mental and moral character, fall into feebleness 
and decay. It is a great mistake to suppose that the cultivation and 
even vigorous use of the mind impairs health and shortens life. 
Just the opposite is true. Many of the most eminently intellectual 
men, who have worked their brains hard all their lives, have been 
distinguished for long life. 

Bad Effect of Change in Circumstances. — No class of persons 
suffer more from nervous diseases and general ill-health than those 
who, having worked hard in early life, with little or no cultivation 
of the mind, are suddenly raised to wealth, and immediately drop all 
exercise, and fall into habits of indolence and luxury. The condition 
of such persons would be much less pitiable, did they take up books 
when they lay by the hoe or the broom. But they seldom do this. Many 
a woman, in early life, has felt the glow of health in every limb, 
and a thrill of pleasure, too, while scrubbing the floor on her hands 


66 


HYGIENE. 


and knees, who has, in subsequent years, reclined in misery upon 
her damask-covered lounge, and wondered that she could not have 
the health of other days. Let her cultivate her brain, live temper¬ 
ately, and exercise in the open air, and life may again have real 
pleasures for her. 

Discretion in Exercising the Brain. — In exercising the brain 
we must use discretion. We must not sit down in the morning, and 
ply it with work during the whole day, without rest. This would 
soon bring upon it disease, or premature decay. It should be worked 
only until it begins to show symptoms of fatigue. Then it should be 
permitted to rest; or, what is better, be turned to some new subject, of 
a lighter, or a different character. This often rests the brain better 
than to entirely suspend its action. 

Overworking the Brain in Childhood. —Great care should be 
used not to exercise the brain too much in early life. Like other 
parts of the system, it is tender in childhood, and will not bear pro¬ 
longed exertion. As a general thing, children are put to school too 
early, and made to work their brains too hard. Great mischief arises 
from this source. Children are born with larger brains now than 
formerly; and it is no uncommon thing to see upon a child of ten 
years, a head equal in size to that of an adult. Children run to 
brain. Precocity in development of brain and mind is common. 
The results of stimulating and hastening the unfolding of such minds 
are deplorable. In such children, the brain should be the last thing 
to be cultivated. We do not need to urge its growth. It will come 
forward fast enough in spite of us. Our chief aim should be to harden 
and fortify the general constitution, so that the brain which it is 
required to bear up and sustain may long be its crown and glory. 

Yet parents are proud of their precocious children, and often re¬ 
verse this rule. They do it thoughtlessly, and would be terribly 
startled could they suddenly look into the future and see the results 
of their folly. Could they do so, they would see inflammation and 
softening of the brain, epilepsy, insanity, paralysis, apoplexy, with all 
the horrors of undescribed and indescribable nervous affections, which, 
though without a name, have a terrible reality. 

Old People’s Brains. — Persons in advanced life should be par¬ 
ticularly careful not to overwork the brain. In middle life it re¬ 
covers easily from great fatigue. In the decline of life, its powers 
of recovery are feeble. A single exhaustion may cause its fatal col¬ 
lapse. Old age should be distinguished for gentleness and modera¬ 
tion. The journey of the down-hill of life should be made by short 
and easy stages, through regions of diversified beauty. 

A Supply of Blood. — Every part of the system, when hard at 
work, needs and must have a very large supply of pure blood. 
Without this, it is torpid and inactive. To cause the blood to flow 
to any particular part, it must be exercised. The lumberman, when 



BASE OF BRAIN 


BRACHIAL 

PLEXUS 


POST TIBIAL 


Copyright, Physicians Publishing Co., Boston, Mass. 


CERVICAL 7 NERVES 


DORSAL 12 NERVES 


LUMBAR 5 NERVES 


SACRAL LOWER 

___ 5 NERVES 


RADIAL 


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SCIATIC 


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NERVES OF THE HUMAN BODY 







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HYGIENE. 


67 


in the forest in extreme cold weather, stamps his feet violently upon 
the ground, or beats them against a log, and whips his hands around 
his body, and in this way makes them red and warm with a new 
supply of blood. The stomach, when it has received a supply of 
food, begins earnestly to turn it over; and by this exercise, and the 
stimulus which the food supplies, it invites large quantities of blood 
to its vessels, and thus increases its power to work. But just in 
proportion that it draws the vital current to itself^ and augments its 
own vital force, it diminishes the blood in other organs^ and for the 
time being, unfits them for work. The same may be said of the 
brain and all other working organs. 

From this it follows that only one organ, or set of organs, can 
work effectively at the same time, and that it is improper to put the 
brain to hard work immediately after a full meal, because the 
stomach then wants the blood to enable it to digest the food; and if 
the blood be called off to the brain, digestion will stop. Nor should 
the stomach be loaded with food directly after long and hard 
Blinking; for the brain will yield up the blood to it only after its 
own excitement has had time to subside. 

Sympathetic Nervous System. 

The object of this system seems to be to bind all parts of the 
body together, and to combine and harmonize their actions. It takes 
care that no part of the system acts in such a way as to injure any 
other part. It exerts a controlling influence over digestion, nutrition, 
absorption, the circulation, etc. These are natural processes which 
need to go on while the brain is asleep and cannot attend to them. 
The nervous system, of which I speak, presides over all those func¬ 
tions which are called involuntary, — so called because no act of the 
will is needed for their performance. Secretion, absorption, digestion, 
and the circulation of the blood, all have to go on while we sleep, as 
well as while we wake. Were an act of the will necessary to their 
performance, as in walking, eating, conversing, etc., then they would 
have to cease the moment the brain fell asleep, and death would be 
the result. 

The sympathetic nerves apprise each part of the system of the 
condition and wants of every other part. When^ the lungs are in¬ 
flamed, the stomach seems to be aware of it, and will receive no food, 
because this would aggravate the disease of the neighboring organs. 
Well would it be if human beings would exercise a like forbearance, 
and abstain from those acts of self-gratification which they know wi 
injure their neighbors. 

Effects of Nervous Diseases. — Before closing these observations, 
I wish to add a few words respecting the terrible effects of neivons 
diseases which characterize the present time. _ 

That they are far more numerous and afflictive than in former 


68 


HYGIENE. 


years, must be apparent to the most careless observer. They are 
nothing more nor less than the price we pay for a high civilization, 
and especially for our democracy. Among us, every man feels his 
individuality, and has a motive for thinking and doing his best. 
Thought and action are here unfettered; and if the race is not to 
the swift, nor the battle to the strong, every man acts as though he 
thought it was. The great excitement which the struggle for wealth 
kindles and inflames, deranges and shatters the nervous system to a 
shocking degree. 

And wealth, when obtained, does its full share to weaken the 
nerves. It brings with it high living, indolence, loss of energy, dis¬ 
sipation, and a weakening of the whole moral and physical powers. 
It need not do this; but, in most cases, it does. 

The result is, that, at least, every other person has some nervous 
disease, which makes life a misery rather than a blessing. The brain 
and nerves are too much developed in comparison with the develop¬ 
ment of the muscles. Half our boys and girls have heads as large 
as men and women. It is common to see a boy or a girl at ten talk¬ 
ing and acting like a man or woman. I do not mean by this, that 
they imperfectly imitate the actions of older persons. It seems to be 
natural to them. Their brains are prematurely developed, and their 
acts and thoughts have the maturity of adult life. 

What is Coming ? — What will be the result of this state of 
things, no man can predict. I sometimes think the race will break 
down ; that that which was intended to be its ornament and strength 
will be its destruction. I hope not. Yet there is danger of it. 
Nothing can save us but the wisdom to adopt such means as will 
develop all parts of the system alike. No race of men can stand for 
many generations such a strain upon the nervous system, unless bet¬ 
ter means are adopted to counterbalance its evil effects than are now 
used in the United States. We have got to pause in our swift 
career, and look after our health, or we shall become a nation of 
maniacs. No proof is needed of what is here said. 

Hopeful Considerations. — It is proper to say, the considerations 
here presented, terrible as they are, are mitigated in some measure by 
others of a more hopeful character. 

Physiology and the laws of life are now better understood than at 
any former period. These subjects are getting into our common 
schools, and are engaging the attention of our youth. Declining 
health has already made us think more of the means of preserving 
it, — such as diet, exercise, bathing, travelling, and amusement. To 
encourage and intensify this hopeful direction of the public mind, I 
propose to devote a few pages to these subjects. 


HYGIENE. 


69 


Food and Digestion. 

From the earliest dawn of existence to the last moment of life, our 
bodies are constantly changing. Old particles of matter, when they 
are worn out, leave their places and are thrown out of the system. 
Were this the whole of the matter, our bodies would soon waste 
away, and that would be the end of us. But as fast as the old mate¬ 
rials are thrown away, new ones take their places; and it is solely 
out of our food that these new materials are formed. 

In order that the food may be well digested, it must first be broken 
into ^all particles in the mouth. The act of chewing it is called 
mastication. During this act, if it be well performed, a large quan¬ 
tity of spittle, called saliva, flows out of a number of glands, called 
salivary glands, and mixes with the food, forming with it a soft mass. 
In this condition, it is thrown backward into the top of the throat, 
called the pharynx. Here, a little cartilage, called the epiglottis, 
drops down upon the opening into the top of the windpipe, and pre¬ 
vents its entrance into the breath-passage; and it is pushed along 
into the gullet, a tube which runs down behind the windpipe and 
lungs, and which physicians call the oesophagus. Here a succession 
of muscular bands, circular in shape, contract upon it, one after 
another, and force it down into the stomach. 

It is important that two things should be secured while the food is 
in the mouth, namely, that it should be reduced to a good degree of 
fineness by chewing, and that a proper amount of saliva should be 
mixed with it. If the chewing were not necessary, teeth would not 
have been given us; and the salivary glands would certainly not have 
been put in the mouth, if the mixing of water with our food would 
serve the purposes of digestion as well. 

Eating too Rapidly.—Americans have fallen into a pernicious 
error in eating their food too rapidly. Time is not given to chew it 
sufficiently to excite a full flow of saliva; and as it cannot be swal¬ 
lowed in a dry state, it is not uncommon to see persons taking a sip 
of water after every second mouthful, to enable them to force it into 
the stomach. It is a habit we Americans have of cheating ourselves 
both of the pleasures and the benefits of eating; for the only real 
pleasure of eating arises from the flavor of food while retained in the 
mouth, and the only benefit we can derive comes in consequence of 
its proper digestion. 

The food when received into the stomach is in the same condition 
as when taken into the mouth, except that it is, or should be, groun 
fine by the teeth, and well mixed with saliva. 

The Gastric Juice. — The stomach, like the mouth, the wii^pipe, 
and the gullet, is lined by a mucous membrane. The chiet oftce ot 
this menTbrane is to secrete, or take out of the blood, a fluid which 
we call gastric juice, which means stomach juice, rom e reec 


70 


HYGIENE. 


name of stomach, yao-rep (^gaster). This fluid has not much smell 
or taste, and looks like spring water. It has a powerful effect upon 
food, which, when mixed with it, soon undergoes an important 
change, which is apparent to the taste, the smell, and the sight. 1 he 
nature of the gastric juice and how it produces its effect upon food 
are not certainly known; but it contains two active elements, — a 
free acid and pepsin, whose function is to dissolve the nitrogenous 
parts of the food and convert them into albuminose or peptone. The 
albuminose is absorbed by the coats of the stomach and enters 
directly into the circulation ; while the sugar and fat pass on to the 
duodenum to be acted upon by the bile, the pancreatic juice^ and 
other secretions of the bowels. 

Too Much Cold Water at Meals. — There are some interesting 
facts connected with the formation of this fluid, of which it is im¬ 
portant that every person should be apprised. 

Its quantity and quality depend on the amount and healthfulness 
of the blood which flows to the stomach during the first stage of 
digestion. It is, therefore, injurious to drink large quantities of very 
cold water with, or immediately after, our meals ; as this will chill 
the stomach, and repel the blood from its vessels, so that but little 
of the juice can be formed. Digestion, in such case, must be im¬ 
perfect. 

This Fluid not Secreted Without Limit.—This fluid does not 
flow into the stomach continuously, but only when we swallow food, 
and then not as long as we please to eat, but merely till we have taken 
what the system requires. If, in the amount we take, we go beyond 
the wants of nature, there will not be fluid enough formed to dissolve 
it, and the whole will be imperfectly digested, and be a source of in¬ 
jury rather than benefit. This should teach us to be careful that our 
food be only reasonable in amount. 

Not Secreted in Sickness. —When we are sick, the gastric juice 
is either not formed at all, or only in small quantities. Whatever 
may be our feelings of lassitude, and however much we may appear 
to need food, at such times, it is useless to take it, for it cannot be 
digested, and will only aggravate our disease. If the illness be only 
slight, the fluid will be formed to some extent,. and food may be 
taken in proportion. 

Its Secretion Favored by Cheerfulness. — A cheerful disposition, 
and a happy, lively frame of mind, are highly favorable to the pro¬ 
duction of the gastric juice; while melancholy and anger and grief 
and intense thought of business, at the hour of meals, greatly hinder 
its natural flow. 

This should teach us to go to our meals with light hearts, and to 
make the family board a place of cheerful conversation, and of a light 
and joyous play upon the mirthful feelings of all present. Should 
any of the family circle be in the habit of using vinegar as a condi- 


HYGIENE. 


71 


ment, we should never be guilty of compelling them to extract it 
from our faces. A vinegar face is not easily excused anywhere; at 
the table it is unpardonable. A single countenance of this description 
will throw a gloom over a tableful of naturally cheerful persons; and 
if habitually present at the board, may finally spoil the digestion of 
half a dozen, and entail dyspepsia upon them for life. 

The stomachs of the sick pour out but very little of this fluid, and 
they can take but a small amount of food. It is cruel to deprive 
them of the power of digesting that little by treating them harshly, 
and filling them with gloomy and desponding feelings. I therefore 
repeat the substance of the advice given on a previous page; Deal 
gently with the sick. 

How all this is Known. — As the stomach is wholly concealed 
from view, the reader will very naturally ask how it is known that 
the gastric juice is poured into it in certain states of the mind, etc., and 
withheld in others. It certainly could not have been so accurately 
known, had it not been for an accident which opened the living and 
working stomach to the inspection of Dr. Beaumont, a United States 
Surgeon. A young man by the name of Alexis St. Martin, a Cana¬ 
dian by birth, but then in the State of Michigan, had a large part of 
his side torn away, and a hole of considerable size made into his 
stomach, by the accidental discharge of a gun. To the surprise of 
his surgeon, St. Martin recovered; and the edges of the wound in the 
stomach refused to grow together, preferring rather to fasten them¬ 
selves to the borders of the breach in the side, thus leaving the pas¬ 
sage open. A kind of curtain grew down over this, which prevented 
the food from falling out. Dr. Beaumont, taking advantage of this 
state of things, instituted a series of valuable experiments, by lifting 
the curtain, and inserting various articles of food, and witnessing the 
process of digestion. 

Movement of the Stomach. — The presence of food in the stom¬ 
ach causes its muscular coat to contract and throw it about from side 
to side, mixing it thoroughly with the gastric juice, and reducing it 
to a pulpy mass, called chyme. This, as fast as it is properly pre¬ 
pared, passes through the pylorus into the upper bowel, or duodenum, 
called also the second stomach. 

Chyme.—A certain witty professor of anatomy and physiology 
was in the habit of asking his class if they ever saw any chyme; and 
when they answered, no, as they often did, he called their attention 
to what is occasionally to be seen in the morning, upon the sidewalks, 
where drunken men have held themselves up by lamp-posts, and left 
the contents of their stomachs. 

The pylorus, or opening into the bowel, has a very singular and 
wise instinct, which is worthy of remark. When a piece of food, 
which has not been digested, attempts to pass into the bowel, the 
moment it touches the inner surface of this orifice, it is instantly 


72 


HYGIENE. 




thrown back by an energetic contraction; though a portion of well- 
prepared chyme, touching the same opening immediately after, is 
allowed to pass unchallenged. 


Chyle. — The chyme, when it reaches the duodenum, seems to 
cause the liver to secrete bile, and 
the pancreas to produce pancreatic 
juice. These two fluids are con¬ 
veyed into the upper portion of the 
second stomach, and there are mixed 
with the chyme, and cause it to 
separate into a delicate, white fluid, 
called chyle^ and a residuum, which, 
being worthless, is pushed onward, 
and thrown out of the body. 

Bile in the Stomach. — Most 
persons suppose that the bile is gen¬ 
erally found in the stomach; but 
this is a mistake. It is thrown up 
by vomiting, because in that act, the 
action both of the flrst and the second stomach is reversed^ and tht. 

bile is forced up from the duodenum 
— taking a direction the opposite ol 
its usual course. 


Fig. 62. 


Destination of the Chyle. — Th^ 

chyle being separated from the dregs^ 
is pushed onward in its course by the 
worm-like motion of the intestine; 
and as it passes along, it is gradually 
sucked up by thousands of very small 
vessels, whose mouths open upon the 
inner surface of the bowel. These 
little vessels are called lacteals^ from 
the Latin word lac^ which means milk, 
because they drink this white, milky 
fluid. Fig. 61 shows a section of the 
small bowel, turned inside out, and 
covered with the villi, or rootdike fila¬ 
ments, closely set upon its surface, for 
absorbing the chyle, and at the bottom 
of which the lacteals take their rise. 

In these lacteals, and in the mesen¬ 
teric glands, the chyle is gradually 
changed, so as to approach nearer and 
nearer to the nature of the blood ; but 
precisely what the change is, or how 
it is effected, is not known. Several 


HYGIENE. 


73 


learned men have published their theories upon these points, and the 
writer has opinions upon them; but it is not worth while to trouble 
the reader with them. It is sufficient to say that the fluid is carried 
by the lacteals to the thoracic duct, through which it is conveyed into 
a large vein at the lower part of the neck, where it is poured into 
the blood, and becomes, after going through the lungs and experi¬ 
encing another and a vital change, the material out of which our 
bodies are daily and hourly new-created. 

Fig. 62 gives a general idea of the stomach, bowels, etc.: 9, being 
the stomach; 10, 10, the liver; 1, the gall-bladder; 2, the duct which 
conveys the bile to 4, which is the duodenum; 3, is the pancreas; 5, 
the oesophagus; A, the duodenum; B, the bowels; C, the junction of 
the small intestines with the colon ; D, the appendix vermiformis; 
E, the coecum ; F, the ascending colon ; G, the transverse colon ; H, 
the descending colon ; I, the sigmoid flexure; J, the rectum. 


Nature and Destination of Food. 

The food which man requires for his support and development is 
of two kinds, inorganic and organic. The first of these embraces 
certain mineral substances, as common salt, sulphur, phosphorus, 
iron and lime, either in combination or separate. 

These are not generally reckoned as aliments, and yet no human 
being can live without them. In their absence, the body decays, dis¬ 
integrates, and perishes. Common salt is composed of muriatic acid 
and soda. The first is an important ingredient in the gastric juice, 
and the latter promotes the secretion of bile. Sulphur is found in 
several of the tissues, particularly in the muscles. Phosphorus, 
united to fatty matter, is highly honored in forming a portion of 
the brain and nerves, and is also combined with oxygen and lime to 
make the earthy or hard part of bones. 

Found in Food. — These articles it is not necessary often to intro¬ 
duce into the system in a separate state. They are contained, in 
larger or smaller proportions, in most articles of food ; and man al¬ 
ways suffers, as all animals do, from their absence. Common salt is 
found in the flesh of animals, in milk, and in eggs. It is not very 
abundant in plants; and we all know how eagerly domestic animals 
devour it when it is given to them, and how constantly wild cattle 
resort to the salt springs, which, in the great West, are called “ buffalo 
licks.” Lime exists in nearly all animal and vegetable^ substances. 
In wheat flour we get it in combination with phosphoric acid, that 
is, as phosphate of lime. Lime exists too, in the state of carbonate 
and sulphate, in all hard water. Iron is found in the yolk of eggs, 
in milk, in animal flesh, in potatoes, pears, cabbages, mustard and 
other articles. Sulphur we get in flesh, eggs and milk ; and, as 
sulphate of lime, in spring and river water. Phosphorus is derived 
from eggs and milk; and flesh, bread, fruits, and husks of grain, 


74 


HYGIENE. 


commonly called bran, contain even a larger proportion than we need 
in our diet. 

Organic Food. — The organic elements of man’s food, which in 
bulk embrace almost the whole of it, remain to be considered. In the 
animal economy they serve two great purposes. A part of the arti¬ 
cles which compose them are blood-formers, out of which all the 
tissues are made, — the other part produces fat, which serves to warm 
the body by being burned with oxygen. These articles are derived 
partly from the vegetable and partly from the animal kingdom. 

Divided into Four Groups.— For convenience, these articles may 
be divided into four groups. For the 
first, sugar stands as a type. We there¬ 
fore call it the saccharine group. It em¬ 
braces starch, gum, and the fibre of wood. 

These articles may all be converted into 
sugar by a simple chemical process. 

Figure 63 gives a microscopic view of 
the granules of starch. 

The second group we call the oleaginous. 

It is composed of oily substances, from 
whatever source derived, whether the an¬ 
imal or the vegetable world. 

The third group is the albuminous. A 
good type of it is the white of egg. 

ThQ fourth is the gelatinous., or jelly group. 

First and Second Groups, Supporters of Respiration.— The ar¬ 
ticles composing the first and second groups are analogous in com¬ 
position, all containing oxygen^ hydrogen., and carbon. They are what 
Liebig calls supporters of respiration; the meaning of which is, in 
more comprehensible terms, that they are supporters of combustion. 
They are the fuel which warms us. They keep the fires going, from 
which arises all the heat we have in our bodies. But they are desti¬ 
tute of nitrogen, and, on this account, they are not blood-formers, and 
cannot be worked into fiesh. Hence, man cannot live on them. 

The food articles embraced in the third and fourth groups also 
contain oxygen, hydrogen, and carbon; and to these they add nitro¬ 
gen. This fourth component part, which forms only a small portion 
of them, gives them, for some reason never explained, the peculiar 
quality of producing blood and flesh. They are the raw materials, 
out of which our bodies are reconstructed from day to day. 

Feed a man ever so largely upon sugar, starch, gum, and oils, and 
he will starve as certainly as if he were allowed nothing but water. 

Names of Two Great Divisions of Food.— The possession or non¬ 
possession of nitrogen, then, is what distinguishes from each other 
the two great classes of food-articles. Those which contain nitrogen 



HYGIENE. 


75 


have been called nitrogenized, and those which are destitute of it 
nofirnitrogenized compounds. As nitrogen is often called azote, the 
former class are more frequently named azotized; the latter, non- 
azotized. 

^ Let the reader now fix it in his mind that the azotized articles of 
lood produce blood and flesh; the non-azotized, heat; and he will 
have the key to understand much of what is to be said, and likewise 
to unlock many of the mysteries of diet. 

Nutrition Table.— Taking human milk as the standard, and ex¬ 
pressing the amount of nitrogen it contains by 100, the following 
table shows the relative amount of nitrogen in the principal flesh- 
producing articles of food, and consequently their power of forming 
the tissues : — ° 

VEGETABLE. 

. 81 Potatoes.84 

. 106 Turnips.[ | 108 

. 125 Carrots .. 150 

. 125 Peas.239 

. 138 Beans..* 320 

. 144 


B,ice. 
Rye . 
Corn 
Barley 
Oats. 
Wheat 


ANIMAL. 


Human Milk.100 White of Egg 

Cows’ Milk. 237 Herring . . 

Oyster. 305 Haddock . . 

Yolk of Eggs. 305 Pigeon . . . 

Cheese.331-447 Lamb . . . 

Eel. 428 Mutton . . 

Pork-Ham. 807 Veal . . . 

Salmon.6io Beef . . . 


845 

910 
816 
756 
833 
852 

911 
942 


Other Standards of Value —We must not infer that those articles 
which have most nitrogen are necessarily best adapted for human 
diet because they are the most effective blood-producers. In deciding 
the value of an article for food, other things are to be looked at be¬ 
sides its nutritive qualities. Those which are poor in nitrogen, are 
rich in carbon and hydrogen, and are well fitted to serve the double 
purpose of nourishing and warming the body at the same time. The 
fitness of an article for diet depends very much upon the ease or 
difficulty with which it is digested and assimilated. If an article 
having a great deal of nitrogen, and being very nutritive, is with 
great difficulty reduced in the stomach by the digestive process, it 
may be much less desirable for food than one which is digested and 
assimilated easily, but is much poorer in nutritive qualities. 


Heat“generating Food Articles.— The reader has before him the 
principal blood and tissue-forming food articles. Those which we 
reckon as fuel, or heat-generators, are chiefly oils, sugar, starch, farina, 
sago, arrowroot, tapioca, gums, etc. These are less essential than the 
others ; for the blood-forming articles have within them the ele¬ 
ments out of which fat is formed in the process of assimilation; for 





























76 


HYGIENE. 


many of them contain starch; and this, in the human organism, is 
changed into fat. The amount of starch in some of these articles is 
as follows : — 


Wheat flour, good quality, 100, contains 65 to 66 parts 


Wheat . ; . . 108 

Barley meal.119 

Barley.130 

Rye.Ill 

Buckwheat.108 

Indian Corn.138 

Rice.171 

Peas.69 

White Beans.59 


53 - 

64 ‘ 

37 ‘ 
44 ‘ 
43 ‘ 

65 ‘ 
85 ‘ 

38 ‘ 
37 ‘ 


56 

65 

37 
47 
44 

66 
m 

39 

38 


in 100 pure starch. 
(« << 

a a 

a n 

<< <£ 

ii « 

a ti 

ft it 

it a 


In the Nutritive Food Articles, there is a fixed relation existing 
between the elements of the tissue-formers and the heat-producers 
which they contain. Out of a few of them Baron Liebig has con¬ 
structed the following table : — 


For every ten parts of blood and tissue-formers there are, — 


In Wheat flour, 10.46 In Barley, 10.57 

In Rye meal, 10.57 In Rice, 10.123 

In Oatmeal, 10.50 In White potatoes, 10.86 

In Buckwheat, 10.130 In Blue potatoes, 10 130 


Diet a Complex Subject. — From the facts and tables now pre¬ 
sented, it appears that the question of diet is one of complexity; and 
that the determination of its several points requires that a number of 
things should be taken into the account. First, in deciding the use¬ 
fulness of any article, we may inquire respecting — 

Its Digestibility. — If an article be not digestible, it is of little 
consequence how much or how little albumen, starch or nitrogen it 
may contain. The first and most important inquiry respecting it is, 
is it digestible f If not, it is to be rejected; for, whatever other quali¬ 
ties it may have, it can only injure the stomach and embarrass the 
whole system. 

The following table will be useful to the reader, though I do not 
set it down as reliable in all cases. There is often a great difference 
in the ease with which different stomachs will digest the same food. 
Many stomachs are afflicted with what is called an idiosyncrasy, — a 
habit, peculiar to itself, of rejecting or refusing to digest some one 
or more articles which are acceptable to all other stomachs. This 
table shows the length of time required for digesting the several ar¬ 
ticles in the stomach of St. Martin, as shown by the experiments of 
Dr. Beaumont; — 






















HYGIENE. 


77 


Articles. 


Rice 

Pig’s feet, soused 
Tripe, soused 
Trout, salmon, fresh 

(< i< (< 

Apples, sweet, mellow 
Venison, steak 
Sago 

Apples, sour, mellow 

Cabbage, with vinegar 

Codfish,cured, dry 

Eggs, fresh 

Liver, beef’s fresh 

Milk 

Tapioca 

Milk 

Turkey, wild 

“ domesticated 
Potatoes, Irish 
Parsnips 
Pig, sucking 
Meat hashed with | 

. vegetables j 

Lamb, fresh 
Goose 

Cake, sponge 
Cabbage-head 
Beans, pod 
Custard 

Chicken, full-grown 
Apples, sour, hard 
Oysters, fresh 
Bass, striped, fresh 
Beef, fresh, lean, rare 
“ steak 
Corn cake 
Dumpling, apple 
Eggs, fresh 

Mutton, fresh 
<< (( 


Preparations. 

Time. 

Boiled 

h. m. 

1 — 

Boiled 

1 — 

Boiled 

1 — 

Boiled 

1 30 

Fried 

1 30 

Raw 

1 30 

Broiled 

1 35 

Boiled 

1 45 

Raw 

2 — 

Raw 

2 — 

Boiled 

2 — 

Raw 

2 — 

Broiled 

2 — 

Boiled 

2 — 

Boiled 

2 — 

Raw 

2 15 

Roasted 

2 18 

Boiled 

2 25 

Roasted 

2 30 

Baked 

2 30 

Boiled 

2 30 

Roasted 

2 30 

"Warmed 

2 30 

Broiled 

2 30 

Roasted 

2 30 

Baked 

2 30 

Raw 

2 30 

Boiled 

2 30 

Baked 

2 45 

Fricasseed 

2 45 

Raw 

2 50 

Raw 

2 55 

Broiled 

3 — 

Roasted 

3 — 

Broiled 

3 — 

Baked 

3 — 

Boiled 

3 — 

Boiled soft 

3 — 

Broiled 

3 — 

Boiled 

3 — 


Articles. 


Pork, recently salted 
Soup, chicken 
Oysters, fresh 
Pork, recently salted 
Pork steak 
Corn bread 
Mutton, fresh 
Carrot, orange 
Sausage, fresh 
Beef, fresh, lean, dry 
Bread, wheat, fresh 
Butter 

Cheese, old, strong 
Eggs, fresh 

li a 

Flounder, fresh 
Oysters, fresh 
Potatoes, Irish 
Soup, mutton 
“ oyster 
Turnip, flat 
Beets 

Corn, green, and beans 
Beef, fresh, lean 
Fowls, domestic 

(( a 

Veal, fresh 
Soup, beef, vegeta- | 
bles, and bread j 
Salmon, salted 
Heart, animal 
Beef, old, hard, salted 
Pork, recently salted 
Cabbage, with vinegar 
Ducks, wild 
Pork, recently salted 
Suet, mutton 
Veal, fresh 
Pork, fat and lean 
Suet, beef, fresh 
Tendon 


Preparations. 

Time. 

Raw 

__ 

h. m. 
3 — 

Boiled 

3 — 

Roasted 

3 15 

Broiled 

3 15 

Broiled 

3 15 

Baked 

3 15 

Roasted 

3 15 

Boiled 

3 15 

Broiled 

3 20 

Roasted 

3 30 

Baked 

3 30 

Melted 

3 30 

Raw 

3 30 

Hard boiled 

3 30 

Fried 

3 30 

Fried 

3 30 

Stewed 

3 30 

Boiled 

3 30 

Boiled 

3 30 

Boiled 

3 30 

Boiled 

3 30 

Boiled 

3 45 

Boiled 

3 45 

Fried 

4 — 

Boiled 

4 — 

Roasted 

4 — 

Broiled 

4 — 

Boiled 

4 — 

Boiled 

4 — 

Fried 

4 — 

Boiled 

4 15 

Fried 

4 15 

Boiled 

4 30 

Roasted 

4 30 

Boiled 

4 30 

Boiled 

4 30 

Fried 

4 30 

Roasted 

5 15 

Boiled 

5 30 

Boiled 

5 30 



This table may be considered as giving a general idea of the rela¬ 
tive digestibility of the food-articles contained in it. If not found 
exactly right in each individual case, it can be rectified by experience. 
The experience of no other individual’s stomach will ever be found 
precisely like that of St. Martin’s, — though in its general features, 
it may be sufficiently similar to make his valuable. The general 
principles of conduct may be learned from the experience of others. 
The particular application must come from our own experience and 
reason. 

Digestibility Influenced by Amount.— The rapidity with which 
any article is digested will vary with the amount taken. A larger 
quantity than is called for by the wants of the system will be di¬ 
gested more slowly than the proper amount; while, on the other 
hand, an insufficient supply begets an inability to reduce in the 
stomach even the small quantity taken. We may err in taking too 


















78 


HYGIENE. 


little food as well as in taking too much; though the former error is 
much less likely to occur than the latter. 

Choosing Food in Ill Health. — But in deciding the hind and 
amount of food we must be guided not only by its digestibility, but 
by the state of the health. 

If we find the stomach apparently in good working condition, capa¬ 
ble of dissolving properly whatever is submitted to its action, and 
yet we are for some cause losing flesh and strength, we should resort 
not only to the most nutritious of the albuminous group of the azo- 
tized articles, but likewise to the oleaginous group of the non-azo- 
tized. We want a great amount of nutriment, and we need oils to 
make fat. This is the kind of food generally wanted in constitu¬ 
tional consumption. 

In fevers, but little food can be disposed of at best; and that little 
must be chosen with reference to its mildness and its unstimulating 
qualities. Generally the farinaceous or starchy articles are most 
suitable, because they have no stimulating and irritating qualities, 
and especially because they furnish fuel to be burned with oxygen, 
and thus take the place of the animal tissues, which are being rapidly 
consumed with this devouring element. In fever, oxygen is literally 
burning up the body. In this state of the system, this element ac¬ 
quires, by some means, a singular affinity for the tissues; and, unit¬ 
ing with them rapidly, forms a true combustion. The physician who 
throws to this devouring agent some of the mild, non-azotized articles 
which offer it stronger affinities than it finds in the tissues, is as wise 
as he who tosses his dog to a hungry lion to avoid being devoured 
himself. 

Exercise to be Considered. — In deciding the diet, the amount of 
exercise is not less important to be considered than the health. The 
farmer, who works in the open air, and uses his muscles a great deal, 
wants considerably more nutritive, as well as more combustive, food 
than one who leads a sedentary life. Of couise there is a great deal 
more waste of the tissues, and he requires more of the flesh-forming 
articles; and as he breathes deeper, and takes in more oxygen, he 
needs more of the supporters of respiration, — the sugars, oils, and 
starchy aliments. 

Beans. — By turning to the table which shows the amount of nitro¬ 
gen in the different food-articles, the reader will see that beans are 
rich in this element. They are, therefore, excellent food for working 
men, who are obliged to make great use of their muscles. Our 
fathers, who broke and subdued the rocky soil of New England, 
showed wisdom even in their instincts in taking so large a portion 
of their aliment from the bean, — especially as they oiled it with the 
fat of pork. But for the hard-working student^ who daily makes 
heavy drafts upon his brain and nervous system, beans and peas are 
an improper diet. They contain no phosphorus^ in the shape of 


HYGIENE. 


79 


phosphate of lime; and no brain can work hard without a due supply 
of phosphorus, which forms a part of its substance. 

Unbolted Wheat Flour, — For the man who uses his brain a great 
deal, there is no other one article of food equal to bread made from 
unbolted wheat flour. Fine wheat flour is little better for him than 
beans, because the miller has robbed it of much of the phosphorus, 
which is found chiefly in the hull or bran. 

I mention only two or three articles of food as specimens. By 
looking over the tables furnished, and reasoning upon the whole in 
the way I have done upon these few, the reader can give every arti¬ 
cle something like its proper value in most circumstances. 

Climate. — If health and exercise should influence us in choosing 
the kind and the amount of food, climate must do so quite as much. 

In the frigid climate of high latitudes, it is necessary that a great 
deal of heat be produced in the body, in order to avoid perishing 
with cold. There vs no mystery now, as there once was, about the 
production of this heat. It comes from the burning of carbon and 
other substances in the body, where they unite with oxygen, and 
make just as real a Are as that which warms our houses. Oils, sugar, 
starch, gums, etc., are largely composed of carbon, and readily unite 
with oxygen in the body. This is the- reason they are reckoned as 
fuel^ and are called supporters of combustion. And for this reason., 
they require to be largely consumed in very cold climates. The in¬ 
stincts of men seem to lead to the same conclusion, for the dwellers 
in all high latitudes consume great quantities of oils and fats. The 
amount of train-oil, tallow, the fat of seals and other animals, devoured 
by the Laplanders, Kamtschatkans, and other northern people, is truly 
wonderful. 

In hot countries, the fundamental rule for preserving the health is 
to keep the body cool. Without observing this rule, the strongest 
will often fall victims to the climate in low latitudes. But to keep 
cool, of course all the heat-producing articles of food should be 
avoided. Particularly all alcoholic drinks, which are powerful sup¬ 
porters of combustion, should be rejected. Rice and the various fruits 
form the most suitable articles of diet. 

The great sacriflce of life witnessed among the early emigrants to 
California, was the result chiefly of using ardent spirits and heat- 
producing food -while crossing the Isthmus, which, to a northern 
constitution, is much like a vast oven, heated to a temperature suit¬ 
able for baking bread. There are few persons, with tolerable health 
and strength, but could safely endure the, hottest climate if they 
would avoid alcoholic liquors and confine themselves to an abstem¬ 
ious vegetable and fruit diet. 

Bayard Taylor’s Opinion,— The distinguished traveller, Bayard 
Taylor, reports that while spending a few days in a heated part of 
Africa, he lived as the inhabitants did, pretty much entirely upon the 


80 


HYGIENE. 


flesh of well-fatted sheep ; and that he enjoyed, meantime, excellent 
health and strength. From this he concludes that animal food is as 
suitable in hot climates as in cold. 

It is a pity a man of such excellent parts as Mr. Taylor should 
have allowed himself to rear so tall a structure upon so narrow a 
foundation. That he could live on flesh in so hot a region, and not 
be made sick, only proved that he had a fine constitution, and that 
his health was not easily disturbed; and when he attempted, from 
his limited experience of a few days, to reason against the established 
facts of science, and against the well-attested laws of life, he did it 
evidently without reflecting that he was in a field of thought which 
he never had occasion to cultivate. 

The great Jewish Lawgiver doubtless had a reason for prohibiting 
pork to the Jews. Whatever that reason was, the prohibition had a 
wise bearing upon the health of the people. Palestine has a hot 
climate, in which pork-fat is an improper diet. 

More Fat in Winter, — It follows from what has been said, that a 
more fatty as well as stimulating diet is needed in winter than in 
summer. But the change should be made gradually. When cold 
weather approaches, the food should become more nutritious and 
warming by little and little. The exercise should likewise be in¬ 
creased. 

Even the lower animals act upon this plan. In the fall, squirrels 
eat nuts, which are full of oil, and grow fat upon them. 

The instincts of men move in the same direction. It is in the fall 
that the hog, the ox, and the poultry are killed; and in the winter 
that they are largely feasted upon and enjoyed. Upon such food, 
combined with various sorts of starch, man fattens ; and a good sup¬ 
ply of fat, deposited in the cells, is equal, in keeping out cold, to a 
layer of cotton batting, — to say nothing of the fire kept up within 
the body by the burning of such fuel. As hot weather comes on, we 
gradually lay aside these fattening articles (or ought to), and return 
to the watery vegetables and fruits, such as squash, string-beans, 
strawberries, currants, etc. 

Few of us, I apprehend, would suffer from heat in summer, if we 
could persuade ourselves to abandon stimulating and fire-producing 
food, and confine ourselves pretty much to a cooling and succulent 
diet. Diarrhoeas in summer are not induced by eating wholesome 
vegetables, but by combining them with large quantities of animal 
food. 

The State of the Mind. — This should by no means be over¬ 
looked in choosing the kind and the amount of food. If we have 
lost friends, or heard desponding news, or experienced calamities of 
any kind, we must, during the first hours of the shock, or even during 
the first days, if the affliction be heavy, partake very sparingly of food. 
The stomach is in no condition to receive it. The brain lies pros- 


HYGIENE. 


81 


trate under the stroke, and the stomach, in sympathy with it, asks 
for a day of sorrow and fasting. Disturb it not. 

Heat-producing Food Incompatible with Excitement. —It is 

folly to take heat-producing aliment when laboring for days under 
high excitements. During political campaigns, when the blood of 
politicians is at the boiling point, the diet should be unstimulating, 
— containing very little animal flesh, and not much combustive food. 
Many a man has died of apoplexy, or of heart-disease, by putting on 
the steam when his blood was up. Whenever we have a day of un¬ 
common excitement to pass through, we should always begin and 
end it with an unusual degree of abstinence as to the amount of food 
taken, and with special care that the articles be of the highest kind. 

Anger Demands Abstinence. — Anger is a passion which espe¬ 
cially unfits the stomach for doing much work. If it occur often, or 
be protracted, but little food should be taken. Those who indulge it 
have a double cause for abstinence. Both their folly and their stom¬ 
achs call for a fast. 

Food Adapted to Different Periods of Life. — Food must vary in 
difterent periods of life. The infant needs a fattening diet; and this 
has been supplied in the milk of the mother, which contains more 
butter (the fattening portion) than the milk of any other animal. 
But as the infant has much less exercise than the young of animals, 
its flesh is not wasted, and it does not require so much azotized food, 
that is, the reader will remember, food with nitrogen in it. Accord¬ 
ingly, it will be seen by looking at the table on page 70, that human 
milk has much less of this element than that of the cow. As the 
child grows up, and begins to take active exercise, indoors and out, 
it wants more solid food, and teeth make their appearance to masti¬ 
cate or chew it. 

In Youth and flanhood, the great amount of exercise usually 
taken calls for larger supplies of azotized aliment, — beef, mutton, 
pork, fowl, fish, wheat-fiour, corn-meal, rye-meal, potatoes, turnips, 
peas, beans, etc. This is the working part of life, when the tissues 
are rapidly wasted by action, and the flesh-forming aliments are 
wanted to keep them good. 

In Old Age, the exercise is diminished, the blood circulates more 
slowly, and the body grows cold. Now is the time to resort to norv- 
azotized food, — oils, fats, the various kinds of starch, sugar, and the 
like. These will furnish fuel to warm the sluggish blood, and will 
invest the bod}^- with fat, which will serve the purpose both of a cush¬ 
ion and a garment. Wine, beer, porter, and distilled spirits are never 
needed by young persons in health; but the aged are frequently bene¬ 
fited by them, if taken in small quantities. They are chiefiy com¬ 
posed of oxygen, hydrogen and carbon, and are properly ranked with 


HYGIENE. 


82 

the supporters of combustion. They are likewise stimuiant, and add 
to the comfort of the old by quickening their circulation. Like tea 
and coffee, they diminish the waste of the body, and thereby lessen 
the demand for food. 

The smallest amount of aliment upon which a healthy adult person 
ever lived for any length of time, was twelve ounces a day. Upon 
this small daily allowance, Lewis Cornaro, a noble Venetian, sub¬ 
sisted in perfect health, during the protracted period of fifty-eight 
years. This he was able to do only by adding daily to his food 
about twelve ounces of light wines. I shall have occasion to refer 
to this case again. 

Cost of Food. 

One other consideration must ever influence the great majority of 
men in selecting their food. I mean its cost. It is a matter of great 
importance to the poor, to know what kinds of food they can subsist 
u]3on with least expense. Sometimes provisions are so high that 
persons in poor circumstances greatly need advice in this matter. 
Let me endeavor to furnish some information which shall be of ser¬ 
vice to the reader. 

Milk is supplied by nature to be our first food, and is a good type 
of all alimentary substances. It contains 
curd^ which has nitrogen, and is equivalent 
to albumen and fibrin, and represents the 
hlood-formers. It has butter and sugar. 

These represent the heat-formers. It has 
salts, which contain potash, soda, phospho¬ 
rus, etc. Fig. 64 is a microscopic view of 
good milk; Fig. 65, of poor milk; and Fig. 

66, of milk adulterated with calf’s brains. 

Food will be valuable in proportion as 
it combines, in due proportion, the articles 
contained in the four groups, represented 
by albumen., fat., sugar., and salts. 

Albuminous Group. — Albumen, fibrin, casein, and gluten, all en¬ 
ter into the substance of animal and vegetable bodies, and are all 
composed of the same elements, namely, 48 parts carbon; 36 of 
hydrogen; 14 of oxygen; and 6 of nitrogen. In containing nitrogen 
they all differ from the other three groups. Albumen being a good 
type of them, they are called albuminous compounds. Albumen 
forms a large portion of the serum, or colorless part of the blood. 
It is the leading principle in alimentation. It is worked up into the 
tissues of our bodies. It forms our muscles, our membranes, a por¬ 
tion of our nerves, etc. It is the bricks of which the house we live 
in is made. All the articles, therefore, which are chemically consti¬ 
tuted like it, may well be termed albuminous. 



HYGIENE. 


83 

These bodies, consisting of the four organic elements named above, 
have been called quaternary compounds. Besides these elements, they 
have a minute portion of sulphur and phosphorus. They are also 
called protein or proteinaceous compounds. 

Albumen is a very unstable compound,— tending strongly to de¬ 
composition. This is owing to the complexity of its composition. 



Fig. 65. Fig. 66. 


and to its union with the fickle element, nitrogen, which forms chemi¬ 
cal compacts reluctantly, and breaks them without remorse. Sub¬ 
stances which coagulate or fix albumen in an insoluble compound, 
or preserve the tissues of the body, which are made from it, from 
decomposition or putrefaction, are called antiseptics. 

Fatty Group. — The next group, represented by fat, performs very 
important offices in the system, — the most important of which is a 
union with albumen in the formation of cells. All animal and vege¬ 
table life begins with the cell,— the tiny cup, with which nature dips 
all the streams of life out of the great fountain of inorganic matter. 
No cell is formed without a minute particle of oil. The portion not 
used in forming cells, is either burned as fuel to keep us warm, by 
uniting with oxygen, or it is stored away in the cellular tissues, add¬ 
ing to the bulk of the person. If, then, the very beginnings of life 
are dependent upon fat, it is of great importance as an article of diet. 
So necessary is it in the economy of life, that when not taken in the 
food, it is formed out of albumen in the processes of assimilation. 

The 5tarch and Sugar Group, composed of several kinds of sugar, 
gum, etc., is never used in forming the tissues, but they perform im¬ 
portant offices in the changes going on within the human organism. 
Thus, sugar of milk is decomposed, and forms lactic acid, so called 
from being found in sour milk. This acid plays a very important 
part in the process of nutrition. 

Pure starch is a snow-white powder, having a glistening aspect. 
It is composed of grains from to of an inch in diameter in 
the different grains; being largest in the potato and smallest in 
wheat. When examined with the microscope, they appear as in Fig. 
63. 


84 


HYGIENE. 


The Salts Group are sufficiently spoken of in another place, 

A wise philosopher in ancient time said, “ I do not live to eat and 
drink; I eat and drink to live.” If we intend to eat to live, we must- 
combine, in our food, the four groups above explained; and if we 
would live at as small expense as possible, we must take those arti¬ 
cles which are low in price and • rich in nutritive matter. The fol¬ 
lowing table will help the reader make his selections: — 


Table of the relative value of articles of food arranged according to their proportions of 
nutrient matter in each of the four groups of elements concerned in vital changes. 


In 100 pounds of 

Water. 

Husk or 
woody fibre. 

1st Group. 
Albuminous 
substances. 

2d Group. 
Fats. 

3d Group, 
starch and 
Sugar. 

4th Group. 
Salts. 

Grains : ' 







Wheat. 

15 

15 

10 to 19 

2 to 4 

55 

2 

Barley. 

15 

15 

12 to 15 

2 to 3 

60 

3 

Oats. 

16 

20 

14 to 19 

5 to 7 

60 

4 

Bye. 

12 

10 to 20 

10 to 15 

3 to 4 

60 

2 

Indian Corn. 

14 

6 

11 

8.1 

74 


Buckwheat. 

15 

25 

8 

0.4 

50 

4 

Rice. 

13 

3 

7 

0.7 

79 

0^ 

Pod Plants: 







Beans. 

14 

Stoll 

24 to 28 

2 to 3 

40 

3 

Peas. 

14 

9 

24 

2.1 

50 

3 

Roots : 







Potato. 

75 

4 

2.1 

0.3 

18 

I to H 

Turnip . . 

88 

2 

1.5 

0.3 

9 

1 to 4-5 

Carrot.. 

85 

3 

1.5 

0.4 

10 

li to 2 

Beet (mangold wurzel) 

85 

2 

2 


11 

ito 1 

Long red . . .' . . . 

85 

3.03 

0.48 


10.36 

li 

Short red. 

85 

3.31 

0.26 


12.46 

.75 

Sugar beet. 

85 

2 


0.35 

13 


Parsnip. 

80 

1.5 

2.5 


16 

h 

Leaf: 







Cabbage . 



30 to 35 




Meal : 







Wheat flour. 

15 


10.8 

2 

70.5 


Ryemeal. 

15 

4.63 

8 

2 

73 

2 

Barleymeal. 

15 


6.3 

2.4 

74 

2 

Oatmeal. 

15 


12.6 

5.6 

64 

3 

Wheat bran. 

13.1 

55 

19.3 

4.7 

.6 

7.3 


The following tables have an admirably practical bearing upon 
economy in food : — 


100 lbs. 

Muscle¬ 
forming 
Elements, 
in lbs. 

Fat-forming 
Elements, 
in lbs. 

Relative Propor¬ 
tion of each, 
in lbs. 

Husky, or 
Woody fibre, 
in lbs. 

Barley. 

14 

64 

1 to 4i 

15 

Beans. 

26 

42 

Ito 1| 

10 

Beets .. 

*2 

12 

1 to 6 

(?) 

Buckwheat. 

8 

54 

1 to 6| 

25 

Carrots. 

li 

10 

1 to 6| 

3 

Corn. 

12 

77 

1 to 6j 

6 

Oats. 

17 

66 

1 to 4 

20 

Peas. 

24 

52 

Ito 2i 

8 

Potatoes. 

2 

19 

1 to 95 

4 

Turnips (field). 


9 

1 to 6 

2 

Do. (Swedish). 

2| 

12 

1 to 55 

2 

Wheat Flour. 

11 

79 

1 to 7 


Wheat Bran. 

18 

6 

1 to 5 

.55 

Cheese (whole mil 10 ..... 

28.4 

51.1 

1 to if 


Cheese (skim-milk) ..... 

49.8 

6.3 

1 to 5 




























































HYGIENE. 


85 


Articles, 

Cost. 

Muscle-producing 

Elements. 

Cost of Muscle-pro¬ 
ducing Elements. 

Barley . . . :. 

$1.00 per bu. 

8.4 lbs. 

12c. per lb. 

Beans. 

1.80 “ 

16.6 “ 

11c. “ 

Corn. 

0.50 “ 

6.7 “ 

7ic. “ 

Oats.. 

0.35 “ 

5.2 “ 

7c. “ 

Peas. 

1.00 “ 

14.3 “ 

7c. “ 

Potatoes. 

0.85 “ 

1.6 “ 

53c. “ 

Turnips. 

0.50 “ 

1.2 “ 

41c. 

Flour (fine). 

5.00 per bbl. 

22.0 “ 

23c. 

Flour (unbolted) ....... 

4.50 “ 

24.8 “ 

18c. “ 


These tables will well repay study, for their practical use will save 
many dollars to the poor. Let it be remembered that producing 
muscle is the same thing as producing strength, or labor-power. 
Bearing this in mind, the following table will be very interesting; — 

One pound of labor-power from Potatoes costs 53c. per lb. 

“ “ “ “ “ Fine Flour, 23e. “ 

“ “ “ “ “ Unbolted do., 18c. 

“ “ “ “ “ Turnips, 41c. 

“ “ “ “ “ Barley, 12c. ‘‘ 

“ “ “ “ “ Corn, Tie. “ 

“ “ “ “ “ Beans, 11c. 

“ “ “ “ “ Peas, 7c. 

“ “ “ “ “ Oats, 7c. “ 


Meats are omitted in the table. So far as their nutritive qualities 
are concerned, it is of little consequence which are taken. Some are 
more digestible than others, and this consideration should influence 
those with weak stomachs in selecting. Every person, of course, 
knows their relative cheapness. 

Among the vegetables given in the table, there is a wider range 
for choice. Let us consider them in course. 


Wheat. — In this, the four groups are represented in excellent 
proportion. W^hen not deprived of the bran, it is perhaps the very 
best supporter of animal life. So high have been the regards of men 
for it, and so generously have they awarded to it their acknowledg¬ 
ments, that its product, bread, has been everywhere called “ the staff 
of life.” The settlement and cultivation of the immense prairies of 
the West have within recent years so increased the production of 
wheat, that its cost is now less than half^ ivhat it was fifty years ago, 
and it is indeed within the means of all in America. 


Barley.— This has the four groups represented in nearly the same 
proportions as wheat. It is, therefore, nearly as valuable an alimen¬ 
tary grain. Unfortunately it is not so toothsome as wheat, and can 
never be so popular an article of diet. The Sco o , owever, ee 
upon it with apparent relish, and doubtless think it strange that for¬ 
eign palates are not better pleased with it. ^ 

Oats — This grain, strange to say, has more albuminous, or nutn- 
tive rnatter, more fat, more starch, and more salts than wheat. In 
Sing a brge quantity of the four alimentary groups, it surpasses 
































86 


HYGIENE. 


every other vegetable substance. In albumen, it is not quite as rich 
as peas and beans, and in starch it falls a trifle below fine wheat 
flour; but in fat it is exceeded only by Indian corn. This grain is 
likewise consumed largely by the Scotch,—a people whose claims to 
shrewd common sense are well supported by, as their hardy constitu¬ 
tions vindicate, the choice. This grain might well be permitted to 
take the place of rice. It affords several times as much nutriment, 
while it costs only about one-fifth as much. There is good reason 
why the horse should thrive upon oats. Most stable-keepers think 
their horses will do more work upon corn-meal, but this must be a 
mistake. In using oats for horse-feeding, a large portion of the nu¬ 
triment is lost by not grinding them. 

Rye. — This is also a grain of considerable nutritive value. It is 
much cheaper than wheat; and rye meal has long been a standard 
article of diet in New England, — particularly in connection Avith 
Indian meal, as “brown bread.” It is useful for relieving costive¬ 
ness, in the form of “ hasty-pudding,” with molasses. 

Indian Corn. — This staple article of American produce needs no 
praise from me. It is comparatively cheap, nutritive, and Avholesome. 
It abounds in fat and starch, and has a fair amount of albumen, 
though not as much as the oat, the barley, or the wheat. In salts, it 
is rather deficient. Indian corn is strictly an American plant, and is 
perhaps the most popular grain in the country. It has emphatically 
a national reputation, and is perhaps worked up into more savory 
dishes than any other. At the South it is an institution. It is there 
made into hoe-cake, corn-cake, batter-cakes, batter-bread, muffins, corn- 
pone, etc. At the North, we have johnny-cake, Indian and pumpkin- 
cake, baked Indian pudding, boiled Indian pudding, beside the well- 
known rye and Indian bread, and other preparations. Give an in¬ 
genious Southern or Northern housewife a few simple adjuncts, such 
as lard, milk, sugar, eggs, cream of tartar, and soda, and she will 
make a pretty respectable larder from this single grain. If molasses 
be substituted for sugar, and a little stewed pumpkin be thrown in 
by way of garniture, we may have several preparations which are 
very nourishing as well as cheap. 

Buckwheat. — Poor in nutritive matter, fat, starch, and sugar, but 
tolerably well supplied with salts. It will do very well for batter- 
cakes in winter. When brought smoking upon the table, and served 
with sugar or molasses and butter, these cakes are a luxury, in which 
the rich may indulge if they choose; but for the poor, the amount of 
nourishment they afford is too small for their cost. 

Rice. — Much like buckwheat, except that it has more fat, sugar, 
and starch, and less salts. As an article of diet, it has had too high 
a reputation. Those who would live on small means cannot afford 
it. Boiled in plain water, it is excellent for a relaxed state of the 
bowels; and this about all the commendation to which it is entitled. 


HYGIENE. 


87 


Beans. — The richest in nutritive matter of all vegetable substances, 
except cabbage and oats. They have more albumen than wheat, or 
corn, or barley, or oats; but in fat and starch they are lower in the 
scale. Add to them salt pork, and the highest of all nutrient com¬ 
pounds is obtained. During not less than four generations, pork 
and beans, as the principal diet, nourished an iron-sided race of men 
in New England. Bean-porridge was like honey upon the tongue of 
the founders of New England institutions. They ate it morning, 
noon, and night; and thanked God for it every time. And well they 
might thank Him; for, with Indian corn, it furnished them with a 
diet better adapted to their condition than any other. 


Peas.— Not quite as rich as beans in albumen, but more rich in 
starch, is of about the same value on the whole. The Canadian French, 
in Lower Canada, feed on peas to about the same extent that the 
New Englanders did on beans. Pea-soup, as prepared by the best 
cooks among them, is a dish of great nutritive excellence; and, in 
my judgment, more palatable than bean-soup. 


The Potato.— Three-quarters of this root is water, and it is poor 
in all the elements of nutrition. It is a palatable article, and most 
persons are much attached to it. As hulk is of some consequence in 
food, the potato is not without value. Men do not often live entirely 
upon potatoes,— not even in Ireland. Milk, butter-milk, and espe¬ 
cially cabbage, are united with them. 

Turnips, Carrots, Beets, Parsnips.— These are much alike,— 
being all poor in nutritive qualities. They serve to please the pal¬ 
ate by furnishing a variety ; but in our city markets they are expen¬ 
sive, and do not furnish an economical diet. 


Cabbage.— It is interesting to observe how the instincts of men 
have in all ages led them to select those articles of diet which their 
circumstances have demanded. The poverty of the Irish has led 
them to subsist largely upon the potato, — a root which the soil of 
their country yields profusely. But as this root has but little nutri¬ 
tive matter, necessity required that it should be united with some 
other vegetable. The natural instinct selected the cabbage ; and 
when chemical science came, at length, to pass judgment upon the 
correctness of this instinct, it turns out that the cabbage is the richest 
in albumen of any known vegetable. The cabbage, then, is^ the nat¬ 
ural complement of the potato ; and the Irish had the sagacity, with¬ 
out science, to bring the two together. It is said the Irish have a dis 
named “kohl-cannon,” consisting of boiled and mashed potatoes and 
cabbage, seasoned with pork fat, pepper, and salt, and that it is a 
truly savory dish. It certainly is a nourishing and a cheap one. I he 
ambassador who was sent to. tamper with the patriotism of a Roman 
who had dined on beans, was asked if he was s'^/n^ugh to think 
p-old and silver could bribe a man who was satisfied with so plain a 


88 


HYGIENE. 


fare, and desired no other. We come to the conclusion then, that 
bean-porridge, pea-soup, suet-pudding sweetened with molasses, oat¬ 
meal, and barley-bread, with “ kohl-cannon ” for those who can digest 
it, will furnish, for hard-working men, the most substantial diet, at 
the smallest possible expense. To render these dishes savory, and 
to make the table on which they are spread an inviting board, the 
deft housewife must employ her best skill in serving them. With 
the thousand “ fixings, with which a New England matron knows 
how to garnish them (or would know how if they came within her 
culinary operations), they are well fitted to leave savory impressions 
upon tongues which would praise them to the end of life. I speak 
of these articles as furnishing a cheap diet for working men. The 
indolent, the sedentary, and the effeminate from various causes, could 
not digest them. 

The Amount of Food Taken. 

We have already explained that this should be governed, in part, 
by the amount of exercise taken, by the condition of the health, by 
the state of the mind, by the climate, by the season, etc. It remains 
to add a few words in a general way, respecting the absolute amount 
required by an adult man. 

It is plain enough that most men eat too much. We come very 
near, in this country, being a nation of gormands. A principal rea¬ 
son of our over-eating is, that we eat so fast. When the food is well 
and slowly masticated and swallowed, the gastric juice has time to 
mix with it; and at the proper moment the appetite ceases. But 
when our food is bolted rapidly, nature, finding her laws disregarded, 
and all her purposes frustrated, stands back, and lets us learn to stop, 
too late, alas 1 from a sense of fullness in a stretched and abused 
stomach. 

It has already been stated that Lewis Cornaro lived fifty-eight 
years, namely, from the age of forty-two to one hundred, on twelve 
ounces of solid food a day, with about the same amount of light 
wines. At the age of eighty-four he wrote a book, in which he 
praises “ divine temperance ” in terms which are sometimes eloquent 
and often enthusiastic. Indeed it is very rare that a man at that 
age retains such clearness of intellect, and especially such freshness 
of feeling as he evinces in his book. Probably but few could live on 
the amount of food which he found sufficient. Yet it is said the 
distinguished John Wesley lived on sixteen ounces a day, which, as 
he took no wine, and had to derive the combustive materials for 
warming the body from the food, was quite as scanty a fare as that 
of Cornaro. Considering that he led a most extraordinarily active 
life, both of body and mind, being half his waking hours in the sad¬ 
dle and preaching almost daily, this is probably the most remarkable 
case of absteminousness on record. Jonathan Edwards did not, I 
think, exceed the same amount of food, but he was not so active a 
man. 


HYGIENE. 


89 


Putting aside such exceptional cases as these, we may say in round 
numbers, that a laboring man requires, to keep him in health, about 
two or two and a half pounds of solid food per day. For ministers, 
lawyers, doctors, authors, and merchants, one pound and a half is 
amply sufficient. The amount should be increased a little by a se¬ 
lection from some of the fuel-formers, if no fermented or alcoholic 
drinks be taken, and slightly diminished if they are used. The rea¬ 
son is that these drinks furnish fuel to be burned in breathing, 
which has to be drawn from the food when they are not employed. 
This furnishes no motive for udng ardent spirits; for there is fuel 
enough to be had in the oils, starches, and sugars. 

Dyspeptics. — It is said that dyspeptics eat more than persons in 
health ; and, in many cases, the remark may be true. The appetite 
of a person suffering from this disease is almost always morbid, and 
the information it gives respecting the real wants of the system can 
seldom be trusted. If we allow a diseased stomach to dictate to us 
when and what and how much we shall eat and drink, our misery 
for life is a foregone question. A sick stomach is like a spoiled child, 
—it cries for what it should not have. If the dyspeptic will live, 
and enjoy any amount of peace and comfort, he must follow this 
simple rule : To eat no more than can he digested^ even though the 
amount he only an ounce a day. 


Animai and Vegetable Food. 

It has generally been supposed that it was intended man shoula 
subsist on a mixed diet, consisting of both animal and vegetable 
substances. Within the last fifty years, however, a school of physi¬ 
ologists have appeared, who affirm that a vegetable diet is alone 
consistent with the laws of health. They declare that animal food is 
not adapted to man’s organization, — that it unduly stimulates the 
blood, predisposes ‘ to fevers, consumptions, diarrhoeas, choleras, apo¬ 
plexy, and numerous other diseases, and of course shortens life. 
That such a school should have come into existence in this country, 
where animal food is more largely consumed than in any other part 
of the world, in proportion to the number of people, is not surprising. 
We do, undoubtedly, eat too much flesh. So enormous is the consump¬ 
tion, that notwithstanding the vast herds of cattle raised in all our 
agricultural states, and especially on the western plains, the demand 
keeps up with the supply so well that beef brings, on an average, 
about twenty cents per pound, — at least twice its full value as a 

blood-former. ^ 

Facts show that man may live upon flesh alone, upon vegetables 
alone, or upon flesh and vegetables combined. Is it he^t he slmuid 
subsist upon vegetables only, or upon a mixed diet ? A mere affirna- 
ation upon these points is of little consequence. cite facts avails 
nothing. Men have a way of making their own affirmations, and of 


90 


HYGIENE. 


looking at facts with eyes which sometimes see clearly enough on 
both sides of them, but totally ignore their existence. 

Man’s Structure Settles the Question. — To settle this matter, we 
must appeal to man’s organization. His structure will tell us some¬ 
thing we need not mistake. All the works of God show design. 
Everything he has made has a use, and is so .contrived as to be 
adapted to that use. Lions, tigers, and other animals, for example, 
which feed on flesh alone, have a short second stomach, — it being 
only about three times the length of the animal’s body. Animals 
which eat no flesh have a long second stomach, — that of the sheep 
being from thirty to thirty-five times the length of its body. A very 
remarkable difference of anatomical structure! 

Tliis is the meaning of the difference : Vegetable food has a great 
deal of waste matter in it. Woody fibre makes quite an item in its 
composition. This waste portion must be carefully separated from 
the nutritive part, and this must all be done in the second stomach. 
It takes time to do it. It must not be done in a hurry. The nutri¬ 
tive materials are destined to build a living structure, whose dura¬ 
tion, like that of all other fabrics, wdll depend on the care with 
which the materials are selected and put together. The second 
stomach of the sheep is long, that there may be ample time for the 
mixed mass of chyme, when it passes out of the first stomach, to be 
changed to chyle, and then to be carefully separated into the two 
parts, the useful and the useless. Animal food is in its composition 
just like our own flesh, — there is little waste matter, and not much 
time is required for its separation; hence, the second stomach of 
flesh-eating animals is short. Nearly the whole alimentary mass is 
quickly taken up by the lacteals, and there is no occasion for its 
travelling through a long second stomach. 

MaiPbS second stomach is in length midway between that of the 
flesh-eating and the vegetable-eating animals. If there be design in 
the works of the Creator, and if that design in the structure of the 
flesh and vegetable-consuming animals has now been correctly inter¬ 
preted, it is plain that man is best nourished when he eats both kinds 
of food. The structure of his teeth and the motions of his jaws 
(see p. 30), confirm the same conclusion. 

Americans Eat too Much Meat.— Yet, as I have said, there is no 
doubt the Americans eat too much meat. Sedentary persons require 
but very little. Less is wanted in summer than in winter,— in warm 
climates than in cold. People of wealth, whose circumstances im¬ 
pose no bodily hardships, need less than the poor, who are much 
exposed, and work hard; whereas, they consume more. Those who 
do not labor with their hands, should never taste meat more than 
once a day. 

It is painfully-amusing (if such a compound word is admissible) 
to hear a nervous female, whose sole exercise consists in going from 


HYGIENE. 


91 


the parlor to the kitchen once or twice a day, and in making a brie£ 
shopping excursion once a week, complain that she cannot maintain 
her strength unless she eats freely twice a day of meat, and takes her 
free potations of strong coffee and wine. 

A like opinion prevails generally among the feeble who are not 
obliged to labor. The child in its nurse’s arms must daily, it is 
thought, suck a piece of chicken or beefsteak in order to thrive. 
Children thus fed have their blood constantly inflamed, and stand a 
poor chance when attacked by scarlet fever. The little master or 
miss who attends school complains of headache, and grows pale, 
feeble, and nervous. The books are blamed and thrown aside for 
what the dishes have done. The doctor is called in and assured 
that the dear child can cat nothing but a little fat broth, a custard, 
or cake; and if he presc ibe a diet of plain bread and milk, he is 
believed to be heartless, i :id his prescription is not followed. 

The Majority of Mank nd Eat no Flesh. — All such misguided 
persons should be apprizec that the great majority of mankind eat 
no flesh, because they cannot afford it. And they do not appear to 
suffer from its loss. Millions of Irish do not taste of flesh or fish 
from one month’s end to another. Potatoes, oatmeal, and cabbage 
constitute their chief diet. Rice, poor as it is in nourishment, 
sustains, when combined with vegetable oil, millions of people in 
Asia. The Lazaroni of Naples, with active and finely moulded 
forms, live on bread and potatoes. These facts do not afford ground 
for altogether rejecting animal food, any more than Bayard Taylor’s 
statement respecting whole tribes in Africa who live upon flesh 
furnishes a reason for excluding vegetable aliment. Man may live 
and enjoy health upon either, but his organization implies the use 
of both. 

Proportions of Animal and Vegetable Food. 

Upon this subject, it is impossible to fix any absolute rules. This 
is a point which must be determined by the temperament, the state 
of the health, the constitution, etc. Persons of a scrofulous habit 
should eat freely of animal food. But an inflamed stomach should 
never be tormented with flesh. Meat is stimulating, and will be 
almost sure to do mischief when there is heat and tenderness at the 
pit of the stomach. There are cases of inflammation of this organ, 
in which it may be necessary to live on bread and milk, with articles 
of the starch group, for months, and even for years. 

On the other hand, when the system has run low from some 
exhausting disease, which excites no feverish action, it may be 
necessary at times to take a diet almost exclusively animal. 

It is absurd to talk of the same diet as adapted to all persons, even 
when in health. As well might we expect one shoe to fit every 
foot, or one coat every back, or one color every eye, or one doctrine 
every mind. 


92 


HYGIENE. 


Temperance the Main Thing. — After all, the great thing to be 
aimed at is temperance. It is not so necessary to reject one article 
and use another, as to partake of all with moderation, “ I do not 
live to eat and drink; 1 eat and drink to live,” said a wise philoso¬ 
pher of the olden time. One would think the moderns have 
reversed this rule. A modern table has the appearance of being 
spread for the purpose of inducing men to eat all their stomachs will 
hold. A man who can dine daily, for half a dozen years, at one 
of our first-class hotels, and then find himself free of dyspepsia and 
all other diseases, must have a fine constitution, as well as most 
admirable control over his appetite. Mr. Addison said, “ When I 
behold a full table set out in all its magnificence, I fancy I see 
gout, cholic, fevers, and lethargies lying in ambuscade among the 
dishes ”; to which he adds, with much truth, in another place, 
“ Abstinence starves a growing distemper.” 

Good Results of Temperance. —A temperate diet has always 
been attended with excellent results, and always will be. There are 
times of great anxiety, when abstinence should be pushed to the 
extreme verge of endurance. During the siege of Gilbraltar, Lord 
Heathfield, its gallant defender, lived eight days on four ounces 
of rice per day. Dr. Franklin, when a journeyman printer, lived 
two weeks on bread and water, at the rate of ten pounds of bread a 
week, and was stout and hearty. Dr. Jackson, an eminent physician 
in the British army, says, “ I have wandered a good deal about the 
world, and never followed any prescribed rule in anything; my 
health has been tried in all ways; and, by the aid of temperance and 
hard work, I have worn out two armies, in two wars, and probably 
could wear out another before my period of old age arrives.” 

Lord Bacon was right in the opinion that intemperance of some 
kind or other destroys the bulk of mankind, and that life may be 
sustained by a very scanty portion of nourishment. Cornaro, whom 
I have before mentioned as having lived fifty-eight years on twelve 
ounces of solid food a day, wrote as follows respecting himself in 
his eighty-fifth year: “ I now enjoy a vigorous state of body and 
of mind. I mount my horse from the level ground; I climp steep 
ascents with ease ; and have written a comedy full of innocent mirth 
and raillery. When I return home, either from private business or 
from the senate, I have eleven grand-children, with whose education, 
amusement and songs I am greatly delighted; and I frequently 
sing with them, for my voice is clearer and stronger now than ever 
it was in my youth. In short, I am in all respects happy, and quite 
a stranger to the doleful, morose, dying life of lame, deaf and 
blind old age, worn out with intemperance.” Howard, the philan¬ 
thropist, fasted one day in the week; and Napoleon, when he felt his 
system unstrung, suspended his meals, and took exercise on horse¬ 
back. 

Nothing can be plainer than the duty of fasting, when the 
stomach, having been overworked, is disinclined to receive food. 


HYGIENE. 


93 

Brutes invariably follow this suggestion of. nature; they never eat 
when sick, — probably because they have no silly nurses to coax 
them to swallow stimulating aliments. The habit of putting high- 
seasoned food into the stomach when it is inflamed and feverish is 
about as wise as directing streams of blue, violet, or red light into 
the eye when it is red and swollen with inflammation. 

Tea and Coffee. 

It is proper, before closing this chapter upon diet, that something 
should be said respecting the beverages of tea and coffee. 

Some years ago, a meeting was held by the leading physicians 
of a city in the old world, in which the merits of tea and coffee were 
discussed. In this discussion each man first stated his experience 
in the use of these articles, and then constructed his argument 
according to that experience. The amount of what the reader could 
learn from the discussion was that Dr. A. had used tea all his life, 
and been benefited by it, while coffee had uniformly injured him; and 
that he thought tea should be used, while coffee should be rejected ; 
that Dr. B. had taken coffee at breakfast, and found it an excellent 
support to the stomach and nervous system, while tea had disturbed 
his digestion and his mind; and that the former was a beverage 
of excellent qualities, while the latter was detestable; that Dr. C. 
had always drank both tea and coffee, and recommended them to 
everybody; and that Dr. D. had himself never been able to indulge 
either tea or coffee, and would have them both expelled from every 
household. 

The discussion was not creditable to the learned and really able 
men who participated in it. The arguments were all based upon the 
miserably narrow basis of single individual experiences. They were 
no more valid than that of the man who should hold up a shoe, de¬ 
claring it fitted his foot the best of any he ever had, and recommend¬ 
ing all men to have their shoes made upon the same last. 

The truth is, there is but one thing which can be affirmed univer¬ 
sally of the effect of tea and coffee. They both, when taken, tend to 
prevent waste in the body, and, consequently, less food is required 
when they are used. This may be affirmed of them in their applica¬ 
bility to all persons, but nothing further. The truth is, some can 
drink tea but not coffee, and some coffee but not tea; some can use 
both, and some neither. Every man’s susceptibility to the effects of 
these beverages is his own, as much as his susceptibility to the effects 
of light, or heat, or atmospheric changes; and these effects, each per¬ 
son must learn from experience. Coffee often produces, and gener¬ 
ally aggravates, a bilious habit, — an effect which cannot, I believe, 
be traced to the use of tea. I have no doubt but that many cases of 
confirmed dyspepsia are traceable to the use of coffee alone. 


94 


HYGIENE. 


Water. 

There is one universal beverage; it is water. All men are fond 
of it. In sickness and in health, in joy and sorrow, in summer and 
winter, in cold climates and in hot, man loves and drinks water. Tlie 
stomach, abused and made sick by stimulating food and drinks, and 
repelling everything else, still gratefully opens itself to water. Wher¬ 
ever man exists, therefore, or wherever he should exist, water is 
found, either in the form of springs, or running brooks, or rivers, or 
ponds, or lakes; and even where it is not found in some of these 
forms, it is periodically dropped down from the clouds. As there is 
no element in nature more necessary for man’s existence than water, 
so there is none more universally diffused. 

Pure Water Essential to Health.— But water varies very mate¬ 
rially, both in its physical qualities, and in its adaptation to its pur¬ 
poses. Pure water is as essential to health as pure air. When either 
of these fluids is rendered impure by mixture with foreign matters, 
disease will be a frequent result. The ancients must have been in¬ 
fluenced by this fact, or they would not have incurred such heavy 
expenses in procuring pure water from great distances. The strong 
aqueducts through which, for many miles, large streams of water are 
even at this day poured into Rome, attest the freeness of the expendi¬ 
tures she made for this purpose in the day of her greatest renown. 
We may pity the ancient Romans for being governed in their military 
operations by the opinions of augurs and soothsayers, and certainly 
these things were silly enough; but in other things, at first view 
equally superstitious, they showed practical wisdom. Vetruvius re¬ 
ports that in selecting the sites of their cities, they inspected the 
livers and spleens of animals to learn the salubrity of the waters and 
the alimentary productions of the region. The size and condition of 
these organs do in fact indicate the nature of the pasturage and the 
qualities of the water with which animals are supplied. No people 
can enjoy good health when subjected to the double influence of bad 
water and impure air. 

Division of Water. — The simplest division of water is into two 
kinds, soft and hard. Rain, river, pond, and snow water is soft: 
well and spring water is generally hard. Soft water contains but 
little impurities, and when used for washing, forms a good lather 
with soap. Hard water contains at least one of the salts of lime, 
often more; mixed with soap, it curdles and turns white. The reason 
of this is, that the oily acids of the soap unite with the lime, and 
form a compound which the water will not dissolve. Such water is 
not suitable for domestic purposes. 

Chemical Nature of Water. — Water contains, reckoning the ele¬ 
ments of which it is composed in volumes, two volumes of hydrogen, 
and one volume of oxygen. These two gases, the unlearned reader 


HYGIENK 


95 


will please remember, are highly subtle bodies, not visible to the eye , 
and yet, when chemically united, they form a liquid which covers 
two-thirds the entire surface of the globe, — floating upon its bosom 
the navies and merchant ships of all nations, and by its unmeasured 
depths and vast breadths and sublime movements. Alls the thoughtful 
mind with conceptions of creative Power, which words never attempt 
to express. Should the two gases which compose this vast body of 
water cease to love each other, and fall asunder, the first lighted taper 
would set the world on fire, and not a living l^ing upon its surface 
could escape destruction. 

Impurities in Water. — It is not surprising that a fluid with as 
great a solvent power as water, should often dissolve and hold in 
solution a great many impurities. In passing along through the 
earth, before it comes up in springs and wells, it is filtered through 
various mineral earths, and becomes contaminated accordingly. In 
running through beds of limestone, it takes up a little carbonate cf 
lime. Salt-beds impart to it common salt (muriate of soda), while 
sulphur and other ores tinge it with salts of various kinds. 

Water-Supply. — At the present time all large cities and most of 
the towns in this country are supplied with water for domestic pur¬ 
poses, either from ponds or lakes, or from artesian wells, of greater 
or less purity, but in almost all cases superior to the common well- 
water, so liable to contamination by cesspools and sewage. The re¬ 
sult is that the health of the people has been materially improved, 
and fevers, particularly those of a typhoid type, have diminished both 
in prevalence and fatality. The decaying vegetable and animal mat¬ 
ter, which formerly was washed into the soil, and percolated into and 
poisoned the wells, is now washed away by copious supplies of pure, 
fresh water. 

Lead Pipes. — In cities, water is usually conveyed through the 
dwellings in leaden pipes, — a practice fraught with a danger, to 
avoid which various expedients have been devised. That lead does 
often become oxidized and impart its poisonous properties to water 
when long in contact with it, is a well-known fact. Let a number of 
persons drink every morning from the the first water drawn from the 
pipes, and a portion of them will be attacked with some form of lead 
disease. The pipes should be emptied every morning before using 
the water for domestic purposes, and then there is little danger, in- 
lined pipes have been found to be almost entirely free from danger 
of lead-poisoning. 

Physical and Other Properties of Water.— Good water is with 
out smell, is perfectly clear, and in the mouth has a soft and lively 
feel. When poured from one vessel to another, it should give out 
air-bubbles. Boiled and distilled waters have a vapid, flat taste. 
This is owing to their containing no carbonic acid gas or atmospheric 


96 


HYGIENE. 


air,— these being driven off in the act of boiling and distilling. A 
hundred cubic inches of good river water contain about 2^ of carbonic 
acid, and of common air. 

Carbonic acid is what gives to mineral, or soda water, its brisk, 
and even pungent taste. Without a portion of this acid and atmos¬ 
pheric air, water is perfectly insipid, and not fit to be used as a bev¬ 
erage. Hence, if it be boiled or distilled to clear it of earthy matters, 
we must expose a large surface of it to the air, and shake it, that it 
may re-absorb from the atmosphere what it has lost, and thus recover 
its taste. 

Rain Water is the Result of Distillation on a large scale, and 
would be insipid, like other distilled water, only that, after being 
distilled off from the waters upon the surface of the earth, it recovers, 
while ascending as vapor, the carbonic acid and atmospheric air. 

Fishes breathe air as well as land-animals, and hence, lakes upon 
the tops of high mountains, where but little oxygen can be absorbed 
into the water from the air, are not inhabited by the finny tribes. 

The Saltness of the Ocean is simply the accumulation of the saline 
substances washed out of the bowels of the earth. 

The water which for thousands of years has been distilling off as 
vapor from the surface of the ocean is nearly pure. Being carried 
by the winds to the continents, it falls as rain, sinks into the earth, 
is filtered through mineral substances, comes to the surfaces in springs, 
is collected into rivers, and, with all its freight of mineral salts, is 
borne back to the ocean. Everything that water can dissolve, and 
carry down from the continents, finds a great depository in the ocean; 
and as this has no outlet, the accumulation must go on without limit. 
Rivers which flow into the ocean contain from ten to fifty grains of 
salts to the gallon,— composed chiefly of common salt, sulphate and 
carbonate of lime, magnesia, soda, potash and iron; and these are 
the constituents of sea-water. 

Cleansing of Impure Water. — Impure waters should be cleansed 
before being used for domestic purposes. Distillation is the most 
perfect method of purification. Filtration through sand is a good 
method. It removes all suspended vegetable or animal matter, and 
all living animals. Boiling likewise kills all animals, and throws to 
the bottom carbonate of lime. It is this which constitutes the crust 
which lines tea-kettles in all regions where limestone exists. 

Settlers in a new country should make it a prime object to find 
good water. This is of great moment. Their own health and the 
health of their posterity is dependent upon it. Any soil, good or 
bad, is not worth half price, if it yield impure water. 

Reasons for Prizing Water. — Finally, we ought all to prize water 
very highly, for it composes nearly eight-tenths of our entire bodies^ in¬ 
cluding our flesh, blood, and other fluids. Nay, we owe to it the very 



HYGIENE. 


97 


softness, delicacy, and smoothness of our persons. Our muscles, 
nerves, blood-vessels, glands, cartilages, etc., all play smoothly upon 
each other in consequence of water. Take all the water out of us, 
and we should he dry sticks indeed. All our comeliness would be 
gone. Nobody would or could love us. We should be walking 
reeds, shaken and sported with by every wind. Let us never forget 
how much we are indebted to water. 

Exercise. 

Animal life is conditioned upon exercise. Without it health can¬ 
not exist, or life itself be continued for any great length of time. 

Proper exercise communicates motion to every part susceptible of 
it. It expands the chest, contracts and relaxes the muscles, quickens 
the motion of the blood, moves afresh all the other fluids, and stirs to 
the centre of the whole frame. More easy and perfect digestion, the 
nutrition of every part, and the proper performance of all the secre¬ 
tions and excretions, are the results of such exercise. 

A distinguished physician said: “ I know not which is most neces¬ 
sary to the support of the human frame, food or motion.” Some of 
the finest talents in the world are probably lost for the want of 
exercise; for without it the mind loses its keen perception and its 
bounding energy, its power of application and its general scope. If 
men of great talents would give attention to exercise, the world 
would reap a larger harvest from their written thoughts. 

The arrangements of modern society have very much abridged the 
facilities for taking exercise; but if Trenck in his damp prison, 
with fetters of seventy pounds weight upon him, could preserve his 
health by leaping about like a lion, most persons could do as much 
with the fetters of modern society upon their limbs. 

Must be Regular. _Exercise, to be of much service, must be regu¬ 

lar,— not taken by fits and starts, — a good deal to-day and none to¬ 
morrow; but in reasonable measure every day. Occasional efforts, 
with intervening inactivity, only does mischief. 

Must be Pleasurable.— It should be connected, too, if possible, 
with some pleasing occupation or pursuit. The movement of the 
limbs should carry us towards some place or end in which the mind 
feels an interest; exercise will then do us most good. Hence botan¬ 
ical pursuits, the cultivation of a garden, and the like, are often pre¬ 
ferable to a solitary and aimless walk. 

Must not be Excessive.— Exercise should never be carried so far 
as to produce great fatigue. Extremes are injurious; and too much 
exercise, especially by a sick or feeble person, may be as injurious as 

too little. ^ ^ . 1 

No clothing should be thrown off after exercise, nor should one 
cool off by sitting in a draft of air. Very serious consequences often 
follow this practice. 


98 


HYGIENE. 


Not to be Taken After Meals. — It is not best to take exercise im¬ 
mediately after meals. The reasons for this caution have been ex¬ 
plained. It is true many laboring men go at once to their work after 
eating, without apparent injury. Yet they are strong, and can en¬ 
dure what those who use their brains chiefly could not. And even 
they do not labor as easily and cheerfully immediatply after dinner. 

Active and Passive. — Exercise is properly divided into active and 
passive. Walking, running, leaping, dancing, gardening, various 
sports, etc., are active. While sailing, swinging, and riding in car¬ 
riages are passive. Riding on horse-back is of a mixed nature,— 
being both active and passive. 

A few remarks upon these several kinds of exercise will have a 
practical value to some of the readers of these pages. 

Walking is one of the most gentle, easy, and generally one of the 
most useful of the active exercises. It is within the reach of all who 
have the use of their limbs, and is indulged at the expense only of a 
little shoe-leather. To make it agreeable, the face is only to be 
turned to some favorite locality, and the mind put in communion 
with the voices of nature. 

To walk with the b^st advantage, the body should be kept upright, 
the shoulders thrown back, the breast projected a little forward, so as 
to give the lungs full play, and the air an opportunity to descend to 
the bottom of them. This attitude places all the organs of the body 
in the most natural position, and relieves them from all restraint. 
Walking then becomes a source of pleasure. The artist who bends 
over his pallet, and gets into a cramped position, is by this kind of 
walking relieved, and his body kept upright. Females, particularly 
of the wealthier class, are much more apt to neglect this species of 
exercise than males. 

It is not so in England. There it is no uncommon thing for ladies 
of high rank to walk ten miles a day; and they do it in shoes of suf¬ 
ficient thickness to protect their feet from all dampness, and in 
clothes large enough to give their muscles full play. As a conse¬ 
quence, they enjoy excellent health, and in many cases even retain 
their freshness and beauty to old age. 

A master of one of the vessels of our navy who spent some time, 
lately, in the British Channel, was several times invited to spend the 
evening at Lord Hardwick’s, where he made the acquaintance of two 
daughters of his lordship, who, in the drawing-room, he thought the 
most accomplished ladies he ever saw. Yet those young women, on 
two occasions, in company with other friends, walked miles to visit 
his vessel, once on a rainy day, clad in thick, coarse cloth cloaks which 
no rain could penetrate, and caring as little for wet weather as a 
couple of ducks 

Good for the Studious. —For the studious, walking is a most capi¬ 
tal exercise. It varies the scenes so constantly, and brings the mind 



HYGIENE. 


99 


in contact with so many objects, that the monotony of in-door life ia 
admirably broken. It was a maxim of Plato, that “he is truly a crip¬ 
ple, who, cultivating his mind alone, suffers his body to languish.” 

Good in Cold Weather. — Walking is valuable in cold weather, 
because it exposes one to the cold atmosphere, and hardens the person 
against frosty weather, — a consideration of great consequence in 
countries which are subject to extremes of cold. 

Running and Leaping are forms of exercise which should be in¬ 
dulged with prudence even by the young and healthy. For the feeble 
and the aged, they are entirely inadmissible. Used cautiously, in a 
system of regular training, they may help raise the bodily powers to 
a high degree of agility and endurance. The North American Indian, 
who was bred to the chase, ran with surprising swiftness, and for en¬ 
durance was scarcely excelled by his faithful dog. What training 
has done for the Indian, it may do for the white man, who may 
chance to inherit as good a constitution. 

The Game of Base-Ball requires very active running, and for the 
young, it Is an exceedingly healthful amusement. It fills the whole 
frame with a bounding spirit, and sets the currents of life running 
like swollen brooks after heavy rains. 

Gymnastics. — The more active species of exercise have generally 
been included under the term gymnastics. Among the Greeks and 
Romans, feats of strength and endurance were supposed to confer 
honor. For this reason, and because war was a laborious calling, re¬ 
quiring bodily endurance and strength, their youth were trained in 
the most active exercises. Gymnastic games were with them at once 
the school of health and the military academy. 

In England, during the middle ages, acts of Parliament and royal 
proclamations were employed to regulate and foster those manly 
sports and exercises, which fitted the people for the activity required 
on the field of battle. 

Those preparations for brutal wars would be unsuited to the pres 
ent state of the world; but the capacity for endurance which these 
trainings produced, could be most usefully employed in the laborious 
and scientific researches which modern advancement requires. Very 
lew of our scientific men have sufficient hardness of frame to sustain 
them in their laborious studies. 

The heart-diseases which prevail so extensively are the result, 
many of them, of violent exercise, taken, perhaps, from necessity, and 
proving injurious because not a matter of every-day practice. Violent 
exercise, more than any other kind, must be regular in order to be 
borne. 

Needed by Young Women. — Gymnastic exercises and calisthenics 
are particularly needed by our young women, to give them something 
of the robustness of our mothers, a few generations back. For the 


100 


H1?GIENE. 


want of them, they are dwindling away, and becoming almost worth¬ 
less for all the purposes for which they were made. 

In view of 'this want of exercise the introduction of the bicycle 
offers an excellent means of development for ladies, and it is very 
gratifying to note its increasing use. It brings into play many of 
the muscles of the body, while affording an exhilarating enjoyment 
of fresh air and changing scenery. But caution must be used, not to 
overdo one’s self. Short rides only should be taken at first, increas¬ 
ing the distance as the muscles become hardened. 

Moderns Physically Inferior to the Ancients. Reason for it.— 

It is evident that the moderns are inferior in bodily strength to the 
ancient Greeks and Romans. Before the introduction of Christianity, 
men knew very little about the future, and therefore strove to make 
the most of the present. Hence, they took measures to ensure health 
and long life. It is true that a due regard to the welfare of the fu¬ 
ture need not, and should not, prevent a care for the present; but 
from various causes, to be referred to on a subsequent page, such has 
been the practice, to the manifest physical injury of the race. 

Dancing, when hedged about with proper restrictions and limita 
tions, has great advantages as a physical training for the young. 
There are very few forms of exercise which give so free a play to all 
the muscles, and at the same time so agreeably interest the mind. 
Begun in early life, and pursued systematically, dancing imparts a 
grace and ease of motion which nothing else can give. For this rea¬ 
son alone, it should be cultivated as an art. 

Every man and woman is often placed in circumstances in life 
where the possession of an easy carriage of body, and an unembar¬ 
rassed manner, would be prized above gold. One’s personal influence 
in the world is greatly increased by an easy, graceful manner. We 
all know how a polite manner wins, while a rough and uncouth one 
repels us. 

Warning against Excess. — While dancing has many things to 
recommend it, there are also several considerations which should warn 
us against using it to excess, particularly in the ball-rooms of fashion¬ 
able life. So many muscles are called into play, the breathing is so 
much quickened, and the air breathed is often so impure, that the 
circulation of the blood is hastened almost to fever excitement. And 
when to this we add the use of wines and cordials, alternated with 
ices and iced drinks, and the exposure, on returning home from balls, 
to the chilly night air, under the insufficient protection of light cloth¬ 
ing, we have drawbacks enough to abridge, if not to annihilate the 
benefits derived from this otherwise healthful and elegant exercise. 

But then it will be said, and truly enough, that these are the abuses, 
not the uses of dancing. To these abuses, no parent should permit 
the health of a child to be exposed. In the parlor at home, with a few 
young friends gathered in to spend an evening; or, in a well-venti- 


HYGIENE. 


101 


lated hall, under the instruction of a master of known character and 
refinement, dancing is of high utility, and much may be said in its 
favor. An amusement for which there is so general a fondness, one 
may say, passion, must be fitted to meet some want of the animal 
economy, and perhaps of man’s higher nature. 

Grace of motion gratifies our sense of the beautiful, and in its na^ 
ture is allied to poetry. Turning away from the abuses of dancing, 
let the reader thankfully use it as one of the very best physical, so¬ 
cial, and sesthetical educators of youth. 

But if dancing is salutary, it is only when every limb and muscle 
is allowed to participate naturally and without restraint in the general 
motion. When performed in a dress so tight as to restrain all free¬ 
dom, not only is every grace destroyed, but injury of a serious char¬ 
acter may be the result. 

The Cultivation of a Garden is also a species of exercise highly 
conducive to health. To the poor it should have a double attraction. 
It is not only a healthful exercise, but it yields, in its season, many 
wholesome vegetables, the price of which, when they have to be pur¬ 
chased, frequently puts them beyond their reach. It is pleasant to 
know that in many of our manufacturing towns the workmen own 
small pieces of ground which they cultivate as gardens,— deriving 
health both from the labor, and from the vegetables raised. This is 
one of the kinds of exercise which are more beneficial from having 
an end in view. The man who works in his garden derives pleasure 
from the improvement he is making upon his ground, and from the 
prospect of advantage to himself and family. 

Other Active Exercises. —To the exercises already spoken of may 
be added those which are mostly taken indoors, — the dumb-bells, 
jumping the rope, battledore, etc. They may be resorted to when 
the weather is stormy, or when any other cause may prevent one 
from going into the open air. Nevertheless, as promoters of health, 
they are inferior to those exercises which take one out under the 
open sky. They are too mechanical in their nature, and have too 
little aim, to be allowed to take the place of the preceding. 

Passive Exercises. 

Sailing. _This, to many persons, is among the most pleasurable 

and exciting of the passive exercises. But the excitement arising 
from the motions of a boat, sometimes, in case of timid persons, de¬ 
generates into fear, which is injurious. Young gentlemen who man¬ 
age the boat upon sailing excursions, should never put on too much 
sail in a brisk wind, and torment the ladies by exciting their fears, as 
their own amusement may be in this way purchased at the cost of 
others’ health,— a result far enough from their thoughts or inten 
tions, but not the less real. 


102 


HYGIENE. 


Swinging. — The sick may sometimes indulge in this exercise, when 
capable of enduring no other. To swing gently has a soothing effect, 
and often allays nervous irritability in a way which nothing else can. 
It is like the lullaby motion of the cradle. It calms and soothes. 

Nervous children and grown persons in feeble health are some 
times, by roguish boys, swung too high, and very much excited and 
alarmed. This is wrong. It may do great injury. Veiy few boys 
would do it if they knew the evil consequences. Boys and girls aie 
generally kind-hearted; and though they may like to hector others, 
they will seldom knowingly injure them for their own amusement. 

Carriage-Riding,— The advantages to be derived from this species 
of exercise are probably rated too high. For feeble persons, just re¬ 
covering from illness, who cannot endure walking or riding on horse 
back, it is valuable, particularly if taken in an open carriage. But for 
those who have more strength, it is less desirable than many other 
exercises. True, it is generally an agreeable mode of locomotion, and 
for this reason, it is more serviceable than the small amount of exer¬ 
cise afforded by it would lead one to suppose. 

Carriages are luxuries, and like all other luxuries, they are apt to 
bring on debility, and perhaps shorten life. A man is apt to order 
his carriage to the door at the time when increasing wealth enables 
him to retire from the active puisuits of life,— the very moment when 
he is most in need of some exertion to take the place of that to which 
he has been accustomed. Yet so it is, luxury comes to enfeeble, at 
the time when we need something to harden us. 

Could rich men be persuaded to let their luxuries consist, in part, 
in doing good, and, like Howard, find pleasure in travelling on foot 
to visit those who are sick and in prison, they would be surprised to 
see how their happiness would be increased. 

Close carriages are generally used by the wealthy. They at best 
contain but little air, which is breathed over and over, and becomes 
unfit for respiration. The windows of such carriages should always 
be open, except in rainy weather, when the latticed windows only 
should be used. 

Riding in Sleighs furnishes an agreeable excitement, and may be 
indulged in to some extent with advantage. Yet it can be had only 
in cold weather, and persons who partake of its pleasures should be 
careful to wear clothing enough to protect themselves against the 
frost. This is the more necessary, as very little motion is communi¬ 
cated to their bodies by the sleigh. 

Horseback Riding. — This form of exercise may fairly rank next 
to walking ; in some states of the system it is preferable. It justly 
holds a high rank as an exercise for consumptive persons. Many a 
man, and woman too, has been benefited by it when suffering from 
lung disease. For those who have hernia., or falling of the bowel, it 
is not proper, as the most serious consequences may result from its 
use. 


HYGIENE. 


103 


The Horse should be Owned, — A feeble man who rides on horse¬ 
back, should, if possible, own his horse; for, becoming attached to 
him, Q& he generally does, he will be able to ride farther than upon 
an animal in which he feels less interest. A horse is a noble crea¬ 
ture, and a man who loves him will sometimes acquire a passion, 
almost, for beingupon his back, and witnessing his splendid perform¬ 
ances. 

Pleasurable Exercises most Beneficial. — Finally, those exercises 
are most beneficial, and can be longest endured, in which we feel the 
greatest interest. Place before even a feeble man some desirable ob¬ 
ject, and he will endure a great deal to reach it; or engage the mind 
of a very tired person in something which greatly interests it, and 
considerably more exertion will be easily borne. This is well illus¬ 
trated by the story told by Miss Edgeworth of a certain father, who 
had taken a long walk with his little son, and found the boy appar¬ 
ently unable to walk further, some time before reaching home. 
“ Here,” said the shrewd-minded father, “ ride on my gold-headed 
cane.” Immediately the little fellow was astride the cane, which 
carried him as safely home as the freshest horse. 

Mental Co-operation is of the highest importance in all exercise. 
Men who are paid by the job, work with far more spirit than those 
who are paid by the day. One would dig in the earth with very 
little spirit, if he had no motive for doing it; but if expected with 
every shovelful of earth to bring up gold-dust, he would not only 
work with a will, but would endure a great deal more labor. From 
these considerations we may infer that those farmers and manufac¬ 
turers who pay their men the highest wages, make the most money 
on their work. 

The best time for taking exercise is that in which it does us most 
good. For most persons the morning hours may be considered most 
favorable. But there are many who cannot take exercise in the early 
morning, without suffering from it through the whole day. Some 
are able to walk miles in the afternoon, who would be made sick by 
similar exertions immediately after rising. 

Persons often injure friends who have this peculiarity of constitu¬ 
tion by urging them out in the morning. They do it from good mo¬ 
tives, but are, nevertheless, blameworthy for attempting to advise in 
matters which they do not understand. 


Rest and Sleep. 

Our bodies are like clocks ; they run down and are wound up once 
every twenty-four hours. Were they obliged to work on uninter¬ 
ruptedly, they would wear out in a few days. It is a merciful pro¬ 
vision that periods of repose are allotted to us. Evervthing has its 


104 


HYGIENE. 


proper place. Rest is not less a luxury after exercise, than exercise 
is after rest. They both confer happiness at the same time that they 
promote our well-being. 

Sleeping Rooms.— The largest part of our rest is taken in sleep. 
Of course the kind of room in which we sleep is worthy of considera¬ 
tion. Hufeland says: “ It must not be forgotten that we spend a 
considerable portion of our lives in the bed-chamber, and consequently 
that its healthiness or unhealthiness cannot fail to have a very im¬ 
portant influence upon our physical well-being.” It should at least 
be large. That is of prime importance, because, during the several 
hours that we are in bed, we need to breathe a great deal of air, and 
our health is injured when we are obliged to breathe it several times 
over. We should at least pay as much attention to the size, situa¬ 
tion, temperature, and cleanliness of the room we occupy during the 
hours of repose, as to the parlors, or drawing-room, or any other 
apartment. And yet how different from this is the general practice 
of families. The smallest room in the house is commonly set apart 
for the bed and its nightly occupants. 

The sleeping-room should have a good location, so as to be dry. 
It should be kept clean, and neither be too hot nor too cold. And, 
more important still, it should be well ventilated. 

One bed, occupied by two persons, is as much as should ever be 
allowed in a single room; though, of course, two beds in a large room 
are no more than one in a small one. Both are objectionable. 

Fire in Sleeping Rooms.— As to having fire in a sleeping room, 
that is a matter to be determined by the health of the occupant. 
Persons who have poor circulation, and are feeble, had better have a 
little fire in the bed-chamber in cold weather. For those in good 
health a cold room is preferable. 

Open Windows in Sleeping Rooms.— In the hot weather of sum¬ 
mer, it is better to keep the windows open to some extent, through 
the night, but not on opposite sides of the room so as to make a draft 
across the bed. 

There is a difference of opinion as to the safety of this practice, 
but the experience of those who have used it prudently and persever- 
ingly has generally sanctioned its employment. It is presumed that 
night-air is made to be breathed; and if we breathe it habitually, 
there is no good reason why it should be considered hurtful. At ali 
events we have got to do one of three things, — either breathe it, or 
be poisoned by air which is breathed several times over, or use very 
large sleeping-rooms, and thus lay in a stock to last over night. 

An Open Fireplace in a bed-chamber will do much towards its 
purification. It carries off foul air. But many persons board up this 
outlet as if bad air were a friend with whom they could not think of 
parting. At the same time they will carefully close all windows and 
doors, as if fresh air were an enemy not to be let in. 


HYGIENE. 


105 


Beds. — It is a pleasant thought that while so many things whicl 
injure health are coming into fashion, some which have a like effect 
are going out. Among the injurious things which are silently with¬ 
drawing are feather-beds. 

In earlier times, a bed made of eider-down was thought to be a 
great luxury, to be carefully preserved, and handed down from mother 
to daughter. Beds made of hen’s feathers, and other coarser kinds, 
were thought to be only fit for children. With due deference to 
these earlier judgments, it must be said that feather beds, whether 
downy or coarse, are not even fit for children. They are composed 
of animal matter, and by a slow process of decay, are always, when 
stirred, sending up an exhalation which it is not healthful to breathe. 

By their softness, too, they increase the general tendency to effemi¬ 
nacy. In warm weather they are too heating. To sink down into 
them, and lie nearly buried all night, is to insure a feeling of lassi¬ 
tude and debility in the morning. Only the strongest persons can 
endure it without being made conscious of the evil effects. 

Beds must not be too Hard. — On the other hand, it is almost 
equally unwise to choose a bed of absolutely unyielding hardness. 
When very tired, we may rest even upon a board; but sleep will 
generally be more sound as well as refreshing, if the bed be some¬ 
what yielding. The hair mattress is the very best bed yet used. It 
is healthful and easy. No person once accustomed to it will ever 
return to feathers In summer, it is a luxury; in winter, it is suffi¬ 
ciently warm, though a little more covering is needed than with 
feathers. 

Bedding. — In hot weather, linen sheets are preferable to cotton, 
and of course will be used by those who have ample means. But 
cotton ones are good enough, and in winter are decidedly the more 
desirable of the two. Cotton is best, too, for those who suffer with 
rheumatic affections. For external covering, comforts are objection¬ 
able, because they do not let the insensible perspiration pass off as 
freely as it should. They are light, however, and so are rose blankets, 
which have the additional good quality of being porous. We should 
sleep under as few clothes as possible, consistently with comfort. 

Night-Dress, —The flannel, cotton, linen, or silk, worn next the 
skin through the day, should always be replaced, on retiring, by a 
suitable night-dress. The undershirt should be of the same ma¬ 
terial with that which is taken off, but thinner. If we wear flannel 
through the day, we need it quite as much at night. 

Do not Cover the Face. — The practice of sleeping with the face 
entirely covered with the bed-clothes is very injurious. It compels 
one to breathe the air over several times. 

Natural Position for Sleep. —The most natural position in which 
to sleep is upon the right side. This affords the easiest play to the 


106 


HYGIENE. 


internal organs. It is best, however, to learn to sleep in different 
positions, and to change occasionally from side to side. Upon the 
back is not so easy a position. To lie in this way obstructs the cir¬ 
culation of the blood, by the pressure of the stomach, bowels, etc., 
upon the large blood-vessels which pass down and up in front of the 
backbone. It is very tiresome and injurious to lie with the hands 
above the head. 

Amount of Sleep. — The average amount of sleep required by 
persons in health is from seven to eight hours. Occasionally we find 
persons who get along very well with six, or even five hours; while 
some, even in health, require nine. There is no absolute standard 
for all persons, in the amount of sleep, any more than in that of 
food. It depends on the temperament, the constitution, the amount 
of exercise, and the exhausting nature of the mental application. 

The object of sleep is to repair the energies, the extent to which 
they are wasted, and the recuperative power possessed, will measure 
the amount required. 

Late Suppers. — These are a bar to all sound and healthful sleep. 
The last meal should always be taken at least three hours before re¬ 
tiring and should be light. During sleep the stomach should have a 
chance to rest. It will work the better on the morrow. Some per¬ 
sons boast that they can sleep perfectly well after a heavy supper. 
Perhaps they can, but, as Franklin has wisely suggested, they may 
by and by “ have a fit of apoplexy, and sleep till doomsday.” This 
will be sleeping too well! 

Preparation for Sleep.— Dr. Franklin left behind the record ol 
a wise life, as well as many excellent moral and philosophical direc¬ 
tions. A good conscience was his prescription for quiet sleep and 
pleasant dreams, — a most excellent direction. Sleep is promoted, 
too, by withdrawing the mind, a short time before retiring, from all 
hard study and exciting themes of conversation, and turning it to 
calmer subjects of reflection, such as the moral attributes of God, and 
particularly liis love and pate'":al character 

Objects of Clothing. 

The clothes we wear are intended, or should be intended, to secure 
three objects,— warmth in winter., coolness in summer., and health at all 
times. 

It has already been shown that our bodies are warmed by their 
own internal fires. In the lungs, in the skin, and indeed in all parts 
of the body, oxygen unites with carbon and other combustible mat¬ 
ters, producing heat in the same way that it is produced in a grate 
where coal is burned; and as our temperature always needs to be kept 
to about 98° Farenheit, it follows that this combustion must always 
be going on. 


HYGIENE. 


107 


Now, the atmosphere which surrounds us is always receiving into 
itself the heat which comes to the surface of our bodies, and thus 
robbing us of our warmth. In summer, the atmosphere, full of the 
rays of a burning sun, may impart heat, instead of taking it away; 
wliile in winter it takes more than it gives, and would cause us to 
perish with the cold, were it not for the protection afforded by our 
clothing. 

Clothes, of course, have no power to manufacture or impart heat. 
They only retain, and keep in contact with our bodies, that which is 
generated within us. If we have on a single garment which is made 
tight at the bottom and top, so that no current can pass up or down, 
there will be a layer of air between it and the body, which, becoming 
immediately heated, and being retained there, helps keep us warm, or 
rather, prevents us from being cold. With every additional garment 
put over this, there is another layer of heated air, adding still more 
impenetrable guards against either the intrusion of cold, or the escape 
of internal heat. 

Bad Conductors of Heat. — But, that our clothes may thus retain 
our warmth, and prevent its dispersion, they must be had conductors 
of Jicat ^— that is, they must not readily take up the heat and convey 
it away from the body. They must slowly absorb the caloric into 
their own substance, and then retain it tenaciously. 

Linen, which is so universally popular in temperate climates, as 
an article to be worn next the skin, is unfortunately a good conduc¬ 
tor of heat. It does not afford a warm garment. It conducts heat 
rapidly away from the body. Hence it always 
feels cool to the touch. It is really no colder in 
itself than other kinds of cloth, but it is solely 
the rapidity with which it conducts heat av/ay 
from the body, that gives it the feeling of cold- 
FiG. 67. It has other qualities wliich compensate, 

in some measure, for this defect. The fibres of which it is composed 
are round and pliable, which makes linen cloth smooth and soft, and 
the sensations produced by it on the skin altogether agreeable. Fig. 
67 represents a fibre of linen, as it appears under a microscope which 
magnifies it 155 times. 

Cotton is warmer than linen, because it is a worse conductor of 
heat. The perfection to which its manufacture has been carried, 
makes it almost a rival of linen in softness and pliability. It does 
not absorb as much moisture as linen, and there 
fore better retains its powers as a non-conductor. 
But then the fibres of cotton are not round and 
smooth, like those of linen, but flat and spiral, 
with sharp edges. Fig. 68 represents two of its 
fibres, magnified 155 times. This renders cotton 
imtable to some very delicate skins. This is the reason why Imen 





108 


HYGIENE. 


is better than cotton for binding up wounds, where there is tender¬ 
ness of the surface. 

Silk has a round fibre, like linen, which is even softer and smaller. 
It absorbs less moisture than cotton, and in its power of retaining 
warmth, it is superior to both the preceding. It forms the most de¬ 
sirable fabric for clothing that we have; but its cost makes it inacces¬ 
sible to the great body of the people, except as a holiday dress for 
the ladies. Its culture in our country, if extensively established, 
would be a source of national wealth. 

The Fibre of Wool is quite rough, almost scaly, and highly irrita¬ 
tive to delicate skins. Fig. 69 shows fibres magnified 310 times. It 
is not possible for some persons to wear it next 
the skin. But where this cannot be done it may 
be worn outside the linen or cotton; and being a 
good norirconductor^ it will in this way preserve 
the warmth of the body, without eitlier irritating 
the skin, or disturbing its electricity. 

Wool, in cold climates, is one of the very best 
materials of which clothes can be made. In New 
England, and, indeed, in all cold and temperate 
regions, it should be worn by delicate persons, in 
the form of thick or thin garments, all the year round. It does not 
readily absorb moisture, and is a dry, warm, and wholesome material 
for clothing. 

Hair. — Though not precisely in the line of these remarks, hair 
may as well be introduced here. Wool is in fact hair. Every part 
of the skin, with the exception of that upon the soles of the feet, and 
the palms of the hands, is intended to produce hairs. On most parts 
of the body, they are short and fine, hardly rising above the surface. 
Upon the head and the face, they grow to considerable length. 

Hair, like wool, is a bad conductor of heat; and, as growing upon 
the head and face, is doubtless intended for some useful purpose. 
That it was designed as a warm covering, can hardly be doubted. 
The beard, when permitted to grow, is a natural respirator, guarding 
the lungs against cold and dust. It has been noticed that black¬ 
smiths who have allowed their beards to grow, had their mustache 
discolored by iron-dust, which lodged among the hairs, and very 
justly inferred that the dust must have found its way into the lungs, 
and done mischief, had it not been arrested by this natural respirator. 

That the beard, when long, does ward off a great many colds and 
throat troubles, is too well known to be denied. It has required moral 
courage on the part of those who have broken away 
from the universal practice of shaving, for which they 
should be honored rather than ridiculed. For those 
who do not suffer from throat or lung complaints, espe¬ 
cially if they are getting advanced in life, it may not be 
thought worth while to abandon tlie razor. Yet the change would 



Fig. 70, 






HYGIENE. 


109 


not be regretted. Fig. 70 is a human hair, magnified 250 times, 
showing its scaly surface. 

The Color of our Clothing is a matter of some moment. The dark 
colors absorb the light, the sun’s rays, and heat, much more than the 
lighter ones ; and as those bodies which absorb heat well are likewise 
good radiators, the dark colors have the highest radiating power. White 
reflects heat and rays of light, and is a bad absorber and bad radiator. 
In summer it prevents the sun’s rays from passing inward to heat the 
body, and in winter, interrupts the heat of the body in its passage 
out. In summer, it makes the coolest garment; in winter the warmest 
one. These facts can be very simply illustrated, by laying, side by 
side, upon the snow, when the sun shines, two pieces of cloth, the 
one black, the other white. Lifting them up, after a time, the snow 
will be found considerably melted under the black cloth., hut not under 
the white. 

It is now seen that the object of clothing is not to impart heat to 
the body, but to prevent its loss; that it is not to create it, but to 
furnish the occasion for increasing its degree. It appears further, 
that clothing protects the body against the evil effects of changes of 
temperature, and that white garments, by reflecting, instead of ab¬ 
sorbing heat, guard it against the heat of summer. 

Clothing should be Porous. —All articles used for garments should 
be porous., and permit the free passage of insensible perspiration. The 
skin receives oxygen through its pores, and gives back carbonic acid. 
It performs a sort of subordinate respiration. India-rubber garments, 
worn next to it, interrupt this, and must do mischief. Shoes made 
of this material soon cause the feet to become damp and cold. The 
dampness is occasioned by the insensible perspiration, which cannot 
escape through the rubber. Such shoes* worn in the open air, should 
be immediately taken off on entering the house. 

Thin Shoes. — The defective way in which American females pro¬ 
tect their feet from cold and wet, is a sore evil; and be who persuades 
them to adopt a wiser fashion, and cover their feet with better guards 
against colds and consumption, will deserve the gratitude of the na¬ 
tion. We are in many things too fond of copying foreign fashions: 
but if our ladies would, in this matter, follow the excellent example 
of English women, they would live longer, and leave a hardier pos¬ 
terity behind them. 

The shoes worn by our females, high and low, rich and poor, are 
not thick enough to walk with safety upon a painted floor, hardly 
upon a carpet in an unwarmed room; and yet they walk with them 
upon cold brick sidewalks, upon damp and frozen ground, and even 

in mud. . . 

The result is, that they suffer from colds, sore throats, pleurisies, 
lung-fevers, suppressions, inflammations of the womb, and many other 
ailments, which in early life rob them of their freshness and beauty. 


no 


HYGIENE. 


of their health and comfort, of their usefulness to their household 
and the world, and leave them helpless in the arms of their friends, 
with a patrimony of suffering for themselves while they live and a 
legacy of disease to hand down to their children. Would that they 
were wise in season! Some, to their honor be it said, have already 
adopted a safer course. It is hoped the evil will be gradually cor¬ 
rected. 

Never attempt to mould the Form by Dress. —Parents commit a 
great error when they attempt to mould the forms of their cliildren, 
particularly their daughters, by their dress. This cannot be done. 
It is the work of nature, and slie wants no assistance in it. The 
great object of dress in childhood, as well as in adult life, is to pro¬ 
mote health. With this^ there is not much difficulty in preserving 
the symmetry; without it^ deformity is almost a matter of course. 

The fact cannot be too often repeated, nor too seriously urged upon 
parents, that while the foundation of ail graceful and just proportion 
of the different parts of the body must be laid in infancy, it cannot 
be done by tight bands, and ligatures upon the chest, and loins, and 
legs, and arms. Upon all these points, the garments of children 
should set easy, leaving the muscles at liberty to assume the fine 
swell and development which nothing short of unconstrained exercise 
can give. Could infants tell all the horrors they suffer from the re¬ 
straints put upon them by tight dresses, it would make many a 
mother’s heart bleed. 

In these brief remarks, the principles are given which should guide 
us in the selection of our clothing. The intelligent reader will be 
able very easily to fill up the outline. 

Bathing and Cleanliness, 

Aristotle calls cleanliness one of the half virtues; and Addison, 
in the Spectator, recommends it as a mark of politeness, and as analo¬ 
gous to purity of mind. Both in the Jewish and Mohammedan law, 
it is enforced as a part of religious duty. Its requirement as a pre¬ 
requisite to Christian communion would be wiser than the demands 
sometimes made. A dirty Christian may perhaps be found, but not 
among those who mean to be intelligent. 

The importance of keeping the skin clean is not generally appreci¬ 
ated. The motive for cleanliness is often a lower and meaner one 
than should be allowed to have place in the mind. Many persons 
would be mortified to have their hands, or face, or neck dirty, who 
do not wash their whole body once a year. That they may appear 
well in the eyes of others, is the only motive with such for keeping 
clean. 

Offices of the Skin. — If we look a little at the offices of the skin, 
we shall better understand the need of keeping it clean. 


HYGIENE. 


Ill 


The skin is not merely a covering to protect us from the weather. 
It is a living structure, curiously wrought, with a large extent of sur¬ 
face, and having important duties to perform in the animal economy. 
Its structure is more particularly explained under the head of ‘‘Anat¬ 
omy ” and “ Skin Diseases.” It has been already said, that it helps 
the lungs in breathing. It does many other things on which the health 
is dependent. 

Number of Perspiratory Tubes. — The skin performs several 
kinds of secretion, — that is, it separates several things from the 
blood,— one of which is the perspiration, or sweat. The sweat is 
formed in small glands, situated just under the skin, and is brought 
to the surface in small ducts, or tubes, like the hose through which 
firemen throw water. These little tubes are spiral, as seen in cut 44, 
and run up through the two skins. 

These spiral canals are very numerous, covering every part of the 
human frame, — there being about 2800 of them upon every square 
inch throughout the body; and as a man of ordinary size has about 
2500 square inches of surface, the number of tubes in the skin of one 
man is seven millions. 

The mouths of these tubes are called the pores of the skin. Each 
one of these tubes is extended just below the skin; and there, among 
the cells where the fat is deposited it, or rather the two branches into 
which it is divided, is wound into a coil, called the sudoriferous or 
sweat gland. These ducts are each about a quarter of an inch in 
length, which make an aggregate length of tubing in the human skin 
of about twenty-eight miles. 

Insensible Perspiration. — Through each of these seven million of 
quarter-inch hose, there is poured out, day and night, as long as a 
man lives, a stream of sweat in the form of vapor. When this is 
thrown off very rapidly, as happens when active exercise is taken, it 
accumulates in drops, and is called sweat. Ordinarily it does not 
thus accumulate; it is then called insensible perspiration, not 
being recognized by the senses. 

This transpiration may be proved very beautifully by inserting the 
naked arm into a long glass jar, and closing up the space around it 
at the mouth so that no air can get in. The inside of the glass will 
soon be covered with a vapor, which will grow more and more dense 
until it is converted into drops. Boerhaave says : “ If the piecing 
chill of winter could be introduced into a summer assembly, the in¬ 
sensible perspiration being suddenly condensed, would give to each 
person the appearance of a heathen deity, wrapped in his own sepa¬ 
rate cloud.” 

Now, this continual exudation of sweat through these millions of 
tubes is for a wise and necessary purpose. It is to take out oi the 
blood and other fluids various salts, which would do mischiet it 
allowed to remain longer, and particularly carbonic acid, which is 


112 


HYGIENE. 


poisonous, — the same matters, in fact, which are thrown out by the 
lungs. The skin, in truth, is a kind of helper of the lungs; and a 
lady, by covering herself with garments which have no pores, and 
will neither admit air nor let off insensible perspiration, may be 
strangled almost as certainly as by putting a cord around her neck, 
and closing her windpipe. Almost twice as much fluid passes off 
through the skin as through the lungs. 

Keep the Pores Open. — It is obvious from what has now been 
said, that the pores of the skin should be kept open to preserve 
health. When bathing is neglected, and the undergarments are not 
changed sufficiently often, the insensible perspiration accumulates 
and dries up upon the skin, mingling with the oily matter secreted 
by the oil-glands, and with the shreds of the scarf-skin, and form¬ 
ing a tenacious gluey matter, which closes up the pores. By this 
misfortune, that large quantity of worn-out matter which usually 
goes off with the fluid through the pores is retained to poison and 
embarrass the living current of blood, or seek an outlet through lungs 
or kidneys, which are already burdened with quite as much as they 
are able to do. How important, then, that these channels through 
which the body is purified should be kept open ! that the skin should 
be kept healthy and in working order ! 

The Bath, the Great Purifier. — But this can only be done by 
daily washing. The bath is the great purifier of the human skin. 

The antiquity of bathing is very great. The practice is supposed 
to reach back to the infancy of the race, or certainly to a very early 
period. The inhabitants of Middle Asia are said to have been the 
first to use the bath for the specific purposes of purification and 
health. Domestic baths are represented as having been used by 
Diomed and Ulysses. Andromache prepared warm water for Hector 
on his return from battle. Penelope banished sorrow by unguents 
and baths. 

The Baths of the Medes, the Persians, and the Assyrians were 
much celebrated. Alexander, though familiar with the voluptuous 
baths of Greece and Macedon, was astonished at the magnificence of 
those of Darius. 

Roman Baths. — As luxury and refinement advanced, the means 
of luxurious bathing were multiplied, until establishments were 
built by the Romans, the very remains of which excite wonder at 
this day. Among these are the Thermae of Agrippa, of Nero, of 
Vespasian, of Titus, etc. One of the halls of the building con¬ 
structed for baths by Diocletian, forms at this day the church of the 
Carthusians, one of the most magnificent temples in Rome. 

Number and Character. — According to Pliny, baths were intro¬ 
duced into Rome about the time of Pompey; their first erection 
Dion attributes to Maecenas. Agrippa increased their number to 


HYGIENE. 


113 


one hundred and seventy; and within two hundred years they were 
multiplied to about eight hundred. These establishments were so 
vast that one writer compares them to provinces. They were paved 
either with crystal, or mosaic, or plaster, and were adorned by sculp¬ 
ture and painting to the very highest degree. They added not 
merely to the health and luxury of the people, but contributed to 
their culture in the highest departments of art and taste. 

Names of Baths. — To the apartment of their dwelling in which 
they washed their bodies in warm or hot water, the Romans gave 
the name of balneum^ or bath; to the public establishments, that of 
balnea^ or baths. The apartment which held the vessels was called 
vasarium. In this were the three immense vessels which contained 
the cold, warm, and hot water. There were instruments of bone, 
ivory, and metal, for scraping the skin, with a groove in the edge, 
through which the impurities of the skin might run off. 

On the north front of the thermae was a reservoir of cold water 
large enough for swimming, called by Pliny the younger, baptisterium. 
In the centre was a spacious vestibule, and on each side, warm, cold, 
and vapor baths, with apartments for cooling, dressing, and refresh¬ 
ments. There was the frigidarium^ a vaulted room, a cooling room 
midway between the warmer and the open air; the tepidarium^ with 
a temperature midway between the above and the hot bath; and the 
calidarium^ or the vapor bath. 

Then there was the room where the body was rubbed over with a 
great number of ointments and essences of the most precious kinds; 
and another in which it was sprinkled over with powder; and also a 
room whicfi held the clothes, in which the bathers undressed and 
dressed at pleasure. 

All these apartments were double, the two wings being appropri¬ 
ated to the sexes. 

Open to all. — These baths, thus numerous and magnificent, were 
open to all classes of the people, and contributed largely to the gen¬ 
eral health and physical endurance for which the Romans were con¬ 
spicuous. 

The Bath Neglected under the Christian System.— When Jesus 
of Nazareth came into the world, he found man’s nature cultivated 
in a most defective way. The moral element had sunk down to the 
lowest place, while the physical had risen to the highest, — just the 
reverse of the true order of things. This Divine Teacher came, not 
to recommend a neglect of the body, but a new cure for the imper¬ 
ishable part. Mankind were for the first time systematically taught 
to forgive injuries. Prostrate liberty and degraded woman became 
the wards of Christianity. 

Unfortunately, under the new order of things, the lower element 
of man, which had been exalted and worshipped, was cast down and 
abused. What the Pagan had pampered, the Christian persecuted. 


114 


HYGIENE. 


The body, which had been bathed, and scrubbed, and anointed, and 
perfumed, was thenceforward, in consequence of the improper inter¬ 
pretation of certain texts, scourged, and fasted, and clothed in rags. 
Thousands believed, and thousands do to this day, that to torment 
the body is to-please God. Under this feeling, the public and pri¬ 
vate baths were neglected, and to this day no Christian nation has 
fully appreciated the necessity of cleanliness, and of sanitary meas¬ 
ures for the maintenance of the public health. To a considerable 
extent, the body is still under disabilities; still the subject of perse¬ 
cution ; and where this is not the case, it is too often regarded only 
as a loose outside garment, to be thrown over the traveller to the 
celestial city, and is expected to be well soiled with mud and dust. 
The teachings of the Great Master will by and by cease to be per¬ 
verted, and will be applied to raise up man’s body, as they have 
raised his mental and moral nature, and will make a well-developed 
and harmonious being. 

In the meantime, it is the duty and the privilege of the physician 
to urge a return, not to the magnificence of the ancient regimen for 
training the body, but to its real efficiency in a simpler form. 

Cold Bathing. —Water applied to the skin at a temperature below 
75° of Farenheit, is called a cold bath. If applied to a person with 
sufficient constitutional energy to bear it, it is a decided and very 
powerful tonic. By this is meant that it promotes the solidity, com¬ 
pactness, and strength of the body. 

The first effect of the application of cold water to the skin, is the 
sudden contraction of all its vessels, and the retreat of the blood 
towards the internal organs. The nervous system, feeling the shock, 
causes the heart to contract with more energy, and throw the blood 
back with new force to the surface. 

This rushing of the blood back to the skin, is called a reaction; 
and when it occurs with some energy, it is an evidence that the sys¬ 
tem is in a condition to be much benefited by the cold bath. When 
this does not take place, but the skin looks shrunken, and covered 
with “ goose flesh,” and a chilliness is felt for a longer or shorter time 
after bathing, then the inference should be, either that the water has 
been used too profusely, or that the bather has too little reactionaiy 
power for this form of the bath. The latter conclusion must not be 
accepted until cold water has been tried with all possible guards, — 
such as beginning with tepid water, and gradually lowering the tem¬ 
perature ; bathing for a time, at least, in a warm room; beginning 
the practice in warm weather; and applying the water at first with a 
sponge out of which most of it has been pressed by the hand. With 
some or all of these precautions, most persons may learn to use the 
cold bath. It is always to be followed by brisk rubbing with a coarse 
towel or flesh-brush. 

The Sponge Bath. — A wet sponge is the simplest, as well as the 
best mode of applying water to the surface of the body. With per- 


HYGIENE. 


115 


sons who are feeble, a part only of the body should be exposed at a 
time, — which part, having been quickly sponged and wiped dry, 
should be covered, and another part exposed, and treated in a like 
manner. In this way, all parts of the body may successively be sub¬ 
jected to the bracing influence of water and friction, with little risk, 
even to the most delicate, of an injurious shock. The only furniture 
required for carrying out this simple plan of bathing, is a sponge, a 
basin, and a towel. There is no form of bathing so universally appli¬ 
cable as this, or so generally conducive to health. 

The Shower Bath requires a brief notice. The shock to the ner¬ 
vous system produced by it is much greater than that from sponging. 
Beside the sudden application of coldness, there is a concussion of 
the skin by the fall of the water. This form of the bath is excellent 
for those who are strong and full of vitality, but is fraught with some 
danger for the feeble and delicate. This, however, depends on the 
judgment with which it is used. In the form of a delicate shower, 
and with tepid water, the frailest body might bear its shock. 

The Warm Bath. — A temperate bath ranges from 75° to 85°; a 
tepid bath, from 85° to 95° ; a warm bath, from 95° to 98°; a hot 
bath from 98° to 105°. A warm bath is of the same temperature 
with the surface of the body. Of course it produces no shock. To 
those who are past the meridian of life, and have dry skins, and begin 
to be emaciated, the warm bath, for half an hour, twice a week, is 
eminently serviceable in retarding the advances of age. 

It is a mistake to suppose the warm bath is enfeebling. It has a 
soothing and tranquillizing effect. It renders the pulse a little 
slower, and the breathing more even. If the bath be above 98°, it 
becomes a hot one, and the pulse is quickened. 

The temperature of the warm bath, as of the cold, should be made 
to range up and down according to the vigor of the frame, and the 
circulation of the individual. The aged and the infirm, whose hands 
and feet are habitually cold, require it to be well up towards the 
point of blood heat. The pulse should not be made to beat faster by 
it, nor should sensations of heat or fullness be induced abou j the 
temples and face. 

The Vapor Bath. — This differs from the warm bath in being ap¬ 
plied to the interior as well as to the exterior of the body. The 
warmth is inhaled into the air-tubes at the same time that it envelops 
the external person. The first sensation of the vapor bath is oppres¬ 
sion, and causes some difficulty of breathing; but this passes off as 
soon as the perspiration begins to flow. From the steam-chamber, 
the bather shoidd step into a tepid bath, and after remaining a short 
time in this, wipe himself thoroughly with dry towels. 

Cold Affusion immediately after either the warm or the vapor bath, 
is excellent. In Russia it is common, after the vapor bath, to pour 


116 


HYGIENE. 


upon the head of the bather a bucket of warm water, then one of 
tepid, and lastly one of cold; and to finish with giving him a good 
towelling. It is even said that the natives leave the steam and the 
hot bath, and roll themselves in the snow. 

No danger need be feared from cold affusion when the skin is red 
and excited by the warm bath, provided the nervous frame is not in 
a depressed condition. If the body is chilled, and the nerves pros¬ 
trated by disease or fatigue, the application of cold water to the skin 
may do great mischief, and should in no case be hazarded. Cold 
water applied to a hot skin cannot do harm; to a cold skin, it can do 
nothing but harm. Hence, the cold bath may be used with advan¬ 
tage on rising in the morning, while the body is warm. Another good 
time is at ten or eleven o’clock in the forenoon, when the nervous 
power is advancing towards its height for the day. 

Reaction Necessary. — As a means for promoting cleanliness, the 
importance of the bath can hardly be overstated. For the support 
and improvement of health, it is equally important. But for the pro¬ 
motion of the latter, one prerequisite is essential, — the reaction of 
the skin. 

Various means are resorted to, to secure this. The Hindoos secure 
it by a kind of shampooing, thus described by a writer: “ One of the 
attendants on the bath extends you upon a bench, sprinkles you with 
warm water, and presses the whole body in an admirable manner. 
He cracks the joints of the fingers, and of all the extremities. He 
then places you upon the stomach, pinches you over the kidneys, 
seizes you by the shoulders, and cracks the spine by agitating all the 
vertebrae, strikes some powerful blows over the fleshy and muscular 
parts, then rubs the body with a hair-glove until he perspires,” etc. 
“ This process,” says the writer, “ continues for three-quarters of an 
hour, after which a man scarcely knows himself; he feels like a new 
being.” Sir John Sinclair speaks thus of the luxury of the process: 
“ If life be nothing but a brief succession of our ideas, the rapidity 
with which they now pass over the mind would induce one to believe 
that in the few short minutes he has spent in the bath, he has lived a 
number of years.” 

The Coarse Towel, the horsehair glove, and the flesh-brush are the 
appliances commonly used for stimulating the skin, and causing re¬ 
action. For tender skins, the towel is sufficiently rough. With this 
the bather should rub himself, unless he is weak and the exertion 
produces palpitation. The muscular exertion necessary for this will 
help the reaction. 

Restoration of the Bath desirable.— It is greatly to be wished 
that the bath might be restored to something like the importance it 
held among ancient nations. It is a luxury, a means of health, and 
a source of purity both of body and of mind ; for the morals of any 
people will rise where the use of the bath is regular and habitual. 


HYGIENE. 


117 


The attempt to cure all diseases by what is called the “ water-cure,” 
has a bit of fanaticism about it, which will cure itself in time. But 
that water, used judiciously in the form of baths, is a potent moral 
and physical renovator of the race, is not to be doubted; and this 
should commend it to all sensible people, even though it should some¬ 
times be abused by excess, as all good things are. 

A people with clean hands, and clean bodies, and clean health, will 
very naturally come to like clean streets and clean cities, and finally, 
clean consciences, A fondness for cleanliness in one form, almost ne¬ 
cessarily runs into a like fondness for it in other forms, until the pu¬ 
rifying desire pervades the whole nature, moral as well as physical. 


Air and Ventilation. 

Water and air are fluids. Water covers two-thirds the surface of 
the globe, having a depth, in some places, of five miles or more. Air 
covers not merely the remaining third of the earth, but the water as 
well. It embraces the entire globe, pressing alike upon land and 
water, and having a depth of about forty-jive miles. This is a sea of 
such magnitude, that the Atlantic or Pacific shrinks to a very small 
lake in the comparison. 

Man has his residence, and walks about at the bottom of this ocean. 
He has no means of navigating it, and, therefore, never rises to its 
surface ; but, with his natural eyes, and with telescopes, he discovers 
objects which lie millions and billions of miles beyond it, and even 
acquires much exact and useful information respecting them. 

This vast ocean of air we call an atmosphere,, from two Greek words 
signifying vapor, and a sphere,— it being an immense fluid-sphere, or 
globe. 

Pressure of the Atmosphere.— This atmosphere presses upon man 
and upon every object on the surface of the earth, with a force equal 
to fifteen pounds to every square inch; and as a man of average size 
has a surface of about 2500 square inches, the air in which he lives, 
presses upon him with a weight of jeighteen tons. This would of 
course crush every bone in his body, but for the fluids within him 
which establish an equilibrium, and leave him unoppressed. 

The Philosophy of Breathing cannot be fully explained in the 
brief space allotted to this subject; it is enough to say, that, upon 
the attempt being made to draw in the breath, the muscles of the 
breast draw up the ribs, the diaphragm or midriff at the same time 
contracting,—the whole movement being such as to create a vacuum 
in the lungs. The air, pressing upon every part of the surface, as 
mentioned above, rushes in and fills the vacuum. The lungs being 
filled, the contraction of the muscles of the belly causes the dia¬ 
phragm, which has sunk down towards a plane, to rise up into the 
form of an umbrella, and squeeze the air out of the lungs. 


118 


HYGIENE. 


This is about all that need to be said of the method of getting the 
air into and out of the lungs. The whole process is under the con¬ 
trol of that part of the nervous system called the medulla oblongata^ 
or the top of the spinal cord. 

Objects of Breathing. — There are at least three objects to be ac¬ 
complished by breathing; the renewal of the blood and the taking of 
impurities out of it; the warming of the body; and the finishing up 
of the process of digestion, and the change of chyle into nutritive 
blood. 

There is no good reason for attempting here to explain the last of 
these objects. To give any idea of the first two, it is necessary to 
furnish a very brief explanation of the circulation of the blood. 

The heart is double. There are in fact two hearts, a right and a 
left, joined together. The right heart receives the blood from the 
veins, and forces it up into the lungs, whence it is brought back to 
the left heart, and by this is driven through the arteries into every 
part of the body. When received into the lungs, the blood is of a 
dark purple color, and is loaded with carbonic acid and some other 
impurities. It has also been deprived, during its circulation through 
the body, of most of its oxygen. The small, delicate vessels which 
convey this dark and impure blood through the lungs, pass directly 
over the air-cells; and at this moment the carbonic acid and water 
pass through the blood-vessels and air-cells, and are borne from the 
body on the outgoing breath; while the oxy¬ 
gen enters the blood through the walls of the 
same vessels; and this exchange, which takes 
place with every breath, alters the blood from 
a dark purple to a scarlet red. Fig. 71 
shows at 1, a bronchial tube divided into tlu-ee 
branches; 2, 2, 2, are air-cells; 3, branches of 
the pulmonary artery winding around the air- 
cells with the dark blood to be reddened. 

That carbonic acid and water are borne out of the lungs with every 
breath, may be easily proved. If we breathe into lime-water, it will 
become white. This is owing to the carbonic acid in the breath unit¬ 
ing with the lime, and producing carbonate of lime. Then, if we 
breathe upon a piece of glass, it becomes wet, showing that there is 
watery vapor in the breath. That the blood receives oxygen from 
the air we breathe is proved by the fact that the ingoing breath has 
one-fourth more oxygen in it than the outgoing. 

The lungs, then, take out of all the air Ave breathe, one-fourth of 
its oxygen. If we breathe it over a second, a third, and a fourth 
time, it not only has less oxygen each time, and is less useful for the 
purposes of respiration, but it becomes positively hurtful by rea¬ 
son of the poisonous carbonic acid wliich, at every outgoing breath, 
it carries with it from the lungs. 

Effect of-Sleeping in a Small Room. —Now, consider the effect of 



Fig. 71. 



HYGIENE. 


119 


sleeping in a small room, seven feet by nine, not furnished with the 
means of ventilation. A pair of lungs, of ordinary size, take in, at 
each breath, about a pint of air. Out of this air one-fourth of its 
oxygen is extracted; and when it is returned from the lungs, there 
comes along with it about eight or nine per cent of carbonic acid. 
As it is not safe to breathe air containing more than three or four 
per cent of this gas, the pint which the lungs take in and throw out 
at each breath is not only spoiled, but it spoils something more than 
another pint with which it mingles; and as the breath is drawn in 
and thrown out about eighteen times per minute, not less than four 
cubic feet of air is spoiled in that time by one pair of lungs. This is 
two hundred and forty feet an hour ; and in eight hours, the usual 
time spent in the sleeping room, it amounts to one thousand nine 
hundred and twenty cubic feet. During the hours of sleep, therefore, 
one pair of lungs so spoil one thousand nine hundred and twenty 
cubic feet of air that it is positively dangerous to breathe it. 

In a room seven feet by ten, and eight feet high, there are five 
hundred and sixty cubic feet of air, a little more than one-quarter 
the amount spoiled by one pair of lungs during sleeping hours. In 
a room of this size, there is not air enough to last one person three 
hours ; and yet two persons often remain in such rooms eight or nine 
hours. 

Why then do they not perish ? Simply because no room is entirely 
air-tight. Fortunately, all our rooms are so made that some foul air 
will get out, and a little that is pure will find its way in. Were it 
not so, no man who closed the door behind him^ for the nighty in a small 
bed-room^ would ever see a return of day. 

Suppose fifty children are confined in an unventilated school-room, 
twenty feet by thirty, and ten feet high. These children will spoil 
about one hundred and fifty feet of air in one minute, or nine thou¬ 
sand feet per hour, or twenty-seven thousand feet in three hours,, — a 
usual half-day’s session. But the room holds only six thousand cubic 
feet of air ,— the whole of which these children would spoil in forty 
minutes. 

These simple facts show the absolute necessity of ventilation. Yet 
how poorly it is provided for in our sleeping rooms, our sitting rooms, 
our school houses, our churches, our court houses, our halls of legis¬ 
lation, and even in our anatomical and medical lecture-rooms! 

In sick-rooms, ventilation should receive special attention.-— 

Every disease is aggravated by the breathing of bad air. Yet it is 
common to close all the doors and windows of rooms where sick per¬ 
sons are confined, lest the patients should take cold. This is a bad 
Ijractice. The sick should have plenty of fresh air. Their comfort 
is promoted by it, and their recovery hastened. . • n. 

It is strange that human beings should be afraid of puie an. t 
is their friend and not their enemy. Impure air only should be 
shunned. 


120 


HYGIENE. 


The supply of good air ample. — There is no necessity for breath¬ 
ing air which has lost a part of its oxygen, and acquired a portion of 
carbonic acid. The supply of good air is ample. An ocean of it 
forty-five miles deep, covering the whole globe, seems a pretty plain 
intimation that it is not to be sparingly used. When men retire 
within their dwellings, and attempt to shut out this great sea of air, 
they show about as much wisdom as would be exhibited by fishes 
which should build water-tight huts around themselves at the bottom 
of the ocean, and swim about continually in the unchanged water 
within. Fishes can only live in glass globes when the water is 
changed every day; and if the water be changed half a dozen times 
a day, they cannot be as healthy as when swimming in the great 
ocean. 


Cultivating Trees. — In most of our cities there is almost a crimi¬ 
nal neglect of the cultivation of trees; yet they add greatly to the 
health, and prolong the lives of the citizens. 

The leaves of a tree are the lungs with which it breathes ; but in¬ 
stead of extracting oxygen from the air, and giving back carbonic 
acid, like man, it takes only the poisonous carbonic acid, and gives 
back oxygen. 

Were there no animals on the globe, the vegetables would con¬ 
sume all the carbonic acid, and die for want of breathing material; 
on the other hand, were there no trees or other vegetables, the ani¬ 
mals would in time so far exhaust the oxygen as to perish for lack 
of it. The two together keep the air healthy for each. 

The relation of plants and animals, in all that relates to their 
peculiar actions and effects, is a complete antagonism. Their move¬ 
ments are in contrary directions, and by hostile forces. Their oppos¬ 
ing actions may be illustrated thus : — 


The vegetable produces the non- 
nitrogenized substances, sugar, starch, 
and gum. 

The vegetable decomposes carbonic 
acid, water, and ammoniacal salts. 

The vegetable disengages oxygen. 

The vegetable absorbs heat and 
electricity. 

The vegetable is a de-oxidizer. 

The vegetable is stationary. 


The animal consumes the non-ni- 
trogenized substances, sugar, starch, 
and gum. 

The animal produces carbonic acid, 
water, and ammoniacal salts. 

The animal absorbs oxygen. 

The animal produces heat and 
electricity. 

The animal is an oxidizer. 

The animal is locomotive. 


We learn from the facts of Geology that the time was in the his¬ 
tory of our globe, when lunged animals could not breathe its atmos¬ 
phere ; it was too much loaded with carbonic acid. The trees then 
grew with a rapidity almost inconceivable, decomposing the poison¬ 
ous gas, taking to themselves the carbon and setting the oxygen 
free, and lifting up their brawny arms to heaven in acts of thankful¬ 
ness for the great feast. 

At length the noxious gas was exhausted; and then, pale and 
sickly, they feebly held up their hands for help; and God sent num¬ 
berless tribes of warm-blooded animals, full of life and energy, that 



HYGIEU-E. 


121 


sported in the exhilarating air, and destroyed vast forests, thereby 
reproducing carbonic acid. 

These simple facts should teach man the sanitary importance of 
trees and bushes; and wherever he has a rod, I had almost said a 
foot of ground to spare, a tree should be planted and carefully 
nursed. This is particularly necessary in large cities. Every narrow 
street in a city should be lined with trees. For their absence, thou- 
sands of men, women, and children have died sooner than they 
otherwise would. We want them stretching up their arms to all 
our windows to give us oxygen, and to take to themselves the car¬ 
bonic acid we exhale. 


Tight Dresses. — The health may be injured by not breathing air 
enough, as well as by inhaling that which is impure. It is therefore 
improper to compress the lungs by wearing tight dresses. If the 
ribs are held down by the dress, but little air can get into the lungs, 
and only a small amount of carbonic acid can be carried out. In 
this event, the health is injured in two ways: the blood is not vital¬ 
ized by oxygen received, and it is poisoned by carbonic acid retained. 

Tight lacing has in a measure gone out of fashion ; yet too much 
of it for the best development of female health is yet retained. As 
a knowledge of physiology and the laws of life, and a better judg¬ 
ment of the true symmetry , of the female form prevail, this barbar¬ 
ous custom will pass out of use, and the substantial health and 
real beauty of the American woman will together rise to a higher 
standard. 

Fill the Lungs well. — Persons who take but little exercise are 
apt to acquire the habit of drawing the air very little into the lower 
part of the lungs. This should be counteracted by taking long and 
full inspirations for a short time, every day, while in the open air. 
This practice would get the lungs in the habit of opening to the air 
quite down to their base, and would make the breathing much more 
natural as well as effectual at all times. In the case of- young per¬ 
sons, it would enlarge the capacity of the chest, and add to the brief 
years of life. Parents should see to it that their children spend 
from ten to twenty-five minutes every morning infiating their lungs 
with pure air. 


Travell ing. 

It is true that many persons who dwell in one spot, and har^y 
move from it all their lives, live to old age. Yet change of location 
for a short time, or permanently, does promote health, and protract 
life. The mind tires of contemplating one set of objects for a great 
length of time; and in the absence of all stimulation, it sinks into 
apathy, and imparts no energy to the body. The physical frame, 
pLtaking of the ennui of the mind, droops. This is doubly true 
when one is suffering from illness. 


122 


HYGIENE. 


Travelling is eminently fitted to draw the thoughts of the nervous 
and feeble from themselves, and to turn them with interest to out¬ 
ward objects. This is of great importance. It is better than stimu¬ 
lants and tonics. 

The nervous system has great power over the health; and the 
pleasurable sensations, excited by visiting new places and scenes, 
and conveyed to the mind through the nerves, often awaken in the 
constitution energies which are essential to recovery. 

Travelling places a man in entirely new circumstances. It sur¬ 
rounds him with novelties, every one of which makes a demand upon 
his attention. It breaks up his old trains of thought, which have 
been monotonous so long that they have grown oppressive. It 
causes the world to touch him at a thousand new points, and sur¬ 
prises him every day, perhaps every hour, with a view of the false 
relations he has sustained to it. It opens to him new depth? in his 
own nature, and causes him to wonder that they never attracted his 
attention before. It opens to him one door after another, leading 
him into new apartments of knowledge; and as the world grows, he 
finds himself growing with it, until his whole nature dilates and 
beats with new life. 

Means of Travelling Increased. — The last twenty-five years 
have greatly increased the facilities for travelling. Many of the 
sick may now seek health in distant lands, who, had their circum¬ 
stances been similar twenty years ago, would have been compelled 
to pine at home. The railroads give an easy journey to thousands 
with the comforts of the parlor cars. 

One thing more wanted. — But one thing is wanted to bring the 
means of travelling, for the sick, very nearly to perfection; it is a 
method of propelling carriages upon common roads, by some cheap 
power, which can never be exhausted, and which shall be easily man¬ 
aged by the traveller or his companion. This is a prominent want 
of the present hour; a giant discovery, which, at a single stride, 
would carry the world forward a hundred years, and which, we may 
hope, is in the womb of the near future. The power, it is believed, 
will be electro-magnetism. The mode of applying it, when discovered, 
will be simple, yet wonderful; and the results to the sick, beneficent 
beyond expression. The human mind cannot conceive the advan¬ 
tages which invalids would derive from such a mode of conveyance. 
Journeys might be long or short; might be made with any rate of 
speed which the strength permitted. The morning or afternoon 
stages might be discontinued when fatigue demanded, and resumed 
at pleasure. Over uninviting regions the traveller might glide 
swiftly, and linger where Nature spreads her feasts for the mind. 

The best Seasons for Travelling are spring and autumn. Win¬ 
ter is too cold. A pleasurable excursion may sometimes be made in 
summer, but in general the season is too hot for comfort. In chang- 


HYGIENE. 


123 


ing climate, food, water, etc., in the sultry season, there is danger of 
contracting very troublesome bowel complaints. 

Means of Travelling for the Poor. — There is one painful thought 
connected with travelling as a means of health, —it cannot be en¬ 
joyed by the poor. When sick they generally have the careful 
attention of humane physicians; they receive from kind neighbors 
little delicacies of food and drink; they are watched with by night, 
and visited by day; but though suffering from the hard routine of 
a laborious life, and needing diversion and recreation more than all 
else, they cannot travel. They have not the means, and nobody 
thinks of supplying them for such a purpose. 

This is a channel into which charity ought to pour some of its 
benevolent streams. In large cities there is a class of poor females 
who sit in their small rooms and ply the needle diligently througli 
the whole year, and who run down every summer very near to con¬ 
finement in bed. Two or three weeks, in the hot season, spent in 
travelling in the mountains and elsewhere, would bring back the 
color to the pale cheeks of such persons, and save them many years 
both from the grave and from the almshouse. No millionaire could 
make a better use of property than to set it apart, at his death, for 
the specific purpose of enabling the poor to travel. And if this 
suggestion should induce one rich man to consecrate his wealth to 
the Godlike work of bestowing health, happiness, and intelligence 
upon the poor, the great labor of preparing this book will not have 
been endui’ed in vain. 


Amusements. 

That which engages the mind, and at the same time impresses it 
with pleasurable sensations, is a sufficiently accurate definition of 
amusement. Whatever occupies the thoughts and senses in an 
agreeable way, and employs them with some degree of intensity, 
comes under the same head. 

This broad and general definition allows us to disregard our daily 
employments as amusements when they engage our deep attention 
and at the same time give us pleasure. 

The term “ amusements,” however, in the more popular sense, is 
restricted to those sports, games, plays, exhibitions, entertainments, 
etc., which involve a suspension of our daily labors, and are properly 
called diversions. 

When nature is tired and worn with those severe and exhausting 
toils by which we earn our bread, amusements turn us aside, divert 
us, engage other powers, and allow our tired faculties to rest. 
are, therefore, of very great importance. Even the most trifling 
amusements may have the highest value. Their very nature and 
object imply that they will be valuable just in proportion as the} 
divert and rest us. And just in proportion as they do these things, 
they give us health. 


124 


HYGIENE. 


One other thing amusements do for us, which must not he forgot¬ 
ten ; they preserve in us, in middle life, and even in old age, the 
warm simplicity of childhood. They keep us young in our disposi¬ 
tions and feelings. They keep us in harmony with nature, and con¬ 
sequently artless and truthful. They prevent the formalities of con¬ 
ventional life from stiffening us into cold and repulsive hypocrites. 

Selection of Amusements. — Of course the same amusements are 
not adapted to all persons. The farmer who has worked his muscles 
all day, would not be benefited by a game of ball in the evening; 
yet there are few games more suitable for the student who has bent 
for many hours over his books. Gare should always be taken, there¬ 
fore, that amusements or sports do not bear upon those limbs or 
faculties which are wearied by work. 

Amusements improve various faculties. — To one who has a 

taste for art, who is fond of works of genius and poetry, theatrical 
entertainments will always be agreeable, and a source of gratification 
and health. I know these exhibitions are objected to by many as 
immoral and hurtful, but more, I think, from habit and fashion, than 
upon any solid grounds of reason or religion. They certainly appeal 
to a high order of faculties in the human mind; and to those who 
are fitted to receive them, teach lessons of great moment. Even the 
lower exhibitions of comedy, though not particularly improving to 
the mind, are yet, from their power to provoke laughter^ among the 
most powerful up-builders of health. 

The Games of Whist, Euchre, etc., engage the minds of the play¬ 
ers in a sort of mental contest, which is exciting, agreeable, and 
health-imparting. These games make us skilful in calculating 
chances, and judging how men ought to act under certain contin¬ 
gencies. They make us sharp to detect and turn aside the unseen 
forces, which tend to oppose and destroy our success in life. 

I hardly need to say that money or rather property should never 
be staked upon a game of cards, or upon any other game. Gambling 
is one of the meanest as well as most destructive things in which men 
can engage. It raises the healthful excitement of these innocent 
amusements, — innocent when properly pursued, — into raging pas¬ 
sions, which, when defeat comes, as come it will, sink into remorse 
and bitterness as terrible as the mind can conceive. I warn young 
men, as they would escape the pangs of a hell on earth, and the loss 
of character, happiness, and probably health for life, to avoid any 
such abuse of cards. 

Chess, Chequers, etc., appeal likewise to the fondness of competi¬ 
tion, which is common to all men. But they cultivate in us a little 
more of the mathematical element. As they require very close appli¬ 
cation of the mind, they are not suitable for persons of sedentary em¬ 
ployments, or whose daily avocations require a constant use of the 


HYGIENE. 


125 


mind. Such persons should choose lighter and more active amuse¬ 
ments. 

Lighter Amusements. — Beside these higher amusements, there 
are a great number of lighter and more childish ones, which should 
not be overlooked. 

Some of these are merely physical, involving a trial of strength, 
fleetness, action, etc., as the games of ball, cricket, etc. Others are 
domestic in their nature, involving mirth, and various other of the 
lighter excitements, as blind-man’s buff, puss in the corner, hole in the 
wall, fox and geese, hunt the slipper, hurly-burly, roll the platter, etc. 

In fashionable American households, these simple domestic plays 
have in a great measure gone out of use,— being deemed vulgar, and 
below the dignity of ladies and gentlemen. I am sorry to say this; 
for the vulgarity, in my judgment, is in those who reject them, and 
not in the play. 

The officer of our navy, whose visit to the mansion of Lord Hard- 
wick I have spoken of on page 93, reports that on the evening of one 
of his visits, the play of blind-man’s buff was engaged in by the whole 
party; and that his Lordship in attempting to make a short turn dur¬ 
ing the play fell upon his back, when one of his daughters, who was 
blinded, caught him by the heels, and being assisted by others, drew 
him feet-foremost half the length of the hall, amid the shouts of the 
whole party. This would have been deemed very vulgar by fashion¬ 
able people in this country. But to me, who am no believer in any 
nobility which Lord Hardwick can receive from kings or queens, this 
simple narrative raised him at once to a peerage in nature’s realm. 
Without doubt, he is one of nature’s noblemen. A man in his sta¬ 
tion, and with his wealth and temptations to snobbery, who can pre¬ 
serve such simplicity of character, must have a warm as well as a 
noble heart in his breast. 

Value of Domestic Amusements.—-! remark here that, in all our 
amusements, we should, as far as possible, seek those of a domestic 
character. They are more simple and childlike in their nature, and 
preserve in us, even to old age, the freshness of feeling, and truthful 
simplicity, which spread so beautiful a greenness over the autumn of 
life. 

Simple domestic amusements, too, are always gotten up on a cheap 
scale; they do not encourage costly extravagance, and can be in¬ 
dulged in by the poor as well as the rich. 

• But more, and better than all, they keep young men and old men, 
and young women and old women, at home, by making the domestic 
circle the centre of attraction. They draw the seekers of pleasure 
around the hearth-stone, instead of outward in the world. They in¬ 
cline young and old to look to family dvcle as the centre of the 
most pure, because the most simple and natural, enjoyments. They 
teach us to look to home as the centre of life, and to all outside as 
only its appendages. 


126 


HYGIENE. 


It has been said that homes are found only in England; that in 
other countries, life wanders, houseless and shelterless, abroad, seek¬ 
ing happiness, it knows not where, while in England it nestles warmly 
in the bosom of home. To whatever extent this is true,— and I be¬ 
lieve there is truth in it,— it is owing to the simple household amuse¬ 
ments of England. 

An American Want. — One of the great wants of this country is a 
more liberal provision for amusements. We attach here too much 
value to wealth; and we pursue it with an intensity altogether in¬ 
compatible with health. We cannot take time for recreation because 
we are in so great a hurry to be rich. 

If we would save ourselves from a total wreck of health, we must 
take broader and better views of life. We must value it for its solid 
comforts, rather than for its glitter and show. 

Contrary to the general belief, insanity is very prevalent among 
seamen and farmers. The former lead a life of dreary solitude upon 
the ocean; the latter, one, if not of equal, certainly of very objection¬ 
able solitude upon the land. The sailor who does business upon the 
great sea should provide himself with great numbers of games to 
amuse him in his wanderings. The farmers of our land should cul¬ 
tivate more of the sociabilities of life. Let them meet together in 
the fine summer evenings, like the peasants of France, and dance 
upon the green lawns before their cottages. They will till their lands 
more cheerfully for it; enjoy better spirits and health; and live to 
greater age. 

Completeness of Life. — Amusements are necessary in order to 
give a completeness to life. The faculties of the human mind are 
numerous. It is only when they are all exercised, in their due pro¬ 
portion, that there is a harmonious beauty in our lives. The cus¬ 
toms of society twist us all out of shape, — perverting us mentally, 
morally, and physically, and robbing us of every manly and health¬ 
ful quality. Getting out of the ruts of fashionable life, we must 
come back to the simple paths of nature. 

I would strongly impress upon parents, teachers, and guardians, 
the importance of studying well the various temperaments, physical 
and mental peculiarities of their children, in order to judge wisely 
of the kind and amount of recreation required by them. 

Instance : a pale, delicate child of ten to twelve or fourteen years, 
with clear complexion, fiaxen hair, blue eyes, slender frame, and a 
nervous, sensitive organization, with strong mental cast, requires 
much more recreation and out-door exercise than a full-blooded, 
robust child of that age; a fact not at present duly considered, as a 
general thing. 


TEMPERAMENTS 

AND 

CONSTITUTION of the BODY 

AND 

SYMPTOMS of DISEASES 


It is necessary that the reader should understand the temperament 
and constitution of the body and symptoms of diseases 
that they may intcllig^ently diag^nosc 
the case. 




TEMPERAMENTS, C0N8TIT0TI0N, AND 
SYMPTOMS. 


Man has thinking^ warming^ nourishing^ and moving powers. For 
the performance of each of these great functions, he has organs of 
the best possible construction. 

For Thinking, he has a brain. If this be large in proportion to his 
other organs., it gives a character, a cast, a peculiarity to his whole 
organization. Everything about him is subordinate to his brain. 
We recognize him, at once, as a thinking and feeling being. He 
has an intellectual look. There is a delicacy, a refinement, a sensi¬ 
tiveness, a studious habit, an air of thoughtfulness about him, which 
determine his traits, his tone, his tettiper, his whole character. Hence 
it is proper to say he has a cephalic or thinking temperament. 

The Lungs and Heart, devoted to renewing and circulating the 
blood, are placed in the chest or thorax. If these he large in man in 
proportion to other organs^ he is characterized by great activity of cir¬ 
culation, by a large supply of red blood, and by the general indica¬ 
tions of a full, warm, and bounding life. This activity gives him 
his tone and temper, and shows that his is the thoracic or calorific 
temperament. 

In the Great Cavity of the Abdomen is done the work of receiv¬ 
ing, digesting, and disposing of the materials which nourish the body. 
If the organs which do this work he large in proportion to others^ the 
body is fed to repletion, and the whole organization speaks of the 
table. The habit, the look, the temper, are all sluggish. This is the 
abdominal or alimentary temperament. 

The Bones and Muscles are instruments by which the movements 
of the body are performed. If these be the largest, in proportion, of 
any in the body, then the locomotive powers are in higher perfection 
than any others. There is largeness of person, energy of movement, 
and greatness of endurance. The whole cast of the person partakes 
of the strength and coarseness of bone and muscle. This is the 
muscular or locomotive temperament. 

This gives us four temperaments, as follows: — 

I. The Cephalic Temperament, denoted by large brain, activity of 
mind, and general delicacy of organization. 

128 



TEMPERAMENTS, CONSTITUTION, AND SYMPTOMS. 


120 


II. The Thoracic Temperament, indicated by a large chest, force 
of circulation, redness of skin, great activity, warmth of temper, 
and fulness of life. 

III. The Abdominal Temperament, denoted by a large develop¬ 
ment of the stomach, liver, bowels, and lymphatics; by a fulness of 
belly, fondness of high living, and a disposition to float sluggishly 
upon the current of the world, rather than to struggle against it. 

IV. The Muscular Temperament, indicated by largeness of frame 
and limbs, coarseness of structure, and great power of locomotion 
and endurance. 

There are some reasons for reckoning but three temperaments in¬ 
stead of four, by reducing the thoracic and abdominal to one, after 
the manner of the phrenological Fowlers, — especially as the organs 
in the chest, and their appendages, take an important part in the 
process of nutrition. But as the heart and lungs are placed in one 
cavity, and the stomach, liver, etc., in another, and as one set of 
these organs may be largely developed, and the other defectively, I 
have thought it most convenient, on the whole, and quite as philo¬ 
sophical, to retain ihQ four temperaments. 

These temperaments seldom or never appear single and pure. 
They mix and cross with each other in all possible ways. 


Medication and Temperaments. 


The object of speaking of temperaments in this work is to make 
the reader acquainted with the principles upon which remedies are 
to be adapted to their development. The philosophical-minded phy¬ 
sician will, in prescribing, always keep the temperament in view. 


Persons of a Cephalic Temperament cannot bear powerful medh 
cines, — particularly drastic purges. Their fine, delicate and sensi¬ 
tive organizations would be torn all to pieces by doses which would 
hardly be sufficient in a fully-developed muscular temperament. 
This should always be borne in mind in prescribing for persons of a 
large brain and delicate organization. 

In this temperament, too, fevers, instead of running a high and 
fiery course, take the low typhoid type, the patient becoming pale, 
and showing a constant tendency to sink. Such patients would be 
killed by purging, leeching, cupping, sweating, and starving. They 
want tonics, stimulants, and every kind of support which the case 
will possibly permit. 


Persons of a Thoracic Temperament, having a rapid circulation, 
anra fulness of blood, are most liable to 

When fever attacks them, they have what is cdled a high fever. 
If rheumatism comes, it is acute rheumatism. Disease takes hold of 
them imarily. As they do everything with emphasis and energy 


130 


TEMPERAMENTS, CONSTITUTION, AND SYMPTOMS. 


when well, so, when ill, they make a business of it, and are sick with 
all their might. 

Stimulants and tonics generally make such persons worse. They 
want sedatives, and diaphoretics, and sweats, and purgatives, and 
leeches, and cups, and low diet, and cold bathing, and whatever else 
will slacken the ferocious swiftness of their circulation. 

Those of the Abdominal Temperament are not particularly sub¬ 
ject either to very high fevers, or to those typhoid forms which 
produce sinking. As in the two temperaments noticed above, their 
complaints chiefly attack the organs most largely developed. Their 
diseases affect the stomach, the liver, the spleen, and the bowels. 
These are the largest organs in their bodies, and are most used; and, 
being overworked, they fall into disease. 

As these persons are slothful in all their habits, so their diseases 
run a sluggish course. They are not so liable to sudden death as 
persons of either of the preceding temperaments. They have all 
sorts of chronic diseases which linger a great while, and are cured 
with much difficulty. 

These persons will bear larger doses of medicine than either of 
the preceding. Neither do their constitutions respond as readily to 
medicine. A physician will be disappointed if he expects to see 
them recovering as fast under its use. 

Those of a Muscular Temperament, having little fondness for 
anything but a hardy, active life, are much exposed to the elements. 
Though strong and long-enduring, the hardship of their lives often 
breaks them down, and when felled by disease, they are oftentimes 
shockingly racked and torn by it. 

These persons bear large doses of medicine, and when sick, need 
to be treated with an energy proportioned to the strength of their 
constitution. Rheumatism, which affects the joints, the ligaments, 
and the tendons, is an affection from which they suffer severely. 


The Constitution. 

In prescribing for disease, it is of very great importance to take 
notice of the constitution. This is a different matter from the tem¬ 
peraments. Persons of the same temperament are often quite unlike 
in the strength of their constitution. And those having good natural 
constitutions, frequently abuse them by improper habits and indul¬ 
gences, and at length come to have broken and very feeble consti¬ 
tutions. 

Some persons’ muscles and other tissues are put together as if 
they were never intended to come apart. Like some of the woods 
of the forest, — the lignum vitse for example, — they are fine-grained 
and tough. A real smart boy will wear out an iron rocking-horse 
sooner than one of these persons can exhaust their constitution by 


TEMPERAMENTS, CONSTITUTION, AND SYMPTOMS. 


131 


hard work. Others, to outward appearance equally well made, have 
very little endurance, break down easily under hard work, and lose 
their flesh from trifling causes. 

The state of the constitution, therefore, should always be learned 
before much medicine is given; for what a person of a strong con¬ 
stitution will need^ may greatly injure a feeble person, even of the 
same temperament. 

Habits. — These must likewise be attended to. Persons using 
stimulants require larger doses of medicine to affect them than other 
persons. 

Climate. — Medicines act differently on the same persons in sum¬ 
mer and winter. Narcotics act more powerfully in hot weather and 
climates than in cold, and must be given in smaller doses. 

Idiosyncrasy. — Medicines of only ordinary activity, act very pow¬ 
erfully, and even violently on some persons. This is owing to a pecu¬ 
liarity of stomach, or constitution, called idiosyncrasy. It makes the 
person, in this particular, an exception to the general rule. And no 
physician can know beforehand in what particulars this exceptional 
disposition will show itself. Persons, however, learn their own idio¬ 
syncrasies, and should make them known to those who prescribe for 
them for the first time. 

The Sex; — The peculiarities of each sex should never he forgotten 
in prescribing for the sick. 

Males are not so sensitive as females. They will bear more medi¬ 
cine, and their nervous system is not so readily excited by it. 

Influence of Age. — Human life is divided into infancy., childhood, 
youth, manhood, and old age. Each of these periods has peculiarities 
which modify disease. 

The First Period, extending from birth to the age of seven years, 
is marked by tenderness and excitability, and is alive to every irrita¬ 
tion. Teething and other disturbances occur at this period, and need 
careful management. 

The Second Period extends from seven to fourteen, and is quite 
subject to disease, including the second dentition. During these two 
periods there is no great difference between the sexes; both are ten¬ 
der, and need careful watching. 

During the Third Period, the changes occur which mark and sepa¬ 
rate the sexes. This is a developing period, when the functions be¬ 
come established, and the frame acquires form, proportion, and 

At^this time, hereditary tendencies to disease, latent till now, begin 
to show themselves, and call for every possible endeavor to break 
them up, and fortify the constitution. 


132 


TEMPEKAMENTS, CONSTITUTION, AND SYMPTOMS. 


The Fourth Period embraces the vigorous ‘maturity of life, when 
the powers of body and mind, in both sexeo. are at the summit of 
their excellence. The functions are now well established. It is dur¬ 
ing this period that the female is subject to most of the harassing 
ailments peculiar to her sex. So numerous are these complaints, and 
so large and valued the class of persons affected by them, that he who 
treats them with the greatest skill, and with the delicacy which their 
nature demands, may be said to be at the head of his profession. 

The Fifth Period is that of old age, when the functions are declin¬ 
ing, and the frame is bending under the weight of years. Old age 
begins earlier with females than with males. Many ailments are com¬ 
mon to this period, which require peculiar management, both medi¬ 
cinal and hygienic. 

Proper Frequency of Dose. — Each succeeding dose should be 
given before the effect of the preceding is gone. If this rule is not 
attended to, the cure does not advance. What is gained by each 
dose is lost by the rallying of the disease in the interval. Care must 
be taken, however, not to apply this rule too strictly with very active 
medicines. 


How to Examine a Patient. 

When a patient is presented for examination, having observed the 
temperament, constitution, sex, and age, 

1. Learn the causes of the disease, whether local, specific, or gen¬ 
eral, and also its history. 

2. Search out its nature and character, whether febrile or other¬ 
wise. 

3. Take notice of the whole train of symptoms, —embracing the 
pulse, the condition of the mouth, tongue, and digestive organs, the 
breathing, the urine, the fecal discharges, the condition of the brain 
and nervous system, the state of the skin, etc. 


Brief Table Explanatory of Symptoms. 

GENERAL APPEARANCE OF PATIENT. 


1. Tonic spasm of the trunk 

2. Distorted features, altered position, 

and impaired motion of limbs 

3. Irregular and perpetual motion 

4. Entire and absolute immobility 

5. Great and unnatural boldness 

6. Great and unusual languor 

7. Ability to lie only upon the back 


8. Lying upon the face 

9. Lying upon one side 


Locked jaws. 

Paralysis of one side. 

St. Vitus’s dance. 

Catalepsy. 

Insanity or delirium. 

The beginning of an acute disease, or 
the progress of a chronic one. 

Apoplexy. Organic disease of the brain 
or spinal marrow. Acute inflamma¬ 
tion of the lining of the abdomen. 
Rheumatism of the joints. 

Several kinds of colics. 

Pleurisy, or inflammation of the lungs. 
When one lung only is affected in 
consumption, the patient generally 
lies on the diseased side. 


TEMPERAMENTS, CONSTITUTION, AND SYMPTOMS. 


133 


10. Maintaining the sitting posture 

only 

11. The head thrown back 

12. Restlessness and tossings 

13. General enlargement of the body 


indicates Disease of the heart or lungs, which 
interferes with breathing. 

“ Severe diseases of the larynx and wind¬ 
pipe. 

“ The beginning of acute inflammation. 

Fevers. Delirium, and acute mania. 

Gell-dropsy. Emphysema from a 
wound of the chest. 


Head, Face, and Neck. 


1. Head bent to one side 


2. Head increased in size 

3. Swollen scalp 

4. Dull expression of face 

5. Full, red face, with blood-vessels 

of eyes injected 

6. Pinched, contracted countenance 

7. Pinched nose, sunken eyes, hollow 

temples, skin of forehead tense 
and dry, complexion livid 

8. Wrinkles across the forehead 

9. Wrinkles from forehead, vertically 

to root of nose 

10. A white line from inner angle of 

the eye to just below the cheek¬ 
bone 

11. White line from the upper border 

of the wing of the nose (ala nasi), 
curved to the outer margin of the 
orb of the eye 


12. The white line in children from 

angle of mouth to lower part of 
face 

13. A white line external to the last 

two, in a semicircular direction 
towards the chin 

14. Swelling of the face and eyelids 

15. Transient redness or flushing of 

f RC0 * 

16. Hectic flush “ 

17. Paleness of face 


18. Dingy, white, or greenish face 

19. Yellow tint 

20. A citron tint 

21. A bluish tint 

22. Perpetual motion of eyelids 

23. Forcible closure of eyelids 

24. Eyelids remaining open 

25. Palsy of the upper lid 

26. Flowing of tears over the cheek 

27. Nostrils dilating forcibly and rap¬ 

idly 

28. Itching of nostrils in children 


indicates Convulsions. Paralysis of one-half the 
body. Dislocation of bones of neck. 
Swelling of glands of neck. 

“ Chronic hydropholus. Enlarged brain, 

" Erysipelas. Small-pox. 

“ Typhoid fever. 

“ Swelling of heart. Congestion of 

brain. 

“ Acute inflammation of peritoneum. 

Exposure to severe cold. 

“ Chronic disease just before death. 


it 


ti 


a 


it 


a 

it 

it 

it 


ti 

it 

a 

it 

it 

n 

a 

it 

a 

a 

it 


Excessive pain arising externally. 

Distress, anxiety, and severe internal 
pain. 

In children, a brain or nervous affec¬ 
tion ; in adults, abuse of the genera¬ 
tive organs. 

In consumption and wasting of flesh. 
The lower part of the line indicates 
disease of stomach; the upper part, 
some affection of upper part of bowel. 
When united with the white line 
named above, and with a drawing in 
of the cheek, fixed eyes, and a wan 
complexion, it implies worms. 

An affection of the chest, with diffi¬ 
culty of breathing. 

Chronic and obstinate disease in the 
chest or belly. 

Albumen in the urine. 

Suffering from the monthly irregular¬ 
ity. • 

Consumption. Chronic affections. 

Cold stage of fever. Acute inflamma¬ 
tion. Chronic diseases, especially 
Bright’s disease, during recovery. 

A low and deficient state of biood. 

Jaundice. 

Cancerous disease. 

Poor circulation in the veins. Cholera. 
Typhus fever. Blue disease. 

Mania and idiocy. 

Intolerance or dread of light. 

Orbicularis palpebrarum. Paralysis of 
the muscle which closes the eye. 

Injury of the third pair of nerves. 

Obstruction of the lachrymal duct. 

Difficulty of breathing. 

Worms in the bowels. 


The Tongue. 

1 Surface of tongue covered with a indicates Derangement of stomach, or bowels, or 
layer of whitish, soft, mucous both, 

substance, which may partially 
be taken off with a scraper, , • 
also, clammy mouth 


134 


TEMPERAMENTS, CONSTITUTION, AND SYMPTOMS. 


2. State of tongue as above, ^rith 

clammy mouth, bitter taste, and 
fetid breath. 

3. Great load on tongue as above, 

which peels off, leaving the 
tongue smooth, red and tender 

4. Tongue slightly white from small 

white points, and sometimes cov¬ 
ered with fur, like the fibres of 
coarse velvet 

5. Tongue pale, tumid, clean and very 

smooth 

6. Tongue furred and dry 

7. Tongue white and loaded, with 

much thirst 

8. As above at first, — afterwards 

clean, red, and dry 

9. Tongue white and loaded, with dry¬ 

ness 

10. Tongue dry, parched, tender, and 

dark brown or black. Pushed out 
with great difficulty and tremb¬ 
ling 

11. Tongue loaded with white, through 

which numerous elongated, very 
red papillae protrude their points 


indicates Acute dyspepsia. Asthma. 


Severe cases of acute dyspepsia. 

Chronic dyspepsia. Some affection of 
the liver, if the fur be yellow. 

Chlorosis or green sickness. 

Violent local inflammation. Irritation 
in bowels. 

Inflammatory fever. 

Protracted inflammatory fever. 

Mild typhus fever. 

Severer forms of typhus fever. 

Scarlet fever. 


1. Throat enlarged 

2. Violent pulsation of carotid arteries 


3. Pulsation of the nameless artery 

(arteria innominata) above the 
breast bone, and to the right of 
the windpipe. 

4. Circumscribed swelling about throat 


The approach of puberty in females. 
Acute mania. Inflammation of brain. 
Enlargement of heart, and dilation 
of right ventricle. Anemia. 
Regurgitation from aorta. 


Enlargement of glands. 


<1 


The Throat 

indicates 


The Chest. 


1. General enlargement of one side of 

chest 

2. Bulging at the base of a lung 

3. Bulging at front upper part of chest 

4. Bulging right hypochondrium (See 

Fig. 95) 

5. Bulging in region of heart 

6. Tumor where the third rib joins the 

breast-bone 

7. Tumor between the base of the 

shoulder blade and the spine 

8. Depression or retraction of one side 

of chest 

9. Breathing increased in rapidity. 

Generally, in health, about 
twenty breaths are taken in a 
minute 

10. Breathing diminished in rapidity 


11. Jerking respiration 

12. Breathing with muscles of ribs only 


indicates Large effusion of water from pleurisy. 

“ Water from pleurisy settling to the 

bottom. 

“ Emphysema. 

“ Enlargement of liver. 

“ Water in heart-case. Enlargement of 

heart. 

“ Aneurism of the ascending aorta. 

“ Aneurism of the descending aorta. 

“ Consumption. Absorption of fluid, 

effused by pleurisy. 

“ Spasmodic asthma. 


Pleurisy. Paralysis of respiratory mus¬ 
cles. Inflammation of lungs. Emphy¬ 
sema. Pneumothorax. Consumption. 

Spasmodic asthma. Obstruction in 
larynx and windpipe. 

Abdominal inflammation. Inflamma¬ 
tion of diaphragm. 


The Belly. 

1. Increased size of belly indicates Dropsy. Wind in bowels. Inflam¬ 

mation of peritoneum. Obstruction 
in bowels. Ilvsteria. 


TEMPERAMENTS, CONSTITUTION, AND SYMPTOMS. 


135 


2 . Enlargement in epigastrium (Fig. 93) indicates Hysteria. Cancer of stomach. 

3. Enlargement in hypogastrium (Fig. 95) “ Distension of bladder. Ovarian tu¬ 

mors. Accumulation of feces in 
bowels. 

4. Belly diminished in size Chronic dysentery. Lead colic. Also 

in most chronic diseases. 


1. Enlarged penis in children 

2. Drawing up of testicles 

3. Enlargement of scrotum 


Private Organs. 

indicates Stone in bladder. Masturbation. 

“ Stone in kidneys. 

“ Hydrocele. Hematocele. Sarocele. 


1. The limbs immovable 

2. Limbs contracted and rigid 

3. General swelling of limbs 

4. Swelling of joints 

5. Limbs diminished in size 


The Limbs. 

indicates Paralysis. 

“ Softening of the brain. 

“ Defective circulation of blood. 

“ Rheumatism. Water in the joints. 

White swelling. 

“ Paralysis. 


The Nervous System 


1. Morbidly increased sensation 

2. Tensive pain 

3. Dull, heavy pain 


4. Smarting pain 

5. Shooting, tearing pains 

6. Boring pains 

7. Contusive pains. 

8. Itching. Sensation as of ants creep¬ 

ing over the skin 

9. Exaltation of vision 

10. Black flecks floating before the 

eyes 

11. Painfully acute hearing 

12. Dull hearing 

13. Increase of strength 

14. Debility 

15. Trembling 


16. Rigidity of upper extremities 

17. Cramp 

18. Temporary spasm 

19. Pain at extremity of penis 

20. Pain in right shoulder 

21. Pain in left shoulder 

22. Exaltation of affections 

23. Loss of moral sensibility 

24. Exaltation of intellect 


indicates Acute inflammation of brain and» 
spinal marrow. Fevers. Hysteria. 

“ Phlegmonous inflammation. 

“ Enlarged internal organs. Internal 

tumor. Effusion of water into cavi¬ 
ties lined with serous membranes. 
Felt in the loins previous to dis¬ 
charge from ijienstruation, and from 
piles. 

“ Scarf-skin removed. 

“ Neuralgia. Cancer. 

“ Constitutional syphilis. Rheumatism. 

Gout. Inflammation of periosteum. 

“ Bruises. Acute diseases. 

“ Several diseases of the skin. 

“ Ophthalmia. Inflammation of brain. 

Some nervous diseases. 

“ Affections of the brain and optic 

nerve. Dyspepsia. 

“ Inflammation of brain. Hysteria. 

“ Typhus fever. 

“ Delirium. Inflammation of brain. 

Mania. 

“ Most diseases. 

“ Cold stage of fever. Nervous affec¬ 

tions. Old age. Action on the sys¬ 
tem of lead, mercury, strong coffee, 
alcoholic drink, tobacco, opium. 

“ Softening of the brain. Infiltration 

of blood into the brain. Hysteria. 

“ Pregnancy. Hysteria. Painters’ colic. 

“ In convulsions of children. Some 

affections of the brain. 

“ Stone in bladder. 

“ Congestion of liver. 

“ Disordered stomach. 

“ Hypochondriasis. 

“ Mania. Typhus fever. Masturbation. 

“ Melancholy. Sometimes indicates 

close of life. 


1. Stiffness of chest 

2. Pressure upon parts 


The Breathing. 

indicates Cartilages turned to bone. Pleura 
hardened. Distortion from rickets. 
“ Tumors. Dropsy of belly. 


136 


TEMPERAMENTS, CONSTITUTION, AND SYMPTOMS. 


3. Obstruction of air-tubes indicates Spasm of glottis. Spasm near the 

small ends of bronchial tubes. 


4. Compression of lungs 


5. Pain in parts moved in breathing 

6. Paralysis of muscles of chest 

7. Spasm of muscles of chest 

8. Deficiency of red blood 


Mucus, etc., thrown out upon the 
inner surface. 

Effusions in pleurisy. Water in 
chest. Air in substance of lungs. 

Aneurism and other tumors. 

Pleurisy. Inflammation of perito¬ 
neum. 

Injury of spinal marrow. 

Locked jaw. Spasmodic asthma. 

Anaemia. Chlorosis or green sickness. 


1. Hollow and barking cough 

2. Sharp, ringing cough 

3. Hoarse cough 

4. Wheezing cough 

5. Belching cough 

6. Cough in paroxysms 

7. Cough sounding harsh and concen¬ 

trated when listening with the 
stethoscope. 

8. Cough sounding hollow, when lis¬ 

tening with the stethoscope, as 
thou^ it came from a cavern. 

9. Cough having a metallic or ringing 

sound when listening with the 
stethoscope. 


Last stage of consumption. Chronic 
bronchitis. Some nervous affections. 

Croup. 

Beginning of cold. Chronic laryii- 
gitis. 

Asthma. 

Some diseases of larynx. 

Hooping cough. Hysteria. 

Consumption. Inflammation of the 
lungs. Pleurisy. Enlargement of 
bronchial tubes. 

Tuberculous cavity. Enlarged bron¬ 
chial tubes. 

Large tuberculous cavity. 


The Cough 

indicates 

H 

n 

ii 
if 
if 


1. Scanty expectoration 

2. Copious expectoration 

3. Watery expectoration 

4. Mucous expectoration 

5. Expectoration of pus 

6. Expectorated matter shaped like 

coin (nummular) 

7. Muco-purulent, floculent expecto¬ 

ration 

8. Tubular expectoration 

9. Whitish or greenish expectoration, 

that clings to the vessel 

10. Yellow expectoration 

11. Rusty expectoration 

12. Putrid smell of expectoration 

13. Faint and sweetish smell of expec¬ 

toration. 

14. Expectoration smelling like garlic 


1. Dull, heavy, aching pain at the 

base of the chest 

2. Soreness about the breast bone, and 

between the shoulders 

3. Sharp, sudden, tearing pain below 

the nipple 

4. Pain darting from front part of 

chest to between shoulder blades 

5. Constant pain between the shoulders 


First stage of acute diseases of the 
lungs. 

Decline of acute diseases of air-passages 
and lungs. 

Beginning of bronchitis. Congestion 
of lungs. Vesicular emphysema. 

Bronchitis. Inflammation of lungs. 

Consumption. Third stage of inflam¬ 
mation of lungs. 

Tubercular consumption. Bronchitis 
of measles. 

Consumption far advanced. 

Plastic bronchitis. Pneumonia. 

Acute affections of lungs, particularly 
bronchitis 

Chronic bronchitis. Other chronic af¬ 
fections of the lungs and throat. 

Inflammation of the lungs. 

Gangrene of the lungs. 

Bronchitis. First stage of consumption. 

Broncho-pleural fistula. 


Acute bronchitis. 

Acute bronchitis. 

Pleurisy. 

Consumption. 

Consumption. Green sickness. Other 
chronic diseases. 


if 

if 

it 

a 

if 

a 

ft 

if 

if 

a 

if 

if 

a 

Pain. 

indicates 


The Expectoration 

indicates 


TEMPERAMENTS, CONSTITUTION, AND SYMPTOMS. 137 


1. Strong pulse, resisting compression 

by the finger 

2. Weak pulse, easily pressed down 


3. Full pulse, as if the artery were in¬ 

creased in size 

4. Small pulse, opposite of full 


5. Hard, sharp, contracted pulse, — vi¬ 

brating like a cord under the finger 

6. Soft pulse, yielding readily to pres¬ 

sure 

7. Frequent pulse 

8. Slow pulse 


Inflammatory affections, especially of 
the substance of large organs, as the 
liver, etc. 

Prostration from disease. Nervous and 
chronic affections. Fear. Diseases 
of women and children, and old per¬ 
sons. 

Congestion of brain. Apoplexy. Dis¬ 
ease of heart. 

Inflammation of stomach, bowels, 
bladder, etc. Hysteria, and other 
nervous affections. 

Inflammation of membranes. Active 
bleedings. Lead colic, etc. 

Affections characterized by debility. 

Inflammatory diseases. Hemorriiages. 

Apoplexy. Sometimes in disease of 
heart. 


The Pulse 

indicates 

ti 

n 

tt 

ti 

it 

a 


Relating to Digestion. 


1. Tongue trembling and dry, and di- indicates Typhoid and other low fevers, 
minished in size 


2. Voracious appetite 

3. Diminished appetite 

4. Increased thirst 

5. Thirst gone 

6. Vomiting 


7. Pain increased by pressure 

8. Pain relieved by pressure 

9. Urgent desire to go to stool 

10. Watery stools 

11. Mucous stools', like white of egg 

12. Hard and lumpy stools 

13. Clay-colored stools 

14. Yellow or dark-brown stools 

15. Dark-green stools 

16. Stools red, and streaked with blood 

17. Pitchy black stools 

18. Stools pure blood, with no colic 

19. Stools like rice-water 

20. Black stools 

21. Shreds of false membrane in stools 

22. Fat with stools 

23. Fetid stools 

The 


Pregnancy. Hysteria. Insanity. Some¬ 
times in dyspepsia. 

“ In most acute diseases. 

‘ ‘ Acute affections of stomach and bowels. 

“ Cerebral disease, with coma. 

“ Early pregnancy. Colic. Disease of 

brain. Inflammation of stomach. 
Hernia. 

“ Inflammation of internal organs. 

“ Over-distension of bowels. Neuralgia. 

Colic. 

“ Dysentery. Sometimes in diarrhoea. 

“ Diarrhoea. Cholera. 

“ Chronic inflammation of colon. 

“ Constipation. Colic. Cancer of stom^ 

ach. 

“ Deficiency of bile. 

“ Too much bile. 

“ Bile from children after taking cal¬ 

omel. 

“ Dysentery. 

“ Melaena. 

“ Bleeding piles. 

“ Asiatic cholera. 

“ Iron taken in medicine. 

“ Dysentery. Diarrhoea. Worms. 

“ Diabetes. Consumption. 

“ Diseases attended by debility. 

Urine. 


1. Diminished secretion of urine indicates Dropsy. Inflammatory and febrile 

diseases. 


2. Retention of urine in the bladder 

3. Urine increased in amount 

4. Red or yellow sand deposits in urine 

(uric acid) 

5. White sediment in urine (earthy 

phosphates) 

6. Oxalate of lime deposits m unne 

7. Blood in urine 

8. Albumen in urine 

9. Mucus in urine 

10. Sugar in urine 


Paralysis. Typhoid fever. Hysteria. 

Diabetes. Cold stage of fevers. Hy¬ 
steria. Various passions of the mind. 

Fevers. Acute Rheumatism. Con¬ 
sumption. Dyspepsia. Great indul¬ 
gence in animal food. 

Depressed state of the nervous system, 
of serious import. 

Derangement of digestion. 

Bleeding of kidneys, etc. 

Bright’s disease. 

Inflamed mucous membrane of ure¬ 
thra, bladder, etc. 

Diabetes. 


138 


TEMPERAMENTS, CONSTITUTION, AND SYMPTOMS. 

The Perspiration, 


1. Profuse perspiration indicates Acute rheumatism. Decline of acute 

“ inflammations and fevers, being 


2. Diminished perspiration 

3. Night sweats 

4. Sour-smelling sweat 

5. Fetid smelling sweat 

(). Sweat with mouldy odor 

7. Smelling like ammonia 

8. Sweat having the odor of mice 

9. Sweat smelling like rottenstone 


sometimes critical. 

Early stage of acute disease. Dropsy. 

Diabetes. 

Consumption. 

Kheumatism. Gout. 

Some debilitating fevers. 

Measles. Scarlet fever. 

Typhoid fever sometimes. 

Insanity. 

Miliary. 


1. General heat of surface 

2. External local heat 

3. Hot forehead 

4. Hot scalp 

5. Skin of chest hot 
0. Hands and feet hot. 

7. Acrid heat, burning the hand when 

applied 

8. Chills 

9. Low temperature 

10. Cold hands and feet 


Fevers. 

Inflammation. 

Headache. 

Disease of brain. 

Inflammation in chest. 

Consumption. 

Typhus fever. 

Beginning of fever. 

Poor circulation. 

Nervous diseases. Dyspepsia. Impure 
state of the blood. 


The Temperature, 

indicates 


The Temperature of the Body. 

The use of the thermometer is an important addition to the means 
of making physical examination, and is one of the improvements in 
modern medicine. 

It is intended to measure the heat of the body. 

The best kind now in use is the self-registering. 

The bulb of the instrument is to be placed in the warmest part of 
the body, and should be allowed to remain there for eight to ten 
minutes. 

Some place it under the tongue ; some in the axilla. 

Sometimes it is necessary to introduce it into the rectum or vagina. 
In these parts the temperature is a degree higher than in other parts. 

The normal temperature of the body is from 98° to 99° Fahrenheit, 
in the great majority of persons. 

Exceptionally it may bo half or a whole degree either above or be¬ 
low this range. 

The normal fluctuations are inconsiderable in comparison with the 
variations of disease. 

The natural variations in health are as follows: The temperature 
is at its minimum at five o’clock A. M. ; the maximum is reached in 
the latter part of the afternoon, and then decreases till five o’clock 

A. M. 

By means of the thermometer we are able to determine all differ¬ 
ences with precision. 



TEMPERAMENTS, CONSTITUTION, AND SYMPTOMS. 


139 


The increase of heat in different febrile diseases rarely exceeds 
110° Fahrenheit, and as a rule the amount of increase is a criterion 
of its severity. 

An increase to 100° Fahrenheit or 101° is evidence of mildness of 
the disease. 

If the thermometer indicates steadily 105° Fahrenheit, it is certain 
that the disease is severe. 

A persisting temperature above 105° Fahrenheit denotes that there 
is great danger, and an increase to 108° to 110° Fahrenheit is usually 
a fatal sign. 

The abnormal changes of temperature consist of more or less in¬ 
crease. 

Diminution below the normal standard is comparatively rare; yet 
it sometimes occurs and is of some importance. 

In the course of typhoid fever, a sudden decrease may indicate in¬ 
testinal hemorrhage. Sometimes the temperature falls without im¬ 
provement in the other symptoms. This is an unfavorable symptom. 

The value of thermometric changes depends in no small measure 
upon the symptoms with which they are associated. 

Sickness during Life. 

It is estimated that 2 years ^ sickness is experienced by every person 
before they are 70 years old, and that 10 days per annum is the aver¬ 
age sickness of human life. Till 40 it is half, and after 50 increases. 
The miscellaneous diet of man is the cause of many diseases. 


Human Longevity. 


Of 100,000 male and female children, in the first month of life they 
are reduced to 90,506 or nearly a tenth. In the second to 88,155. 
In the third to 85,976. In the fourth to 85,139. In the fifth to 84,- 
122. In the sixth to 82,635, and by the end of the first year to 
76,938, the deaths being 2 in 10. The next four years reduces the 
76,938 to 63,048, indicating 36,952 deaths before the completion of 


the fifth year. ^ ^ pp u a 

At 25 years the 100,000 are about half, or 49,695, at 55 about a 
third: at 59 about a fourth, or about 25,000; at 67 about a fifth; 
at 75, a tenth; at 80, a twentieth, or 5,000, and 10 attain 100 years. 

About the age of 35 the lean man usually becomes fatter, and the 
fat man leaner. Again, between the years 45 and 50 is generally a 
critical time in a man’s life, his appetite fails, he becom^ ogy, an 
tires easily upon the least exertion of body or mind. His muscles 
become flibby, his spirits droop and his sleep is 
ins After suffering under these complaints a year or t^wo, he seems 
lo'acqdrt new Vr. and goes on to 62 or 63 , when a similar ^ 
takes place, but when improvement comes he is apt to go on to a ripe 
old age. 


140 


TEMPERAMENTS, CONSTITUTION AND SYMPTOMS. 


Strength and Warmth Derived from Different 
Articles of Food and Drink. 


Strength derived from articles 
of food and drink. 

Grains of Strength yielded by 


Warmth derived from one 
pound of different articles of food 
Grains of Warmth yielded by 


one pound of 7,000 grains. 


one pound of 7,000 grains. 

Parsnips,. 

12 

Whey,. 

151 

Turnips,. 

13 

Turnips,. 

• 238 

Whey,. 

13 

Buttermilk, .... 

335 

Greens,. 

14 

Skimmed Milk, . 

352 

Potatoes,. 

24 

New Milk, .... 

378 

Skimmed Milk, 

35 

Carrots,. 

390 

New Milk,. 

35 

Parsnips, .... 

426 

Buttermilk, .... 

36 

Potatoes, .... 

770 

Barley,. 

70 

Fresh Fish, .... 

980 

Rice,. 

Bacon,. 

70 

Beef Liver, .... 

1,220 

78 

Red Herrings, . 

1,456 

Rye Bread, .... 

89 

Baker’s Bread, . 

1,990 

Baker’s Bread, 

90 

Fresh Beef, .... 

2,300 

Fresh Pork, .... 

109 

Molasses, . . 

2,300 

Corn Meal, ..... 

125 

Skim Milk Cheese, . 

2,355 

Fresh Fish, . . 

129 

Seconds Flour, . 

2,700 

Cocoa, . 

130 

Rye Bread, .... 

2,700 

Oatmeal,. 

140 

Rice,. 

2,755 

Mutton,. 

140 

Barley Meal, 

2,780 

Fresh Beef, .... 

173 

Indian Meal, 

2,806 

Beef Liver, . . . 

200 

Sugar,. 

2,900 

Split Peas,. 

250 

Fresh Pork, .... 

3,100 

Cheddar Cheese, . 

310 

Bacon,. 

Butter,. 

Lard, . , . . , 

4,201 

Skim Milk Cheese . 

361 

4,700 

4,806 









TEMPERAMENTS, CONSTITUTION AND SYMPTOMS. 


141 


The stature of the body at birth 
and subsequent ages. 


The additional length of life a oer- 
8 on is expected to live after reaching 
the age of ^o years and each subse¬ 
quent year to 70 years old. 


STATURE OF MALES 

STATURE OF FEMALES 

YEARS 

YEARS 

Age 

Feet 

Lbs. 

Age 

Feet 

Lbs. 

Age 

Expec¬ 

tancy 

Age 

Expec¬ 

tancy 

0 

1.65 

7.05 

0 

1.63 

6.42 

20 

411 

^ I 

46 i 

24 

2 

2.60 

25.02 

2 

2.55 

23.53 

21 

40i 

47 i 

23} 

4 

3.05 

31.38 

4 

3.01 

28.67 

22 

40 

48 1 

22} 

6 

3.44 

38.81 

6 

3.38 

35.29 

23 

39.1 

49 1 

22 

9 

4.01 

49.95 

9 

3.93 

47.10 

24 

38i 

50 

21} 

11 

4.36 

59.78 

11 

4.26 

56.57 

25 

38 

51 

20} 

13 

4.73 

75.81 

13 

4.61 

72.65 

26 

37J 

52 

19f 

15 

5.08 

96.40 

15 

4.92 

89.04 

27 

36i 

53 

19 

17 

5.36 

116.56 

17 

5.10 

104*. 34 

28 

851 

54 

18J 

18 

5.44 

127.60 

18 

5.15 

112.55 

29 

35 

55 

17i 

20 

5.50 

132.46 

20 

5.16 

115.30 

30 

34| 

56 

17 

■30 

5.52 

140.38 

30 

5.18 

119.82 

31 

33i 

57 

16} 

40 

5.52 

140.43 

40 

5.18 

121.81 

32 

33 

58 

15i 

50 

5.50 

139.96 

50 

5.05 

123.86 

33 

32i 

59 

15 

60 

5.38 

136.08 

60 

4.98 

119.76 

34 

31i 

60 

14i 

70 

5.32 

131.28 

70 

4.97 

113.60 

35 

31 

61 

14 

80 

5.29 

127.55 

80 

4.95 

108.80 

36 

30i 

62 

13} 

90 

5.28 

127.54 

90 

4.94 

108.81 

37 

29i 

63 

13 







38 

29 

64 

12i 







39 

28J 

65 

Ilf 







40 

27| 

66 

lU 







41 

27 

67 

10| 







42 

26.^ 

68 

101 







43 

25i 

69 

9| 







44 

25i 

70 

01 







45 

24 i 




Weight of the Human Body. 

The weight of the male at birth is 7 ibs., that of the female is 
about 6i lbs. The maximum weight (140i lbs.) of the naale is at¬ 
tained at 40; that of the female (nearly 124 lbs ) is attained at 50. 
The full grown adult is 20 times as heavy as a new-born infant. In 
the first year he triples his weight. At an equality of age the male 
is heavier than the female. Towards the age of 12 years only, an 
individual of each .sex has the same weight. 

Children lose weight the first three days after birth; at the age ot 
a week their weight gradually increases; after 1 year they triple m 
weight and require 6 years to double their weight, and 13 to quad- 

Tuple it. 






































SYMPTOMS 

That quickly tell what your complaint is. 

Backache. 

Leucorrhea. Whites .—Discharge from the vagina (catarrh) 
slight or profuse; thin, glairy; thick, lumpy or stringy; watery or 
milky; yellowish, greenish, bloody or purulent; odorless or offensive; 
bland or excoriating, with heat, burning and itching of genitals; 
headache; dizziness; backache; indigestion. 

Displacement of the Uterus.— Weight in lower abdomen; pressing 
and bearing down sensations; disturbances of menstruation; back¬ 
ache. 

Bowels. 

Hernia. Rupture .—May be protrusion of intestines in groin, 
which can be pushed back; or strangulated, when not reducible, 
with inflammation, pain, nausea, vomiting, constipation, cold sweat, 
anxiety, gangrene. 

Colic, Intestinal.— Paroxysms of severe, twisting or boring pain, 
centering about navel, radiating through abdomen, better from 
friction and pressure; abdomen usually distended; may be cold 
sweat, feeble pulse, and vomiting. 

Inflammation of the Bowels. —Colicky pains in the bowels; diar¬ 
rhoea, with thin, liquid stools containing undigested food and mucus, 
sometimes blood-streaked; tenderness; high fever; rapid pulse; pa¬ 
tient lies on back, with legs drawn up. 

Peritonitis, Acute.— Sudden onset, with chill; sharp, and cutting 
pains in abdomen, with great tenderness; distention of bowels with 
gas; high fever; hiccough; nausea, vomiting, and constipation; pa¬ 
tient lies on back with knees drawn up; pulse small, rapid, ^^wiry.” 

Dysentery.— Constant desire to evacuate the bowels, with much 
straining, and never-get-done feeling; small stools containing mucus 
and blood; pain; tenderness; prostration. 

Cholera Morbus.— Cramps in the stomach and abdomen; vomiting 
and purging of bilious matter; frequent and copious evacuations; 
thirst; moderate fever; headache; great prostration; coldness of ex¬ 
tremities. 


142 


TEMPERAMENTS, CONSTITUTION, AND SYMPTOMS. 143 

Cholera Infantum. —Vomiting and purging; thin, watery, musty 
smelling stools; intense thirst; great restlessness; hollow eyes; 
pinched, pale face; rapid, feeble pulse; rapid emaciation; great 
exhaustion. 

Chills. 

Influenza. La Grippe .—Abrupt onset; great prostration; chil¬ 
liness; stiffness, bruised pain in muscles of neck, back and legs; severe 
pain in head; sneezing, hoarseness and paroxysmal hard cough; 
running from nose; breathing difficult; or acute nervous symptoms 
with sleeplessness, intolerable pain in head, delirium, meningitis 
or severe gastric disturbance or symptoms as in typhoid fever. 

Bronchitis, Acute.— Chilliness; debility; soreness and constric¬ 
tion behind breast bone; slight fever; irritative, dry, painful cough 
becoming loose, with partly mucous, partly purulent expectoration; 
difficult breathing. 

Mumps.— Chilliness; debility; moderate fever; pain in angle of 
the jaw; doughy swelling of parotid gland; often swelling of other 
glands under one or both sides of jaw, and in throat; increase of 
saliva; may be sympathetic swelling of breasts or testicles. 

Bright’s Disease, Acute.— Chill followed by fever; nausea; face 
puffy; extremities swollen and dropsical; dull pain over kidneys, 
extending downward; frequent urination; quantity of urine dimin¬ 
ished; urine smoky, reddish, turbid and contains albumen. 

Bright’s Disease, Chronic. —Slower development of symptoms as 
in acute form; general debility; headache; indigestion; lassitude; 
nausea; drowsiness; much swelling and dropsy. 

Cough. 

Bronchitis, Chronic. Winter Coi/gf/i.—Persistent cough, with more 
or less partly mucous, partly purulent expectoration; soreness be¬ 
hind breast bone; shortness of breath; oppression; rales in chest. 

Croup, False Membranous.— Peculiar ringing cough, becoming 
muffled; hoarseness and difficult breathing continue after a spasm 
passes; false membrane is coughed up; great restlessness and agita¬ 
tion; clutching at the throat. 

Whooping Cough.— In the beginning, slight fever, sneezing, run¬ 
ning from the nose, dry cough; in one or two weeks cough more 
violent and in hard paroxysms, with eyes congested, face bluish, 
veins disturbed, often vomiting, may be nosebleed, long drawn, 
shrill whoop at end of paroxysm. 

Asthma.—Sudden attacks generally at night; great oppression 
in chest; distressed breathing, cannot ''catch his breath;” profuse 
perspiration; face pale and anxious, cough and expectoration of 
thick, tenacious mucus; loud wheezing in chest. 


144 


TEMPERAMENTS, CONSTITUTION, AND SYMPTOMS. 


Constipation. 

Prolapsus Ani.— Descent or protrusion of mucous membrane of 
lower bowel through the anus; irritation; constipation; straining at 
stool. 

Piles.— ^Veins of rectum distended in little lumps; may protrude, 
bleed, itch, be sore, cause or aggravate constipation. 

Depression. 

Hydrophobia. —Anxiety; depression; restlessness; pain in wound; 
slight fever; increasing difficulty in swallowing; spasm of muscles of 
neck, especially at sight of water; salivation; convulsions; delirium; 
exhaustion; suffocation; heart failure. 

opium Poisoning, Chronic.— Loss of flesh and strength; trembling; 
debility; sallow complexion; loss of appetite; disturbed sleep; men¬ 
tal depression; irritability; tendency to lie and deceive; irresistible 
craving for the drug. 

Eyelids. 

stye.—Small, painful boil on eyelid, with heat, redness, swelling, 
and rapid suppuration. 

Tracoma.— Inflammation and thickening of the lining mem¬ 
brane of the eyelids, with formation of granulations on inner side 
of lids. 

Ear. 

Inflammation of Middle Ear. Otitis Media. —Inflammation; 
pain; swelling of the drum and lining membrane of middle ear; watery 
discharge; with suppurating form, acute pain; ringing in ear; deaf¬ 
ness; fever; formation of pus; bulging of drum which may rupture. 

Fever. 

Chicken Pox.— Fever; chilliness; sparse, superficial eruption of 
crop of pimples, most abundant on the trunk, drying up in two or 
three days, with depressed, blackish crust in centre. 

Fever and Ague. —Debility; nausea; vertigo; shivering, increas¬ 
ing to severe chill, with chattering of teeth; ‘‘goose skin”, hurried 
shallow breathing; small, rapid pulse. Chill, followed by fever, 
with face flushed; eyes red; pulse full and rapid; pain in back and 
limbs; intense thirst; urine scanty. Hot stage followed by free 
perspiration; decline of fever; increase of urine. 

Scarlet Fever.— ^Vomiting or convulsions; may be a chill; high 
fever; rapid pulse; heavily coated, then bright red, swollen tongue; 
throat red, sore; swallowing painful; glands enlarged; great thirst; 


TEMPERAMENTS, CONSTITUTION, AND SYMPTOMS. 145 

scanty urine; fine, diffuse, red rash first on neck and chest; lasting 
five to seven days, and disappearing momentarily on pressure; erup¬ 
tion leaves branny scales; great restlessness, sleeplessness, headache, 
often convulsions. 

Typhoid Fever.— Gradual onset with headache, debility, vague 
pains, nosebleed, may be slight diarrhoea, loss of appetite, then gradual 
rise of temperature, lower mornings, higher evenings; abdomen swollen 
and tender; with rose-colored spots on abdomen seventh to ninth day; 
spots disappear on pressure; gurgling in abdomen; pea soup diar 
rhoea; tongue becomes dry, brown; teeth and lips covered with sticky 
deposit; delirium or stupor; bleeding from bowels; picking at bed 
clothes. 

^ Typhus Fever.— Sudden pain in head, back and legs; extreme 
prostration; fever reaching 104 to 105° in from two to three days, 
and remaining high about two weeks; rapid, weak pulse; musty odor; 
face livid and dull; pupils of eyes contracted; coarse, mulberry 
rash fourth or fifth day on trunk and extremities; urine scanty; 
marked nervous symptoms; bowels constipated. 

Yellow Fever.— Chill, pain in head, back and limbs; rapidly ris- » 
ing fever; vomiting; thirst; constipation; then remission of symp¬ 
toms for six hours, followed by their acute return; jaundice of skin; 
black vomit; bleeding from mouth, bladder, etc.; scanty or suppressed 
urine; great prostration; collapse and death or slow convalescence. 

Smallpox.— Chill or series of chills, followed by vomiting and 
intense pain in small of back; rapidly increasing fever, falling the 
third or fourth day; rising again seventh or eighth day; pulse full, 
rapid; skin dry; breathing hurried; red spots first on forehead, 
face and wrists having hard, shot-like feel; skin between is swollen; 
soft, yellow, offensive crusts; spots may run together or black and 
blue spots form. 

Rheumatic Fever. —Sudden reddening, swelling and tenderness 
of one of the large joints, with intense pain; sudden shifting of symp¬ 
toms to another joint; moderately high fever; rapid, bounding 
pulse; scanty urine; no appetite; constipation; heavily coated 
tongue. 

Cholera, Asiatic. —^Vomiting alternating with painless diarrhoea; 
frequent, sudden rice-water movements from bowels; excruciating 
cramps in calves of legs, thighs, arms, and abdomen; face pinched, 
blue, sunken; cold, clammy sweat; pulse thready, weak; breath cool; 
voice husky; collapse and stupor. 

Inflammation of Spinal Cord, Acute.— Moderate feverloss of 
appetite; coated tongue; constipation; followed by radiating pains 
from back to limbs, with numbness, tingling or burning; pain about 
waist; loss of motion of limbs and increasing paralysis. 


146 TEMPERAMENTS, CONSTITUTION, AND SYMPTOMS. 

Spotted Fever. Ejyidemic Cerebrospinal Meningitis. —Sudden on¬ 
set; chill followed by fever; nausea; great thirst; vomiting; severe, 
continuous headaches; painful stiffness and retraction of muscles 
of the neck; dusky mottling of the skin. 

Measles.— Sneezing; hoarseness; cough; running from eyes and 
nose; eyes red and sensitive to light; moderate fever; eruption of 
small pale or dark red velvety spots on face, then on trunk and 
extremities, with itching and burning; eruption lasts four days to 
a week. 

Heart. 

Weak Heart.— Palpitation, with feeling of oppression about chest; 
fluttering, irregular pulse; headache; dizziness; bloodlessness; de¬ 
bility; indigestion. 

Enlargement of the Heart. Hypertrophy. —When excessive there 
may be weight and discomfort in the chest; bulging of chest wall; 
a heaving impulse of heart against chest; shortness of breath; head¬ 
ache; vertigo; ringing in the ears; paroxysmal cough; palpitation; 
indigestion; sleeplessness. 

Neuralgia of the Heart. Angina Pectoris. — Sudden attacks of 
excruciating pain in the heart, with horrible sense of suffocation; 
face pale and cold; pulse variable, often weak and irregular; pain 
in left shoulder; attack passes off with belching of gas. 

Inflammation of the Heart. —Pain in region of the heart, sense 
of oppression; anxiety; difficult breathing; fever; slight cough; head¬ 
ache; vertigo; may be nausea; irregular action of heart; palpitation. 

Headache. 

Chlorosis. Green Sickness. —Impoverished blood at puberty; 
greenish pallor of skin; palpitation; indigestion; nosebleed; irri¬ 
tability; appetite for chalk, slate pencils, etc. ; debility. 

Brain Fever.— Intense headache; vertigo; intolerance to light and 
sound; restlessness; heat in head; eyes bloodshot; fever; later, drow¬ 
siness and inclination to vomit; convulsions in children; rapid, feeble 
pulse. 

Insensibility. 

Epilepsy. —Peculiar, premonitory sensation beginning in finger 
or toe, followed by sharp cry, and sudden fall to the floor, with partial 
or complete loss of consciousness, frothing at mouth; biting of the 
tongue; clenching of fingers; face becomes bluish; pupils dilated; 
stupor for a varying period follows, or immediate consciousness 
with soreness, weakness and mental confusion. 

Hysteria.— Convulsive seizures simulating epilepsy, but patient 
generally falls in a comfortable place; is only apparently unconscious; 


TEMPERAMENTS, CONSTITUTION, AND SYMPTOMS. 


147 


screams, cries, or laughs; urine often retained; sensation of ball in 
the throat; headache as of nail in the head; may be partial paralysis, 
or legs and arms thrown wildly about. 

Apoplexy.— Patient suddenly falls unconscious; face flushed; 
breathing labored; pulse full and slow; paralysis on one side; tongue 
protruded; may be convulsions, and involuntary passage of urine 
and feces. 

Catalepsy. Trance .—Patient apparently insensible; lies quiet; 
limbs remain in any position they are placed; muscles stiff and 
unyielding. 

Sunstroke. —Weakness, dizziness and faintness after exposure 
to heat, or partial or complete unconsciousness; pallor of face; cold 
sweat; shallow, hurried breathing; or dry, burning skin; face and 
eyes congested; pulse full and rapid; pupils contracted; stupor; a 
dangerous form. 

Paralysis. —Attack preceded by numbness, coldness, paleness, 
and slight convulsive jerking or twitching, followed by loss of motion 
partial or complete, and of upper or lower half of body, or one or 
both sides; may be loss of speech and other faculties. 


Lungs. 

Bleeding from the Lungs. —May be preceded by cough, difficult 
breathing, warmth or tenderness in chest, salty taste in mouth; 
blood may gush up or be coughed up, will be bright red, fluid, and 
frothy, and taste sweetish or salty. 

Pneumonia. Lung Fever .—Sudden hard chill and sharp pain 
in the side, with sharp rise of temperature, generally falling suddenly 
to normal the fifth, seventh or ninth day; shallow, very rapid, diffi¬ 
cult breathing; short, dry, hard cough, later with blood-streaked, 
rusty expectoration, becoming free and like prune juice; pain in chest; 
no appetite; tongue coated; thirst, scanty urine; congestion and 
consolidation of lungs; may be typhoid symptoms. 

Consumption. Pulmonary Tuberculosis .—Fatigue and short breath 
on slight exertion; loss of appetite; imperfect digestion; paleness, 
with hectic flush over cheek bones; irregular fever; hacking cough, 
at first dry, later with increasing expectoration; night sweats; 
loss of weight; bleeding from lungs; may be dia,rrhoea, tubercle 
bacillus in expectoration; contraction of chest; swelling of feet. 


Nose. 

Hay Fever— Great susceptibility to pollen of rag weed, hay, 
roses, etc.; redness of eyes, swelling of eyelids; SMezmg; running 
from eyes and nose; obstruction of nose; headache; cough; may 
be asthma. 


148 


TEMPERAMENTS, CONSTITUTION, AND SYMPTOMS. 


Catarrh, Chronic Nasal. —Mucous or partly mucous, partly puru- 
ent discharge from nose, obstruction of nostrils; mouth breathing; 
nasal voice; headache in forehead; dropping of secretions into 
throat; frequent hawkiug; may be deafness and loss of taste or 
smell. 


Pain. 

Inflammation of the Liver.— Drawing sensation on the right side 
in region of the liver; slight chill; fever; headache; indigestion; 
loss of appetite; may be nausea and vomiting; slight jaundice; scant 
urine; sometimes hiccough; weakness; loss of flesh. 

Lockjaw. Tetanus. —Painful, increasing stiffness of the head, 
neck, and pain extending to back, abdomen and extremities; corners 
of mouth drawn upward; jaws tightly closed; body convulsively 
arched or rigidly straight; slightest touch causes spasm with great 
pain. 

Pleurisy.— Sharp, stabbing pain in the side, worse on deep breath¬ 
ing and motion; breathing feeble, shallow and rapid; slight, irrita¬ 
tive cough; scanty, frothy expectoration; may be effusion of fluid 
into covering of lungs, with chills, fever, sweats and emaciation. 

Gout. —Restlessness; wakefulness; irritability; dyspepsia; scanty, 
high-colored urine; agonizing pain and tenderness in ball of great 
toe; toe reddish purple and glazed; veins enlarged; in chronic gout 
joints enlarged, deformed, chalky, stiff, may ulcerate. 

Gall Stone Colic. —Passage of gall stones causes sudden, agonizing, 
cutting, tearing or shooting pain on the right side of abdomen, spread¬ 
ing to right side of chest and shoulder: muscles of abdomen cramped 
and tender; nausea; vomiting; profuse sweat; frequent urination; 
pale, distorted, anxious face; feeble pulses. 

Painter’s Colic.— Violent, painful contractions of the abdominal 
muscles; hollowing in of the abdomen; obstinate constipation; grip¬ 
ing, cutting pains; may be blue line around the gums. 

White Swelling. Tubercular Arthritis .—Dull pain in joints, 
worse by motion or jarring; tenderness on pressure; more or less 
swelling and exudation of fluid; wasting of muscles above and below; 
skin white and shiny. 

Sciatica. —Sharp, shooting pain running down the back of thigh; 
worse from motion; may be tingling and numbness, and nerves sensi¬ 
tive to touch; worse at night and in stormy weather. 

Stone in the Kidneys.— Constant dull pain in the loin; on passage 
of stone, excruciating paroxysm of pain radiating into groin and 
bladder; numbness of thigh; nausea; vomiting; sweat; rapid pulse; 
sufferer may faint, 


temperaments, constitution, and symptoms. 149 

Inflammation of the Testicles. Orchitis. —Drawing, stretching 
pains from abdomen through spermatic cords and testicles; testicles 
swollen, sensitive, with soreness and tearing pains; drawing up of 
testicles, burning and difficulty in urinating. 

Writer’s Cramp.— Fatigue, weight or actual pain in muscles of 
hand; spasm of muscles when fingers grasp a pen; hand may tremble 
or neuralgic pain occur. 

Hip Joint Disease. —Slight lameness; stiffness of muscles about 
the joint; progressive wasting of muscles of thigh; limping, with 
shortening of leg; more or less fluid in joint, and restriction of motion; 
formation of abscess, with pain and tenderness; deformity of hip. 

Poisoning. 

Arsenic Poisoning.— Burning in stomach and bowels; cramps in 
abdomen and legs; vomiting followed by diarrhoea; rice-water stools 
which are bloody. 

Lead Poisoning. —Obstinate constipation; abdominal colic; wrist 
drop; blue line about the gums; cramps in the legs; pains in the 
joints; trembling of extremities; intense headache; may be convul¬ 
sions, delirium and lethargy. 


Skin. 

Eczema. Inflammation of skin, with watery pimples 

or pustules forming scales and crusts; itching; burning; watery or 
yellow sticky discharge, or oozing; raw surface beneath crusts; or 
dry, scaly patches, without itching. 

Itch. Scabies.— Small pimples first appearing between fingers, 
in creases of wrists, groin, armpit, under the breasts, on inner side 
of thighs, with intense itching. 

Ringworm of the Scalp^Small, Separate, round of irregularly 
shaped, reddened scaly patches, turning to little vesicles filled with 
matter’ which dry up and scale off; hair dead and brittle; patches 
spread rapidly. 

Shingles. Herpes Zoster.—Pin head to pea-sized watery pimples 
along a nerve, preceded, accompanied or followed by neuralgic pains 
in affected part; one side of body only; fluid dries up, and yellow- 
brown crusts form and drop off. 

Nettle Rash. Urticaria.— Skin shows pal6 red elevations, itching 
intensely finger drawn over surface causes white line which becomes 
elevated and red; eruption on covered parts of body especially. 

Boil —Small limited, painful tumor beginning as a sore, itching 
pimple* developing a core of dead tissue, and suppurating. 


150 


TEMPERAMENTS, CONSTITUTION, AND SYMPTOMS. 


Carbuncle. —Dark red, painful, circumscribed, flattened swelling, 
surrounded by dusky-red skin, appearing on neck, back or buttocks, 
suppurating in a week or ten days, and discharging through several 
openings. 

Cancer of the Skin. Epithelioma ,—In the beginning a few greasy 
scales or papery crust covering three or four shallow irregular ulcers 
with hard margin; or may be deep-seated, shiny, hard, red lump, 
changing to ulcer with blood-stained yellow fluid, or offensive sticky 
discharge; sharp, shooting pains. 

Blackheads. Acne .—Small pimples on face, chest, shoulders, 
back, neck; moist or dry; reddish or black; with or without indiges¬ 
tion, debility, menstrual disorders; may contain matter or cheesy 
substance. 

Warts.— Pinhead to bean-sized, limited elevation of the skin; 
some soft, red, dry or moist; bleed easily; some soft and pearly; 
others hard, black, flat or rounded. 

Gangrene. Mortification .—In dry form, skin pale, dry, shriveled, 
semi-translucent, with bluish-mottled specks becoming dark, opaque, 
mummified; in moist form, congestion of part; skin dark, livid, 
moist; tissues soften and break down; foul odor. 

Ulcers.— Sore on leg or elsewhere, red, inflamed, irritable, with 
painful, ragged edge; or varicose ulcer with much distention of nearby 
veins; or syphilitic ulcer with punched-out looking sore, and offen¬ 
sive discharge. 

Milk Crust. —Small pimples form on face or scalp of infants and 
children, with redness and itching; pimples rupture and exude a 
sticky fluid forming yellow crust, with raw surface underneath. 

Scurvy.— Great debility; bloodlessness; spongy, bleeding gums, 
with foul breath; teeth loosened; pain in legs; skin dry and rough; 
flesh brawny and hard; complexion shallow; bleeding from mouth, 
bladder, etc.; short breath; feeble pulse. 

Erysipelas.— Slight fever, chilliness, tingling of affected part, 
which becomes glossy, bright red or brawny, swollen, hard, sharply 
defined; fever increases; pulse full, rapid; appetite lost; bowels con¬ 
stipated; tongue coated; small pimples form; inflammation spreads 
or begins to subside in four or five days. 

Swelling. 

Scrofula. —Swelling and suppuration of glands of neck, groin 
and under the arms; sometimes slight fever, debility, emaciation; 
free perspiration, especially about the head. 


TEMPERAMENTS, CONSTITUTION, AND SYMPTOMS. 151 

Qoitre. Usually non-painful, non-tender swelling of varying 
size of thyroid gland in neck; when large, causing difficult breathing, 
headache, flushed face; may be shooting pains. 

Dropsy. —Swelling of feet, hands, legs, abdomen or chest in lung, 
liver, kidney or heart disease; swelling and paleness of skin; sur¬ 
face hard and pitting on pressure of finger. 

Qoitre, Exophthalmic. —Debility and bloodlessness; enlargement 
of thyroid gland; protrusion and staring appearance of eyes; palpi¬ 
tation; pulse beats 100° to 140° a minute; blowing sound over gland. 

Stomach. 

Dyspepsia, Nervous.— ^Tongue often clean, appetite very variable, 
may crave acids, slate pencils, etc.; headache; vertigo; irritability; 
depression; sleeplessness or bad dreams; lassitude; palpitation; 
lump in the chest. 

Dyspepsia, Catarrhal.— Loss of appetite; sense of fullness and 
discomfort; eructations; nausea and sometimes vomiting; tongue 
heavily coated; mucus in vomitus and stools; may be diarrhoea; 
hiccough; heartburn. 

Bleeding from the Stomach. —Usually occurs with vomiting and 
is provoked by taking food; blood is dark, clotted, and generally mixed 
with contents of stomach. 

Neuralgia of the Stomach. —Intense, griping, agonizing pain in 
stomach usually extending to the back, with belching of gas, faint¬ 
ness, and intermittent pulse; symptoms partially relieved by pres¬ 
sure over stomach. 

Cancer of the Stomach.— Indigestion; great acidity; flatulence; 
loss of appetite; foul breath; great debility; emaciation; vomit¬ 
ing; coffee-ground vomit from retained blood; pain, more or less 
continuous. 

Colic in Infants.— Sudden paroxysms of spasmodic crying often 
waking child from sleep; jerking of the feet; clenching of the hands; 
sudden drawing up, then straightening of the legs; flatulence; dis¬ 
tention or retraction of the abdomen; contortions of whole body. 

Sores. 

Syphilis. First Within a month of exposure, small, red 

sore appears on genitals, which enlarges and breaks in centre, leaving 
ulcer; nearby glands enlarge and become hard; may be no impair¬ 
ment of general health. 

Syphilis. Second Stage,— Within six or eight weeks, sore throat; 
moderate fever; languor; headache; bone pains; indigestion; ulcers 


152 TEMPERAMENTS, CONSTITUTION, AND SYMPTOMS. 

on throat or tonsils; dull copper-hued eruption on abdomen, chest, 
arms, shoulders, genitals. 

Syphilis. Third Stage .—Within one or many years, pustules on 
body which form deep ulcers, with dry crusts and scales; loathsome 
sores leaving bad scars; ulceration of throat, palate, nose; hard 
lumps in muscles and under skin. 

Abscess.— Localized inflammation, with heat, swelling, pain, 
formation of pus, tendency to point and discharge matter. 


Throat. 

Tonsilitis.— Tonsils swollen; difficulty in swallowing and much 
pain; often cheesy spots or patches on tonsils and throat; dribbling 
of saliva; fever; headache. 

Enlarged Tonsils. —Tonsils too large; may contain minute cavi¬ 
ties containing foul, cheesy matter; mouth breathing, difficult swal¬ 
lowing; snoring during sleep; mental dullness; night terrors; deaf¬ 
ness; bad breath; thick voice. 

Quinsy. —Tonsilitis symptoms, together with inflammation of 
deeper tissues; chills; high fever; swelling of glands of neck; sup¬ 
puration, and formation of tonsilar abscess, with tendency to point 
and discharge. 

Croup, Spasmodic.— Hoarseness and slight cough during day; 
sudden awakening at night by severe paroxysm of suffocative, 
hard, barking cough; skin hot; pulse tense and rapid; perspiration. 

Pharyngitis.— Soreness of back of mouth and throat; pain on 
swallowing or difficult swallowing; coating of glairy mucus on roof of 
mouth, tonsils and throat; some fever; swelling of affected parts. 

Diphtheria. —Chills, moderate fever, sore throat, indisposition, 
followed by stiffness and swelling of glands of neck; grayish white 
membrane in throat, removal of which causes bleeding; weak pulse, 
scanty urine; detection of Klebs-Lofffer bacillus. 

Thrush. —Swollen, red, spongy gUms; flaky, white deposits of 
lining membrane of mouth, leaving bleeding spots when removed; 
fever; pain in mouth; mouth waters; bad breath. 

Urine. 

Incontinence of Urine. Enuresis .—Profuse involuntary flow of 
pale, watery urine; constant dribbling of urine while sitting or walk¬ 
ing; dribbling of scanty, high colored urine; wetting the bed at 
night. 


« 


TEMPERAMENTS, CONSTITUTION, AND SYMPTOMS 153 

Retention of Urine. Strangury .—Urine passed drop by drop, with 
much urging and straining; pain and heat along the urethra: diffi- 
citlt, scanty urination. 

Stone in the Bladder. —Irritation and inflammation of bladder; 
frequent burning discharge of small amounts of urine, with urging; 
acute pain on passage of stone, with bloody urine; sudden stoppage 
of stream of urine. 

Inflammation of the Bladder. Cystitis .—May begin with chilliness 
and fever, then constant dull ache, or sharp agonizing pain in bladder; 
frequent urging to urinate, with burning pain on urinating; pus in 
the urine. 

Diabetes Mellitus.— Gradual failure of health; frequent and ex¬ 
cessive urination of pale urine, loaded with sugar; great thirst and 
emaciation; large appetite; constipation or exhausting diarrhoea; 
skin, mouth and throat dry; itching of skin; teeth decay; failure of 
sexual powers. 

Jaundice. —Yellowishness of the skin, white of eyes, inside of 
mouth and of urine and feces; stools light colored; urine dark; may 
be itching of the skin; mental depression; delirium, convulsions, 
and stupor in bad cases. 

Inflammation of Urethra. Gonorrhea .—Burning heat, tenderness 
and pufhnessat entrance of urethra; catarrhal discharge, soon turn¬ 
ing to thick, purulent matter; frequent, painful erections; urine 
passed in spurts, drops or twisted stream. 

Dropsy of the Abdomen. —Sensation of weight in the abdomen; 
distention; difficult breathing; scanty urine; swelling of the feet; 
constipation; fluctuation of fluid on pressure. 

Worms. 

Worms. —Loss of appetite or ravenous hunger; disturbed sleep; 
great restlessness; picking at the nose; bad breath; lassitude; dark 
circles round eyes, indigestion; straining at stool; itching of anus; 
grinding of teeth in sleep; may be colicky pains. 

Tape Worm.— May be no symptoms, or may be indigestion; 
mucous stools; colicky pains; voracious appetite; debility; night ter¬ 
rors; intense itching of nose and genitals; twitching of muscles; 
convulsions. 


SKIN DISEASES 


SKIN BISEASE8. 


The skin is the soft and pliant membrane which covers the entire 
surface of the body. The interior, like the exterior is likewise covered 
by a skin, which, from its always being moist, is called a mucous 
membrane. At the various openings of the body, the outer and the 
inner skins are united, — forming one continuous skin, — like the 
same piece of silk turned over the border, and covering both the out¬ 
side and inside of a bonnet. 

From this continuity or oneness of the skin and mucous membrane 
springs an important medical law, namely, that a disease of the skin 
may spread to the mucous membrane, and a disease of the mucous 
membrane may spread to the skin. We see this illustrated by the 
breaking out around the lips which follow colds, and the itching of 
the nose of children when the mucous membrane of the bowel is irri¬ 
tated by worms. 

The Skin is Composed of Two Layers. — These are separated from 
each other by the action of a blister. The thin portion which is raised 
up by the fluid of a blister is called the scarf skin^ the cuticle^ or the 
epidermis; that which remains in connection with the body is the 
sensitive skin, the cutis, the derma, or the true skin. The two skins 
have very different offices to perform. The scarf-skin is horny and 
insensible, and serves as a sheath to protect the more sensitive skin 
under it. Were the scarf-skin taken off, we could not bear to have 
anything touch us. 

The derma, or true skin, and its glands, etc., are the seat of all the 
cutaneous diseases. These may be separated into four great divisions, 
— namely, diseases of the true skin, diseases of the sweat glands and 
tubes, diseases of the oil glands and tubes, and diseases of the hairs 
and hair glands. 

Then the diseases of the true skin are divided into 

Inflammation of the true skin ; 

Enlargement of the papillce of the true skin ; 

Disorders of the vessels of the true skin; 

Disorders of the sensibility of the true skin; 

Disorders of the color-producing function of the true skin. 

The inflammation of the true skin is conveniently divided into two 
groups, — namely. 

Such as are marked by inflammation of the derma and mucous 
membranes, with constitutional symptoms of a specific kind, and 



SKIN DISEASES. 


im*) 

Such as are distinguished by inflammation, of the derma, without 
constitutional symptoms of a specific kind. 

Congestive Inflammation of the True Skin. 

The First of these Groups, — those characterized by inflammation 
of the cutis, with constitutional symptoms of a specific kind.^ — embraces 
measles., scarlet fever., varioloid., and cow-pox. 

Measles. — Rubeola, 

Measles is an acute inflammation of the entire skin, both external 
and internal, associated with an infectious and contagious fever. 

Symptoms.— The disease sets in with chills, succeeded by burning 
heat, listlessness, languor, drowsiness ; pains in the head, back, and 
limbs; frequent pulse ; soreness of the throat; thirst, nausea, vomit¬ 
ing, frequent dry cough and high-colored urine. These symptoms 
increase in violence for four days. On the third day the eyes become 
inflamed, cannot bear the light, and pour fourth a profusion of tears. 
This last symptom is called coryza. The nose likewise discharges a 
large quantity of watery secretion, and sneezing is frequent. The 
larynx, windpipe, and broncliial tubes become inflamed, and hoarse¬ 
ness, soreness of the breast, etc., are the result. 

The redness of the skin and breaking out appeal’ about the fourth 
day, and produce heat and itching. This breaking out is character¬ 
ized by a patchy redness, which, on close inspection, is found to con¬ 
sist of numberless minute red points and pimples, collected into 
patches in the shape of a half or quarter moon. They appear first on 
the forehead and front of the neck, then upon the cheeks and around 
the nose and mouth. On the fifth day they reach their height in this 
region, and then appear upon the body and arms, and on the sixth 
day, upon the legs. The color of the skin, when the inflammation is 
at its height, is of a bright raspberry red. The decline of the rash 
takes place in the same order in which it comes out. The redness 
fades on the sixth day upon the face; on the seventh, upon the body 
and limbs; on the eighth, upon the back of the hands. The coryza, 
the hoarseness, and the cough, decline about the seventh day, while 
a diarrhoea comes on about the eighth or tenth, — showing that the in¬ 
flammation of the mucous membrane is subsiding. When the inflam¬ 
mation disappears, the whole scarf-skin peels off in the form of a 
scaly scurf. The artist has given a good picture of the 'disease in the 
beautifully colored lithograph, Plate I, Fig. 1. 

Treatment. — When the disease is mild and regular in its course, 
scarcely anything will be required, except mild diet, slightly acid 
drinks, with flax-seed tea, slippery elm, or some equivalent, to quiet 
the cough. Sponging with tepid water, if done with frequency, mod¬ 
erates the fever, and adds to the comfort of the patient. If the fever 


MEASLES SCARLET FEVER 


02 ) 


02 

# 

Do 













^i.'> i 




SKIN DISEASES. 


157 


runs high, take half an ounce of rochelle salt, and use recipe 125. 
Should the eruption “strike in,” apply leeches or cups over the in¬ 
ternal organ affected, if any, and recall the rash by sweating. 

Those who have been exposed to the contagion, and are liable to 
have the disease, should avoid all unnecessary exposure to wet or 
cold, — keeping the feet warm and dry, and the whole body well clad. 
With these precautions, and a mild, unstimulating diet, much of the 
force of the disease may be broken. 

During the first stages of the disease if the onset has not been 
stormy nothing further will be necessary than the precautions already 
advised. Should, however, the rash be delayed or appear in patches 
over the body, the patient should be given a full bath of either hot 
water or hot water with the addition of mustard in the proportion of 
two teaspoonfuls to the gallon. The employment of hot drinks should 
be limited to saffron tea or hot lemonade, as we use care not to add 
to the existing high fever which usually is present when the eruption 
is slow in appearing. 

Besides the milder forms of the disease, cases occur, chiefly in 
broken-down constitutions, in which the rash delays its coming out 
till the seventh day, and is then mingled with dark and livid spots, 
which remain, often, for ten or twelve days. The fever is of a low, 
typhoid kind, and the patient is extremely weak and languid. 

In this condition of things, the patient must be supported by tonics 
(77 and 59), and whisky, and expectoration promoted by some appro¬ 
priate remedy, if required. 

If at any stage of the disease there should be fixed pain in any 
part of the chest, which is made worse by coughing, or by taking a 
full breath, we may conclude there is some inflammation of the 
chest. 

The seriousness of this complication will be understood from the 
fact that the bronchitis has now extended and small patches of in¬ 
flammation known as broncho-pneumonia have appeared. Medicines 
to enable the patient to raise the phlegm easier, such as five grains of 
chloride of ammonia in two tablespoonfuls of sweetened water or 
simple syrup may be given every three hours, and 1-80 of a grain of 
sulphate of strychnia to support the heart, in addition to the other 
treatment given under the heading “broncho-pneumonia.” 

Scarlet Fever. — Scarlatina, 

This is likewise an acute inflammation of the entire covering of 
the body, both external and internal, connected with fever which is 
infectious and contagious. 

Symptoms.— The fever comes on somewhere between the second 
and tenth day after exposure. On the second day of the fever, the 
eruption comes out in the form of very small points and pimples, 
which appear either in patches, or constitute a general redness, of a 
bright scarlet color. In Plate I, Fig. 2, the artist has given a fine 
picture of the disease. 


158 


SKIjn diseases. 


The disease begins with languor, pains in the head, back, and limbs, 
with drowsiness, nausea, and chills ; and these are followed by heat, 
thirst, etc. When the redness appears, the pulse is quick, and the 
patient is anxious, restless, and sometimes delirious. The eyes are 
red, the face swollen, the tongue covered in the middle with white 
mucus, and is studded with elevated points of extreme redness. The 
tonsils are swelled, and the throat red. The greatest degree of red¬ 
ness is reached on the evening of the third or fourth day from its be¬ 
ginning, when a gentle moisture appears, the disease begins to decline, 
with itching, and the scarf-skin falls off in branny scales. 

A swelling or puffiness of the flesh, which spreads out the fingers 
in a singular manner, seems to be peculiar to scarlet fever. 

In the first stage of the complaint, the tongue, as stated above, is 
covered with a fur; but as it advances, the tongue often becomes 
suddenly clean, and presents a glossy, fiery-red surface, which is 
sometimes, with the whole lining of the mouth, raw and tender. 

It is peculiar in this complaint, that the inflammation of the 
throat always runs into a state of ulceration. As far as can be 
seen, on pressing down the tongue, the throat is swollen and of a 
deep, florid red; and on the tonsils may be seen white or gray 
ulcers. This makes swallowing very difficult, and aggravates the 
sufferings of the patient. The great amount of mucus in these 
parts causes also a continual rattling in the throat. 

In quite a large number of cases of this disease the usual ulceration 
of the throat is replaced by an attack of true diphtheria, which, if 
at all severe, will require the giving of antitoxin of diphtheria in 
addition to the treatment recommended for scarlet fever. 

The eustachian tube, which extends up to the ear, is aj^t to get 
involved in the inflammation, and cause swelling and pain in that 
region. The glands under the ear and jaw 
sometimes inflame, and after a time they oc¬ 
casionally break. Abscesses formed in the 
ear frequently produce some deafness which 
is not easily cured. 

In the cell-dropsy, which sometimes appears 
after scarlet fever, the crystals of urate of 
ammonia may often be found in the urine 
with the microscope (Fig. 72). 

This disease resembes measles, but may 
be distinguished from it by the absence of 
cough; by the eruption being finer^ and of a more scarlet color (see 
plate); by the rash coming out on the second day instead of the 
fourth; and by the ulceration in the throat. 



Fig. 72. 


Treatment. — In ordinary cases, the treatment should be very 
simple. The apartment should be kept cool, and the bed-covering 
light. The whole body should he sponged with cool water as often as 
it is hot and dry^ and the patient be permitted to take cooling drinks. 
Besides this, in many cases, very little is needed, except to give a 
few drops of the tincture of belladonna, night and morning. 


SKIN DISEASES. 


159 


The cold stage having passed, and the fever set in, warm water 
may be used without the mustard, etc. If the head be affected, put 
mustard drafts upon the feet. Should the bowels be costive, they 
may be gently opened by some very mild physic. 

No solid food should be allowed; but after the first shock of the 

disease is passed, drinks, in reasonable quantities, will be advisable,_ 

such as cold water, lemonade, barberry and tamarind water, rice 
water, balm or flax-seed tea, and some thin water-gruel. 

To promote the action of the skin, the spirits of nitre, with other 
articles (125), adapting the dose to a child, will be found useful. 

Muriatic acid, forty-five drops in a tumbler filled with water, and 
sweetened, and given to a child in teaspoonful doses, is a good remedy. 

In very violent attacks, the system sometimes inclines to sink im¬ 
mediately ; typhoid symptoms show themselves; there is great pros¬ 
tration ; the eruption strikes in; the skin changes to a purple or 
mahogany color; the tongue is of a deep red, or has a dark-brown 
fur upon it, and the ulcers in the throat become putrid. This is 
called scarlatina maligna; but it is only a severer form of the same 
disease. 

The treatment of this form must be different from that recom¬ 
mended above. It must be tonic. Quinia (65) must be freely given. 
Wine whey, mixed with toast-water, will be useful. Tincture of 
cayenne, in sweetened water, may be given often in small doses. 
Ammonia (135) may likewise be given as a stimulus. Gargles (245) 
(244) (243) are also required. 

A dropsical affection is one of the most frequent results of scarlet 
fever. It is believed that this seldom occuis, if the warm bath is 
daily used, as soon as the skin begins to peel off. After the dropsy 
has set in, give the warm bath twice a week, and encourage perspi¬ 
ration by the compound tincture of Virginia snake-root, and similar 
articles. 

In young children, also in severe cases of fever or where the kidneys 
are not working properly as shown by swelling of the face, abdomen 
and extremities, milk should be the only article of diet allowed until 
these symptoms have quieted down. Should the stomach reject the 
milk, you may add lime water, a teaspoonful to a tumbler of milk. 
From one pint to two quarts of milk according to age will maintain 
the nourishment of anyone over days and weeks at a time and gradu¬ 
ally the different broths, as chicken or lamb and beef tea, may be added, 
and later bread and butter, boiled custard, rice and tapioca puddings. 

Anointing the skin with vaseline at night and washing off in the 
morning with suds removes the poisonous scales, and lessens the 
danger of contagion, as well as improves the activity of the skin. 
Nasal and aural catarrhal diseases are commonly observed to follow 
scarlet fever and need attention of a physician. Rheumatism like¬ 
wise is a frequent sequela, while nephritis or inflammation of the 
kidneys is often a sad reminder of the disease. These two compli¬ 
cations are to be treated as directed elsewhere. 


160 


SKIN DISEASES. 


TABLE EXHIBITING THE DIFFEEENCE BETWEEN SMALL-POX, VAKIO- 
LOID, SCAKLET FEVEE AND MEASLES. 


SMALL-POX, 

First. Period between exjoosure and when dis¬ 
ease first shows itself is from five to twenty days — 
usually shows itself in ten or twelve days. 

Second. The fever and temperature is high, but 
is less after rash appears. 

Third. The rash appears on third or fourth day 
anti is seen on the forehead or some part of face. 

Fov,rth. The eruption first consists of pimples, 
then watery blisters which become white and sink 
in the center. 

Fifth. The tongue is coated and swollen. 

Sixth. The eyes do not run, and bronchitis does 
not appear. 

Seventh. Sore throat is often present but not to 
as great an extent as in Scarlet Fever, Delirium 
and convulsions may occur. 

Eighth. Secondary lever appears after several 
days. 

Ninth. There are apt to be pocks and the eye¬ 
sight be weakened, but by modern treatment it, 
can usually be avoided. 


SCARLET fever’. 

First. Period between contagion and when dis¬ 
ease first shows itself is usually from three to six 
days, but may be much longer. 

Second. Fever greatly increased and continues 
without abatement after eruption appears. 

Third. Eruption makes its appearance on sec¬ 
ond day on the chest and neck and spreads over 
the body during the next twelve hours. 

Fourth. The eruption extends over the entire 
skin. 

Fifth. Eruption lasts from six to seven days 
when it begins to come off in large scales. 

Sixth. Tongue is covered with little red points. 

Seventh. There is little trouble with bronch.tis 
or running of eyes. 

Eighth. Sore throat. 

Ninth. The mind is apt to be affected and there 
may be delirium. 

Tenth. Usually no secondary fever. 

Eleventh. In Scarlet Fever there is great dan¬ 
ger of the patient being left with kidney trouble, 
or the eyes, ears, or throat may be affected. 


VARIOLOID. 

First. Period of incubation more irregular 
than Small-Pox —from five to twenty days —av¬ 
erages twelve days. 

Second. Fever high till rash is well developed 
ami then a greater improvement than in Small- 
Pox. 

Third. Eruption appears on third or fourth 
day. 

Fourth. Rash consists of pimples, may go on 
to pustules and blisters, but usually subside be¬ 
fore advancing so far. 

Fifth. Tongue coated and swollen. 

Sixth. No nose or eye symptoms as a rule. 

Seventh. Sore throat mild. Delirium and sev¬ 
erity of disease often marked at beginning but 
quickly subside. 

Eighth. Secondary fever less marked than in 
Small-Pox. 

Ninth. Instead of rapidly convalescing, the 
patient often shows an amount of weakness and 
anemia all out of proportion to preceding symp¬ 
toms. 

MEASLES. 

First. Period between exposure and when dis¬ 
ease first shows itself is from seven to fifteen 
days. 

Second. There is a moderate fever. It does 
not decrease but increases alter eruption. 

Third. Eruption appears on fourth day on 
face and spreads over rest of body in about two 
days. 

Fourth. Eruption is crescent-shaped, rest of 
skin healthy. 

Fifth. Eruption lasts about five days, then 
peels off in scales. 

Sixth. Tongue has red edges and is coated. 

Seventh. The nose and eyes run and bronchitis 
is usttally apparent. 

Eighth. Usually throat is not sore. 

Ninth. The mind is not affected. 

Tenth. The fever subsides after the third day 
and there is no secondary fever. 

Eleventh. The patient’s eyes may be inflamed 
and consumption or bronchitis follow. 


Small-Pox. — Variola, 

This is another disease characterized by acute inflammation of 
tlie entire skin, both external and internal, connected with infectious 
and contagious fever. The eruption lias the form of red points, 
which soon become pimples, then vesicles, then flattened and scooped- 
out vesicles, then pustules, and finally hard brown scabs. These last 
fall off from the eleventh to the twenty-fifth day, and leave behind 
them small pits and scars. The fever is remittent, and precedes the 
eruption some three or four days, — ceasing when the eruption is 
developed, and returning when it has reached its height. The 
period between exposure and the attack of the disease, called incvr 
hation., is from five or six to twenty days, — being short in the severe 
cases, and longer in the milder ones. 

Symptoms. —The disease begins with languor and lassitude, with 
shivering, and pains in the head and loins ; with hot skin, and quick¬ 
ened pulse and breathing; with thirst, loss of appetite, and furred 
tongue; with nausea, vomiting, constipation, restlessness, and uni- 


SMALL POX 


PI. 2. 



Progress of 
Sntall Pox. 


f $ ^ 




I?tdwj.2'?^day.3:‘kc,if.5'^day. S^day. H^day. nfbday. 



4^day. 6..day. 


H^Uiay. 


lltf^day. 


Progress of 
Va/xin/xtion. 



'■‘.A 




SKIN DISEASES. 


161 


versal prostration. To these symptoms sometimes succeed difficult 
breathing, cough, drowsiness, and even insensibility. The tongue, 
white at first, soon becomes red at the point, and over the whole 
surface. The fever is highest during the night. The constitutional 
symptoms are more violent just before the eruption, but immediately 
subside, and soon disappear, when the breaking out is established. 
The eruption is at first in the shape of small red points, which ai e 
hard to the touch, and shaped like a cone, and are proportionate in 
number to the subsequent pustules. In Plate II the artist has 
well exhibited the developed disease, as well as the progress of the 
eruption from day to day. 

Treatment. — Like the two preceding diseases, the ordinary, un¬ 
complicated form of this requires only the most simple treatment. 
Not much is wanted, except confinement in bed, cooling drinks, cool 
and even temperature, frequent change of linen, and sponging the 
body with cool water. But when what is called the fever of inva¬ 
sion is past, and the eruption is fully developed^ and has brought 
along with it the secondary fever^ then some recipe, as (131), (355), 
(125) will be in place, and some gentle laxative to keep the bowels 
open (8), — also gentle injections (249), and opiates to relieve 
sleeplessness and nervous symptoms; (356) (357) may be used if 
very sleepless. 

Should the system, at this period, appear to be sinking, a more 
generous diet, and a little wine may be allowed. If the brain 
suffers, apply cold ice-cloths to head, or an ice-bag behind the ears, 
and put the feet in a mustard bath (242). If the breaking out 
appears with difficulty, put the patient into a warm bath, and give 
extract of jaborandi (358). Gargles will frequently be needed for 
the inflammation, and dryness of the mouth and throat (243). 
Cold sponging may be considered as highly beneficial, in both the 
primary and secondary fever. The belladonna likewise is a useful 
remedy, used in the same way as in scarlet fever. The plaster (288), 
applied to the face, will, it is said, arrest the formation of matter, 
and prevent the unsightly scars which so often cover the face of 
persons who have suffered from small-pox. Paint the face once or 
twice a day with glycerine, which will effectually prevent pitting. 
The use of flexible collodion is better. 

To avoid Pitting, and the occurrence of unsightly scars of the 
face, several methods of dressing have been used. The simplest 
consists in covering in the vesicle with iodoform-collodion, say, 
twenty grains of the former to one ounce of the latter. Having 
pricked the vesicle with an absolutely clean needle, one, for instance, 
that has been boiled in soda-water for five minutes, a layer of this 
collodion should be applied and allowed to dry on at once. Should 
pus form under this coating it must be released by washing off the 
collodion with alcohol. The wound is then to be thoroughly disin- 


162 


SKIN DISEASES. 


fected with carbolic acid water (one teaspoon ful to pint of water) 
and the collodion again applied. 

This process will avoid most of the pitting. 

Varioloid .—Mild Small-Pox. 

VABIOLOTD, or modified small-pox, begins with symptoms similar 
to those of small-pox, but much milder in degree. These symptoms 
are feverishness, nausea, vomiting, pains in the loins and head, and 
a quickened pulse. The eruption comes out on the third or fourth 
day, and looks like that of small-pox. It reaches its height the 
fourth or fifth day, and then declines without any secondary fever. 
The pustules diy up and form brown scabs which fall off in a few 
days, and leave slight pits, and a few red or purple spots. 

Chicken Pox.— Varicella. 

Chicken-pox is a contagious disease, associated with mild fever and 
a blister-like eruption called blebs over the body. 

Symptoms.— The disease appears usually from two to three weeks 
after exposure of the child to some one else similarly affected. At 
first a mild fever and feeling of tiredness causes the patient to stay 
indoors, though intense pain in the head, back and legs with high 
temperature, vomiting and even delirium are not uncommon. 

The eruption usually appears in one to three days and are small, 
watery blisters averaging one-eighth of an inch in size. They are 
more numerous over the chest and trunk, occasionally over the face 
and forehead and even in the roof of the mouth. They do not have 
the so-called shotty feeling when pressed to the bursting point under 
the finger as in smallpox, neither is the red blush around them so 
marked. 

Unless scratched by the finger nails or a very severe case, very few 
scars will remain. 

Treatment.— The treatment is practically a mild diet for a few 
days, keeping the patient indoors to avoid exposure to cold or wet 
and some simple medicine as sweet spirits of nitre in dose of half a 
teaspoonful in water every three hours to aUay fever and keep the kid¬ 
neys working properly. 


Cow-Pox. — Vaccina. 

This disease exists to some extent among lower animals, and is 
identical with small-pox in man. The immortal Jenner taught the 
world that the pus taken from the cow having this disease, and in¬ 
troduced under the skin of man, would produce an eruption similar 
to that of small-pox, and that this would protect the system from 
the latter disease. This was an immensely important discovery, and 
will render the name of Jenner famous through all time. 

Before this discovery smallpox killed in England as many persons 


ERYSIPELAS 





r 














SKIN DISEASES. 


163 


as all other diseases combined. To-day, if a person has even been 
vaccinated once in their life the chance of death is only thirty out of 
one hundred, while if never vaccinated about sixty per cent. die. If 
vaccinated and the ^‘scar” is plain, not over eight per cent. die. 

It is usually a wise precaution to be revaccinated once in eight 
years, especially if an epidemic of smallpox appears. 

The Second Group of diseases, characterized by inflammation of 
the true skin, without constitutional symptoms of a specific kind^ are 
Erysipelas, Nettle-Rash, False-Measles, and Inflammatory Blush. 

Erysipelas. — St. Anthony's Fire. 

Erysipelas is a diffused inflammation of the skin, affecting only 
a part of the surface of the body, and is accompanied by a fever, 
which is generally thought to be infectious and contagious. The 
local inflammation is disposed to spread; it extends deep, and is 
attended by swelling, a tingling, burning, and pungent heat, and by 
a redness, which disappears when the skin is pressed by the finger, 
and returns on remitting the pressure. 

Symptoms. — The constitutional symptoms are chilliness and 
shaking, succeeded by heat; lowness of spirits, lassitude, pains in 
the back and limbs, pains in the head, quick and hard pulse, thirst, 
loss of appetite, white and coated tongue, bitterness of mouth, 
nausea, vomiting, pain in stomach, and costiveness. 

These symptoms go before the local inflammation several days; 
they increase with the redness of the skin, and disappear upon its 
decline. The nervous system is sometimes severely affected, and 
indicated by low, muttering delirium. At the close of the inflam¬ 
mation there is generally a relaxation of the bowels, and the scarf- 
skin peels off. Sometimes matter forms under the skin, and occa¬ 
sionally mortification occurs. The face is the most frequent seat of 
the disease. It commonly begins on one side of the nose, and soon 
spreads over one side of the face, closing up the eye, and changing 
the features in a shocking manner. See Plate III, Fig. 1. 

Somewhere about the third, fourth, or fifth day, very minute blis¬ 
ters appear on the inflamed parts, filled with water, which increases 
until the blisters break and let it out. The disease comes to a head 
on the eighth or ninth day, when the blistered parts dry, and the 
skin begins to peel off. 

Treatment. _In the treatment two things are to be done, — to 

subdue the fever, and the local inflammation. The fever is assuaged 
by rest, mild diet, gentle laxatives (26), (21), (125) ; and by the 
use of tincture of veratrum. For the local inflammation, various 
things have been advised, but nitrate of silver, on the whole, has the 
preference. First wash the inflamed part with soap and water to 
remove any oily substance, and wipe the skin dry. A solution of 
nitrate of silver will in many cases, according to Dr. Higginbottom, 


164 


SKIN DISEASES. 


do even better. Use a solution of 80 grains of silver nitrate to half an 
ounce of water that has been boiled and then cooled. Apply with a 
camel’s hair brush over the entire inflamed area and for a small 
space beyond. 

Apply two or three times to secure a firm coating but use carefully 
to avoid sloughing. A perhaps better remedy than any is to apply 
after washing with water and castile soap, a thick coating of icthyol 
with vaseline equal parts. Cover this application with oil paper or 
absorbent cotton as it will stain the clothes. 

In mild cases, flour may be dusted on the inflamed part from the 
dredging-box. Warm fomentations are also useful, and cloths wet 
with water, and laid on. A solution of perchloride of iron, applied 
to the inflamed skin, is much used now, or water as hot as can be 
borne. 

In erysipelas the powers of the system are generally reduced, and 
tonics, such as quinine, wine, etc., are generally required. Dr. 
Robert Williams, — high authority in these matters, — says he puts 
his patients upon milk diet, gently opens the bowels, and gives them, 
daily, from four to six ounces of port wine, together with sago, and 
that he seldom has to change this course, whatever the symptoms. 

For the inflamed skin, a tea made of buckwheat meal is a good 
wash. Alcohol and water, or new rum, may be used for the same 
purpose. 


Nettle»Rash.— Urticaria. 

Nettle-rash begins with fever, which lasts two or three days, 
when wheals of various shapes, round, oval, and oblong, appear in 
the midst of red, slightly elevated patches, attended by great itching 
and tingling, as if the common nettle had been applied to the skin. 
The wheals go off during the day, and come again at night. The 
eruption is often a symptom of other diseases, or of mental anxiety. 
Sometimes it is the effect of articles of diet. Children have it occa¬ 
sionally while cutting teeth. A lighter form of the disease exists, in 
which the wheals appear and disappear at short intervals, according 
to the heat of the weather, the exercise, diet, etc. 

Treatment. — The treatment varies according to the cause of the 
disease. If this be anything offending the stomach, especially if it be 
putrid fish, an emetic (2), (4) will be required, followed by brisk 
physic (359). After which take a few doses of quinine (75). For 
external application, the lotion (216) or common vinegar and water 
(215) will be useful. Dr. Wilson recommends corrosive sublimate, 
etc. (217), as the best lotion to apply outwardly. Soda bath better. 

The diet should be simple and cooling, all stimulating food and 
condiments being avoided. Fruit, candies, and berries often the 
cause. 


SKIN DISEASES. 


165 


Rose-Rash. — Roseola, — False Measles, 

Symptoms.— The summer rose-rash appears first on the arms, face, 
and neck, thence it spreads over the whole body, producing tingling 
and itching. It is usually preceded by the symptoms of fever-chills, 
succeeded by flushes of heat, languor, pains in the head, back, and 
limbs, restlessness, quick pulse, and thirst. The rash appears in 
small irregular patches, paler than those of measles, and of a more 
roseate hue. There is some hoarseness from inflammation of the 
throat. The rash never continues more than five days, unless it be 
merely partial, in which case it sometimes comes and goes at inter¬ 
vals for weeks. If it “ strike in,” it generally produces disturbance 
of the stomach, headache, and faintness, which are relieved by its re¬ 
appearance. 

The autumnal rose rash is in more distinct patches than the former, 
of a circular flgure, slightly elevated, and of a dark damask-rose hue. 
Seldom any fever, or itching and tingling. 

Treatment.— For the first-described form of the disease, light diet, 
acid drinks, and gentle laxatives; for the second, recipe 59 or 51, ac¬ 
cording to convenience. 

Inflammatory Blush. — Erythema, 

What is called marginated inflammatory blush, is a mottled, red, 
smooth fullness of the skin, occurring on the extremities and loins, in 
irregular patches, bounded on one side by a hard, elevated, red border. 
This species of disease attacks old people, and indicates some inter¬ 
nal disorder, which is dangerous. 

Another form of the complaint appears on the arms, neck, and 
breast, in extensive, bright-red, irregular patches, slightly elevated. 
The redness, at its height, is very vivid, and continues about a fort¬ 
night, when it assumes a purplish hue in the centre. 

Treatment.— Light diet, gentle purgatives (21), soda bath to al¬ 
lay the tingling and secure sleep, and the mineral acids (63), with 
bitter tonics, comprise all that is required, except sponging with 
water, and friction. 


Watery Pimples. 

We now com-e to a class of diseases character.zed by watery pim^ 
pies. Wilson says they are distinguished by “ effusive inflammation of 
the derma,” which means that there is inflammation of the true skin, 
which causes water to be poured out on top of the derma, and under¬ 
neath the scarf-skin, causing the latter to be lifted up in the form of 
small or large blisters, or vesicles. At first the fluid in these pimples 
is transparent, but in a short time becomes milky. Sometimes this 
fluid absorbs; at other times, it dries up, and with the cuticle scales 
off as scurf. 


166 


SKIN DISEASES. 


Eczema and Salt Rheum. 

Eczema is an inflammatory, acute or chronic, non-contagious skin 
disease characterized at first by redness, little pimples, vesicles or 
pustules and is attended by more or less burning itching. This pro¬ 
cess terminates either in the formation of crusts as the result of dried 
sticky serum, or else in the formation of fine scales. 

No skin disease has such a variety of aspects nor such grades of 
inflammation. There is generally more or less oozing of the blood- 
serum, which dries and thickens, forming crusts. There is usually 
more or less thickening of tlie skin, making it like leather; there k 
generally some considerable scaling. 

Eczema may subside in a few weeks never to return, or, what is 
more probable, may lapse into a chronic state and continue for months 
and years, with bothersome symptoms, which are extremely annoying. 

Salt Rheum is a chronic eczema of this last variety. 

Treatment.— In the acute stage of eczema, soothing lotions, pow¬ 
ders, or ointments should be used, such as 372, 373, 374. Some are 
better treated with powders, some by lotions; the itching and heat 
are best relieved by 373. 

In the more chronic variety some stimulating ointments are needed, 
like 375. Carbolic acid, 10 or 15 grains to the ounce of oleate of 
zinc ointment, is an admirable remedy for the itching and burning. 
Salicylic acid, 10 grains to the ounce of benzoated zinc ointment 
is likewise very serviceable, while tarry preparations generally are 
the most satisfactory in this chronic stage. 

No skin disease, however, is often so stubborn to treatment as the 
different forms of eczema. The cure often will be slow and medi¬ 
cines frequently changed. The local varieties of eczema require spe¬ 
cial treatment. 

Eczema of Head in Children.—After oiling freely the crusts over 
night and washing off with suds in the morning, apply Salicylic acid, 
1 part, tincture benzoin, 2 parts, vaseline, 50 parts. The very chronic, 
thick, and indurated skins require 360, and in many cases 219, espe¬ 
cially the chronic hand-cracks. The diet must be free from irritating 
articles of food, the bowels regulated and the hygiene of the skin at¬ 
tended to, while tonics and general systemic measures are often called 
for. 


“ Tetter — Shingles.— Herpes, 

After a slight feverish attack, lasting two or three days, clusters 
of small, transparent pimples, filled sometimes with a colorless, some¬ 
times with a brownish lymph, appear on the cheeks or forehead, or 
on the extremities, — and at times on the body. The pimples are a 
little larger than in eczema,— about the size of a pea. After a few 


SKIN DISEASES. 


167 


days the vesicles break, pour out their fluid, and form brown or yel¬ 
low crusts, which fall off about the tenth day, leaving the surface red 
and irritable. The eruption is attended with heat, itching, tingling, 
fever and restlessness, especially at night. Ringworm is a curious 
form of herpes, in which the inflamed patches assume the form of a 
ring. Shingles usually attack the aged about the ribs of one side, 
and are evidences of impaired health and nutrition. They are very 
prostrating and require tonics from the start. 

Treatment,— Light diet, gentle laxatives. If the patient be ad¬ 
vanced in life, and feeble, a tonic (75) will be desirable. For exter¬ 
nal application, belladonna (173), or an ointment of sulphuret of lime, 
(174), or elder-flower ointment, etc. (175). Equal parts of chloral 
and camphor applied several times a day, especially later in the disease 
(361), give most relief. 


Itch.— Scabies. 

To this disease all classes are liable, though it is much less com¬ 
mon than in former years. It is found frequently among the poor, 
whose condition in life does not give them the means to guard at all 
points against it; but it is most common among such as neglect per¬ 
sonal cleanliness. 

Symptoms.— An eruption of distinct, cone-like, watery pimples, 
which are transparent at the summits, and are accompanied by an ex¬ 
cessive itching, which is made worse by high-seasoned food, by drink¬ 
ing liquor, and by the heat of the bed. When these pimples are 
scratched and torn, a sticky, watery fluid is poured out, which forms 
small scabs; and, in time, if the disease is not cured, these scabs be¬ 
ing torn off, extensive sores are made. 

Cause.— It will excite the wonder of many readers to state that 
animals of so small a size as scarcely to be seen with the naked eye 
exist in the skin of man. Yet such is the fact; and it is the presence 
of these minute creatures, or the effect of their presence, which con¬ 
stitutes the disease called itch. The little creature (acarus scahiei^ 
by name), a species of mite^ is one seventy-seventh part of an inch in 
length; and when closely inspected under the microscope, is really a 
beautiful, I may say an elegant, animal. Here are a front, a side, and 
a back view of him, well done by the artist. 


168 


SKIN DISEASES. 



Fig. 73. 



Fig. 74. Fig. 75. 


His Method of Attack.— When placed upon the skin, the little 
fellow, like the squirrel and other ground-animals, sets himself to 
make a hole through the scarf-skin with his head and fore feet. Into 
this he pushes his whole body. He then begins to burrow himself in 
the derma or true skin — making a channel many times his own 
length, at the end excavating a chamber where he sleeps, and whence 
he goes out to do his day’s work at mining, or boring for food. When 
tired of this sleeping apartment, he digs onward and scoops out an¬ 
other. 

This travelling, and boring, and turning about in an organ as sen¬ 
sitive as the true skin, must, of course, occasion a tickling and itch¬ 
ing; and from this circumstance the disease took its name of itch. 
But this itching is not painful. James the First is said to have re¬ 
marked that the itch was fitted only for kings — so exquisite is the 
enjo 3 rment of scratching. Probably it is a royal luxury. Be that as 
it may, most persons would consent to have it all done by royal fin¬ 
gers. They have been used for meaner purposes. 

Treatment.— Whatever will kill the little animal described above, 
will cure the itch. Various agents have been employed for this pur¬ 
pose, but none have been found equal to sulphur. The compound 
sulphur ointment is a sovereign remedy for the disease. Four ounces 
of this should be well rubbed into the skin, before the fire, morning 
and evening, for three or four days. This will put an end to the 
whole colony of these sovereign squatters upon forbidden soil. 

Two ounces of sulphuret of potash, and the same amount of soft- 
soap, dissolved in a pint of water, and applied well to the skin, is 
used in many cases with good effect. 

Caustic potash, one part to twelve parts of water, applied in a sim¬ 
ilar way, is said to be a pretty sure remedy. 

A solution of the chloride of lime, used as a wash, will often effect 
a cure. 

The ointment of the American hellebore sometimes does well. 

Before applying any of these preparations, let the skin be washed 
with warm water and soap, and well dried. Be sure the parasite is 




SKIN DISEASES. 


169 


killed before ceasing treatment. Best to continue few days longer 
than what is apparently needed. 

Rupia. 

This is from a Greek word which means dirt, from the dirt-colored 
crusts which are formed after the breaking of the large watery pim¬ 
ples. The vesicles are like those of eczema and herpes, except that 
they are larger. This is distinguished from all other skin diseases hy 
the formation of unhealthy, foul, and burrowing sores, which pour 
out a reddish matter in such quantities that it collects and dries upon 
the sore, and forms a crust of great thickness, — sometimes of the 
size of an oyster-shell. Rupia has its origin in a weakly and debili¬ 
tated constitution, and cannot be cured without renovating the whole 
system. It is a manifestation either of syphilis or lupus. 

Treatment.— Warm baths once or twice a week, with generous 
and nutritious diet. Tonic medicines (63) (51) (67) (61) (65) will 
be required. For external treatment, dust the surface of the ulcers 
with cream of tartar, or apply nitrate of silver (214) (219) (220), 
white vitrol, etc. See syphilis. 

Pemphigus. — Pompholix. 

The first of these terms is from the Greek, and means a huhhle ; 
the second, pompholix, is from the same language, and means a water- 
bubble. This is still more applicable to the disease in hand, which 
consists, in fact, in the raising up of the scarf-skin in the shape of 
bubbles, containing a watery fluid. These bubbles are just like com¬ 
mon blisters. They vary from the size of a split pea to that of a 
hen’s egg. They rise up very rapidly, and break in two or three 
days, leaving a raw surface which soon becomes covered by a thin 
crust. 

Treatment.— Similar to that for Rupia, with the addition of iodide 
of potassium (140), and applying the stick nitrate of silver to the 
whole surface of the ulcer, and a short distance beyond it on all sides, 
or the ointment (176). See treatment for syphilis. 

Mattery Pimples. 

Another natural group of skin, diseases are distinguished by an 
eruption of pimples, filled, not with water, like those just described, 
but with matter. The pimples of this class are not transparent, or 
whitish, but opaque and yellow from the first. The matter is poured 
out upon the true skin, and raises up the scarf-skin, in the same way 
as the watery pimples. As in the preceding diseases, too, the drying 
up of the matter forms crusts. But these pimples are never so small 
as those of eczema, nor so large as those of pemphigus. 


170 


SKIN DISEASES. 


Crusted Tetter.— Impetigo. 

This eruption consists at first of slightly-elevated pustules or pim¬ 
ples, closely congregated, with an inflamed border. These break, and 
the surface becomes red, excoriated, shining and full of pores, through 
which a thin, unhealthy fluid is poured out, which gradually hardens 
into dark, yellowish-green scabs. These scabs sometimes look like a 
dab of honey dried upon the skin. This has given impetigo the name 
of “honey disease,” or honey scab. This honeyed look is well repre¬ 
sented in the crusts which form on the lips and ears of children. 
Sometimes these scabs cover nearly the whole face, and are called the 
milk crust. This is putting the agreeable words milk and honey to 
rather questionable uses! When this crusted tetter invades the head 
or scalp, it causes the hair to fall, and becomes what is called a scall. 
Impetigo may be simple, or contagious, or syphilitic. 

Treatment.— The vapor bath, and water dressing. The following 
ointments are useful: oxide of zinc, white precipitate, or diluted ni¬ 
trate of mercury (178). Hydrocyanic acid (221), applied externally, 
has a fine effect. The crusts should first be removed by a weak lye 
made from hard-wood ashes, or potash; then, after applying one of 
the ointments above, or the lotion, cover the part with oil-skin. If 
the crusts are on the head, the hair should be cropped off before the 
remedies are applied. When of syphilitic origin, treat as for that 
disease. 


Papulous Scall. — Ecthyma. 

The mattery pimple called ecthyma is developed on a highly in 
flamed skin. The bladders are about the size of a split pea, and are 
surrounded by a broad ring of redness. They are generally separate, 
not clustered like impetigo. They are scattered over various parts of 
the body, and are followed either by a hard black crust, or by a sore. 
The disease is either acute or chronic. The latter attacks weakly 
children, and persons reduced by sickness or low living. 

Treatment.— For the acute form, give a generous diet, with oint¬ 
ment (176), and the cold sponge-bath on the sound parts. Use 
(176) (175) (214) (211) for external application. Hygienic treat¬ 
ment, tonics, and stimulants are called for; iron, quinine, arsenic, and 
nux vomica. 


Scaly Eruptions. 

The scaiy eruption is called a dry tetter. It is an inflammation of 
the true skin, and is distinguished from the rashes and pimples by 
the alteration of the scarf-skin. The diseases forming this group are 
three in number, — lepra^ psoriasis, and pityriasis. 


SKIN DISEASES. 


171 


Leprosy,— Lepra, 

In this disease, the eruption makes its appearance as a small, sal¬ 
mon-red spot, raised a little above the surrounding skin, and consti¬ 
tuting, in fact, a flat pimple, almost as large at the top as at the bot¬ 
tom. On top of this pimple the scarf-skin becomes rough, and after 
a little while a thin scale is produced. New layers are added to its 
under surface, and it accordingly grows thicker. It has a bright, 
silvery lustre. These scaly spots multiply, and become the form of 
leprosy called lepra guttata^ from the Latin gutta^ a drop, the scales 
looking like drops of water on the skin. 

But the eruption more frequently spreads out into circular patches, 
of the size of a flfty-cent piece. These generally appear below the 
elbows and knees, and on the breast and shoulders, and back of the 
hands. Sometimes the entire hand is covered with scales of a pecu¬ 
liar silvery whiteness. These patches heal from the centre. 

Psoriasis. 

This differs from lepra in the eruption being more irregular. The 
spots sometimes come out in thick clusters, and blend in various 
ways. Instead of appearing in distinct circular forms, as in leprosy, 
the patches are irregular, and of every size. Instead of one well- 
formed and thick scale, there are many small and thin ones. And 
instead of a depressed centre with rising edges, the surface is level. 
While leprosy is a circular dry tetter, this is an irregular dry tetter. 

Treatment.— Pyrogallic acid in ointment, 10 to 40 gr. to oz. Ap¬ 
ply daily; it discolors the skin for a while. Chrysophanic acid in 
same strength is the best remedy known. It also discolors the skin 
and inflames the neighboring skin for a while. Recently the thyroid 
gland of the sheep has been used in five-grain tablets three times 
daily as an internal medicine with much success. 

Pityriasis. 

This is much like the two preceding, except that it gives rise to 
a copious production of very small bran-like scales. Indeed, its name 
is from the Greek, and means chaff or bran. It is a branny tetter. 
It may occur on any part of the body. 

Treatment._When the skin is highly inflamed and stiff with heat, 

pain, and itching, the diet should be light, and the drinks of a cooling 
and unexciting kind. The warm bath and gentle friction of the skin 
are useful. Laxatives or tonics may be employed, according to the 
indications, — frequently laxatives first, and tonics afterwards. The 
specific remedies for curing the disease are unknown; iodide of potas¬ 
sium (140), arseniate of iron (68), Fowler’s solution, in two-drop 
doses, three times a day; or Donovan’s solution, in five-drop doses, 


172 


SKIN DISEASES. 


three times a day. For external application, use a naphthaline oint¬ 
ment (177), zinc ointment, white precipitate ointment, diluted nitrate 
of mercury ointment, or solution of corrosive sublimate (212). 

Dry Pimples. 

These are distinguished by the high degree of irritation of the 
skin which they create. They are exceedingly troublesome, not only 
from the distress and itching they occasion, but because they are 
likely, in consequence of this, to be torn into painful and obstinate 
sores. 

When appearing in children, they are called red gum^ and tooth- 
rash, In grown persons, one form is named lichen,, and another, dis¬ 
tinguished by excessive itching, prurigo. 

In this form of pimples, the fluid is not poured out upon the sur¬ 
face of the true skin, — as in several of the preceding diseases, — but 
is collected within the tissue of this organ, and the pimples feel hard 
under the finger. 

The tooth-rash of infants is always accompanied with some fever¬ 
ishness, caused generally by irritation of the gums from growing teeth, 
occasionally by flannel worn next the skin. 

Lichen has a variety of forms. In one case the pimples are of a 
bright red, in another, bluish or livid. In one case they appear in 
circular groups, in another they produce great disorganization of the 
skin, and occasion terrible suffering. 

Prurigo is a still more cruel disease than lichen. The pimples are 
not very manifest, but the skin is thickened or swollen, and con¬ 
densed. The suffering from it is terrible. It gives one no sleep, 
night or day. That form of it called ant-bite prurigo gives the sen¬ 
sation of millions of ants eating the flesh, or as many red-hot needles 
piercing it. This renders the existence of many elderly persons a 
terrible burden. 

Treatment.— Careful diet, and gentle aperients and tonics, accord¬ 
ing to the condition of the system. Externally, the cold salt-water 
sponge-bath, and glycerine, vinegar and water, applied with a soft 
sponge. Tar and sulphur are among the more successful remedies in 
fighting this rebellious disease (362). Iron, quinine, cod-liver oil. 
For relieving the terrible itching of the private parts, which females 
sometimes suffer, I have found morphine (223), for external use, 
very effectual. 


Lupus. 

This makes its appearance in the form of one or more circular 
elevations, of a dull red or salmon-color, and partially transparent. 
When pressed under the finger, these elevations are found to be soft, 


SKIN DISEASES. 


173 


and when the finger is removed, they are flat and whitened. They 
generally appear on the face, and particularly the nose. 

In another and worse form of the disease, the tubercles are harder; 
and after a time, they become covered with thin brown scabs, which 
are scratched off, and followed by others, 
and these by others, until ulcers appear, 
which are sometimes slow and sometimes 
rapid in their progress. The whole nose 
has been destroyed by them in a month. 

(See Fig. 76.) This is one of the dis¬ 
eases which Erasmus Wilson thinks, and, 
in my judgment, correctly, to be, like 
scrofula, the result of tubercular poison, 
filtered through the blood of several 
generations. It is a disease which is the 
most destructive in the shortest time of 
all diseases. 

Treatment. — The internal remedies 
are iodide of arsenic (141), and iodide 
of potassium (140) ; the external, vine¬ 
gar of Spanish flies ; and to promote the 
healing of the ulcers, a weak solution of nitrate of silver (211) (214) 
is adapted. 

Hardly any disease has been treated by so many different remedies. 
At present the prospect of a cure is good, as certain anti-tubercular 
lymph injections have been found effective; but no time should be 
lost in immediately consulting a surgeon, as its growth can be ar¬ 
rested, and the disease may be exterminated by early treatment. 



Fig. 76. 


Warts and Corns, — Verruca — Tylosis — Clovus. 

In the derma or true-skin there are a great many small arteries, 
veins, and nerves, united together, and formed into loops (see Fig. 
43), resembling, in shape, the peaks of miniature mountains. These 
are called papillce. These loops, frequently, without any apparent 
cause, take on a disposition to grow, and by extending themselves 
upward, they carry the scarf-skin along with them, which is thickened; 
and together they form what is called warts. Corns are formed by a 
somewhat similar growth of the papillae, brought about by the pres¬ 
sure and friction of tight boots and shoes. 

Treatment.— For warts, take a piece of diachylon plaster, cut a 
hole in the centre the size of the wart, and stick it on, the wart pro¬ 
jecting through. Then touch it daily with aqua fortis. Nitrate of 
silver sometimes answers well for touching it. They may be taken 
off very neatly, sometimes, by tying a string tight around them. 
Corns should be shaved down close, after being soaked in warm 




174 


SKIN DISEASES. 


water and soap, and then covered with a piece of wash-leather, or 
buckskin, on which lead plaster is spread, a hole being cut in the 
leather the size of the corn. They may be softened, so as to be easily 
scooped out, by rubbing glycerine on them. Manganic acid destroys 
warts and corns rapidly. Bunions, which affect the joint of the great 
toe, must be treated with fomentations, and sugar of lead water 
(224), when there is considerable inflammation, with rest in a hor¬ 
izontal position. But the best cure for corns and bunions is to put 
away tight shoes. Wear a bunion-plaster for some time to take the 
pressure off of the corn or bunion. 

Mother’s Marks.— Naevus. 

The small vessels of the skin, called capillaries, suffer certain al¬ 
terations of structure which pass under the name of mother’s marks. 
These marks are simply a great dilatation of these minute blood-ves¬ 
sels. They vary in size from a mere point to a patch of several 
inches square. 

The smallest of all is the spider mark. It is a small red point, 
from which several little straggling vessels spread out on all sides. 
Sometimes this is of the size and appearance of a red currant; at 
other times, of a strawberry or raspberry; and occasionally it is even 
much larger, and is compared to a lobster. 

When the circulation is active through them, or the individual is 
excited by exercise, or by moral causes, these marks are of a bright 
red color. Some are naturally livid and dark-colored, and look like 
blackberries, and black currants. The blueness of these is owing to 
the vessels being still more stretched and dilated, and to the conse¬ 
quent slower passage of the blood through them, which gives more 
time for its change from the arterial red to the venous blue. 

Treatment.— If the mark is not making progress, it had better be 
let alone, or only subjected to gentle pressure by putting a piece of 
soap-plaster over it. When its course is threatening mischief, it is 
sometimes cured by pencilling a small portion of its surface, from 
time to time, with nitric acid. They may be operated on with safety 
by electrolysis and other methods. 

Disordered State of the Nerves of the Skin. 

Itching.— Pruritus, This is supposed to be dependent on an al¬ 
tered condition of the nerves of the skin, and consists in a painful 
sensation of itching. There is no perceptible alteration in the ap¬ 
pearance or structure of the skin. This itching is thought, generally, 
to be a result of sympathy, through the nerves, with some diseased 
and excited condition of a distant part. The itching is brought on 
by the most trifling causes, and for hours may deprive the sufferer of 
every particle of repose. It more frequently affects the fundament, 
or the private parts, particularly the scrotum. 


SKIN DISEASES. 


175 


Treatment.— As this disease is only a symptom of several others, 
the constitutional treatment belongs under the heads of these other 
diseases. The local applications for relieving the itching are, a solu¬ 
tion of sugar of lead (224), hydrocyanic acid (363), of corrosive sub¬ 
limate (212), diluted nitrate of mercury ointment, and poppy fomen¬ 
tations. Also (223). Tonics are often of first importance. Weak 
solutions of carbolic acid or soda water at times suffice. 

Disorders Affecting the Color of the Skin. 

Colored Patches.— Maculoe. The depth of color in the skin de¬ 
pends on the amount of a certain coloring matter, called pigment, in¬ 
corporated with the deeper and softer portion of the scarf-skin. In 
the scarf-skin of the inhabitants of northern latitudes, there is but 
little of this pigment; in that of the dwellers of Africa, there is a 
great deal; among the inhabitants of Southern Europe, the quantity 
is intermediate between the two. 

The depth of color in the skin depends on the energy of its action. 
In the tropics, where light and heat are in excess, the skin is stimu¬ 
lated to great action, just as vegetation is, and the color is increased 
and intensified. This is illustrated every year before our eyes. In 
summer, under the heat of the sun and the flood of light,.the pigments 
forming power is increased, and the fairest skin is browned; while 
the withdrawal of these forces leaves the winter’s scarf without pig¬ 
ment, and blanched. 

What the sun and light do, under natural circumstances, diseased 
action may effect. Hence we occasionally meet with alterations of 
color in the skin, from a disordered state of the system. We witness 
the formation of patches of dark color and irregular shape on various 
parts of the body. Sometimes they are raised above the level of the 
skin, and are called moles. At other times, they have no elevation, 
and spread over the whole body. 

Occasionally, from some peculiarity of constitution, the pigment is 
diminished, and white patches appear all over the body. At other 
times, a black person will become completely white. Such are called 
albinos. 

In many cases the coloring of the skin has varieties of tint, as when 
persons of light complexion, are, in the summer season, covered with 
yellow spots, like stains. These spots are known by the name of 
freckles.^ or, in learned language, lentigo. 

Treatment.— It is generally best not to meddle with a mole. If it 
be very unsightly, let it be removed by two incisions, taking out an 
elliptical portion of skin, and closing the wound with sticking plaster. 
In the case of bleached places, apply the shower bath, tonics, and a 
stimulating liniment (163) to the faded spots. For the change of 
color called sunburn, a liniment (191) of lime-water, etc., is the best 
preparation. For freckles, use recipe 360, or, perhaps, still better, 
364. 


176 


6Km DISEASES. 


Disorders of the Sweat=Qlands. 

The perspiration is sometimes greatly increased above nature’s de¬ 
sign. This is, technically, idrosis. In other instances there is too 
little sweating. This is called anidrosis. Sometimes the perspiration 
is so altered in its physical qualities as to have some peculiar smell. 
This is osmidrosis. In some rare instances, according to old writers, 
the sweat was changed in color. This was chromidrosis. And now 
and then a case occurs of bloody perspiration, of which the most 
memorable case on record is that of the Redeemer of men, who, in 
the garden, sweat great drops of blood. Several cases of this are re¬ 
corded in medical books. It is called hxBmidrosis. 

The proper action of the skin being so vitally important to health, 
these changes often involve very serious consequences. 

Treatment.— Either too much or too little sweating can generally 
be corrected by the cold or warm bath, friction, tonics, and proper 
clothing. Small doses of jaborandi, also ergot and strychnine, are 
among the best internal medicines (365). 

Disorders of the Oil=Qlands and Tubes. 

That the skin may be limber, healthy, and fit for use, it is neces¬ 
sary to have it oiled every day For this object, the Creator has 
wisely provided, by placing in the true skin a large number of very 
small glands and tubes, whose office it is to prepare and pour out 
upon the surface the proper amount of oil. The gland, regular little 
oil-pot, is in the true skin; and from it a piece of hose or tube runs 
up through the scarf-skin, through which the oily fluid is poured out. 
Some of these tubes are spiral, others are straight. On some parts 
these vessels do not exist; on others they are quite abundant, — as on 
the face, nose, ears, head, eyelids, etc. They produce the wax of the 
ears; and on the head, they open into the sheath of the hair, and fur¬ 
nish it with a hair-oil or pomatum better than the chemist can make. 

These little vessels are always at work, when the skin is healthy; 
and no persons need be afraid to wash all over every day, lest, as the 
Boston Medical Journal taught, the skin will he injured by having 
the oil removed from it. You might as well be afraid to eat a 
meal of victuals, lest the saliva should all be swallowed with it, and 
none be left for future use. There is oil enough where that upon 
the skin comes from, and the vessels which produce it are not injured 
by work, any more than the muscles of the legs are by walking. 

Grubs or Worms.— But, unfortunately, the skin is not well taken 
care of in all cases, as in cities and towns where sedentary habits pre¬ 
vail. Here, the actions of the skin, instead of being regular and com¬ 
plete, are often sluggish and imperfect; and the contents of the oil- 
cells and tubes, instead of flowing easily, become hard and impacted, 
and the vessels are not emptied. When this matter becomes station- 


SKIN DISEASES. 


177 


aiy, dry, and hard, it distends the tube, and fills it to the sui'face; and 
then coming in contact with the dust 
and smoke of the atmosphere, the ends 
become black, and look like the heads 
of worms. These spots are common 
on the nose and face of persons who 
have a sluggish skin. They may be 
squeezed out by pressing the nails on 
each side of them. These are called 
gruhs and worms^ or, technically, come¬ 
dones. When this matter produces in¬ 
flammation of the tube, there is then a 
black spot in the middle of a red pimple^ 
and the disease is called spotted acne. 

Now and then the oily matter becomes very hard, producing spine¬ 
like growths, and even horns (Fig. 77) ; and again, it collects and 
forms soft tumors, as wens, etc. These are technically called encysted 
tumors. Sometimes the action of the glands is too great, and oil is 
poured out so profusely that the face shines with it. At other times 
there is so little that the skin is dry and harsh. In the hardened 
oily matter, which constitutes grubs, are found small animals, which 
Dr. Wilson calls the “animal of the oily product of the skin.” 
Below are three views of him. 



Treatment.—For roughness and harshness oi skin, wash with soap 
and water every night, and rub well into the skin after the bath, and 
in the morning, the ointment (362), and take a dose of sulphur, etc. 
(23), twice a week. Or, ruh the skin every morning with a damp 



sponge dipped in fine oatmeal, and after drying the surface, the lini¬ 
ment (164) may be applied. The spinous variety, or porcupine dis- 
ease, requires washing with a quart of warm water, having a large 


178 


SKIN DISEASES. 


teaspoonful of saleratus dissolved in it, and the use of the ointment 
(181) twice a day. For grubs, stimulate the skin by washing it 
V ith strong soapsuds, twice a day, and rubbing briskly with a coarse 
towel; and by using the corrosive sublimate (225) as'a lotion. 

A spare diet will do much towards improving the skin in many 
cases; use tonics in others. Usually, destroy the old skin first (360) 
and apply after (352) to heal. 

Barbers* Itch.—Jackson’s Itch. — Sycosis, 

This is very much like acne.^ — only differing from it in its loca¬ 
tion. It appears chiefly on the hairy parts of the face, — the chin, 
the upper lip, the region of the whiskers, the eyebrows, and the nape 
of the neck. It consists in little conical elevations, which maturate 
at the top, and have the shaft of a hair passing through them. These 
pimples are of a pale yellowish color. In a few days they burst, and 
the matter running out, forms into hard, brownish crusts. These 
crusts fall off in one or two weeks, leaving purplish, sluggish pimples 
behind, which disappear very slowly. 

The eruption is preceded by a painful sensation of heat, and tight¬ 
ness of the skin. 

Barber’s Itch. 

Barber’s itch is a variety of ringworm though confined to the 
region of the face covered by the beard. Whether of the body, the scalp 
or the face, this disease is highly contagious, being communicated to 
other persons through the medium of soiled hands, unclean towels, 
razors, strops, brushes, etc. A vegetable fungus called the tricho¬ 
phyton is the source of the infection. 

Symptoms.—Small reddish pea-sized rings with minute vesicles or 
watery blisters appear, they spread, branny scales form, the blisters 
maturate, itching becomes noticeable and other areas rapidly take on 
the same appearances. The surrounding skin becomes congested and 
reddened, a gluey, yellowish, sticky fluid exudes from the scabs and 
thicker crusts pile up on each other. The hairs of the affected part 
break off very easily or fall out. 

As this disease is so contagious, great care should be taken to use 
individual towels, that the face should be shaved if possible by the 
person afflicted and of course kissing the children or holding their 
cheeks up against the infected cheeks must be .prohibited. 

Treatment.—Although a tedious course may be expected to pre¬ 
sent itself, yet the greater the care used the sooner a cure will be 
effected. First with almond or olive oil soften the parts for two 
days, then shave every day or at least every other day, and after 
washing off with warm water apply freely an ointment of twenty 
grains of sulphur, fifteen grains of boracic acid mixed in half an ounce 
of benzoinated lard. This salve should be well rubbed in and a 
supply kept on the face, enough to make it look greasy day and 
night until cured. 


SKIN DISEASES. 


179 


Disorders of the Hair and Hair-Tubes. 

The hair is an appendage of the scarf^kin, and is intended to be 
both useful and ornamental. 

It is subject to several disorders. It may grow too long, or too 
thick, or it may appear in an improper place. This last happens in 
the case of those little spots and patches which disfigure the face, 
and are called moles. The hair may be defective in its growth, or 
may fall off prematurely from various causes, or in the natural course 
of things from old age. This last is called calvities. It may change 
its color, too, under a great variety of circumstances, and at nearly 
every age. It is not very uncommon to find a single lock varying in 
color from that which surrounds it. Old age, the winter of life, nat¬ 
urally brings the frosted locks; but they frequently appear also upon 
the heads of younger persons. Strong mental emotions, such as fear, 
grief, or sorrow, may bring a bleaching of the hair in a brief period, 
or even suddenly. 

Porrigo.—There is a troublesome disease of the hair and hair-tubes 
called porrigo. It begins with the formation of a thin layer of scurf 
either around single hairs, or in patches which enclose several. These 
patches frequently have a circular form, which give to the affection 
the character of a ringworm. The hair-tubes are generally a little 
elevated, in the shape of papillae, which gives to the diseased scalp 
the appearance of “goose-flesh.” These hairs, losing their proper 
nourishment and healthiness, break off at unequal distances from the 
skin, leaving their rough ends twisted and bent, and matted into 
thick grayish and yellow crusts. Upon the surface of these crusts 
may generally be seen the ends of a few hairs, looking like the fibres 
of hemp or tow. The scratching causes inflammation of the skin after 
a time, and matter is poured out, which still further mats the hair, 
and thickens the crusts. There are several varieties of this disease, 
differing slightly from each other; but this general description will 
answer all practical purposes for this work. 

The reader will often notice a disease of the hair-glands, character¬ 
ized by a yellowish and dirty-looking powder, covering the scalp and 
hairs. This matter is collected at the mouths of the follicles, and 
considerable of it is strung upon the hairs like beads. Pull out a 
hair, and the root will be found thin, dry, and starved in its appear 
ance. In this disease, it is difficult to keep the hair cleansed, or to 
prevent its falling off. 

Favus,— Still another disease, called/avws, is known by the collec¬ 
tion of a yellow substance, at first, around the cylinder of the hair. 
This substance, after a time, spreads out upon the scarf skin, and 
dries into yellow crusts, in the form of a cup, around the base of each 
hair. A number of these cups, collected together, look like the cells 
of a honey-comb. This disease is contagious, and is communicable 
by contact to any part of the skin. 


180 


SKIN DISEASES. 


Treatment.— For removing the hair from particular parts of the 
scalp, it is common to resort to depilatories. Of these, the recipes 
260, 261, 262, are frequently used, and are as good as those adver¬ 
tised; indeed, they are the same. Forceps are the best means. 

To prevent loss of hair, and to restore it when lost, the circulation 
should be stimulated in the small vessels of the scalp. With this 
view, washing the head every morning with cold water, drying it by 
friction with a rough towel, and brushing it to redness with a stiff 
hair-brush, are excellent. To these should be added some stimulating 
ointment (183), or liniment (257), (258), (259). These last are about 
the best known preparations for causing the growth of the hair. 

Ringworm of the scalp requires attention to the diet, and such 
remedies as will improve the general health, with stimulating applh 
cations externally (257), (258), (259). 366 is the newest and best 

mode. 

To color the hair, several preparations are used. Of these, 163 is 
about the best. It produces a beautiful black. A preparation of sul¬ 
phur and sugar of lead (264) is the famous compound recommended 
by General Twiggs, and extensively used. Preparations of nitrate of 
silver (265), (266), (311) are much in use in some quarters. They 
perhaps give a finer black to the hair, but they render it dry and crisp, 
and they will stain the skin, if care is not used in applying them. 

Use care in the use of these remedies. 

In Favus, the two great objects to be gained are, to remove all lo¬ 
cal causes of irritation, and to excite the diseased hair-glands to 
healthy action. The first object is affected by cutting off the hair 
with the scissors, and removing the crusts by washing the scalp with 
castile soap and water. It may be well first to wet the crusts through 
with corrosive sublimate (212), in weak solution The washing with 
soap and water should be repeated ever}^ day, and be followed bj 
rubbing into the scalp a stimulating ointment (183). A very weak 
solution of the nitrate of mercury (226), applied every other day, 
with a camel’s hair brush, sometimes produces excellent effects. 

Lice. 

Pediculosis or Lice is a contagious, animal, parasitic affection, 
characterized by the presence of pediculi in the skin and scratch- 
marks of the sufferer ensuing from the annoying itching. There are 
a number of varieties classified according to the peculiar parasite and 
its location. They all cause great discomfort and itching. 

The Pediculosis Capitis, or head-louse, is found in the scalp, and 
is a long, oval body with six legs furnished with nails; it has an oval 
head with two prominent eyes and two horns. The ova or nits are 


SKIN DISEASES. 


181 


small whitish bodies closely glued to the hair 
and look like small pieces of dandruff. One or 
two are deposited on a hair. 

They occur for the most part in poorly nour¬ 
ished children brought up under bad hygienic 
surroundings, and thence communicated to 
others. They cause extreme itching and scratch¬ 
ing, so that often the irritation is unbearable and 
the sticky serum of the blood mats together the 
hair, forming crusts. Sleep is often interfered 
with and ill health results. (See Fig. 81.) 

Pediculosis Corporis, or body-louse, is gen¬ 
erally the property of the clothing; it is some¬ 
what larger than the head-louse and deposits its 
eggs in the seams of the clothing, remaining on the body only long 
enough to gain sustenance. The young are hatched in five or six 
days. The louse reproduces again in 
eighteen days. As the parasite crawls 
about it produces extreme itching and 
the scratching follows, resulting in long 
lines of excoriation. The chief locations 
for this parasite are the back, chest, abdo¬ 
men and thighs. The middle-aged and 
elderly are more apt to be attacked than 
the young. Here uncleanliness again is a 
prime factor in their occurrence. (Fig.82.) 

Pediculosis Pubis, or crab-louse, is a 
smaller, shorter, stouter parasite than the 
two preceding, and attacks the pubes par¬ 
ticularly, but is also found in the axillae 
and over the eyelashes and beard of the 
male. They may be seen clinging closely to 
the skin with remarkable tenacity. They 
occur on adults and produce the same lesions as the other varieties. 
They are generally the result of promiscuous sexual intercourse. 

Treatment.— The main object in the treat¬ 
ment of these filthy diseases is the destruction 
of the parasite. The lesions they produce 
disappear with the disappearance of the ani¬ 
mal. It need hardly be said that strict clean¬ 
liness of person is a ^ine qua non. The rem¬ 
edies usuall}^ employed in their extermination 
are the mercurials, sulphur, carbolic acid, to¬ 
bacco, etc. 

In case of the head-louse the most effica- 
cious method of treatment consists in saturating the head over niglit 


( Fig. 83.) 



KIG. 83. 



Fig. 82. 

BODY-LOUSE. 



Fig. 81. 


HEAD-LOUSE. 


182 


SKIN DISEASES. 


with petroleum and washing off with soap in the morning. In young 
children the hair may be cut to get rid the more easily of the nits, 
hut this is not necessary. The applications of petroleum may have 
to be repeated several times and the hair frequently washed with soft 
soap, soda washes, vinegar, etc., to get rid of the nits. If the louse 
be of the body variety the treatment must be directed to the clothing, 
which is to be changed often and either boiled or baked. This pro¬ 
cess is to be repeated until no more parasites are found. The itching 
of the body is best allayed by carbolic acid lotions (one teaspoonful 
to pint of water). 

The crab-louse is best treated by the well-known mercurial oint¬ 
ment, or blue ointment, and is to be washed off with soap and water 
each morning. It must be persisted in till no more crabs are found 
and no further itching is noticed. 

Bed-Bugs. 

The best preventives against these annoying bugs is corrosive sub¬ 
limate and pyrethrum powder. Purchase a small bottle of the corro¬ 
sive sublimate tablets, usually sold at the druggists for surgical pur¬ 
poses, and dissolve one in a quart of water. This solution is to be 
freely used about the cracks of the bed, after it has been taken apart, 
and also about any wooden furniture of the room as well as the wood¬ 
work of the room. The powder is then to be used freely. This pro¬ 
cess is to be repeated several times. 

The bites themselves are best relieved by carbolic lotions, vinegar 
and water, ammonia and water, etc. 

Freckles. 

This is a disease of the pigment layer of the skin and consists in 
a deposit of the coloring matter of the skin in irregular shapes, 
of the size of a pin-head or pea, and are yellowish, brown or even 
Idackish, occurring for the most part on the face and back of the 
hands. They may be few and scattered or exceedingly abundant 
and cover a large area. All ages are subject to them except in very 
young children. The light-complexioned are more subject to them, 
while the red-haired seldom escape them. Sunlight develops them so 
that many have them conspicuously only in summer. The posseision 
of freckles is a matter greatly of idiosyncrasy, as many people never 
have them, no matter how much they may be subjected to the sun. 

Treatment.— One’s aim in treatment should be toward destroying 
the pigment layer by some corrosive agent, like corrosive sublimate, 
which perhaps is the best remedy. 

Two grains to the ounce in water will in most cases prove suffi¬ 
ciently strong. The susceptibility of the skin to this remedy and the 
extent of tlie area involved have much to do with the strength of the 


SKIN DISEASES. 


183 


remedy employed. This remedy is poisonous and is to be used with 
care. Do not get it near the lips, but to effect a cure it must be per- 
sbted in for quite a while. 

Washing the face in buttermilk several times a day is excellent. 

Corns. 

Of all the minor ailments of the human body, few are more dis¬ 
tressing than the inflamed corn. They consist of a thickening of the 
outside or horny layer of the skin. As a secondary change, conse¬ 
quent on long irritation, the nerve and blood supply increase and an 
extreme tenderness is produced, amounting often to incapacity to 
walk or work. They are caused mechanically by the undue pressure 
of the boot against the joint or by one toe pressing against another. 
Too short a boot, which causes pushing out of the big toe joint, too 
narrow a boot, causing crowding of the large joints, are the more fre¬ 
quent causes of the corn. 

Bunion. 

The bunion is produced by wearing too short a boot, as a rule, and 
consists in the gradual displacement of the big-toe joint, so that fi¬ 
nally there is an actual deformity. The corn usually is added to this 
deformity. 

Treatment. — The outer layers of the corn should be softened and 
scraped off by a sharp, thin knife. The softening process may be ef¬ 
fected by soaking in a soda solution, or better still, by the following 


mixture: — 

Salicylic acid.one-half ounce 

Extract cannabis indica.ten grains 

Collodion.one scruple 


This is to be applied each night. Care is to be exercised in not 
paring the corn too closely lest bleeding occur and poisoning ensue 
from the unclean knife that may be used. Pressure of the boot must 
be avoided by the substitution of another form of boot and also per¬ 
haps by wearing a plaster with a hole in the center, thus distributing 
the pressure over a greater area. When trimmed the corn is to be 
likewise covered by a corn-plaster bound on the foot by strips of 
adhesive plaster. Painting with iodine often takes out the sore¬ 
ness and hardens the skin so that it may be more readily cut. In¬ 
flamed corns should be poulticed and treated like any pus wound. 
Spirits of turpentine will often take the soreness out of a corn. Ab¬ 
sorbent cotton, or better, wool, worn between the toes, will prevent 
or cure a corn between the toes. 

Dandruff. 

This is a disease of the sebaceous glands of the scalp, characterized 





184 


SKIN DISEASES. 


by a large secretion of the sebaceous matter and forming crusts or 
scales. The secretion may be so thick and oily as to mat together 
the hair, or so dry as to fall off the head in a shower when the head 
is combed. It is the most frequent cause of baldness. The crown 
of the head is the most frequent location of this disease. 

Treatment. — Inasmuch as those subject to this disease are often 
below par in health, such constitutional remedies as cod-liver oil and 
iron are valuable adjuncts in bringing about a cure. Should the 
amount of scales be considerable, especially if there are crusts, as in 
the case of little children, the best procedure consists in oiling the 
scalp over night with some bland oil, wearing a flannel cap, and wash¬ 
ing off the oil in the morning with soft-soap and water. The follow¬ 
ing blood tonic is an admirable one for adults: — 


Tincture of iron.one ounce 

Dilute phosphoric acid.one ounce 

Syrup of lemon.two ounces 


Take one-half teaspoonful in a wineglass of water three times daily. 
Use a glass tube to avoid staining the teeth. The scalp needs a 
shampoo once or twice a week; the following will be found to be a 
suitable one: — 


Green soap 
Alcohol . 


eight ounces 
four ounces 


Put a little here and there over the scalp and then rub up with 
warm water. The scalp may then be stimulated night and morning 
with a little of the following lotion : — 


Tincture of cantharides 
Tincture of capsicum . 

Castor oil. 

Alcohol. 

Spirits rosemary . . . 


three drachms 
three drachms 
two drachms 
two ounces 
two ounces 


Another good remedy for daily use : — 

Hydrate of chloral. 

Water. 


two drachms 
four ounces 


The yolk of two eggs well rubbed into the scalp and afterwards 
washed off with hot water is also a good cleansing agent and sham¬ 
poo. 

For very stubborn cases the following lotion applied night and 
morning will be found efficacious : — 

Corrosive sublimate. 12 grains 

Glycerine . .. 4 drachms 

Alcohol. 5 ounces 

Spirits rosemary. 4 drachms 

Whatever method is pursued, the application must be persevered 

















SKIN DISEASES. 


185 


in and applied from twice daily to once every few days according to 
progress made and severity of case. 

Baldness. 

This disease is generally the outcome either of some constitutional 
weakness and requires general tonic treatment like iron and cod-oil, 
or is the result of some local lesion of. the scalp proper. When due 
to syphilis, the hair falls out suddenly and quite extensively; the 
eyebrows also suffer the same way. Its treatment is to be conducted 
on the same plans as directed under treatment of the syphilitic dis¬ 
ease. Eczema, scrofulous blood, etc., may also be the exciting cause 
of baldness. Baldness may ensue in areas only, and oftentimes is as 
complete as though no hair had ever grown there. This form is apt to 
be very stubborn and requires very irritating treatment, like blisters 
or the rubbing in of strong carbolic acid once a day for a number of 
days before ceasing treatment. 

The baldness of old age is of course irremediable, but may be ar¬ 
rested by attention to the general health and the employment of rem¬ 
edies mentioned under the consideration of dandruff. 

As has been mentioned, dandruff is the most fertile source of bald¬ 
ness. When once the scalp is clean and the dandruff is cured the 
following lotion will be found to be of great value in those cases of 
baldness characterized by the hair falling out in small patches: — 

Carbolic acid.. . one drachm 

Alcohol ... . . . . . one and a half ounces 

Castor oil . . . . . ..two drachms 

Oil bitter almonds ten drops 

Strong carbolic acid itself may be rubbed in the inveterate cases. 

The following lotion also contains desirable ingredients: — 

Tincture cantharides . . . one and a half ounces 

Tincture capsicum '. ; . . one and a half ounces 

Castor oil . . . ; . . . i; '. . two drachms 

Cologneone ounce 









WORD 

BLINDNESS 



SPEECH 

Chart of Localization of Cortical Centres of the Brain. 

(Gray) 



Iferves and^ Arteries of . the Brain.. (Gray) 





















DISEASES of the BRAIN and NERVES 


DISEASES OP THE BEAIN AND NERVES. 

(Also sec Anatomy of Brain and Nerves.) 


The brain and spinal column are the great centres of the nervous 
system. 

The brain produces sensation^ thought^ and voluntary motion. When 
this organ is diseased, therefore, we may expect one of these functions 
to be either disturbed or destroyed. 

Of Sensation there are various disturbances, perversions, and sus¬ 
pensions, caused by disease of the brain and nerves; such as nausea, 
giddiness, specks floating before the eyes, ringing in the ears, decep¬ 
tive tastes and smells, intolerable itching, neuralgic pains, boisterously 
high spirits, depression without apparent cause, anxiety, and dread. 

Thought, in like manner, is disturbed and perverted in many ways. 
There is high delirium, dullness and confusion, loss of memory, weak¬ 
ened judgment, and every degree of stupor, down to entire loss of 
consciousness. 

Voluntary Motion is perverted and destroyed in muscular twitch- 
ings, trembling of the limbs, spasmodic stiffness, involuntary jerk- 
ings, convulsions, muscular debility, and palsy. 

The brain is composed of three parts,— the cerebrum,, the cerebel¬ 
lum,, and the medulla oblongata. These are all contained within the 
skull bones, and are immediately covered by three membranes, called 
the dura mater,, the arachnoid,, and the pia mater. The dura mater is 
a strong, fibrous membrane lying next to the skull-bones. The arach¬ 
noid is a serous membrane, lying next below, and the pia mater, which 
means pious mother, is a vascular membrane, lying next to the brain, 
dipping into it in places, and containing the vessels which bring to it 
all its nutrient materials. Hence its name. 

These membranes are all liable to be inflamed, — and so is the 
biain. 


Inflammation of the Dura Mater. 

The inflammation of this membrane does not often occur sponta¬ 
neously ; but it happens frequently from external injuries, as blows 
upon the head. 

After a blow upon the head which stuns him, a man may recover 
himself, and for some days remain in perfect health. Then he has 


188 



DISEASES OF THE BRAIN AND NERVES. 


189 


pain in the head, is restless, cannot sleep, has a flushed face, red eyes, 
hot skin, hard pulse, rigor, nausea, vomiting, — ending with convul¬ 
sions and delirium. 

This disease is often caused by what is called otitis^ or inflamma¬ 
tion of the internal ear. In such cases, inflammation will arise within 
the tympanum, causing intense earache; matter comes at length from 
the external ear, but the pain does not stop; the patient shivers, be¬ 
comes drowsy, perhaps delirious, and finally sinks into stupor. The 
dura mater is inflamed. 

Treatment.—When the disease arises from inflammation in the 
ear, leeches are to be applied behind the ear, and blisters and other 
irritants afterwards. Other modes of treatment will be mentioned 
after the next two forms of disease. 

Inflammation of the Arachnoid and Pia Mater. 

Arachnitis, 

These two membranes are generally inflamed together. They 
are so intimately connected that each involves the other in its own 
troubles. 

Generally this is divided into three stages: — 

The Irritative, characterized by wakefulness, irritable temper, re¬ 
pugnance to strong light, and contraction of the pupils. 

The Inflammatory 5tage, known by transient pains in the head, 
alternating with similar ones in the bowels, increased restlessness and 
irritability, a quick and tense pulse, an expression of discontent on 
the face, the eye-brows knit and frowning, the eye-lids half closed, 
retching and vomiting, deep sighing, and torpid bowels. 

The Depressing Stage, in which the delirium is more continuous, 
the countenance has a look of surprise and stupor, the pupils are con¬ 
tracted or dilated, the white of the eyes injected and red, the pupils 
rolled up during sleep, constant sleepiness, inattention to surrounding 
objects, torpidity of mind, gradually increasing until complete coma 
closes all the senses. 

The disease does not always exhibit all these symptoms, or come on 
in the regular way described. Sometimes the first thing noticed is a 
long-continued paroxysm of general convulsions. Again these con¬ 
vulsions will come on after violent pains in the head, and are attended 
with screaming. 

Inflammation of the Brain. Brain Fever. 

Encephalitis, — Phrenitis, 

Acute and general inflammation of the brain and its membranes 
has two stages. 

The Stage of Excitement, in which there is intense and deep-seated 
pain in the head, extending over a large part of it, a feeling of tight- 


190 


DISEASES OF THE BRAIN AND NERVES. 


ness across the forehead, throbbing of the temporal arteries, a flushed 
face, injected eyes, looking wild and brilliant, contraction of the pupils, 
great shrinking from light and violent sound, delirium, want of sleep, 
general convulsions, a parched and dry skin, a quick and hard pulse, 
a white tongue, thirst, nausea and vomiting, and constipation of the 
bowels. 

The Stage of Collapse, in which there are indistinct mutterings, 
dull and perverted hearing and vision, double vision, the pupil from 
being contracted expands largely and becomes motionless, twitchings 
of the muscles, tremors and palsy of some of the limbs, a ghastly and 
cadaverous countenance, cold sweats, profound coma, and death. 

The disease will not show all these symptoms in any one case. It 
runs a rapid course, causing death, sometimes, in twelve or twenty- 
four hours; or it may run two or three weeks. 

Treatment. — This should be energetic, and administered early. 
The measures usually employed are hot foot-haths., and the application 
of cold to the head., with occasional mustard poultice to legs. 

General Blood-letting. — This is much approved by many; for 
myself, I do not like it. Wet cups and leeching are about the extent 
to which I would ever carry the abstraction of blood in these diseases. 
These may sometimes be applied with advantage to the neck, and be¬ 
hind the ears. 

Cold Applications. — These, applied to the head, are of great im¬ 
portance. First, shave the head, and put on cloths wetted in water 
as cold as it can be made, changing them often; or, put powdered 
ice in a flexible bladder, and lay it upon the head, — taking care not 
to make it too heavy. Heat in a few cases is better borne. 

Cathartics. — These, while the inflammation is in the active stage, 
should be thorough and energetic. To effect it, many use calomel 
and other forms of mercury. They are not needed. Croton oil is one 
of the best articles (31), or colocynth, gamboge, etc. (32), without 
the oil, or the compound powder of jalap. 

In the stage of collapse, if there is pallor of the countenance, a 
feeble and flying pulse, great debility and tremors, coldness of the 
extremities, etc., give wine and other stimulants. 

See that the bladder is emptied every day. 

The feet, in the early stage of the complaint, should be bathed in 
warm water, or mustard and water (242). Mustard draughts must 
also be put upon the feet. 

The tincture of veratrum, given in full doses, to bring down the 
pulse, and produce sweating, must not be omitted. Give (351). 

Softening of the Brain. — Ramollissement. 

Inflammation of the brain, when it has run its course, sometimes 
leaves this organ, or portions of it, in a softened condition. The 


DISEASES OF THE BRAIN AND NERVES. 


191 


same mischief may happen to the brain from the blood-vessels which 
run to it being diseased, so as not to be able to carry blood for its 
proper nourishment. 

Symptoms.—The most remarkable symptom of this disease is the 
rigid contraction of the muscles which draw up the limbs; the hand 
may be clenched and pressed against the shoulder, or the heel carried 
up to the hip. 

The early symptoms are tingling, numbness in the ends of the fin¬ 
gers, perverted vision and sometimes blindness. The person usually 
tidy in habits and dress now becomes careless and slovenly. He 
occasionally complains of sleeplessness and the temper becomes irri¬ 
table and friends notice that he takes offense when usually he would 
not notice. His forgetfulness is very noticeable at times to the 
extent of forgetting his name and that of his family, later on the 
symptoms are similar to those which will be described under the 
heading ^‘Dementia.” 

Suppuration and Abscess of the Brain. 

When a diseased brain is examined after death, sometimes matter 
is found mixed in with the softened portion. This shows that suppm 
ration took place. At other times, the matter is found in a cavity, 
which shows that an abscess had formed during life. 

The symptoms of these mischiefs are convulsions in the earlier 
stages, and palsy in the latter. Surgical methods now often save 
life, and cause a cure in these cases. 

Induration of the Brain. 

Instead of softening the brain, inflammation sometimes does the 
very opposite, — it hardens it, — producing a change something like 
that which happens to white of egg when dipped in hot water. 

Convulsions appear as the result of this change, as in suppuration 
and abscess; palsy much more seldom. 

Tumors of the Brain. 

Tumors infect the brain occasionally, — growing around it, on all 
sides, pressing themselves into its substance, and causing many dis¬ 
turbances. Cancers and hydatids are found there. The signs which 
these irritating bodies produce are like those of other diseases of the 
brain, and therefore cannot be distinguished during life. Syphilis is 
often the cause of them, and, when due to this, may be cured. 

Delirium Tremens.— Drunkard’s Delirium. 

Mania a Potu. 

This is often mistaken for brain-fever; but it is quite a different 


192 DISEASES OF THE BRAIN AND NERVES. 

disease. It is not the result of inflammation of the brain, but of irri¬ 
tation. It is important to distinguish it from inflammation, because 
the remedies which are employed for that would be injurious if used 
for this. 

The Symptoms are incessant talking, fidgeting with the hands, 
trembling of the limbs, a rapid pulse, profuse sweating, utter sleep¬ 
lessness, and a mingling of the real with the imaginary in the busy 
talk. The patient is apt to think some one is about to do him a 
great injury, yet is unwilling to be alone. His face is pale and sal¬ 
low (sometimes red and flushed), his eye is rolling, quick and ex¬ 
pressive, his speech stuttering and inarticulate,— bodily and mentally, 
he is busy day and night, and can with difficulty be confined to his 
bed or room. As the disease advances, and he has been long without 
sleep, he imagines vermin to be crawling upon his scalp and body; 
troops of rats run across his bed, or look at him out of the wall; 
giant boxers confront him, and he squares off for a round at fisti¬ 
cuffs ; animals, figures of all shapes, and horrible monsters frighten 
his imagination; devils laugh at him, and dance before him. In long 
and sleepless hours, he talks and chatters with these spectral phan¬ 
toms, — now beckoning them, now shrinking from them, till he wears 
out and sinks from exhaustion. This is a disease of drunkards and 
opium eaters. The attack generally occurs in consequence of the 
withdrawal for three or four days of the accustomed stimulus. 

If the delirium is the result of recent heavy drinking, an emetic should 
be administered to empty the stomach of what is remaining there. Sul¬ 
phate of zinc, 20 grains well diluted with water, or ipecac, 30 grains 
may be given, after which a good cathartic such as 30 grains of 
compound jalap powder for unloading the bowels mav be used. J£ 
the patient is depressed and nervous, spirits of aromatic ammonia 
may be used. In more marked cases, strong black coffee by the 
mouth or rectum; even strychnine in 1-30 grain doses will be needed 
for the heart. Bromide of soda, 30 grains dissolved in one-third 
glass of water may be given every two hours to keep the patient quiet. 
Morphia and the other preparation of opium, while very valuable, 
should be used with great care; 20 drops of laudanum every two hours 
for two or three doses will usually, in conjunction with the bromide, 
quiet the patient, but the exclusive administration of opium or giving 
it in large amounts should be under the control of a physician. Bath¬ 
ing the patient in the tepid bath, during which cold applications are 
kept on the head, may be used for hours at a time if the patient does 
not rebel at this treatment, but usually the quieter he can be kept 
the sooner he will recover. 

I n e b r i e ty.— Drunkenness . 

In the beginning of the present century insanity was regarded as a 
visitation of God’s displeasure and not as a disease subject to scientific 
investigation and amenable to treatment. Inebriety is regarded now 


DISEASES OF THE BRAIN AND NERVES. 


193 


as insanity was some hundred years ago, the disease being consid¬ 
ered irremediable. Alcohol is a poison, and like other poisons is cap¬ 
able of destroying life. In large doses it becomes a powerful irritant 
or a narcotic producing coma and death. It being constantly intro¬ 
duced into the system produces a general disease in the system. We 
believe inebriety can be cured like any other disease, but is subject to 
relapses like other diseases. 

The “ alcohol habit,” under the title Inebriety, oftentimes has the 
symptom or outward manifestation of diseased conditions, which an¬ 
tedate the alcoholic craving, and are its predisposing and exciting 
causes which retard, and sometimes even prevent a cure. 

In the popular, and too often in the professional mind, alcohol is 
regarded as the cause and root of the whole evil of inebriety. We 
desire to assert that inebriety is frequently dependent upon causes 
with which alcohol has nothing to do. There is a neurotic craving 
— it may be congenital, it may be developed as the result of disease 
or accident. This craving demands the various forms of narcotic 
stimulants, those that first excite, then produce narcosis more or less 
complete. Alcohol fulfills this condition, is easily accessible, reason¬ 
ably inexpensive, and is the one drug that meets a morbid craving 
that seems to be almost universal. 

We do not fail to recognize the deteriorating effects of alcohol 
manifested principally, at least, more pronouncedly upon the nervous 
system as seen in the various forms of insanity. We also note the 
degenerating effects of alcohol on lung, liver, kidney or other organs 
and tissues of the body; or as a special poison in the same sense that 
lead, arsenic and tobacco produce their effects. 

We believe that the great majority of inebriates become so from he¬ 
redity, environment and disease, that produces physical degeneracy 
and pushes them over and plunges them into inebriety. 

The patient with fever craves and may drink water freely, exces¬ 
sively and injuriously. The diabetic is an aqua-maniac in a certain 
sense, but in neither case do we recognize the aqua-mania or water 
craving as the disease, but rather as proceeding from certain abnor¬ 
mal conditions which we readily recognize. So the liquor thirst is 
the result of morbid conditions that produce an abnormal desire, 
which alcohol seems, temporarily at least, to satisfy. 

The excessive use of alcohol, while it is oftentimes the cause of 
various diseases of the nervous system, and also a frequent cause of 
insanity, is also the precursor or initiatory symptom of certain diseases 
of the nervous system and also of insanity. 

The paretic will crave and use alcohol in the earlier stages of his 
malady. The victim of nervous syphilis is addicted to it, more es¬ 
pecially in the later stages, when the nervous system becomes in¬ 
volved. 

Any depressing, exhausting, or painful disease may produce the 
alcoholic craving, alcohol being sought for its stimulating properties. 


194 


DISEASES OF THE BRAIN AND NERVES. 


Alcohol, moreover, is second only to opium, ether, or chloroform 
as an anaesthetic; indeed, has been used as a substitute for the latter. 
Hence, persons find experimentally that alcohol relieves pain, and 
its use is carried to a harmful extent, its deleterious effects produced, 
and inebriety established. 

It is possible that a healthy individual, with good personal and 
family history, may use alcohol sociably or as a matter of custom, un¬ 
til the habit becomes firmly established. 

The alcohol breaks down the constitution, invades and degenerates 
the nervous system, and thus develops inebriety, because the alcoho¬ 
lic degenerations, or even functional disturbances of the nervous sys¬ 
tem, are the very conditions under which inebriety is established. 
We say this is possible, but we assert again that behind the laige 
majority of inebriates will be found a defective family or personal 
history, not only complicating but causing the inebriety; retaiding, 
oftentimes preventing a cure. 

It can be thus seen that inebriety is but a symptom — a flag of 
distress hung out by the nervous system. As some one has aptly 
said, “ neuralgia is the cry of a diseased nerve,” so the “ drink-craze ” 
is the cry of the neurasthenic for a stimulant, of the pain-tortured 
nerve for an anaesthetic, of the victim of insomnia for a hypnotic. 

Not any patient that applies for relief to the physician needs a 
more careful examination than does the inebriate. You may rest as¬ 
sured that there is some underlying cause, probably several that must 
be removed if we would restore the inebriate to his former habits of 
sobriety. If he is found suffering from the later manifestations of 
syphilis he will need special treatment for this condition, especially 
if the nervous system is involved; a painful stricture of the urethra 
may require division. 

Chronic malarial poisoning with its complicating disorder of stom¬ 
ach, liver and spleen, will demand special treatment. In a case on 
record the irritation of a tape-worm produced a tendency to the ex¬ 
cessive use of alcohol, which tendency passed away when the worm 
was expelled. 

In a word, a large majority of inebriates are diseased persons, and 
that primarily and antecedent to their inebriety, which is appended 
to and aggravates their diseased condition. 

Special diseases, therefore, require special treatment, irrespective 
of the inebriety, if we would cure the inebriate. In this connection 
we may ask, are there any drugs that we can substitute for alcohol 
that will take its place, and satisfy the inebriate, as a substitute for 
alcohol ? 

Opium and the salts of morphia will do so in a marked degree, al¬ 
though cocaine, chloral and the bromides have been so used. 

The use of opium or morphia is not uncommon among inebriates 
who desire to ‘‘ leave off alcohol.” The inebriate, as a rule, is a con¬ 
genital neurotic. From birth almost, he reaches out for some drug 
that will gratify or meet his neurotic craving. The alcohol and the 


ACTUAL EFFECTS OF ALCOHOLIC LIQUORS ON THE 
HUMAN STOMACH AND KIDNEYS 


THE KIDNEYS 



HEALTHY CONDITION 


DISEASED FROM INTEMPERANCE 



THE STOMACH 



HEALTHY CONDITION 


DISEASED FPvOM INTEMPERANCE 








DISEASES OF THE BRAIN AND NERVES. 


195 


opium nabit to the inebriate are convertible habits, and the inebriate, 
like a pendulum, will swing from alcohol to opium ; not infrequently 
the two habits are combined, as in the form of tinct. opii, constitut¬ 
ing a mixed habit, in which the effects of both alcohol and opium 
have to be considered. Occasionally a case is presented in which 
morphia is used hypodermically, and the alcohol used in the usual 
manner. In cases where opium addiction is associated with the habi¬ 
tual use of alcohol, the opium habit is of paramount importance and 
the alcohol assumes a secondary place. 

The fact that opium can substitute alcohol is the keynote to many 
vaunted secret cures, in the so-called “ narcotic treatment ” for alco¬ 
hol. It simply substitutes one habit for another, and as long as the 
victim is taking the so-called remedy he is reasonably comfortable. 
But I admit if the “ narcotic treatment ” was carefully practiced, in 
judicious hands it might, in conjunction with such other remedial 
measures as would best eradicate the primal causes of the inebriety, 
prove useful, if not curative, in cases of inebriety. 

Are there any drugs that are specifically beneficial for the treatment 
of inebriety as such ? We would state that drugs that act directly as 
a stimulant to the nervous system are of value. Strychnia is a type 
of this class of drugs, and one of the best of it class. 

Luton, of Rheims, Belgium, was the first to point out its value in 
alcoholism. Then the Russians used it largely and it was known as 
the “ Russian treatment,” and finally, the Americans adopted its use 
in such cases. 

Strychnia has proved serviceable as both abortive and curative in 
acute alcoholic delirium, as well as useful in the more chronic forms 
of alcoholism. It seems to be tolerated in such cases — in cases of 
alcoholic poisoning under normal condRions, we have no record of 
the value of strychnia as an antidote ; interesting experiments might 
be made on the lower animals with the view of determining this 
point. Strychnia is an excellent cardiac tonic, and one of the best 
respiratory stimulants, and might be used in general medicine in 
cases in which alcohol is oftentimes prescribed. 

Oxide of zinc, during the past twenty years, has been used with 
advantage in cases of chronic alcoholic intoxication. 

Quinine has been used more particularly in the later or convales¬ 
cent period of the treatment of alcoholism. 

The so-called “ Red Cinchona Cure ” for a time interested the pub¬ 
lic. Rational medicine does not recognize any special drug or speci¬ 
fic remedy as a universal cure for inebriety, nor does clinical experi¬ 
ence form any basis for such a claim. From the very nature of the 
case, such a remedy would be impossible. The setiology of inebriety 
is dependent on such a variety of causes and its environments and 
complications so numerous that any one remedy could not fulfill all, 
or even meet the more important of these conditions. However val¬ 
uable drugs may be to meet certain indications in the various condi¬ 
tions incident to inebriety, we believe that so far as the curative 


196 


DISEASES OF THE BRAIN AND NERVES. 


treatment of inebriety is concerned, drugs must assume a secondary- 
place, valuable as they may be in their respective spheres. 

In the treatment of the alcohol habit we place first: Restraint and 
seclusion in a special asylum for a definite period^ and total abstinence 
during this period. 

In a few words, concisely expressed, this statement includes the 
plan now adopted by the leading asylums of this country and of 
Europe for the recovery of the inebriate. It involves restraint, 
(legal, if need be), seclusion, a special institution, in which all the 
latest and best methods of dealing with the inebriate are procurable, 
a sufficient period in which to apply these measures, and we need 
hardly add, a long period of total abstinence from all alcoholic liquors. 
We need hardly add that diet, rest, recreation, hygienic surroundings, 
and the exhibition of appropriate drugs are all included in the above 
plan. 

The causes of degeneration being removed, the factors of regenera¬ 
tion being brought into action, new formation of nerve, muscle and 
tissue must supplant degenerated tissue, if haply organic disease has 
not resulted in irreparable injury. 

We have hinted at an hysterical element in the history of inebriety. 
The inebriate, whatever may be his condition, is largely influenced 
by his surroundings. 

In the light of such an hysterical element in the clinical history of 
inebriety, we can readily account for the apparent success of the so- 
called temperance movements that sweep over communities periodi¬ 
cally and effect many apparent cures, or rather, in the language of 
the day, reformations. Such an element will also explain why, after 
such a tidal wave of excitement, relapses take place oftentimes in 
large numbers, and the period of excitement is followed by a period 
of reaction. 

The occurrence of relapses is readily accounted for by the fact that 
the stimulus of the period of excitement buoys up the inebriate for 
the time being, during which strong mental emotion is a powerful 
factor. He is keyed up, as it were, for the time, and sustained by a 
moral stimulus. When this is withdrawn, reaction, followed by cor¬ 
responding depression, sets in, and the old method of stimulation is 
again imperatively demanded and yielded to. 

Why some inebriates go through such a period of excitement and 
do not relapse, and why others do, can be accounted for by the fact 
that the former are in a reasonable degree of physical health, and are 
not burdened, dragged down and handicapped, either by disease that 
is non-alcoholic, or that is the result of alcoholic degeneration. The 
inebriates so affected are not influenced, or if at all, only temporarily, 
by the so-called “ temperance revivals ” that appear and disappear 
with almost stated regularity in large and small communities, and we 
must add do good, but only in the channel indicated. 

It is also operating through this hysterical feature of inebriety 


DISEASES OF THE BRAIN AND NERVES. 


197 


that charlatanism may effect a temporary, possibly a permanent suc¬ 
cess in a certain class of cases. 

In cases where the hysterical element largely preponderates, we be¬ 
lieve psycho-therapeutical agencies, or even those that appeal to 
purely mental conditions, will be of service, but they will not cure a 
cirrhosed liver, lung, or kidney, or remove the physical causes upon 
which the inebriety may depend. In addition to those measures that 
appeal to the higher moral nature, there ought also to be combined 
such as meet certain intelligent wants. To this end all reasonable 
amusements, entertainments, and especially such occupations as will 
interest the person and keep him busy, should be encouraged, if not 
made compulsory. 

Incidentally I may mention hypnotism as having been used espe¬ 
cially by French physicians, with some benefit in cases of chronic al¬ 
coholism. I have no data to give, and have not had any personal 
experience with it. 

The Bi-Chloride of Gold cure, known as the Keeley cure, is in 
many cases successful, but not in all. Would advise its use as a last 
resort; though we think its use sometimes leads to insanity and 
suicide. It cures at all events for the time being. 

If the- temperance advocates would supply light, warm, cheerful 
places of resort with hot and temperance drinks, supplied with pool 
and billiard tables where the poor could spend their evenings and 
meet each other and amuse themselves at a reasonable expense, and 
establish cooking schools for the wives where they could learn how 
to cook nourishing and palatable food which would supply the body 
with the nourishment which it must have and requires, we believe 
it would do more towards temperance than all the laws that could 
be passed. 

Many prominent physicians who have made alcoholism a specialty, 
strongly recommend the immediate withdrawal of all liquors, and 
isolation from all company where habits and influence would lead to 
temptation, taking the following prescription faithfully for three or 
four months: 

Sulphate of magnesia .... one teaspoonful. 
Nitric acid 

Sulphate of iron. 

Powdered cinnamon ..... ^^ 

Sugar of milk ...... three teaspoonfuls. 

Distilled water enough to fill a six ounce bottle. 

One teaspoonful frequently when the crave is on, and in a wine- 
glassful of water. 

Cold sponge bath also should be taken once or twice a day. 

Enlargement of the Brain.— Hypertrophy. 

This is chiefly a disease of childhood. It consists in an unnatural 
growth of the brain. Sometimes the skull grows with it, and there 
mav not be any, or only slight, symptoms of disease. 



198 


DISEASES OF THE BKAIN AND NERVES. 


The complaint is sometimes congenital, — the child being born 
with a head far above the natural standard of size. Sometimes a 
child’s head, from this disease, will reach the size of an adult’s by 
the time it is five or six years old. This is not necessarily a disease^ 
though children that suffer from it are very apt to die finally of some 
affection of the brain. 

Symptoms, — Dullness of intellect, indifference to external objects 
great irritability of temper, inordinate appetite, giddiness, and an ha¬ 
bitual headache, which at times is very severe. In addition to these, 
there are, at times, convulsions, epileptic fits, and idiocy. There is a 
peculiar projection of the parietal bones, which serves well to distin¬ 
guish this disease from acute hydrocephalus. 

Treatment. — As far as possible, suspend and repress all exercise 
of the mind. Take the child from school as soon as the disease is 
discovered, and put it to the most active muscular exercise in the 
open air. The moment there is any excitement of the brain, or heat 
on the top of the head, apply cold water, ice, or cold evaporating 
lotions. If, as the child grows up, the signs of mischief increase, the 
diet must be simple, and carefully regulated. Bread and milk only 
is sometimes advisable. 

Shrinking of the Brain. — Atrophy, 

This is a disease in which the volume of the brain is diminished. 
There are two forms of it; one is congenital, the brain not being 
properly developed at birth; the other occurs in consequence of dis¬ 
ease either in the membranes or the arteries. The symptoms are not 
distinguishable during life from those of other brain affections, and 
therefore it can only be treated according to general principles. 

Water in the Head. — Acute Hydrocephalus. 

This, like enlargement of the brain, is likewise a disease of child¬ 
hood, and often attacks scrofulous children. 

Being an inflammatory disease, it is important to have early notice 
of its existence, and, if possible, to be aware of its approach ; which 
we may be, frequently, by observing the following premonitory 

Symptoms ; namely, a disturbance of the digestive functions, indi¬ 
cated by a capricious appetite, — the food at one time being disliked, 
at another devoured greedily; a foul tongue, offensive breath, enlarged 
and sometimes tender belly, torpid bowels, stools light-colored from 
having no bile, or dark from vitiated bile, fetid, sour-smelling, slimy 
and lumpy. The child loses its healthy look, and grows paler and 
thinner. Its customary spirit and activity are gone ; it is heavy, lan¬ 
guid, dejected; it is fretful, irritable, uneasy; and sometimes is a lit¬ 
tle tottering in its gait. 

After these warning symptoms, the disease may begin in one of 
three ways: — 


DISEASES OF THE BRAIN AND NERVES. 


199 


The pains in the head become more severe and frequent, and are 
sharp and shooting, causing the little patient to wake and shriek out. 
As the drowsy state advances, the shrieking gives place to moaning. 
Beside these symptoms, there are stiffness in the back of the neck, 
pain in the limbs, great tenderness of the scalp, vomiting, sighing, 
intolerance of light, knitting of the brows, increased disturbance of 
stomach and bowels. This stage may last ten to fourteen days, the 
child growing more weak and peevish. 

Another form of attack is marked by acute pain in the head and 
high fever, convulsions, flushed face, brilliant eyes, intolerance of light 
and sound, pain and tenderness in the belly, stupor, great irritability 
of stomach, causing retching and vomiting upon every attempt to sit 
up in bed. 

The third mode of attack is very insidious, — the early symptoms 
being mild and hardly noticeable, or not even occurring at all. In 
such case, the convulsions or palsy come suddenly, without notice, 
bringing swift and unexpected destruction. This has sometimes been 
called water-stroke. 

The First Stage is the period of increased sensibility and excite-^ 
ment, caused by inflammation, in which the pulse is quick and irreg¬ 
ular. 

The Second Stage is one of diminished sensibility, or lethargy, dur 
ing which water is effused upon the brain, and the pulse is slow. 

The Third Period is one of palsy and convulsions, with squinting 
of the eyes, rolling of the head, stupor, and a rapid, thread-like pulse. 

Treatment. —The first or inflammatory stage of the fever is very 
important, and must be controlled for five or six days. Scammony and 
croton oil (33) may be chosen for this purpose. Apply cold water, 
ice, etc., to the head. Use tinct. veratrum viride or (355). 

In the second stage, put blisters upon the back of the neck, and one 
upon the bowels if they are very tender. 

In the third stage, effusion having taken place, use the warm bath, 
or the vapor bath, — also digitalis, squills, and iodide of potassium, 
(144), (128), (302), (130). The effusion, if permanent, may be 
drawn off. 

Confine the child to a darkened room, of moderate temperature,— 
excluding all noise and causes of excitement, and let him lie upon a 
hair mattress, with his head somewhat elevated. 

Diet. — Gruel only during the stage of excitement, — during that 
of collapse, it should be nourishing, but mild and easy of digestion, 
as beef tea, plain chicken or mutton broth, and animal jellies. At 
the same time, support the patient by the cautious use of the aromatic 
spirit of ammonia, ten drops every four hours, valerian, wine whey, 
and infusion of gentian, columbo, or quassia, (64), (66). 


200 


DISEASES OF THE BRAIN AND NERVES. 


Dropsy of the Brain. — Chronic Hydrocephalus, 

Acute hydrocephalus is an inflammation; chronic hydrocephalus, 
now to be considered, is a dropsy. It often begins before birth. It 
consists in the accumulation of enormous quantities of water within 
the brain, sometimes within its ventricles, at other times upon its 
surface. When it occurs soon after birth, it advances slowly and 
imperceptibly, — the enlargement of the head being the first thing 
noticed. 

The skull being tender in infancy, it separates at the fontanelles, 
as the fluid accumulates, and the head, at times, attains an enormous 
size,—so great that the child cannot carry it upright, but lets it droop 
laterally upon the shoulder, or forward upon the breast. 

As the disease advances, the senses become blunted, the child is 
deaf or blind, the intellect is weakened, perhaps idiocy appears, the 
flesh and strength pass away, convulsions and paralysis come in their 
turn, and a stupor is apt to occur which ends in death. 

Treatment. —The remedies may be external, or internal, or both. 

Internal Remedies. — These should be purgatives (33), (31), or 
diuretics and alteratives (302), (145), (144). 

External Remedies. — Apply an ointment of the iodide of potas¬ 
sium to the scalp every night (185). A tight bandage applied over 
the whole head will sometimes have a favorable effect. Another ex¬ 
pedient is to puncture the skull and draw off the water. Tapping 
the brain has effected a cure in many cases, and perhaps promises the 
most relief of any remedy we have. In newly-born children with this 
affection, it is tne best means. 

As may be expected, none of these remedies are likely to give 
the benefit desired, and an operative interference above proposed 
constitutes a risk which it is perhaps better to run even if it results 
in the death of the child, rather than have it become a hopeless 
invalid with epileptic convulsions and the other manifestations of an 
impaired brain, 

Cerebro=SpinaI Fever, 

Definition. —This disease may be contracted by poisoned air and 
through the medium of fluids, and though markedly infectious, is not 
supposed to be contagious. The other names are spotted fever or 
cerebro-spinal meningitis. The disease is found among children and 
young adults more often than among the aged. It occurs suddenly 
in epidemics which cover a large territory and it does not appear to 
be referable to any known laws or atmospheric conditions. The 
death rate is exceeding high considering the number that have the 
disease, and this rate varies during different epidemics although there 
are different forms of severity. 


DISEASES OF THE BRAIN AND NERVES. 


201 


Symptoms. —As a general rule the first symptoms are intense 
headache with pain in the back of the neck or through the extremi¬ 
ties and chest, followed by a moderate fever without sweating. Vom¬ 
iting, and delirium with convulsions are common symptoms. In 
a small portion of the cases, under fifty per cent, an eruption occurs, 
which gives the name of Spotted Fever to the disease. The bending 
back of the head on the neck making it impossible to bring the head 
forward is known as retraction of the head and is a very common 
symptom. Deafness, blindness and other complications are the re¬ 
sult of irritation of the nervous system. The disease may he mistaken 
for typhoid fever early in its course, though the bowel symptoms in 
the latter disease are much more prominent. 

Herpes or cold sores on the nose and lips are common in meningitis 
and very rare in typhoid. 

Treatment.— Cold to the head by means of ice bag should be at 
once resorted to. The diet should be light and sedatives such as the 
bromide of soda or chloral in 20 grain doses by the mouth and even 
morphia in one-fourth grain doses will be needed to relieve and quiet 
the nervous irritation. 

Diseases of the Spinal Cord. 

There are few diseases more interesting, as a study, 
than those which affect the nervous cord which runs 
through the centre of the back-bone. This cord is a 
continuation, an appendage or tail of the brain. (See 
Figure 84.) It is the seat and centre of certain ner¬ 
vous functions, called reflex^ by which so many move¬ 
ments take place which are not under the control of the 
will. 

In order that we may feel what takes place in any 
part of the body or limbs, and that the will may have 
power to move such part, it is necessary that nervous 
matter should be continuous and unbroken between the 
part in question and the brain. 

If the spinal cord be cut, broken, or crushed at any 
point, all those parts which receive nerves from helow 
the injury, lose their power of motion and their feel¬ 
ing. When the injury is in the upper part of the cord, 
the breathing and the circulation will stop, and death 
is the immediate consequence. If the middle portion 
of the cord be the seat of the injury, the bowels and 
other organs may lose their motion and feeling; if the 
lower portion, then the lower limbs only will be the 
sufferers. 

Disease or injury in the upper part of the cord is 
therefore much more dangerous than the same thing 
occurring in the lower. 



202 


DISEASES OF THE BRAIN AND NERVES. 


Inflammation of the Spinal Cord. 

The membranes which surround the cord may he inflamed just as 
those are which enclose the brain; but as the cavity running through 
the spine is quite small, there cannot yery well he inflammation of 
the membranes without its involving the cord at the same time. 

Symptoms. — Pains, often intense, running along the spine, extend¬ 
ing out into the limbs, and made worse by motion. They are similar, 
in some respects, to rheumatic pains. There is rigid contraction, and 
sometimes violent spasms of the muscles of the back and neck, — so 
great, at times, as to bend the body back into the shape of a hoop; 
also a feeling of constriction in various parts, as if they were girt by 
a tight string; a sense of suffocation; retention of urine; a most 
obstinate constipation and frequent chills or rigors. The pain which 
is felt along the cord is aggravated by rapping upon the spine, but 
not by pressure. 

The above symptoms are supposed to be the result of inflammation 
predominating in the membranes. When its seat is more particularly 
in the substance of the cord, the symptoms are, — convulsive affec¬ 
tions of the head and face, inarticulate speech, loss of voice, squint> 
ing, and difficulty of swallowing, if the extreme upper part of the 
cord is inflamed; if the disease be slightly lower, difficulty of breath¬ 
ing, irregular action of the heart, and tightness of the chest; if lower 
still, vomiting, pain in the belly, sensation of a cord tied round the 
abdomen, pain and heat in passing water, retention of the urine, ina¬ 
bility to retain the urine, desire to go to stool, or involuntary stools. 

Spasm and stiffness, then, are the results of inflammation of the 
membranes; convulsions and palsy, of the same affection of the cord. 

Treatment. —When the inflammation is acute, apply a few leeches 
or wet cups along the sides of the spine. In chronic inflammation, 
powerful friction, or mustard draughts, stimulating liniments (190), 
or plasters, will generally answer the purpose. 


Apoplexy. 

Apoplexy is that condition in which all the functions of animal 
life are suddenly stopped, except the pulse and the breathing; — in 
which there is neither thought, nor feeling, nor voluntary motion ; in 
which the person falls down suddenly, and lies as if in a deep sleep. 

Modes of Attack; — There are at least thi'ee ways in which this ter¬ 
rible disease may make its assault. 

The First form of attack is a sudden falling down into a state of 
insensibility and apparently profound sleep,— the face being gen¬ 
erally flushed, the breathing stertorous or snoring, the pulse full and 
not frequent, with occasional convulsions. 


DISEASES OF THE BRAIN AND NERVES. 


203 


From this mode of attack some die immediately, others get entirely 
well, and others get off with the exception of paralysis on one side, 
or the loss of speech, or some one of the senses. 

The Second form of attack begins with sudden pain in the head. 
The patient becomes pale, faint, sick, and vomits, — has a cold skin 
and feeble pulse, and occasionally some convulsions. He may fall 
down, or may be only a little confused, but will soon recover from all 
the symptoms, except the headache,—this will continue, and the pa¬ 
tient will sooner or later become heavy, forgetful, unable to connect 
ideas, and finally sink into insensibility, from which he never rises. 

This mode of invasion, though not appearing so frightful as the 
first, is of much more serious import. 

In the Third form of attack there is sudden loss of power on one 
side of the body, and also of speech, but not of consciousness. The 
patient retains his mind, and answers questions either by words or 
signs. This may be called paralytic apoplexy. The patient may 
either die soon, or get well, or live for years with imperfect speech, 
or a leg dragging after him, or an arm hanging useless at his side. 

The Persons Attacked are apt to have large heads, red faces, short 
and thick necks, and a short, stout, square build, though it occurs 
often among those who are thin, pale, and tall. The tendency to it 
increases in advanced life. 

The Forerunners of apoplexy are headache, vertigo, slight attacks 
of palsy, double vision or seeing two objects when there is but one, 
faltering speech, inability to remember certain words, sometimes a 
sudden forgetfulness of one’s own name, a frequent losing of the 
thread of ideas attempted to be pursued, and occasionally an unac¬ 
countable dread, for which no reason can be given. 

Exciting Causes.—Whatever hurries the circulation of the blood, 
as strong bodily exercise, is an exciting cause. So are all those things 
which cause the blood to flow towards the head, as coughing, sneez¬ 
ing, laughing and crying, straining at stool when costive, lifting heavy 
weights, singing, and playing on wind instruments. To these may 
be added, exposure to the sun, the bad air of crowded rooms, holding 
the head down, or turning it around to look backward, tight cravats 
worn about the neck, and exposure to severe cold. 

Treatment.— If the patient have the appearance of suffering from 
fulness of blood in the head, as evinced by redness and turgescence 
of the face and throbbing of the temporal arteries, and if the pulse 
be full and hard, feeling like a tense vibrating rope under the finger, 
place him in a half-recumbent posture, with his head raised; loosen 
his clothes, particularly his neck-cloth and shirt collar, and whatever 
may press upon the neck, and then as quickly as possible apply cold 
wet cloths to his head, changing them often. Ice is still better, if it 


204 


DISEASES OF THE BEAIN AND NERVES. 


may be bad. Apply wet cups to the nape of the neck, and mustard 
draughts to the soles of the feet,—• at the same time applying tight 
ligatures around the limbs, to prevent the blood from returning 
rapidly in the veins. The ligatures should be gradually removed 
when the patient recovers his consciousness. Also administer a 
stimulating, purgative injection (246), and place two drops of croton 
oil, rubbed up with a little pulverized loaf sugar, far back upon the 
tongue. Repeat the injection every fifteen minutes, till the bowels 
are thoroughly moved. This is one of the few diseases suitable for 
bleeding. 

If the patient be old, and the pulse small and feeble, with no ful¬ 
ness or beating of the temporal arteries, or swelling of the veins of 
the neck and forehead, the countenance being pinched, and the skin 
bloodless and cold, the cupping, purging, and applying the ligature 
must be omitted. In this case it will be better to apply warm 
flannels and hot bricks to the surface, and administer ammonia 
and camphor (283), (135) internally. 

To prevent future attacks, gentle tonics should be used, and the 
skin should be kept healthy by daily bathing and friction. The 
bowels must not be permitted to become costive. The diet should 
be light, chiefly vegetable, and almost entirely so in hot weather. 
The food should be well chewed. The mind should be kept cheer¬ 
ful and hopeful, and free from great excitement. The sexual 
passion should be restrained, and very rarely indulged. Intoxicating 
drinks should be abandoned, if used, and all tight cravats be dis¬ 
carded from the neck. Direct rays of the hot sun in summer should 
be carefully shunned. No food should be taken for three hours 
before retiring, and a mattress only, of some degree of hardness, 
should be slept upon,— the head being always well elevated. To 
these precautions, I would add dipping the feet every night before 
retiring in cold water; and, if any tendency to cold feet be ex¬ 
perienced, dusting pulverized cayenne in the bottoms of the 
stockings. 

Sunstroke.— Coup de Soleil, 

Sunstroke results from the exposure of the body to excessive heat 
in the form of high temperature either of the sun’s heat, from a fur¬ 
nace, or an exceedingly hot day from heat without direct exposure 
from the sun. There are tv/o varieties, one known as heat exhaus¬ 
tion, where the temperature of the person’s body is only slightly 
elevated, if at all, the other, and the more common one “heat stroke” 
or “sun stroke” in which the temperature of the body is raised many 
degrees. The symptoms are headache, dizziness and sometimes diffi¬ 
cult breathing and thirst in the earlier stages, which if not recognized 
and means taken to prevent more serious troubles, at once go into 
unconsciousness, possibly accompanied by convulsions and spasms. 
If the fever cannot be reduced a serious condition occurs, followed 
probably by death inside of twenty-four hours. Even an improve- 


DISEASES OF THE BRAIN AND NERVES. 


205 


merit may be followed later by a fatal meningitis. Persons who 
have once had sunstroke are also greatly afflicted by high tempera¬ 
tures which is intensified if the air is moist. It is needless to add 
a large portion of these cases die. 

Treatment.—As is known the normal temperature is 98i degrees 
and the bath is used to reduce the temperature as near this as possible. 
Strip the patient, lay him flat on the floor or low bed and if possible 
apply ice; ice water or even a stream of cold water from a hose may 
be applied over the body, but the circulation must be kept up by an 
attendant rubbing the surface of the body to produce reaction so 
that the cooling of the body will be general and not entirely on the 
surface, as the congestion of the body with heated blood which 
would be caused if the rubbing was omitted would kill the patient. 
Ice should be applied to the head by means of an ice bag or some 
other means. Constant care should be taken that these measures 
while strenuous, should not be carried too far when the temperature 
once begins to drop, as when once started the patient immediately 
goes into collapse from the fever dropping too rapidly. Heart stimu¬ 
lants such as teaspoonful of aromatic spirits of ammonia with twenty 
drops of compound spirits of ether or strychnia in one-thirtieth 
grain doses may be given to support the heart. Alcohol should be 
avoided as it will only increase the congestion in the head; some 
good cathartic, as citrate of magnesia, should be given and the head¬ 
ache which often follows may be relieved by a twenty-grain dose of 
bromide with five grains of phenacetine added; the recurrence of 
high temperature should be watched for as it very often occurs, when 
cold baths will be again required, as a relapse is not at all uncommon. 

Palsy. — Paralysis. 

Palsy is a loss of the power of voluntary motion and feeling, one 
or both coming on, sometimes gradually, but more often suddenly, 
and extending at one time to a part, at another time to the whole 
body. It is a kind of station-house on the way to apoplexy, where 
passengers stop, not merely to stay over night, but to rest many days, 
or even years. 

A great injury inflicted upon the brain, either by pressure or other 
cause, will induce a complete loss of motion and feeling, and this ex¬ 
tending to the whole structure, brings likewise a loss of conscious¬ 
ness, which is apoplexy. A smaller degree of pressure, or a less 
injury upon the same brain, would occasion a loss of motion only, or, 
if a loss of feeling were experienced also, it would only extend to a 
part of the body, and consciousness would remain. This would be 
palsy. The disease is like apoplexy in kind, but stops short of it in 
degree. 


206 


DISEASES OF THE BRAIN AND NERVES. 


Paralysis of One Side of the Body.— Hemiplegia. 

When palsy affects an entire half of the body, dividing it through 
the centre of the face, neck, body, etc., from head to foot, it is called 
hemiphlegia. It is more nearly allied to apoplexy than any other 
form of the disease, and is generally ushered in by pretty well-marked 
apoplectic symptoms. 

Symptoms.— Sometimes there are no premonitory symptoms ; but 
often before the attack there are flushed face, swelling of the veins 
about the head and neck, vertigo, a sense of fullness, weight, and 
sometimes pain in the head, ringing in the ears, drowsiness, indistinct 
articulation of words, or even loss of speech, confusion of mind, loss 
of memory, and change of disposition, — amiable persons being made 
sullen and peevish, and irritable ones mild and simpering. After 
the attack, the countenance generally acquires a vague expression; 
the mouth is drawn to one side; the lower lip on the palsied side 
hangs down, and the spittle dribbles away. The speech is altered, 
and the mind is generally impaired. 

In some instances, the patient recovers in a longer or shorter time; 
in others, little or no improvement takes place, and the patient, after 
remaining helpless, often for a long time, dies either from gradual 
exhaustion, or suddenly from apoplexy. 

Causes.— Hemiphlegia and paraphlegia are caused by pressure 
upon the brain, by the effusion upon it of blood or water, by a tumor, 
by mechanical injuries, by the striking in of eruptions, and by intem¬ 
perance in eating and drinking. Paraphlegia often results from dis¬ 
ease or injury of the spinal marrow. 

Treatment.—In so many cases does the administration of iodide of 
potash give greater or less relief to different diseases of the brain 
resulting in paralysis that its use is recommended. It must be per¬ 
sisted in for weeks and months. The doses need not be excessive, 
and five to ten grains in a half glass of water or milk a day and 
continued some time will often be followed by improvement. There 
• are other preparations of similar nature recommended from time to 
time but all depend upon the amount of iodine which can be absorbed 
by the system. 

Paralysis of Lower Part of Body,—Paraplegia: 

This form of palsy divides the hoiij transversely, at the hips, and 
confines itself to the lower extremities, and to the parts about the 
pelvis. 

Symptoms.—When it arises from affections of the brain, it is at¬ 
tended by pain in the head, giddiness, drowsiness, dimness of sight. 


DISEASES OF THE BRAIN AND NERVES. 


207 


and impaired memory. Numbness is sometimes felt in the upper ex¬ 
tremities as a forerunner of this form of palsy. At first there is a 
slight stiffness and awkwardness of the motion of the legs, which 
continue to increase till a cane is needed to balance the body and 
make it steady. From a paralysis o*f the neck of the bladder, the 
stream of urine grows more feeble, and finally dribbles away involun¬ 
tarily. The bowels are for a time costive, but when the circular 
muscle which closes the fundament becomes palsied, the feces pasc 
without consent of the will. 

When disease of the spinal cord is the cause of the complaint, it 
is apt to come on gradually; languor and weakness are felt in the 
knees, the legs are not easily directed in walking, — being thrown 
across each other, causing tripping and stumbling. By degrees the 
loss of power increases in the thighs and legs, until at length tlie 
whole lower extremities become palsied and useless. 

Local Palsy. 

Palsy is called local when it is confined to a single limb, or muscle, 
or locality. One of these forms is called/haW pals}^. It affects one 
half the face only, and is a good specimen of these affections. It 
removes all power of expression from one half of the face, and leaves 
the features still, blank, and unmeaning. With the affected side of 
the face, the patient cannot laugh, or weep, or frown, or express any 
feeling or emotion, while the features of the other side are in full 
play. Among the ignorant, who do not comprehend the extent of 
the evil, the drollness of the expression excites laughter. 

Shaking Palsy. 

The nature of this form of palsy is well expressed by its name. 

Symptoms.— The first symptom of this complaint is a weakness 
and tremor of the head or hand. In about a year the other hand, or 
the lower extremities become affected; and the patient begins to lose 
his balance in walking. Then the trembling becomes perpetual; no 
limb or part remains still. Reading and writing are no longer possi¬ 
ble, and the hand cannot even carry the food to the mouth. The 
balance cannot be maintained in walking; there is a tendency to fall 
forwards, and to avoid it, the patient is obliged to run or move 
quicker, and upon the toes. 

At a later period, the tremor continues during sleep; there is in¬ 
creased weakness ; the body is bent forward, the speech becomes in¬ 
distinct, swallowing difficult, and the bowels torpid. At last the 
urine and feces pass involuntarily, and delirium and coma bring life 
to a close. 


208 


DISEASES OF THE BRAIN AND NERVES. 


Lead Palsy. 

In this disease the muscles of the forearm are palsied, so that the 
wrists “ drop,” as it is said, and the hands hang down when the arms 
are stretched out. It is caused by the gradual introduction of lead 
into the system. It is a disease, therefore, peculiar to painters,— 
particularly those who use carbonate of lead, or white lead, as it is 
called. It is generally the sequel of painter’s colic. 

Treatment.— A sudden and severe attack of palsy requires the 
same treatment as apoplexy. When the bowels are obstinately con¬ 
stipated, they must be moved by scammony and croton oil (31), (32) 
and by injections (246). 

When all the symptoms of determination of blood to the head have 
disappeared, and the disease has become strictly chronic, exciting 
remedies must be employed, as frictions, stimulating liniments, blis¬ 
ters, stimulating baths, cold affusion, and electricity. Among the in¬ 
ternal remedies, strychnine has the best reputation (85), (86). The 
tincture of the poison oak is well recommended (284). An altera¬ 
tive (145) should likewise be used. 

Apply counter-irritants along the track of the spine, such as blis¬ 
ters, the moxa, the compound tar-plaster, and the pitch-plaster. 

At first the diet should be light; but after the more active symp¬ 
toms have disappeared, it should be nutritious, and sometimes stimu¬ 
lating. Flannel underclothes should always be worn next the skin. 

For lead palsy, the best remedies are iodide of potassium, or sul- 
phuret of potassium. The dose of either of these is from three to ten 
grains, three times a day, dissolved in water, one ounce of the salt to 
six ounces of water, and taken in simple syrup. The affected limb 
should also be soaked an hour each day in a gallon of water, with 
half an ounce of sulphuret of potassium dissolved in it. 

Hydrophobia. — Rabies, 

The bite of the mad dog, or mad wolf, or other hydrophobic ani¬ 
mal, is the most dangerous of all poisoned wounds, because it is apt 
to be followed by a disease for which there is no certain remedy. 
Fortunately, the human subject is not as susceptible to the effects of 
the poison as some of the lower animals; for only about one-tenth of 
those bitten are attacked by hydrophobia. 

Symptoms.— The interval between the bite and the appearance of 
the disease varies from twelve days to two months. The wound 
heals like any other bite of a similar animal. After a time, the scar 
begins to have darting, lancinating pains, which, if it be a limb that 
was bitten, run up towards the body. Sometimes it feels cold, or 
stiff, or numb, or becomes red, swelled, or livid, and occasionally 
breaks open, and discharges matter. The patient feels a strange anx¬ 
iety, is depressed in spirit, has an occasional chill, and disturbed 


DISEASES OF THE BRAIN AND NERVES. 209 

sleep, and spasmodic twitches. The pulse is above its natural state, 
both in quickness and strength, and the nervous system is very im¬ 
pressible. The senses are all more acute; trifling noises produce 
agitation, and the eyes are so disturbed by the light that the patient 
sometimes hides himself in a dark place. The appetite is lost. This 
is the first staee. 

o 

Thirst now appears, and he attempts to drink. But the moment 
water approaches his mouth, a spasmodic shudder comes over him; 
he pushes it back with horror; the awful fact of his condition flashes 
upon him; and he cries out, “ What I have dreaded has come upon 
me.” 

Thenceforward he can swallow no fluids ; complains of pain and 
stiffness about his neck; is thrown into convulsions by the sight of 
water, or even the sound of liquids agitated in a vessel, or by a 
breath of air blowing upon him, by a bright light, or by the glare of a 
mirror. His throat is full of a viscid, glary matter, which he con¬ 
tinually tries to clear away. Thus, between convulsions, in which 
he struggles, and sometimes strives to bite his attendants, and com¬ 
parative stillness, during which he suffers great depression of spirits, 
he passes three or four days, and then dies either in a spasm, or from 
exhaustion. 

Treatment.—Immediate suction of the wound, with care being 
taken that the person whose lips are used has no abrasion or wounds 
there, followed by disinfection is certainly the best method, if resort 
cannot be had to some of the institutions where Pasteur injective treat¬ 
ment can be utilized. Disinfection may be carried out if the wound is 
a torn one, not a narrow and deep one, or in the latter case it would 
probably be better to cut away enough flesh so that the disinfectant 
may reach the bottom of the wound. The use of corrosive sublimate 
in the strength of one part to 500 of water applied to the wound for five 
or ten minutes and then a poultice of weak solution of one part to 3,000 
of water applied and bound on. The corrosive tablet sold at all drug 
stores contains about 7 grains of poison, and dissolving one of these 
in a half pint of water makes a strength of one to 500; a strength 
1 to 1,000 may be made by dissolving one tablet in a pint of water. 

Some of the Western physicians declare the red chickweed, or scar¬ 
let pimpernell, to be an absolute remedy for this disease, and cite 
some quite remarkable cases of its success. Four ounces of this 
plant, in the dried state, are directed to be boiled in two quarts of 
strong beer or ale, until the liquid is reduced one half. The liquid 
is to be pressed out and strained, and two drams of laudanum added 
to it. The dose for a grown person is a wine-glassful every morning 
for three mornings. A larger dose is required if the disease have 
begun to show itself; and if the case be fully developed, the whole 
may be taken in a day. The wound is to be bathed with the same 
decoction. The medicine, it is said, produces profuse sweating. It 
is worth a trial. 


210 


DISEASES OF THE BRAIN AND NERVES. 


Considerable has been said of late of a reniedy used in some parts 
of Europe, and said to be effectual. It is the “ golden cenotides ’ 
{cetonia aurata)^ or common rose-beetle, found in large quantities on 
all rose-trees. A similar insect is said to infest the geranium-plant. 
When collected, they are dried and powdered; and given in this 
form, relieve excitement (so it is said) of the brain and nerves, and 
throw the patient into a sound sleep. 


Muscular and Nervous Derangements from 
Wounds. 

In some persons, a very small local injury will produce violent dis¬ 
turbance of the nervous system. Some will faint and be thrown into 
convulsions and vomiting from causes scarcely greater than the prick 
of a needle; and, before Morton gave the world the boon of ether, it 
was not very uncommon for persons to die under the knife of the 
surgeon. One of the most serious disturbances from wounds, of a 
nervous and muscular character, is 

Locked Jaw.— Tetanus. 

This is spasmodic contraction, with rigidity, or stiffness, of the 
voluntary muscles. Sometimes this rigidity is partial, at other times 
universal throughout the system. 

Tetanus is produced by two causes, exposure to cold (idiopathic), 
and bodily injuries^ particularly the injury of a nerve (traumatic te¬ 
tanus). This last is the most frequent, — perhaps the only form of 
the complaint. 

The Symptoms are long-continued, violent and painful contraction 
or cramp of the voluntary muscles. At first there is difficulty and 
uneasiness in turning the head, with inability to open the mouth 
easily, — then the jaws close gradually, but with great firmness ; 
swallowing now becomes difficult, and a pain, starting from the 
breastbone, pierces through to the back,— probably caused by cramp 
of the diaphragm or midriff. The cramps now extend to the muscles 
of the body, the limbs, the face, the tongue, etc., which continue in a 
state of rigid spasm,—being swelled and hard in the centre, — till 
the disease yields, or the patient dies. At times the abdominal 
muscles are so tense as to make the belly as hard as a board. Occa¬ 
sionally the patient is drawn backward into the shape of a hoop, so 
as to rest on his head and heels (episthotonos) ; at other times he is 
drawn forward in the shape of a ball (emprosthotonos). All the con¬ 
tractions are attended with intense pain. It is the racking of the en¬ 
tire body with cramps like those which sometimes attack the calf of 
the leg. So violent are the contractions that the teeth are sometimes 
broken by them, and the tongue is often badly bitten. In the mean 


DISEASES OF THE BRAIN AND NERVES. 211 

time, the appearance of the sufferer is frightful. The forehead is 
wrinkled, the brow knit, the eye-balls motionless and staring, the 
nostrils spread, the corners of the mouth drawn back, the set teeth 
exposed, and all the features fixed in a ghastly grin. 

The prevention of tetanus can be accomplished by thorough disinfec¬ 
tion of all wounds, especially those due to gun-powder accidents and 
implements around stables and manure heaps. 

In 1905 the number of cases reported following the July 4th cel¬ 
ebration was 75 per cent, less than the previous year, owing to pre¬ 
cautions taken. It is so fatal that somewhere about 70 and 80 
per cent, of those who become affected die. The most valuable 
treatment is the injection under the skin by a competent person 
of the antitoxin of tetanus, but even this, to be successful, must be 
administered within a short time after the wound is made to prevent 
the poison from invading the nervous system and causing death. 

Treatment.—At once upon the receipt of a wound which is sus¬ 
picious the same treatment should be given as suggested for hydro¬ 
phobia; on no account should the wound be closed over and allowed 
to heal in the early stages. If the disinfectants are not available it 
is much better to leave the wound exposed to the air, as the growth 
of these germs which is the cause of the disease is increased by exclu¬ 
sion of air. If the jaw becomes locked so that food cannot be taken, 
it may be necessary to feed the patient by means of a small rubber 
tube through the nostril or even the rectum, but a physician will, 
of course, have charge of the procedure. Ether and chloroform in 
desperate cases may be inhaled to ease the final struggle of the patient, 
or bromide of soda and chloral in large doses will also be useful. 

Epilepsy.— Epileptic Fits. 

This disease has been sometimes called the falling sickness^ but 
generally passes under the more vague title of fits. 

Symptoms.— The disease is characterized by a temporary loss of 
consciousness, strong spasms and intervals between the fits. The at¬ 
tack is sudden, generally without warning, and attended with a loud 
cry, when the patient falls down, is sengeless and convulsed, struggles 
violently, breathes with embarrassment, has a turgid and livid face, 
foams at the mouth, bites his tongue, has a choking in the windpipe, 
and appears to be at the point of death. Presently, in from five 
minutes to half an hour, and by degrees, these symptoms diminish, 
and at length cease; and the patient falls into an apparent sleep. In 
a short time more he recovers, and is apparently well. These attacks 
come again and again, and at irregular intervals. 

This is the worst form of the disease; there is another class of 
cases in which the symptoms are much lighter,— there being no tur- 
gescence of the face, no foaming at the mouth, no cry, no convul- 


212 


DISEASES OF THE BRAIN AND NERVES. 


sions; but merely a sudden and brief suspension of consciousness, a 
fixed gaze, a feeling of confusion, or a totter, from all of which the 
recovery is speedy. 

Causes.— These are numerous, — as w'orms, disturbance from indh 
gestible food in the stomach and bowels, difficult teeth-cutting, ner¬ 
vous irritation, either direct or by sympathy, sexual excesses and 
masturbation, disease or injury of the brain or spinal marrow, gall 
stones in the excretory duct of the liver, stone or gravel in the kid¬ 
neys and bladder, fright, distress of mind, passion, great loss of blood, 
and many others. 

Treatment.—But little can be done during the fit, except to pro¬ 
tect the patient from being injured by the violence of the convulsions 
and especially for unusual accidents that may happen while the 
victim is falling unconscious, such as burying the face in the pillow 
at night, choking due to the food stopped in the throat or falling of 
the body on hard substances causing breaking of the bones, even 
fracture of the skull. There is little fear that death will result. Cures 
are seldom obtained but the violence of the convulsions may be greatly 
diminished by proper treatment and the time occurring between 
attacks of greater length. The most important drug and the one 
tried which has given the largest number of happy results is the bromide 
of strontium, which drug as well as any chosen must be used over 
a long period of time and even after the improvement has been 
noticed. The use of the drug must be continued even over a matter 
of years in the dosage of 10, 20 and even 30 grains well diluted with 
water, three times a day, and in all probability an improvement may 
be expected. If as in a certain proportion of cases an attack is pre¬ 
ceded by a premonition of its onset, the inhalation of the vapor of 
nitrite of amyl which can be purchased in pearls, and crushed in a 
handkerchief, the attack can be prevented. 

In all cases, indeed, the diet should be carefully regulated, being- 
light, nutritious, and easy of digestion. The sleep should be taken 
at regular hours, and daily exercise in the open air be insisted upon. 
The bowels must be kept regular, by the food, if possible; if not, by 
mild laxatives. Apply along the spinal column 195, once a day, rul> 
bing it well in; also, now and then, mustard poultices. 

In addition to these remedies, give pills of iron and quinine (72). 
one after each meal, — also oxide of zinc (270), which is one of our 
very best remedies. Of the pills, one should be taken three times a 
day. Bromide of sodium, 1 dram in 24 hours, mostly at bedtime. 

We can seldom go amiss in giving medicine calculated to relieve 
nervous irritation, and to build up the general system. For this pur¬ 
pose, the valerianate of quinine, and the extract of black cohosh (79) 
are well adapted. Citrate of iron and strychnine (316), is a very val¬ 
uable remedy. 

It is said that a black silk handkerchief thrown over the face of a 


DISEASES OF THE BRAIN AND NERVES. 


213 


person in a fit, will immediately bring them out of it. It is an ex¬ 
periment easily tried; and having seen it in a respectable medical 
journal, I give it for what it is worth. The bromides in large doses, 
long-continued, sometimes cure epilepsy (367). 

Catalepsy. — Trance.—Ecstasy. 

Cataleptic fits are simply what is known to all the world under 
the name of trance; and ecstasy is a modification of the same nervous 
disorder. It is a state in which the mind becomes so intensely ab¬ 
sorbed in something outside of its earthly tenement, that it withdraws 
all control over the body, and all apparent connection with it, leav¬ 
ing it as if dead. There is a very light ticking of the heart, just per¬ 
ceptible to a cultivated ear, but the breast does not rise and fall with 
breathing, the features are all inexpressive and still, the eyes are wide 
opan and motionless, apparently staring after the departed intellect; 
and the body and limbs are entirely passive,— remaining unmoved 
where they are placed by others, however tiresome and uncomfortable 
the position. In a word, a person in catalepsy is, in appearance, like 
a marble statue, or like a human body suddenly turned to stone, or, 
like Lot’s wife, to a pillar of salt. There is as little feeling, or 
thought, or consciousness, as if the bowl had been instantaneously 
broken at the cistern, and the apparent death were real. 

It is a peculiarity in this disease that the patient, on recovery 
from a fit, takes up the thread of conscious life just where it was 
broken by the attack. Thus, if she were lifting a cup of water to 
the mouth, she would hold it steadily, with the mouth open, till the 
return of consciousness, and then place it to the lips, as if no inter¬ 
ruption had occurred; or, if conversing, and in the midst of a sen* 
tence, the unfinished words would be uttered at the end of the fit, 
even though it should last many days. 

Persons in a cataleptic fit have much the appearance of one in the 
mesmeric state; and the statue-like position in which an attack fixes 
a patient, reminds one of the manner in which the psychologists, so 
called, will arrest a man under their influence, and make him im¬ 
movable, with one foot raised in the act of stepping. 

The disease attacks females much more often than males. 

The premonitory symptoms are much like those of epilepsy, and 
the treatment should be about the same. 

Saint Vitus’s Dance.— Chorea. 

This disease is chiefly confined to children and youth between the 
ages of eight and fourteen. But few cases occur after puberty. 

Symptoms_The complaint affects mostly the muscles and the 

limbs. It excites curious antics,— such as we should suppose would 
occur if a part of the muscles of voluntary motion had hatched a 
mimic rebellion, broken away from the control of the will, and in 


214 


DISEASES OF THE BRAIN AND NERVES. 


sheer mischief and wantonness, were tripping their fellow muscles, 
and playing tricks with the patient. A few of the muscles of the 
face or limbs begin their mischievous pranks by slight twitches, 
which, by degrees, become more energetic, and spread to other parts. 
The face is twisted into all kinds of ridiculous contortions, as if the 
patient were making mouths at somebody. The hands and arms do 
not remain in one position for a moment. In attempting to carry 
food to the mouth, the hand goes part way, and is jerked back, starts 
again, and darts to one side, then to the other, then mouthward 
again; and each movement is so quick, and nervous, and darting, 
and diddling, that ten to one the food drops into the lap. , If the at¬ 
tempt be made to run out the tongue, it is snatched back with the 
quickness of a serpent’s, and the jaws snap together like a fly-trap. 
The lower limbs are in a state of perpetual diddle; the feet shuffle 
with wonderful diligence upon the floor, as if inspired with a cease¬ 
less desire to dance. 

It is supposed by some that the disease consists in a partial palsy 
of a part of the muscles. The will in that case not being able to 
control the palsied muscles, when it commands the others to move, 
their action is not balanced, and they twitch the face and limbs into 
all the’capricious and fantastic shapes we witness. 

Others, and probably with more truth, hold that the seat of the 
disease is in the cerebellum or little brain. It is supposed to be one 
of the functions of this organ to preside over and regulate the loco¬ 
motion,— that it holds the office of chief engineer, and that its 
duties are to keep the muscles in subjection to the will. The com¬ 
bined and consenting action of several muscles is needed for every 
movement. It is the business of the cerebellum to maintain this 
oneness of purpose and action — to see that no muscle flinches so as 
to disturb the harmony of the movement. When the cerebellum is 
diseased, all is confusion,— just as the locomotive runs from the 
track when the engineer is smitten with palsy. 

The disease is not dangerous, but when it continues for many 
years it is apt to weaken the mind, and it sometimes very nearly 
destroys it. 

Causes.—Whatever excites and weakens the nervous system, as 
powerful emotions of the mind, overworking the mind, reading ex¬ 
citing novels, eating too much meat, fright, striking in of eruptions, 
self-pollution, etc. 

Treatment.— In the first place, remove all causes of excitement. 
Take the patient from school, and require some sort of cheerful out¬ 
door exercise, daily. Take away all books, and be careful not to do 
anything to occasion anger or fear, or any kind of injurious excite¬ 
ment. Apply spinal ice-bags gradually and regularly. 

In the second place regulate the diet—making it more animal 
and stimulating if it has been to low, and more vegetable and cool¬ 
ing if it has been too high. 


DISEASES OF THE BRAIN AND NERVES, 


215 


In the third plxce, if the above changes have not been sufficient 
for the purpose, open and regulate the bowels with some gentle 
physic (30), (34) for a few days. 

Iron in the form of tincture of the chloride of iron, 10 drops 
in water taken through a tube after meals, and arsenic in the form 
of Fowler’s solution must be used for the anaemia, which is so often 
present. This latter drug is a strong solution of arsenic and must be 
used with great care, given in a dose for a young child 2 or 3 drops 
well diluted with water three times a day, gradually increasing a 
drop a day up to 8 to 10 drops three times a day, which is the maximum 
amount; it is not safe to increase more. The danger of poisoning must 
be looked for, such as a puffiness about the eyes and nose, or pains and 
cramps in the stomach. They show that the patient is getting a 
little more than is sufficient. The drug should then be cut down 
about half and continued at the last amount or entirely stopped. If 
there is a rheumatic history the salicylate of soda in 5 to 10 grain 
doses three times a day must be used. Next to arsenic, sedatives, 
such as bromide of soda or hyoscyamus or better than all the fluid 
extract of cimicifuga in the doses of half a teaspoonful diluted with 
water twice a day often proves a help. 

To these remedies should be added the shower-bath, beginning 
with tepid water, and making it a little colder every day. If the 
shower-bath frightens the patient, or is not otherwise well borne, take 
the sponge bath. 


Chronic Chorea. 

This can hardly be said to amount to a disease. It consists rather 
in uncouth tricks, arising from some slight disorder of particular 
muscles, and grown into a fixed habit, such as shaking of the head 
every three to twenty seconds, repeated squinting of the eyes in con¬ 
nection with a peculiar knitting of the eyebrows, wrinkling of the 
nose, shrugging of the shoulders, lifting the ears up and down, or 
even moving the whole scalp back and forth. These movements are 
commonly made without a consciousness of it; and generally there 
is no power to suspend them without a painful effort which cannot 
be easily continued. 

No medical treatment is of any avail. These tricks can only be 
corrected by great watchfulness and effort on the part of the person 
suffering from them, and in many cases, not even by such means. 

Cramps. 

Cramp is experienced *n the calves of the legs, the thighs, the 
stomach, the breast, the Avomb, etc. It is a very painful, sudden, and 
violent contraction of one or more muscles. The part is sometimes, 
as the phrase is, “ drawn up into knots.” When it attacks the stom¬ 
ach, it is a very dangerous affection. Women are subject to it about 
the third or foui th month of pregnancy. 


216 


DISEASES OF THE BRAIN AND NERVES. 


They occur more frequently at night as the result of over-fatigue 
and indigestion during the day. These spasmodic contractions often 
occur in the abdomen and are accompanied by diarrhoea due to indi¬ 
gestion. Abdominal cramps are also a symptom of locomotor ataxia 
and other spinal diseases. The cramp of swimming is often due to 
an over-straining of some one group of muscles not hitherto much 
used, the sudden fatigue causing cramp. They may be also of ner¬ 
vous origin. Rheumatism is not infrequently the sole cause of pain¬ 
ful muscular spasms. 

Causes.— Drinking cold water when very hot and perspiring, ex¬ 
posure to damp night air, debility, indigestible food, and excesses in 
eating and drinking, and particularly over-straining the muscles. 

Treatment.— Moderate the excessive labor and straining of the 
muscles which produce the cramps. When an attack occurs in the 
legs, tie a cord or handkerchief tight around the leg above the af¬ 
fected muscle. This will generally produce instant relief. Also 
briskly rub the parts with hot w'ater, alcohol, ammonia, spirits of cam¬ 
phor, paregoric, or laudanum. ' 

When it occurs in the stomach, apply warm fomentations, or what 
is better, a mustard paste (165). Take hot Jamaica ginger or neuro¬ 
pathic drops. The bowels, if confined, should be opened with an in¬ 
jection. 

Cramps of the limbs which afflict women in the family way, can 
only be mitigated, not cured, till after confinement. As a palliative, 
high cranberry bark, scullcap, etc. (87), will be found useful. 

Pain of the Nerves. — Neuralgia. 

This disease affects one tissue only,— the nervous; and has one 
symptom,— fam. 

In apoplexy., the nerves, rendered powerless and senseless by an ex¬ 
ternal force, are like a man under a bank of earth which has slid 
down upon him. In palsy., they are suddenly bereft of feeling and 
motion by a blasting scourge within,— as one is smitten down by a 
pervasive charge from a magnetic battery. In epilepsy., the nerves 
are grasped and for a time held senseless by an unseen power, in 
which they struggle, as a man strives in the folds of the anaconda. 
In catalepsy, they are suddenly stiffened into senseless strings, for 
such automatic use as the bystander may, for the time, choose to 
make of them. In chorea, they are set to dancing by an invisible ex¬ 
hilaration, as a man is suddenly crazed by brandy. 

In neuralgia, the nerves are neither crushed, nor collapsed, nor re¬ 
strained for a time, nor stiffened, nor exhilarated. They simply have 
their sense of feeling intensely exalted; they are filled with pain. 
The pain is generally of a peculiarly darting, piercing character. The 
patient sometimes calls it tearing pain. It comes on in sudden par¬ 
oxysms, with intervals of freedom between. The attacks are some- 


DISEASES OF THE BRAIN AND NERVES. 217 

times like an electric shock, and are so agonizing as to bring a tem¬ 
porary loss of reason. Occasionally there is great tenderness of the 
parts affected, and some fulness of the blood-vessels in the neighbor¬ 
hood ; but generally the signs of inflammation are all absent, except 
pain. 

Neuralgic pains occur in almost every part of the system. One of 
the most familiar forms of the disease is known under the name of 

Tic Douloureux. 

It occurs in those branches of the fifth pair of nerves which go to 
the face. (See Fig. 85.) Sometimes 
one, sometimes all of the three branches 
are affected, but more often the middle 
branch only. When the upper branch 
is the seat of the disease, the pain is in 
the forehead, the brow, the lid, and some¬ 
times the ball of the eye. The eye is 
generally closed during the pain, and 
the skin of the forehead is wrinkled. 

When the affection is in the middle 
nerve, the pain is preceded by a prick¬ 
ing sensation in the cheek, and twitch¬ 
ing of the lower eyelid. Soon it spreads 
in quick and piercing pangs over the 
cheek, reaching the lower eyelid, the 
sides of the nostrils, and the upper lip. 

If in the lower branch, it sends its light¬ 
ning shafts to the chin, the gums, the 
tongue and even up the cheek to the ear, 

Face-Ache.— There is a species of nervous pain called face-ache^ 
which does not quite amount to tic douloureux, but is nevertheless 
very afflictive. It occurs principally in the jaw, winch seems to be 
filled with pain. No one spot seems to be more affected than another. 
From the jaw the pain often goes to the whole head, but it has not 
the stabbing intensity which generally characterizes neuralgia. It 
often proceeds from defective teeth. 

Hemicrania. 

This is a neuralgic pain, confined to one side of the head,— gen¬ 
erally the brow and forehead. Sickness of the stomach often attends 
it, and in many cases it is periodical,—coming on at a certain hour 
every day, and lasting a given time, and then passing away. 

It may be caused by whatever debilitates the system, as hysterics, 
suckling an infant too long, or low diet. In fever and ague districts 
it is frequently produced by miasm. In many instances, the cause 
cannot be discovered. 



218 


DISEASES OF THE BRAIN AND NERVES. 


Sciatica. 

This is a pain beginning at the hip, and following the course of 
the sciatic nerve. Occasionally it is an inflammatory complaint ; 
sometimes is connected with an affection of the kidney; but fre¬ 
quently it is a purely neuralgic or nervous pain; and I have there¬ 
fore tliought it best to place it here, with nervous diseases. 

Besides the various forms of neuralgia now noticed, the disease 
occurs, — sometimes with great severity, — in the female breast, in 
the womb, in the stomach, in the bowels, in the thighs, in the knee, 
and even in the feet. In many of these cases the disease is not where 
the pain is felt, but in the brain or spinal marrow, and consequently 
the true source of the complaint very often escapes detection. An 
excellent Episcopal clergyman in Northern New York, the Rev. M.. 

B-, with whom I studied Latin and Greek preparatory to college, 

had a neuralgic pain in the knee so intense, persistent and exhausting, 
that the limb had to be cut off at the thigh to save his life. 

Treatment.— This must be as diversified as the causes of the dis¬ 
ease. For a general use 368. 

For tic douloureux, and some other forms, give internally, valerian¬ 
ate of ammonia (88); also 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 316, and 84, as tonics. 

For external use in tic douloureux, and other neuralgic affections, 
the prescriptions 188, 196, 197, 198. 

For the face-ache, above mentioned, muriate of ammonia (134), in 
half dram doses, is a very valuable remedy. 

When the disease is caused by miasm, and has a periodic character, 
like ague, it must be treated with quinine (67), (79), and if there be 
a low state of the blood, iron (72), (93) must be given at the same 
time. The galvanic battery often acts like magic in neuralgia. 

The shower-bath, exercise in the open air, and whatever else will 
build up the general health, must be used according to circumstances. 

Neuralgic pain of various kinds often yields readily to some one of 
the many coal-tar products like phenanthrene, antikamnia and ammo- 
nol: say 10 grains of either every two to four hours according to the 
intensity of the pain. The last named product is quite harmless and 
produces no numbness or faintness which is said to follow at times 
the use of some of the others. 

Avoid rich or fatty foods. Live on a plain nourishing diet. Take 
exercise out of doors as much as possible. 

Derangement of Mind. — Insanity. 

Most writers on this disease have attempted a definition of it. I 
have never seen one which suited me. Here is mine. Insanity is a 
wrench of marCs nature^ tvhich sets his intellectual and moral faculties 
sLwry in their relations with the external world. 



DISEASES OF THE BRAIN AND NERVES. 


219 


In a state of mental and moral health, he looks straight at the out¬ 
ward world, and sees it as it is ; insanity gives him an angular con¬ 
nection with it and he sees it as it is not; its objects have all changed 
their relative places; objects at the right in the panorama of life have 
moved to the centre, or gone quite over to the left; while things at 
the top have gone to the bottom, and those in the lowest places have 
taken the highest. With the thoroughly insane, the world has gone 
hack to chaos. 

These persons have their sensibility very much altered and per¬ 
verted. Errors of the senses and illusions cheat them. In many 
cases, they cannot read because the letters are mingled in a confused 
mass. They often do not recognize their friends, and regard them 
as strangers or enemies. 

They become awkward in the mechanical use of their hands, and 
their touch loses the power to correct the errors of the other senses. 
Hence they are cheated in regard to the size, form, and thickness of 
bodies. 

They are haunted, at times, with smells which have no existence, 
and they hear voices distinctly speaking to them from clouds, or from 
trees; and these voices have the familiar tones of a friend, relative, 
or enemy. 

The insane lose the power of comparing ideas. They associate 
things the most unlike, and often in a ridiculous way. 

They also lose the control of themselves, and come under the do¬ 
minion of their passions ; and then they will do acts which they them¬ 
selves disapprove. One of strict integrity, of unblemished morals, and 
of excellent standing, becomes insane, and immediately steals what he 
does not want, makes infamous proposals, and indecent gestures, and 
is in every respect the opposite of his past self. 

The insane often become averse to those who were previously 
among the most dear to them. For acts of kindness, they repay 
abuse. They fly from their best friends. This is the result of their 
fear and jealousy; for they are very cowardly and jealous. This alien¬ 
ation from friends is almost a characteristic of insanity, and is one of 
its saddest features. The moral affections are always disordered, per¬ 
verted, or annihilated in insanity. So much is this a leading feature 
of the disease, that it is only when the insane begin to recover their 
moral affeetio is, when they begin to wish to see their children and 
friends, to fol 1 them once more in their arms, and to enter the family 
circle and renew its joys, that we can count upon any certain signs 
of a cure. 

The insane have a thousand strong fancies in regard to themselves. 
One thinks himself inspired of God. and charged with the conversion 
of the world; while another, equally sincere, believes the devil has 
entered into him, and that the pains of hell are already taking hold 
of him, and he curses God, himself, and the universe. Still another 
is the “ monarch of all he surveys,” and much more; he governs the 


220 


DISEASES OF THE BRAIN AND NERVES. 


world, and directs the stars. One has all knowledge, and affects to 
teach the wisest. Another is proud, and withdraws from his fellows, 
bidding them not to come into his presence without proper acts of 
homage,— calling himself, it may be, a king. 

There are five kinds of insanity. I will speak of each of them 
biiefiy. 


Melancholy. — Lypemania, 

This is characterized by moroseness, fear, and prolonged sadness. 
The melancholic person is lean and slender, with black hair, and a 
pale and sallow countenance. His skin is brown or blackish, and 
dry and scaly. His physiognomy has a fixed appearance, the muscles 
of the face are drawn tight, the eyes are motionless, and directed to 
one point, the look is askance and suspicious, and the general expres¬ 
sion is one of sadness, fear, and terror. He desires to pass his days 
in solitude and idleness. He walks as if aiming to shun some dan¬ 
ger. His eye and ear are on the watch for evil. 

These persons do not sleep much. They are kept awake by fear, 
jealousy, and hallucinations. If their eyes close, they see phantoms 
which terrify them. 

Their secretions are disordered. The urine is either abundant and 
clear, or scanty and muddy. They sometimes retain their urine for 
days. One patient did not dare to make water lest he should drown 
the world, but was finally persuaded to it by the assurance that he 
would extinguish a fire which was devouring a city. 

Insanity on One Subject. — Monomania, 

This is a chronic affection of the brain, not attended by fever, and 
characterized .by a derangement of the intellect, the affections, or the 
will, upon one subject only. The patient seizes upon a false princi¬ 
ple, and draws from it injurious conclusions, which modify and change 
his whole life and character. In other cases the intellect is sound, 
but the affections and disposition being perverted, their acts are 
strange and inconsistent. These they attempt to justify by plausible 
reasoning. 

Mania. 

This is also a chronic affection of the brain, generally without 
fever. The countenance of the maniac is sometimes flushed, at other 
times pale. The hair is crisped ; the eyes injected, shining and hag¬ 
gard. Maniacs dislike the light, and certain colors horrify them. 
Their ears are sometimes very red, and are disturbed by a tingling, 
and a rumbling sound. Noise excites and disturbs them. They suf¬ 
fer from false sensations, illusions and hallucinations; and their ideas 
come with great rapidity, and are confused and without order. Their 


DISEASES OF THE BRAIN AND NERVES. 


221 


affections are in a state of turmoil, and their judgments are all erro¬ 
neous. 

Unlike the monomaniac, their delirium extends to all subjects. 
Their entire intellect, affections and will, are a chaotic wreck. 

Dementia. 

Here is another chronic affection of the brain, without fever, in 
which the sensibility, the intellect, and the will, are all weakened. 
Demented persons have not the power to concentrate their minds on 
anything, and can form no correct notions of objects. Their ideas 
float after each other without connection or meaning. They speak 
without any consciousness of what they are saying. 

Many of them have lost their memory, or, like old persons, they 
remember nothing recent,— forgetting in a moment what is just said 
or done. 

The demented have neither desires nor aversions; neither hatred 
nor love. To those once most dear to them, they are totally indif¬ 
ferent. They meet friends long absent without emotion, and part 
from their dearest ones without a pang. The events of life passing 
around them awaken in them no interest, because they can connect 
themselves neither with the past nor the future; they have no remem¬ 
brances nor hopes. Their brain is inactive ; it furnishes no ideas or 
«sensations. They are no longer active, but passive beings ; they de¬ 
termine nothing, but yield themselves to the will of others. 

They have a pale face, a dull eye, moistened with tears, an uncer¬ 
tain look, and a physiognomy without expression. They sleep pro¬ 
foundly, and for a long time, and have a voracious appetite. 

Idiocy. 

Idiocy is in the condition in which the intellectual faculties have 
never been manifested. We are not to infer disease from it, any more 
than we infer it in the lower animals from the absence of intellect. 

In idiocy there is no mind, because the brain is not large enough 
to be the organ of intelligence. It always dates back, therefore, to 
the beginning of life. Everything about the idiot betrays a defective 
organization. The demented person, the monomaniac, etc., once had 
intelligence ; the idiot, never. They, in many cases, may be cured: 
he is hopelessly incurable. They had blessings which have been taken 
from them; to him, none were ever given. They were once the pride 
and hope of their friends; he, from his birth, was the smitten and 
blasted one of his family. He never reaches an advanced age, — 
rarely living beyond thirt^^ years. 

These remarks are sufficient to show the difference between idiocy 
and other forms of mental derangement. In the other forms of in¬ 
sanity there are brains enough, but they are diseased ; in this there is 
no disease; the smallness of the brain is the primal and fatal defect. 


222 


DISEASES OF THE BRAIN AND NERVES. 


This form of mental derangement is caused by a defective develop¬ 
ment of the brain. That the other forms are produced by disease of 
the brain, there can be no doubt. 

Some have supposed insanity to be a mental disorder merely, hav¬ 
ing nothing to do with the body. They might as well suppose the 
delirium of fever to be a disease of the mind only. 

Insanity is an unsoundness of the brain and nerves which proceed 
from it, in every instance. At first it is probably only excitement of 
the brain ; but this, long continued, becomes a chronic inflammation. 
The brain and nerves of an insane person are undoubtedly sore, and 
hence the painful thoughts and feelings which afflict them. When 
the soreness is much increased, they are violent and furious; when 
it subsides, they are calm. In consequence of this inflammation and. 
soreness of the brain, an insane person can no more think, or reason, 
or will, or feel correctly, than a person with an inflamed stomach can 
digest food well, or than one with inflamed eyes can see well. 

Causes of Insanity.— Hereditary predisposition; painful subjects 
of thought or feeling long revolved in the mind; injured feelings 
which cannot be resented, mortified pride, perplexity in business; 
disappointed affection or ambition ; great political, religious, or social 
excitements; sudden and heavy strokes of misfortune in the loss of 
property and friends; and in general, whatever worries the mind for 
a long time, and creates a deep distress, may be a cause of insanity. 

But one of the most prolific causes, and worthy of special mention, 
is masturbation, or self-pollution,— a vice contracted by thousands of 
young people, both male and female. 

Besides the above, I may mention several physical causes, as con¬ 
vulsions of the mother during gestation, epilepsy, monthly disorders 
of women, blows upon the head, fevers, loss of sleep, sypffllis, exces¬ 
sive use of mercury, worms in the bowels, and apoplexy. 

Chances of Cure. — Idiotism is never cured. 

Melancholy and monomania are cured when recent, and do not de¬ 
pend upon organic disease. 

Dementia is sometimes, though seldom, cured. 

Chronic insanity, of long standing, is not easily cured. 

Insanity which has been produced by moral causes, acting suddenly, 
is generally curable; if the causes have acted slowly and long, the 
cure is more doubtful. 

Excessive study causes insanity which is hard to cure. 

If caused or continued by religious ideas, or by pride, it is not 
often cured. 

Insanity caused and maintained by masturbation is cured with 
gi^at difficulty. 

Treatment.— The treatment of the insane is now almost confined, 
as it should be, to public hospitals. In these institutions, all the 
means are provided which humanity has been able to devise, to lift 


DISEASES OF THE BRAIN AND NERVES! 


223 


from these unfortunate beings the terrible shadow which is upon 
them. Here they have safety, comfort, recreation, friendly guardians, 
rest, and medicine. 

They have safety from the annoyances which well-meaning but 
mistaken friends at home almost always commit in contradicting, and 
reasoning with, persuading, and threatening them; for only in these 
humane institutions has it been well learned that to do so is no wiser 
than to persuade, scold, or threaten a neuralgic pain in the face, an 
inflammation in the stomach, or a felon upon the finger. They are 
safe, too, from the impertinent scrutiny of neighbors, the hootings of 
unthinking boys in the streets, and especially from the causes, what¬ 
ever they are, which have produced the disease. And so far, this is 
just the treatment they want, — no contradiction, no impertinent 
scrutiny from neighbors, no abuse in the streets, and a withdrawal of 
the causes which have produced the disease. 

In these institutions, too, they have comforts. They have clean 
rooms, galleries, lodges, bathing-rooms, yards and gardens for exer¬ 
cise and walking, safe, quiet, well-aired bed-rooms, and clean and 
comfortable beds ; cheerful dining rooms, and plain, wholesome, and 
nutritious food. And this, likewise, is the treatment they require. 

They have recreation,— dances, cards, back-gammon, chequers, 
chess, billiards, nine-pins, walking parties, riding parties, gardening, 
and an indulgence in those arts of painting, music, drawing and 
architecture for which they may have a taste. And such recreations 
are powerful instruments in the cure of all disorders of the nervous 
system. 

Here, too, they have friendly guardians, who have long studied 
their complaints, and have imbued their souls with a sympathy which 
goes down into the depths of their sufferings, and allies itself with all 
their sorrows; — nien and women who are willing to act the part of 
guardian angels; to be their friends; who know how to gain their 
confidence; and who use the influence acquired by love, in leading 
them back towards health and happiness. And this, too, in curing 
the insane, is of great consequence, for none can do them good till 
they have their confidence, and this can be gained only by love and 
wisdom. 

In these insane asylums, they find rest. When the brain is hot 
from inflammation, and they are raving from delirium, they are here 
withdrawn from the noisy crowd, and shielded from the rude shocks 
of the world. If need be, they are placed in solitary rooms, where 
silence spreads its soothing stillness through their excited brains. 
And it is of the greatest importance that the sore and torn feelings 
should rest; for rest allays excitement, and brings sleep; and with¬ 
out a proper amount of sleep recovery is not possible. 

Finally, in these institutions, they receive the best medical treat¬ 
ment. They have warm and cold bathing, judiciously administered ; 
they have simple cathartics when the bowels are bound, as salts, cas* 


224 


DISEASES OF THE BRAIN AND NERVES. 


tor oil, and magnesia; tonics for debility, such as quinine, iron, cas¬ 
sia, columbo, chamomile; and quieting medicines for their excite¬ 
ment, such as opium, morphine, cicuta, hyoscyamus, belladonna, stra¬ 
monium, scullcap, and valerian. Prescription 74 is a combination 
much used. Here, too, broth, gruel, and milk, are administered by 
the forcing pump.to such as take a fancy not to eat, — an expedient 
which has saved many lives. Fruits of all kinds, as strawberries, 
cherries, currants, plums, apples, peaches, and grapes, are allowed 
freely. Cold water, sweetened or otherwise, is the drink. To these 
things are added lively conversation, and whatever will divert the 
mind from reflection, and internal imaginings and revery. 

Thus I have indicated, very briefly, the treatment which the insane 
receive in public institutions. That the chances of recovery in these 
humane retreats is much greater than at home, does not admit of a 
doubt. When it is not convenient to send an insane person to a hos¬ 
pital, the treatment should be as near like the one here sketched as 
circumstances will permit. 


Hypochondria. 

The common names of this disease are low spirits^ spleen^ vapors^ 
nypo^ and the blues. It produces constant fear, anxiety, and gloom. 
Business, pleasures, the acquisition of knowledge, and all the useful 
pursuits of life, become insipid, tasteless, and even irksome to the hy¬ 
pochondriac. His mind is full of the belief that something dreadful 
is about to befall him. He is either going to be sick, or to die, or 
lose his property or friends. He has no mind to engage in any busi¬ 
ness, nor does he wish to go anywhere, or to see anybody. Night 
and day his spirits are down to zero, and his heart has a load too 
heavy to bear. He is wholly occupied with his troubles and his feel¬ 
ings. He thinks he has various diseases, and wears out his friends 
by talking of his sufferings. He feels of his pulse often, looks at his 
tongue in the glass, and several times a day asks a friend if he does 
not look pale or sick. 

The external senses manifest symptoms of derangement as well as 
the thoughts, feelings, emotions, and passions. There are roarings in 
the ears, like a waterfall, or the noise of a distant carriage. Floating 
black specks, or bright sparks, are seen before the eyes. These indi¬ 
cate a slight fulness of the blood vessels, and perhaps, in some in¬ 
stances, sparks of electricity passing to or from the eye, and are in no 
proper sense subjects for the alarm they cause. At one time the per¬ 
son will feel as large as a barrel, at other times not larger than a 
whip-stock; the head will feel light or heavy, large or small. The 
skin will twitch in different parts, or feel numb, or have the sensation 
of spiders crawling on it. The smell and taste become perverted; 
the hypochondriac will smell odors and flavors, at times, where there 
are none. 


DISEASES OF THE BRAIN AND NERVES. 


225 


These errors of the senses are all owing to some slight disorder oi 
the organs of sense; and they are no more wonderful than that the 
mind should perceive personal danger, poverty, and death itself, when 
none of these things are impending. 

These persons are subject to fainting turns, when the breathing 
will appear to stop, the body become cold, the face pale; there will 
be distress in the region of the heart, which will apparently stop beat¬ 
ing, and the person will feel as if dying. At the same time the mind 
will remain clear. These nervous spells are alarming, but pass off 
without danger. 

These persons become changed in their moral dispositions. They 
are jealous, take a joke as an affront, and feel the greatest distress at 
any apparent lack of attention or neglect on the part of friends. 
They put the worst construction upon the actions of friends. They 
are irritable, fretful, peevish, and fickle. 

The complaint is distressing, but does not appear to shorten human 
life. 

The seat of the disease is in the brain and nerves. It is caused by 
anxiety, care, disappointment, working the brain too hard, diseases of 
the liver and stomach, costiveness, sedentary habits, excessive vene¬ 
real indulgence, and masturbation. 

Treatment.— This disease is more easily prevented than cured. It 
would be almost entirely prevented in this country if in childhood we 
were all taught to be contented with humble competence, to love ac¬ 
tive labor, and to think it honorable, instead of struggling after 
wealth, and falling into unhappiness when it does not come. 

Remedies.— Of all the remedies for this complaint, that which is 
most important is active employment out of doors. The human body 
was made for motion. Without it the blood cannot be distributed to 
the several organs. The senses,—the eye, the ear, the touch,— 
should be much in communion with nature. In this way they are 
strengthened. Nature is their great physician. Man is a creature of 
sensation; and if too much occupied with feelings, thoughts, and deep 
reflections, the nerves will be irritated, and begin to give deceptive 
sensations. A very nervous man should fly to some active occupa¬ 
tion, if he would be rid of suffering. 

The open, fresh air is very important to restore the system to 
soundness. 

Temperance, both in eating and drinking, will do much for this 
class of patients, yet they are the very persons who eat largely, and 
they often fly to the excessive use of stimulants to drive away their 
sorrow. By so doing, they aggravate the disease. 

Amusements are very important for hypochondriacs. Lively com¬ 
pany, cheerful and witty conversation, with mirth and laughter, lively 
songs and instrumental music, are all desirable; and so are gunning; 
fishing, riding, billiard-playing, and travelling. 


226 


DISEASES OF THE BRAIN AND NERVES. 


Never allow these patients to be alone, and to have time to brood 
over their misery. See that they go early to bed, and rise betimes in 
the morning. The warm bath, the cold shower, or sponge bath, with 
brisk friction, are not on any account to be omitted. The diet should 
be light, nutritious, and generous; but fats, acids, liquors, and cofPee, 
must be forbidden. 

But little medicine will be required. If there be costiveness, let 
cracked wheat be eaten; if this does not answer, a little rhubarb 
and bicarbonate of potassa (85), or leptandrin, podophyllin, etc. (36), 
may be given as required by the symptoms. A teaspoonful of cal¬ 
cined magnesia once a day, or the infusion of thoroughwort, drank 
cold, will often answer an excellent purpose. A bowl of warm 
motherwort tea, with a teaspoonful of spirits of camphor in it will do 
well in fits of fainting when there is a sensation of dying. A tea¬ 
spoonful of sulphuric ether maybe given at the same time. If there 
be debility, tonics are sometimes useful (50), (49), (54), (55). 

Hiccough. — Singultus, 

This is a sudden, jerking spasm of the midriff, occurring every few 
moments in bad cases, causing the air to be driven out of the lungs 
with such suddenness as to produce a noise something like the invol¬ 
untary yelp of a puppy. It is generally caused by acidity of the 
stomach, which irritates the nerves distributed to its neighborhood, 
and is not difficult to remove; but when it occurs towards the close 
of some acute and grave disease, it is sometimes a sign that dissolu¬ 
tion is at hand. 

Treatment.— Startle the person suffering, by exciting surprise, or 
fear, or anger; or let a few small draughts of cold water be taken in 
quick succession; or, let the breath be held as long as possible. If 
the stomach is sour, take a teaspoonful of bicarbonate of soda, dis¬ 
solved in half a tumblerful of cold water. To expel wind from the 
stomach, if it be present, take some warm aromatic essence of pep¬ 
permint, ether, or compound spirits of lavender. But one of the 
most effectual remedies is heavy pressure made upon the collar hones. 
It is simple, and very effectual. Cocaine, one-eighth grain every fif¬ 
teen minutes, is a very simple and often efficacious remedy. 

Fainting. — Syncope. 

Fainting is preceded by a distress about the heart, a swimming 
of the head, sometimes sickness at the stomach, coldness of the hands 
and feet, and a loss of sight, or a sense of things growing dark. The 
breathing diminishes, the pulse becomes small, the face deadly pale, 
and the patient wilts down, and becomes more or less unconscious of 
what is passing around. 

Whatever causes debility, particularly of the nervous system, will 


DISEASES OF THE BRAIN AND NERVES. 


227 


predispose to fainting. Persons much weakened by disease, faint 
easily, especially when they attempt to stand still. When on their 
feet, such persons should keep moving. Fainting is sometimes in¬ 
duced by sudden surprises and emotions, by violent pains, by the 
sight of human blood, and by irritation of the coats of the stomach 
by indigestible food. 

Treatment.— Lay the patient upon the back,with the head low; let 
fresh air into the room instantly, and apply gentle friction. Sprinkle 
a little cold water upon the face, and hold spirits of camphor, ether, 
hartshorn, or vinegar to the nose, — rubbing a little of the spirits of 
camphor upon the forehead, and about the nostrils. As soon as the 
patient can swallow, give a teaspoonful of compound spirits of lav¬ 
ender, with ten drops of water of ammonia in it. 

Persons subject to fainting should not go into crowded assemblies 
where the air is bad ; neither should they wear tight dresses, or allow 
themselves to get excited. Cold bathing, a well-regulated diet, and 
vegetable tonics, will do much to break up the habit. 

Dizziness of the Head. — Vertigo, 

This affection makes objects which are stationary appear as if 
moving, or as the phrase is, “ turning round.” When seized with it, 
one will have a sensation as if falling, and objects about him will 
seem to be in motion. 

It is caused by irritation of the nerves of the stomach in dyspep¬ 
sia, by long application of the mind, by a weakened nervous system, 
by hysterics, and by a fulness of the blood-vessels of the head. 
When it proceeds from most of these causes, it is not dangerous; but 
when caused by impending apoplexy, it is a symptom of very seripus 
import. 

Treatment.— Find out the cause and remove that, and the dizzi¬ 
ness will disappear. If it come from dyspepsia, eat lightly; if from 
costiveness, open the bowels either by coarse food, by daily cold 
water injections, or by some gentle physic. Avoid coffee, ardent 
spirits and late suppers, and take much exercise. Keep the feet 
warm, and the head cool. See to the liver and heart. 

Disturbed Sleep. — Nightmare. — Incubus, 

In this complaint the sleep is disturbed generally by some fright¬ 
ful image. Whatever of an alarming character is presented to the 
mind in sleep, causes fear, or some other painful emotion, the same 
as when awake. And when the attempt is made to resist, or to flee 
from the danger, it is ineffectual, because the muscles are locked fast 
in sleep. The fear being increased by the inability to escape, the 
sleeper makes all sorts of horrible noises, indicating distress of mind. 
The danger seen is as real to the sleeper as if he were awake, and he 


228 


DISEASES OF THE BRAIN AND NERVES. 


tries to do just what he would if awake. Sometimes the sensation is 
that some heavy weight, or perhaps some horrible monster, is upon 
the breast, nearly pressing the breath out of the body. 

At times, the power of motion is not absent, and then disturbed 
dreams may cause one to talk, or to rise and walk, or run. Children 
will laugh or cry, or scream, which shows that their minds are agi¬ 
tated by different passions. Persons who indulge gloomy and troub¬ 
lous thoughts in their waking hours are apt to be disturbed Avith 
sleep-walking, sleep-talking, and frightful dreams, as of falling down 
precipices, during the hours for repose. 

There is nothing very wonderful about these disturbances of sleep. 
It is only necessary that there should be an unusual sensitiveness of 
the brain, or that a hearty supper, eaten late, should irritate the 
nerves of the stomach, and that distressing thoughts should be dwelt 
upon during the day and evening, in order to produce all the walk¬ 
ing, talking, dreaming of hobgoblins, shipwrecks, fires and polar 
bears, which distress so many unfortunate sleepers. 

In night-walking there is simply a little more wakefulness than in 
night-talking, and in this latter, more than when one falls from a high 
place, and in this perhaps slightly more than in real incubus^ when 
one is in the greatest peril, but cannot move at all. 

Treatment. — When sleeping persons groan, or make any noise 
indicating nightmare, shake them^ and they will come out of it at 
once. As these troubles are often caused by a weakened state of 
the nerves, much out-door exercise should be taken. The diet should 
be simple, and well regulated. The suppers should be light, and 
never taken late. The evening should be spent in some pleasant 
amusement, Avhich will drive away care; and the last hours of wake¬ 
fulness be occupied with pleasant reflections. One afflicted with 
nightmare should not lie upon the back, nor with the hands over the 
head. Acidity of the stomach, and costiveness, if they exist, should 
be removed by neutralizing mixture. 

Headaches. 

These are not always caused by disorders of the brain and nerves, 
but they frequently are, and this seems the proper place to speak of 
them. 

It is unwise ever to neglect headaches. They are sources of great 
suffering, and often lead to serious derangements of the health. In 
childhood they have a more serious meaning than in adult life. 
They often indicate the approach of scarlet fever, or measles, or of 
other diseases. 

Headaches are more common among the civilized than the uncivil¬ 
ized ; more frequent among females than among males; among those 
of sensitive feeling than among the more obtuse; among those who 
think much than among those who think little; among the sedentary 
than among the active. 


DISEASES OF THE BRAIN AND NERVES. 


229 


Causes of Headaches. — They are dependent on various causes, 
as derangement of the circulating system, of the digestive organs, of 
the nervous system, etc. Among those dependent on disturbance of 
the circulation, are 

Headaches from Eye Diseases.—Myopia, or near-sightedness; 
Hypermetropia, or far-sightedness; Astigmatism, or the inability to 
see equally well horizontal and vertical lines, as well as other irreg¬ 
ularities of vision, are frequent sources of headache. These head¬ 
aches are caused by overtaxing certain groups of muscles, or by fixing 
the eyes too long on one objective point, as experienced in prolonged 
study or reading, especially under unfavorable circumstances. These 
headaches are more or less similar in their symptomatology. The 
ache is generally dull, situated mostly in forehead and over eyes, but 
may also be spread from base of brain to tlie eyes ; oftentimes it is 
accompanied by nausea, especially after prolonged use of eyes under 
improper conditions. 

The treatment of these headaches consists in absolute rest of the 
eye, in case of overwork, and the fitting, by a competent oculist, of 
such glasses as will rectify the irregularity in the eye proper. 

Astigmatism is a common source of headaches, and often is so in-’ 
sidious in its development as to escape attention. A rough test 
may be made by drawing several horizontal and several vertical 
lines in close proximity, and then placing at some distance (15 to 20 
feet) from the eye. If either set cannot be as clearly seen without 
blurring as the other, you have good cause to suspect Astigmatism, 
and should consult an oculist. Do not dally with these eye-head¬ 
aches, as you will be doing a permanent injury to your eyes. 

Tea and Coffee Headaches. — In the nervous, and oftentimes in 
the gouty and rheumatic person, the use of tea or coffee will cause 
violent headaches. Tobacco likewise after prolonged use shows a 
tendency to headaches. These luxuries of life should be discontin¬ 
ued at once for at least one month. An extra strong cup of black 
coffee, to be sure, will stop the headache for the time being, but only 
adds fuel to the fire in the long run. Bromo-caffeine, as ordinarily 
sold by the druggists, taken in teaspoonful doses every half hour, 
will relieve the malady. We would strongly advise anyone that has 
constant or periodical headaches, if he uses either tea or coffee, and 
especially coffee, to leave them off entirely for three months. It may 
be the sole cause, and if caused by tea or coffee, there is no possi¬ 
bility of their cure by medicines while you continue their use. 

Plethoric Headaches-These are dependent on a general fulness 

of blood. They are of two kinds. One is occasional, and lasts but 
a few hours. The other lasts for days or weeks. It occurs most 
often in the night or morning. Persons whose occupations require 
stooping have it most. A little dizziness is generally felt on rising 
up from a stooping posture. It is brought on by the bad air of 


230 


DISEASES OF THE BRAIN AND NERVES. 


crowded rooms, and is attended by costive bowels, short breath, and 
a white furred tongue. 

The persistent headache is accompanied by a sense of fulness, and 
sometimes of throbbing over the brows and temples, with a sensation 
of dizziness, and of mist before the eyes. The sufferer fears exertion 
and is constantly looking for a rush of blood to the head. Nature 
sometimes relieves this form of headache by a diarrhoea, or by bleed¬ 
ing from the nose. 

There is another form of plethoric headache, differing slightly from 
the above, in which there is too much blood, and it is made too fast, 
but it does not circulate so rapidly. The muscles are not very firm, 
and the heart does not propel the blood with much force. This form 
of headache is connected with congestion. 

Headaches of Indigestion. — These are caused either by taking 
improper articles of food, or by eating too much of those which are 
proper. The sensation in the head is not always a pain, but some¬ 
times only a dull weight, attended by languor and disinclination for 
exertion; a tongue white in the centre, and pale red at the tip and 
edges; cold and numb fingers; slight nausea; languid and feeble 
pulse; dim and indistinct sight; eyes aching when employed; and 
difficulty in fixing the attention. 

Sick Headache. — This has received its name from the constant 
nausea or sickness at the stomach which attends the pain in the 
head. 

This headache is apt to begin in the morning, on waking from a 
deep sleep, or after sleeping in a close room, and when some irregu¬ 
larity of diet has been committed on the day before, or for several 
previous days. At first there is a distressingly oppressive feeling in 
the head, which gradually merges into a severe, heavy pain in the 
temples, frequently attended by a sense of fulness and tenderness in 
one eye, and extending across the forehead. There is a clammy, un¬ 
pleasant taste in the mouth, an offensive breath, and the tongue cov¬ 
ered with a yellowish-white fur. The sufferer desires to be alone, 
and in the dark. The hands and feet are cold and moist, and the 
pulse feeble. 

Accompanying these symptoms, there is a depressing sickness at 
the stomach, which is increased by sitting up, or moving about. 
After a time, vomiting comes, and relief is obtained. 

Bilious Headache. — This is most common in summer and au¬ 
tumn. It afflicts persons of dark complexion with black hair and 
melancholy dispositions. There are two kinds, one is due to an ac¬ 
cumulation of bile in the system; the other, to a large secretion of 
bile. 

In the first variety the skin is dingy and sallow, the spirits de¬ 
pressed, the bowels costive, and there is wind in the stomach, with a 
dull, aching pain on the right shoulder. The pain is in the forehead, 


DISEASES OF THE BRAIN AND NERVES. 


231 


eyebrows and eyelids, and the “ white of the eye ” is a little yellow¬ 
ish. The tongue has a blown fur, and is cracked in the centre. 
There is a bitter taste in the mouth on waking in the morning, after 
restless nights, and frightful dreams. 

In the second variety, which is due to an “ overflow of bile,” the 
symptoms are much like those of the first kind, but the pain is not so 
continuous. In addition to the symptoms named, there is a throb¬ 
bing, rending pain in the head, the skin is hot and the face flushed, 
the limbs are sore, and there is a luminous halo or ring around ob¬ 
jects looked at, and a feeling of giddiness. 

Nervous Headaches. — These are more common among females 
than males. They occur most frequently among persons of high sus¬ 
ceptibility, who are easily elevated, and as easily depressed. Ihey 
are often connected with indigestion. 

The pain is usually acute and darting, and is made worse by light, 
with a feeling as if the temples were being “ pressed together,” and 
a “ swimminess ” in the head. There is sometimes a sense of sink¬ 
ing, with a dread of falling, and great despondency and restlessness. 
The bowels are generally costive, and the sight dim. The pain comes 
on most commonly in the morning, lasts through the day, and abates 
in the evening. 

Hysteric Headache.— There is a nervous headache dependent on 
the hysterical condition. It is generally confined to one small spot, 
frequently over the eyebrow, and is sometimes compared to a wedge 
or nail driven into the skull. 

Headache from Exhaustion. — Still another species of nervous 
headache arises from extreme exhaustion, produced by great loss of 
blood, by diarrhoea, or by over-suckling. The pain is generally on 
the top of the skull, and is often compared to the beating of a small 
li iminer on the head. 

Brow Ague.— This is intermittent in its character, and is brought 
on by exposure to cold and moisture in damp and marshy districts i 
and in this respect is much like ague. 

Megrims.—This is most frequent among females. It is often de¬ 
pendent on the same causes as Brow Ague, and is also produced by 
long and exhausting watching over sick children, distress of mind, 
and indigestion. 

In both the above forms, the pain is intermittent, seldom lasting 
long, but being of a sharp, piercing character like that of tic doulou¬ 
reux. Th 3 pain of Megrims usually begins at the inner angle of the 
eye, and extends towards the nose; the parts being red and sore, and 
the eye-bill tender. In Brow Ague, pain and great tenderness cover 
an entire half of the head, compared by the patient, sometimes, to 
“ an opening and shutting of the skull.” It begins with a creeping 
sensation over the scalp. 


232 


DISEASES OF THE BRAIN AND NERVES. 


Rheumatic Headaches.— These generally affect persons who have 
been subject to rheumatism, and are often brought on by uncovering 
the head when sweating. The pain is usually in the brow, the tem¬ 
ples, or the back of the head, and is dull and aching, — rather an in¬ 
tense soreness than a real pain; and the painful part is excessively 
tender upon pressure. The skin is moist, but not hotter than natural. 

Treatment.— In considering the treatment, I will take up the same 
order in which I have spoken of the different forms of headache. 

Plethoric Headaches.— Not much medicine should be taken for 
these, if it can be avoided. A diuretic (131) may be taken twice a 
day, and an occasional dose of gentle physic at night, followed by (7) 
in the morning. This will generally give great relief. 

Meat should be taken but once a day, and the whole diet should 
be spare, the appetite never being fully satisfied. All spirituous drinks, 
including distilled and fermented, should be let alone, and coffee like¬ 
wise. 

Much exercise should be taken in the open air. The hair should 
be kept short, and the head elevated during sleep. Bleeding at the 
nose, when it occurs, must not be too suddenly stopped. Two drops 
of the tincture of aconite root with three of the fluid extract of gel- 
semium repeated once a half hour for three or four times will be 
found to be of great value in the treatment of this form of headache. 

The hot-water bottle applied to that part of the spine between the 
(lead and shoulder blades will also give great relief. 

Congestive Headaches.— The exercise, diet, mode of sleeping, 
etc., should be the same as in plethoric headaches. In this complaint, 
there is too much blood in the head, and it inclines to stagnate. The 
feet and hands are cold ; and gloves and stockings of wool, and other 
bad conductors of heat from the body, must be worn. 

Occasionally a little gentle physic (319) is desirable to induce the 
bowels to act every day. If there is great debility, iron (71), (74), 
(75), (320), will be required. The ice bag applied to the last six or 
eight inches of the spine will call the blood to the extremities. The 
aconite and gelsemium recipe as given above is also very useful. 

Headache of Indigestion.— If the pain come immediately after a 
meal, and can be traced to something eaten, an emetic (2) may be 
taken, if the person be tolerably strong. If the pain come on some 
hours after eating, take rhubarb and magnesia (28), (14), or fluid 
magnesia. When the system is debilitated, take a warm draught 
(322) in the morning after a light breakfast, or twice a day, a bitter 
with an alkali (323). If the stomach be very irritable, bismuth, at 
meal times (324), (326). When it occurs after a debauch, take re¬ 
cipe (325). 

Sick Headache.— When it results from food taken, a draught of 
warm chamomile tea, or a little weak brandy-and-water, will generally 


DISEASES OF THE BRAIN AND NERVES. 


233 


give relief. If the sickness continue, soda and water, with a little 
ginger may do well, or a mustard poultice upon the stomach (165) 
may be required. As soon as it can be kept on the stomach, a dose 
of physic (326) must be taken; and if relief does not come after the 
operation of this, give a bitter and an aromatic (327). The patient 
must have perfect rest. If there be great lack of tone in the system, 
the mineral acids (328), (329) will be excellent. 

The diet must be carefully regulated, as in plethoric and conges¬ 
tive headaches. Cocaine, one-eighth grain every fifteen minutes till 
the nausea stops, and then a dose of physic is an excellent method of 
treatment. Ten grains of amenonol (ammonol) every hour will 
stop the pain, and very often the same amount of phenacetine will 
accomplish the same result. 

Bilious Headaches.— These are generally connected, more or less, 
with some affection of the liver. 

During an attack, if the suffering be great, attended by nausea, 
give an emetic (2). In milder cases, give recipe (321). If there be 
costiveness, give recipe (330) at night, and (7) in the morning. 

A few doses of podophyllin, leptandrin, etc. (34), (36), (39), to re¬ 
lieve the liver when the bile does not flow fast enough, will diminish 
the frequency and force of the attack. The fluid extract of dande¬ 
lion, taken for some time, often does good service. 

The diet should be light, and chiefly vegetable, and exercise in the 
open air must not be omitted. The daily sponge-bath, with friction, 
is excellent. 

Nervous Headaches.— The first thing to be done is to relieve the 
pain, and this may generally be accomplished either by preparation 
(331), or (332), or (333), or (88), or (93), or two or three drops of 
tincture of nux vomica in a spoonful of water, taken three times a 
day. 351 will be found usually to be of most service. 

In simple nervous headache, diet is of the greatest importance ; in 
hysterical cases, exercise ; in headaches from exhaustion, tonics (81), 
(79), (63), (73), (64), (61), (60). 

Of the simple remedies found on the druggists’ counter bromide 
of caffein in effervescent form is very efficacious. 

Rheumatic Headaches.— Take a light diet, with but little animal 
food. Wear warm clothing, and avoid exposure to wet feet and damp¬ 
ness generally, and go to a mild climate, if convenient. 

When the local pain is great, apply hot fomentations, or a stimula¬ 
ting liniment (334), or a mustard poultice, to the back of the neck. 
In the beginning of the treatment, a little physic at night (335) is 
useful. 10 grs. potassium iodide, gradually increased, in water, is 
the best medicine. 

Before closing this chapter on headaches, let me enter a respectful 
protest against the indiscriminate use of the thousand and one reme¬ 
dies advertised to cure headaches; for in a great majority of cases it 


234 


DISEASES OF THE BRAIN AND NERVES. 


is merely a sympt 9 m of some other disease; for instance, Indigestion, 
Fever, Bright's Disease, Softening of the Brain, Diseased Liver, etc.; 
and the use of these remedies serves rather to increase than lessen 
the difficulty. Much has been written and much printed matter 
been given away by patent medicine venders vaunting their specific 
cures for headaches. These venders have grown in numbers of late, 
since the introduction into medicine of the coal-tar products, so that 
samples of headache cures may be found on one’s doorsteps every 
little while. For the most part they are composed of what is Imown 
as acetanilide or antifebrin, because of its cheapness as compared with 
other coal-tar products. It is, however, the most harmful of them 
all, often causing blueness of the lips, fluttering of the heart, dizzi¬ 
ness, faintness, etc. Of other similar products nut so much danger 
may be expected, and yet no one ought to resort to these remedies with¬ 
out the consent and approval of the family physician. Eight grains 
of phenacetine for an adult, repeated in two to four hours, no doubt 
will cure more headaches of all descriptions than any other single 
drug. Lactophenin and ammonol are some of the newer remedies for 
headache which have the reputation of being efficient as coal-tar prod¬ 
ucts without any of their ill effects. Antikamnia, a proprietary medi¬ 
cine of the coal-tar group, enjoys a large sale, not only for headaches, 
but for general neuralgic pain, and, if employed in six-grain doses 
every two to four hours, according to the severity of the pain, will 
stop a large proportion of these aches. The various combinations of 
the bromides are always safe, and often quite efficient in curing head¬ 
aches, especially if nerve-element is strong in their causation; bromo- 
caffein, bromo-seltzer, bromo-soda, etc., are generally put up in small 
bottles in an effervescent and palatable form. 


I 

I 


» 


DISEASES of the THROAT 



/ 


T 



c 


BISEASE8 OF THE THEOAT. 

(Also see Anatomy of Throat and Anatomy of Vocal Organs.) 


The diseases which seat themselves in the throat, and in the great 
cavity of the chest, have occupied a large share of my attention for 
the last ten years. My practice in these complaints has been large, 
—being drawn from every part of the United States, and the British 
Provinces. No class of diseases from which men suffer are more nu¬ 
merous than these, and none have so generally baffled the skill of the 
profession. For this reason, I wish to present here a brief, practical, 
and common-sense view of these complaints, which shall be of real 
value to the thousands of families who consult these pages. 

Increase of Throat Diseases.— A striking increase in the number 
of throat diseases has been witnessed within the last few years. A 
person suffering from any of them will find, on speaking of his com¬ 
plaint, that a number of his neighbors are afflicted with troubles of a 
similar kind. I have thought that in some of their forms these dis¬ 
eases have fastened upon the throats of not less than half our popu¬ 
lation. And when it is considered that they are the natural, and if 
unmolested, the certain harbingers of lung disease, it is wise to make 
a note of the above fact. As I shall describe them in the nasal cavi¬ 
ties, the pharynx, the fauces, etc., they all have a natural proclivity 
downwards. From these upper cavities they pass, by one short step, 
into the larynx,— the cavity where the voice is formed, — and then, 
by another equally short and easy stage, into the body of the wind¬ 
pipe. It is a singular fact that their progress is always from the 
upper breathing passages downward, and never from the lower pas¬ 
sages upward. They afford a parallel to the order of progression in 
the moral world, in which evil tendencies are toward a lower depth. 

A Mistake Corrected.— Before describing the several diseases 
which belong to this family, I wish to correct the mistake which so 
generally classes them all under the term Bronchitis. 

They all consist in a simple inflammation, acute or chronic, either 
of the mucous membrane lining the several cavities to be spoken of, 
or of the small glands or follicles connected with that membrane; 
and each disease takes its name from its particular location. Thus, 
the inflammation of the membrane lining the upper part of the throat, 
or pharynx, is called Pharyngitu. Inflammation in the top of the 



DISEASES OF THE THROAT. 


237 


windpipe, or larynx, is Laryngitis, In the windpipe, or trachea, it is 
Trachitis. In the bronchial tubes, it is Bronchitis. As the bronchial 
tubes exist nowhere except in the lungs, below the division of the 
windpipe, there can be no Bronchitis in the throat. Nevertheless, it 
is the same disease with Laryngitis and Pharyngitis, and differs from 
them only in being in a more dangerous place. 

As the windpipe descends into the chest, it divides below the top 
of the breast-bone into two branches, one going into the right, the 
other into the left lung. These branches divide and subdivide very 
minutely, and send their ramifications into every part of the pulmon¬ 
ary tissue. Thus situated, Meckel has compared the windpipe to a 



Fig. 86. 

hollow tree with the top turned downward,— the larynx and trachea 
representing the trunk, and the bronchial tubes, with their innumera¬ 
ble subdivisions, the branches and twigs. (Fig- 86.) 

If the reader will now understand that the trunk and branches of 
this bronchial tree are hollow throughout, and lined with a delicate 
and smooth mucous membrane, and that the diseases to be described 
are inflammation either upon this membrane or the small glands con¬ 
nected with it, causing swelling, redness, unhealthy discharges, rough 
ness, etc., he will have a good general idea of them. 

Nasal Catarrh. 

I TAKE these diseases in the order of their location. Nasal Catarrh 
consists in inflammation, which begins behind and a little above the 









238 


DISEASES OP THE THROAT. 


veil of the palate, and extends upward from thence into the nose. It 
is an exceedingly troublesome complaint, and afflicts great numbers. 
It passes under the name of Catarrh in the Head. 

The inflammation is not confined to the nasal cavities. It extends 
frequently to the air-cavities, called antrums and sinuses, which cover 
a considerable portion of the face, and extend to the lower part of the 
forehead. Persons sometimes feel as if their whole face were in¬ 
volved in the disease, and were almost in a state of rottenness, — so 
great is the amount of matter discharged from the head. Such free 
discharges cannot be wondered at when we reflect that all the air 
cavities in the face are lined with the same mucous membrane which 
lines the nose, and that they all communicate with the nasal cavities. 

The “ horn ail,” among cattle, is a similar inflammation of the inner 
surface of the horns ; and the “ horse distemper ” is an inflammation of 
the air cavities in the head of the horse, and is much the same disease 
with our catarrh in the head. 

The catarrh often creates a perpetual desire to swallow, and gives 
the feeling, as patients express it, “ as if something were sticking in the 
upper part of the throat."*^ 

When the inflammation has existed a long time, and ulceration 
has taken place, puriform matter is secreted, and drops down into the 
throat, much to the discomfort of the patient. Indeed, this is one of 
the most distressing features of the complaint, as this matter often 
descends into the stomach in large quantities, causing frequent vom¬ 
iting, and a general derangement of the health. Many times the suf¬ 
ferer can only breathe with the mouth open. Upon rising in the 
morning a great effort is required to clear the head and the extreme 
upper part of the throat. There is occasionally a feeling of pressure 
and tightness across the upper part of the nose; and the base of the 
brain sometimes suffers in such a way as to induce headache, vertigo, 
and confusion. The smell is frequently destroyed, and sometimes 
the taste. The inflammation sometimes gets into the Eustachian 
tubes, the mouths of which are behind and a little above the veil of 
the palate, and extends up the lining membrane to the drum of the 
ear, causing pain or deafness, and occasionally both. In addition to 
this catalogue of evils, there is often added inflammation and elon¬ 
gation of the uvula or soft palate. 

Treatment. — The following is a fair illustration of my mode of 
treatment: — 

Mr.-, of Boston, came under treatment for a bad case of ca¬ 

tarrh in the head, complicated with follicular disease of the pharynx, 
or upper part of the throat. In addition to nearly all the symptoms 
mentioned above, he had a stench from the nose exceedingly offen¬ 
sive to all about him. So much had the disease worn upon him that 
he had become bilious, sallow, dejected, and low in strength and flesh. 

When it is said that to all these were added a cough and loss of ap¬ 
petite, with insidious approaches of hectic, it will not be surprising 



DISEASES OF THE THROAT. 


239 


that his friends saw the most serious results impending, even though 
assured by me that the disease had hot yet taken a firm hold of his 
lungs. The first thing done for him was to cut off the uvula. Five 
days after, I began to bathe the whole nasal cavity, three times a 
week, with a shower syringe, by pushing the smooth bulb up behind 
the veil of the palate, and throwing instantaneously a most delicate 
shower of medicated fluid up both sides of the septum. The upper 
part of the throat was likewise bathed by the use of a shower syringe 
made expressly for that part, and the larynx, or place where the voice 
is formed, by a long, bent instrument made to reach this part of the 
throat. The solution used consisted of half a dram of crystals of ni¬ 
trate of silver dissolved in one ounce of soft water. 

The nitrate of silver powder was inhaled once a day with the pow¬ 
der inhaler. In this way the nasal cavities and throat were kept 
cleansed, and the articles used gradually subdued the inflammation, 
setting up a new and healthful action in place of the diseased one. 
The stomach was relieved of the offensive matter which had daily 
and nightly gone down into it, and the system of the poisonous ef¬ 
fects of its absorption. The great danger which threatened the lungs, 
and which would soon have been realized in their destruction, passed 
away. The skin gradually resumed its proper color; the appetite, 
flesh, spirits, and strength came back, and Mr. B. has been since in 
the enjoyment of good health, pursuing his business cheerfully. 

When the above treatment fails, as it does occasionally, I am in 
the habit of changing the solution, using sometimes a weak solution 
of acid nitrate of mercury, twenty drops to an ounce of water. In 
other cases, a solution of sulphate of zinc serves a good purpose. A 
dilution of the tincture of arnica-flowers is a preparation of some 
value in these cases. There are other preparations, too numerous to 
mention, which I am in the habit of using. I will add, that the 
nitrate of silver powder, snuffed once a day, a pinch at a time, is far 
more successful than any other snuff ever made, but should be used 
only in severe cases, and with caution. 

Nasal catarrh is such a common affliction in the Eastern States, as 
to be a widespread curse. Douching the nose with salt and water 
(warmed) cleanses the nose of the foul mucus. The douche should 
be from a bag hanging only a little higher than the head, or it may be 
given by means of a common, blunt-pointed syringe, care being taken 
not to use too strong force, nor to point the syringe in the direction 
of the eyes. The stream of water should be directed straight ahead 
parallel with the floor; the mouth must be open, and the patient as¬ 
sume the position of the countryman when gazing or gauking at the 
sights on his first visit to the city. The water then runs down the 
throat and also out of the other nostril. This process should be em¬ 
ployed on both sides till the head is clean. The tablets put up by all 
wholesale druggists, called “Carl Seiler’s alkaline tablets,” is the best 
remedy for a nasal douche.* The subsequent treatment is best ad- 

* One of these tablets dissolved in a half cup of water. Practically the same solution may be 
made by adding to the same amount of hot water 10 grains of borax, 15 grains of cooking soda 
and 5 grains benzoate of soda. 


240 


DISEASES OF THE THROAT. 


vised by a physician, and usually consists in the use of some inhala¬ 
tion or spray. 

Inflammation of the Pharynx. — Pharyngitis, 

This is an inflammation of the upper and back part of the throat, 
or all that part which can be seen when the mouth is stretched open. 
It causes a redness of the mucous membrane lining the part, which 
is deep in proportion to the intensity of the inflammation. This 
complaint is generally connected with the one I am about to describe; 
and since the treatment is the same the reader is referred to what 
next follows. 

Adenoid Growths. 

In young children a very disagreeable catarrhal affection often ex¬ 
ists in the naso-pharynx just behind and above the uvula. This is 
caused by continued catarrh till at last small growths occur like 
proud-flesh, and not infrequently block up the passage from the nose 
to the mouth, to that extent that not only is loud snoring produced at 
night, but breathing becomes difficult by day. In severe cases the up¬ 
per jaw becomes angular, and the face assumes a peaked, pinched look. 
These growths are extremely common in children, and are produc¬ 
tive of much mischief. The inability, in severe cases, to properly 
breathe deprives the lungs of their proper amount of oxygen, so that 
the little one suffers in nutrition and growth. 

Treatment consists in scraping away with a scoop, or even with 
the finger, these soft, granulating masses. The effect is almost mar¬ 
vellous : the child breathes quietly, without snoring, the color re¬ 
turns to the cheeks, and the blood receives a new supply of food from 
the full supply of oxygen. In modern times, nothing has been in¬ 
augurated in the treatment of children’s throat and nose diseases so 
beneficial and happy. 

Clergymen’s Sore Throat. — Follicular Pharyngitis. 

This disorder made its appearance in this country in 1830, and the 
attention of the profession was first drawn to it, as a distinct disease., 
in 1832. Some have supposed its origin to have had a hidden con 
nection with the epidemic influenza which spread over the civilized 
world in 1830, and affected all classes of persons; but this is only 
conjecture. In its early developments it attracted notice chiefly by 
its visitations upon the throats of the clergy. Hence its popular 
name of Clergymens Sore Throat. It was soon found,however,to at¬ 
tack all classes of persons indiscriminately, whether engaged in any 
calling which required a public exercise of the voice or otherwise. It 
was noticed more by public speakers and singers, on account of the 
greater inconvenience it gave them. 

The disease consists in a chronic inflammation of the mucous fol- 


DISEASES OF THE THROAT. 


241 


licles, or glands, connected with the mucous membrane which lines 
the throat and windpipe. The office of these little glands is to secrete 
a fluid to lubricate the air passages. When inflamed, they spread an 
acrid, irritating fluid over surrounding parts, which excites inflamma¬ 
tion in them. Hence a general inflammation of the upper part of the 
throat or pharyngitis usually attends the follicular disease, and I 
shall speak of the two together. This inflammation of the glands 
and the membrane, being neglected, as it generally is, lingers on from 
month to month, or from year to year, making in some cases slow 
progress, in others more rapid, — made a little worse and its step 
slightly quickened by every fresh cold, and finally results in ulcera¬ 
tion. The expectoration thenceforward becomes puriform, and finally 
uiidistinguishable from that of consumption, with all the symptoms 
of which the patient finally dies. Indeed, before its nature was un¬ 
derstood by the profession, it was considered the most fatal form of 
consumption, because it could be affected only in a very small de¬ 
gree, if at all, by medicines taken into the general system. For the 
milder cases one will find great comfort in the use of the troches of 
cubebs and ammonia, the inhalation of benzoin with steaming water, 
also from such throat-tablets as the Chloramine. 


Inflammation of Mucous Membrane and Glands 
of Larynx. — Follicular Laryngitis, 

A FEW strong and beautifully formed cartilages unite to form a 
curious and convenient box or cavity at the top of the windpipe, 
called the larynx. Across this enclosure are stretched two remark¬ 
able ligaments, called the vocal cords. They are from half to three 
quarters of an inch in length, and are rendered more or less tense by 
the small muscles with which they are connected. Just above these 
cords are two cavities, which, with the ligaments, act an important 
part in the formation of the voice. Here is produced the sounds 
which is modified and articulated by the tongue, the lips, and the 
nasal cavities.. 

When disease reaches this cavity, and the fluid secreted to lubri¬ 
cate these cords becomes acrid, tlie voice, from this and other causes, 
is made hoarse; and when, at length, these ligaments are altered in 
structure by inflammation and ulceration, the voice suffers a gradual 
extinction. I have treated a large number suffering entire loss of 
voice, and am happy to say it has been generally restored, where the 
lungs have not been involved in the disease. There is often also a 
little sensitiveness, or even soreness, in some cases, in the region of 
the larynx, which may be felt by pressing upon that prominence in 
front of the throat, called Adam’s apple. 


242 


DISEASES OF THE THROAT. 


Inflammation in the Windpipe.— Tracheitis, 

This complaint and the one preceding it differ only in their local¬ 
ity from those described in the upper cavities; and they are more 
alarming, because two removes nearer the citadel of life. Happily, 
we know that the seat of these diseases may be easily reached, and 
we have a shower syringe, so arranged as to pour the remedial agent 
directly upon them, without any lacerating disturbance of the parts. 

Symptoms.— The approach of these disorders is often so insidious 
as hardly to attract notice,— sometimes for months or even years,— 
giving no other evidence of their presence than the annoyance of 
something in the throat to be swallowed or hawked up, an increased 
secretion of mucus, and a sense of wearisomeness and loss of power 
in the throat after public speaking, singing, or reading aloud. At 
length, upon the taking of a severe cold, the prevalence -of an epi¬ 
demic influenza, or of an unexplained tendency of disease to the air- 
passages and lungs, the throat of the patient suddenly becomes sore, 
its secretions are increased and rendered more viscid, the voice grows 
hoarse, the difiiculty of speaking is aggravated, and what was only 
an annoyance becomes an affliction and a source of alarm and dan¬ 
ger. These diseases clearly belong to the family of consumption, and 
need early attention. 

Causes.— It is amusing to reflect upon the theories which writers 
were in the habit of constructing, a few years since, to account for 
the throat affection among the clergy. It was attributed by some 
to speaking too often, by others to speaking too loud. One class of 
writers thought it arose from muffling the neck; another, from a 
strain of voice on the Sabbath to which it was not accustomed on 
other days. 

The cause lies deeper than any of these trifling things. As it con¬ 
cerns ministers, it may generally be expressed in two words,— labor, 
anxiety. 

The clerical order are placed just where they feel the force of the 
high-pressure movements of the age. They are the only class of 
recognized instructors of adult men, and are obliged to make great 
exertions to meet the wants of their position. The extremely trying 
circumstances in which they are often placed, too, in these exciting 
times, by questions which arise and threaten to rupture and destroy 
their parishes, weigh heavily upon their spirits, and greatly depress 
the vital powers. And, when we add to this the fickle state of the 
public mind, and often the shifting, fugitive character of a clergy 
man’s dwelling-place and the consequent liability to poverty and want 
to which himself and family are exposed, we have a list of depressing 
causes powerfully predisposing to any form of disease which may 
prevail. 


DISEASES OF THE THROAT. 


243 


It will be pardoned me, I think, if I suggest here, that the nature 
of a clergyman’s calling is of so serious a character, that he some¬ 
times carries himself with too much sedateness, keeps himself too 
much braced up, and does not allow himself hours enough of that 
cheerful, light-hearted abandon, which is essential to the health of 
every sedentary man of mental habits. The hard-thinking and hard¬ 
working minister, who will retain his health and save his throat, must 
have some moments, at least, when the weighty responsibilities of his 
office are lifted up from his soul, and he becomes, for the hour, the 
jocund, playful boy of earlier days. How/«r he can consistently re¬ 
lax and let himself down, or in my view of the matter, raise himself 
np to the simplicity and mirth of childhood, he alone can be the judge. 
As a physician, I prescribe; as a minister, he must decide how far 
my prescription can be followed. 

Reading Sermons.— There is one practice, which, though it has 
not much to do with inducing this disease, does frequently aggravate 
it when once established; I mean the habit of reading sermons from 
manuscripts, — especially when it is done in a sort of mechanical 
way. Every person who has suffered from throat-ail has doubtless 
noticed that to read aloud, for half an hour, from a book, occasions 
more fatigue and irritation in the throat than extemporaneous speak¬ 
ing, in the same tones, for one or two hours. The reason is, that in 
the latter case the mind conceives the thought in season for the or¬ 
gans of speech to fall into a natural attitude, and utter it with ease. 
The two work harmoniously together,— the instruments of articula¬ 
tion following the mind, and easily and naturally uttering its concep¬ 
tions. Whereas in the case of reading, the mind itself is, at least 
partially, ignorant of what is coming until it is just upon it, so that 
the organs of speech, being warned of what is to be done only at the 
moment their service is required, do their work under a perpetual 
surprise and constraint. The difference is, in some respects, like that 
between walking freely at large, without regard to where the feet are 
put down, and being obliged to step exactly in the footprints of some 
traveller who has gone before. In the latter case, the muscles tire 
much sooner, because they work in fetters. 

I have thus spoken particularly of the clergy, though it is not by 
any means they only, but all classes of people who are afflicted with 
this dangerous malady. 

These diseases often begin with a cold. But colds are seldom taken 
except when the nervous system is depressed, so that they are, in fact, 
to be traced back to the same cause which I have assigned to catar¬ 
rhal or throat complaints themselves. 

These Complaints Worse at Night.— It is worthy of note, that all 
these complaints, and many others, are worse during the night. This 
is easily explained when we remember that the atmosphere has the 
least amount of electricity in it at three o’clock in the morning, and 
that the first minimum atmospheric pressure, which happens twice a 


244 


DISEASES OF THE THROAT. 


day, occurs not far from the same hour. From three to four in the 
morning^ therefore,^ the nerve-power sinks to its lowest ehb; and those 
diseases which owe their existence to anxiety, overwork, etc., suffer, 
at this time, their greatest daily aggravation. Death occurs, too, more 
often during these hours, than in any other portion of the twenty- 
four. 

Treatment _Some years ago these diseases were thought to be 

incurable; and by all the appliances of medical art then known, they 
were so. But time has brought a successful method of treatment, as 
well as a clearer knowledge of their nature. 

This treatment consists in what is called topical medication, or the 
applying of the medicine directly to the diseased part. The medici¬ 
nal agent more extensively used than any other is a solution of crys¬ 
tals of nitrate of silver. This substance is not, however, adapted to 
every case,— other articles succeeding better in some instances. Mod¬ 
ern chemistry has given us a variety of agents from which the skilful 
physician may select a substitute, should the nitrate of silver fail. 

The operation of applying this and other substances to the air pas¬ 
sages, is a delicate one, requiring tact and experience. Surgeons had 
supposed it an anatomical impossibility to introduce an instrument 
into the larynx ; but this has been practically demonstrated to be a 
great mistake. 

Instruments.— The instrument devised and used by Dr. Horace 
Green is a piece of whalebone, bent at one end, to which is attached 
a small, round piece of sponge. This, dipped in the solution, is dex¬ 
terously introduced into the laryngeal cavity, and applied directly to 
the diseased part. 

I formerly used this instrument myself, and am happy to know, 
that, notwithstanding its defects, it was generally successful. Yet 
whei'e the larynx was highly inflamed, with a swollen and ulcerated 
condition of the epiglottis and lips of the glottis, I am sure I some¬ 
times had the singular powers of the nitrate of silver put at defiance 
by an irritation evidently produced by the sponge of the probang. 
Upon its introduction, in such cases, the parts contract upon and 
cling to it, and suffer aggravated irritation, almost laceration, upon 
its withdrawal, however carefully effected. 

Laryngeal Shower Syringe.— Such defects in the probang led me 
to contrive an instrument, which I call a Laryngeal Shower Syringe. 
It is in the form of a syringe, the barrel and piston of which are 
made of glass, silver, or gold, as may be desired. To this is attached 
a small tube, made of silver or gold, long enough to reach and enter 
the throat, and bent like a probang, with a globe or bulb at the end, 
from a quarter to a third of an inch in diameter, pierced with very 
minute holes, which cover a zone around the centre about one-third 
of an inch in breadth. 

This silver bulb I daily introduce into highly inflamed and ulcer- 


DISEASES OF THE THROAT. 


245 


ated larynges, generally without any knowledge of its presence on 
the part of the patient, until the contained solution is discharged. 
The instrument, being charged, is carried to the proper place, when a 
delicately quick pressure upon the piston causes very fine streams to 
flow through the holes in the form of a delicate shower, and all sides 
of the walls of the larynx are instantaneously bathed. 

How Introduced.— The introduction of this instrument into the 
larynx is easy. Upon the approach of any foreign substance, the epi¬ 
glottis instinctively drops down upon the entrance to the larynx, 
guarding it against improper intrusions. It has been found, however, 
that when the root of the tongue is firmly depressed, this cartilage 
cannot obey its instinct, but stands erect, its upper edge generally ris¬ 
ing into view. Availing himself of this, the surgeon has only to de¬ 
press the tongue with a spatula, bent at right angles, so that the left 
hand holding it may drop below the chin out of the way, and as the 
epiglottis rises to view, slip the ball of the instrument over its upper 
edge, and then with a quick yet gentle motion, carry it downward and 
forward^ and the entrance is made. I have often admired the faith¬ 
fulness of this epiglottic sentinel, who, when overborne by superior 
force, stands bolt upright, and compels us to enter the sacred temple of 
speech directly over his head ! 

Pharyngeal Shower Syringe.— For washing the upper part of the 
throat, I construct the instrument with a straight tube, with holes 
over the outer end of the globe, and extending to the centre. This 
washes instantaneously the fauces and pharynx, but does not throw 
the solution back upon the tongue. Its main advantage over the 
probang is, that it bathes every part of the fauces and pharynx in¬ 
stantaneously, and does not subject the patient to the coughing and 
gagging which follow the slower and rougher process of drawing the 
sponge from side to side across the cavity of the throat. 

Nasal 5hower Syringe. — Inflammations in the back passages to 
the nose, called catarrh in the head, have been almost inaccessible by 
any reliable healing agent, and consequently incurable. The probang 
could only reach a short distance^ and occasioned great suffering. I 
have had a syringe constructed with the tube bent at an angle of 
forty-five degrees, and the globe, very small, pierced with a few fine 
holes at the upper end. Carrying this globe up behind the velum 
palati, with a single injection I wash both passages clear throu gh. I 
have had the pleasure of curing a large number of bad cases, of many 
years’ standing, to the surprise and delight of the patients. 

About nineteen-twentieths of the physicians who have examined 
these instruments, and so far as my knowledge extends, all who have 
used them, think them much better than the probang. As to patients, 
I have yet to see one who will allow the sponge to be used after try¬ 
ing both. 

Have Superseded the Probang. — In my own practice the syringes 


246 


DISEASES OF THE THROAT. 


have superseded the probang altogether. My reasons may be briefly 
stated. I have already said there is less irritation produced. A piece 
of sponge drawn over an inflamed surface, especially when clung to 
by the irritated and quivering parts, must necessarily, in some cases 
at least, aggravate the symptoms of disease. To this consideration 
add the comfort of the patient during the operation. It is so quickly 
and delicately done with the syringe, that it is scarcely known when 
the act is performed. The straight syringe does not touch the throat 
at all. On touching the probang to the throat, the nitrate of silver 
unites with the mucus upon the surface, instantly covering the sponge 
with an albuminous pellicle, something like that which lines the shell 
of an egg, preventing, in a degree, the further pressing out of the 
solution, and rendering its contacts with other parts of the surface 
comparatively powerless. For this reason, the sponge pushed down 
into an ulcerated bronchus, as Dr. Green recommended, must be ut¬ 
terly valueless as a remedial agent. Mopping, as it does in its whole 
course, a larynx and trachea, lined in some cases with puriform mat¬ 
ter, and generally with mucus, every inch of its descent doubles the 
gravity of this objection. Let it be considered, too, that in applying 
the remedy to an ulcerated larynx, the sponge cauterizes the healthy 
parts above, in its descent, and thus unfits itself for doing much for 
the diseased part; whereas the syringe retains its solution till it 
reaches the affected place, and then pours a clean shower directly 
upon it, and upon no other part. 

Considering these manifest advantages of the syringes, I am sur¬ 
prised that any physician should still use the probang,— especially as 
one of these' instruments, the Nasal Syringe, accomplishes an object 
which the probang cannot effect at all, not even in a rough way. I 
have wondered, too, how any parent can allow a child, suffering with 
croup, to be tormented by having a sponge pushed down its throat, 
when a syringe would give it so much less pain. 

I will mention briefly one or two cases of croup and diphtheria, se¬ 
lected from a great number treated by me for the last few years, where 
the syringes were successfully used, after several attempts to use the 
probang had been made, and failed, and where the pain caused by 
using was so small, and the relief so instantaneous and complete, that 
the patients were anxious for my return to use it again. 

I was called to see a little boy of Mr. R., five years old, who had 
had an attack of membranous croup some days previous; and when 
I saw him the voice had sunk to a whisper, and the cough was en¬ 
tirely muffled, so that I had no doubt of the fatal termination of the 
case, and expressed my opinion to that effect to the astonished parents. 
The probang had been used by the physician in attendance, which 
had caused so much suffering that for the two days previous the par¬ 
ents had prohibited its use. It had no doubt increased the irritation, 
besides nearly causing strangulation. 

It was, therefore, with great reluctance that they consented to let 


DISEASES OF THE THROAT. 


247 


me use the syringe, which I did, to the great relief of the little suf¬ 
ferer, and to the entire satisfaction of the parents. 

The strength of the solution of the crystals of the nitrate of silver 
used was 20 grains to the ounce of water, which I injected freely, 
once in three hours for the first day, and then two or three times a 
day for two or three days. His recovery was rapid and complete. 

I will now mention the case of a young woman, with diphtheria, 
where the syringe was used with success. 

I was called to see a young lady, who had an attack of diphtheria 
the day previous. Found her in bed, very much prostrated, breath 
ing with great difficulty, and uttering at every inspiration a croupal 
sound, which at times was followed by a short, convulsive cough. 
The face was flushed, pulse 124, small and feeble, and she complained 
constantly of a sense of suffocation and of great distress in the lar¬ 
yngeal region. 

On inspecting the throat, the fauces and the pharyngeal mem¬ 
brane, as far down as it could be seen, presented the appearance of a 
high degree of inflammation. One of the tonsils was nearly covered 
with the diphtheric membrane, and the upper and back part of the 
throat were thickly studded with small white or cream-colored spots. 

The physician in attendance had tried first a swab, or mop, as she 
termed it, and then the probang, which gave her so much pain that 
he was obliged to give it up. He then gave up the case as hopeless. 
At my earnest solicitation she consented to the use of the syringe. 
With a solution of the crystals of the nitrate of silver, of the strength 
of 60 grains to the ounce of water, I injected freely the fauces and 
the upper part of the cavity of the larynx. For a few moments the 
difiiculty of breathing and feeling of strangulation was increased, 
but very soon a large amount of viscid, ropy mucus was discharged. 
In the course of half an hour after the use of the syringe, the symp¬ 
toms had improved, the respira¬ 
tion was less laborious, so that 
in a short time the patient ob¬ 
tained some sleep. I was after¬ 
ward called, as she thought her¬ 
self worse, but found that ah 
application of the caustic with a syringe was all that was required. 
There was no further trouble with the case. 

These syringes or similar ones can now be bought of any large 
dealer in surgical instruments. Figure 87 represents the syringes as 
they lie in a case. 

Mode of Using. — The glass barrel and piston of my instruments 
are delicate, but they need not be broken. I handle them with the 
same ease that I do a spoon in feeding myself, and not in a very dis¬ 
similar way. The last three fingers are placed on the under side of 
the barrel, with the thumb on the upper side, — the index finger be¬ 
ing poised over the end of the piston, ready to drive it home at the 










248 


DISEASES OF THE THROAT. 


proper instant. The motion of the piston should be quick, so as to 
cause the streams to leap out in jets; yet delicate, that they may not 
impinge with too much force upon the diseased surfaces. 

They should be rinsed with water immediately after being used. 
But even with this precaution, a small residuum of the nitrate re¬ 
mains and crystallizes, and after a time partially closes the holes. 
They must then be picked out with the point of a needle. 

When the silver tube becomes detached from the glass, it may be 
fastened on with common sealing wax; first melting the wax and 
sticking it around the glass; then heating the silver over a lamp, and 
pressing it on. 

Amount of Solution to be Used. —The amount of solution to be 
used should be small. Half a dram is enough. The piston of the 
syringe need be drawn up only from an eighth to a third of an 
inch. Strangling is not often produced by these operations ; but to 
make its prevention still more sure, let the patient be directed to fill 
the lungs with a long inspiration while the operator is depressing the 
tongue. 

Strength of Solution. — The strength of the solution in ordinary 
cases of chronic folliculitis, etc., should generally be about forty 
grains of the crystals of the nitrate of silver to the ounce of water. 
But in all acute diseases of the air passages, it should be considerably 
stronger, — varying from one to two drams. A preparation of this 
strength is powerfully antiphlogistic and sedative. In those cases of 
chronic disease, where the inflammation is of a low grade, and the 
mucous membrane is in a relaxed, atonic condition, looking either 
sodden and pale, or of a dark color, like the cut surface of beef some 
days exposed to the air (as is often the case in throats of literary dys¬ 
peptics), then a solution of fifteen to thirty grains to the ounce is 
sufficient. This strength acts as a stimulant, and is well suited to 
throats in such condition, but would be injurious in high grades of 
inflammation. Catarrh iii the head generally requires only about this 
strength. I am sorry to say, the topical mode of treating throat affec¬ 
tions has been in some places injured, in the public estimation, by a 
lack of knowledge and judgment on the part of the operator, in 
choosing the strength of his solution. 

To determine the frequency of the operation, also requires 

judgment and experience. In an ordinary case of chronic disease, 
the treatment may begin by showering the throat once a day for a 
week. Then the operation should be repeated three times a week, for 
a shorter or longer period ; then twice a week, and at last once a week. 

Attendant Diseases.— Among the persons I am treating for dis¬ 
eases of the air passages, many are dyspeptic and suffer with depres¬ 
sion of spirits. So often does this symptom present itself that I re¬ 
gard it as almost one of the peculiarities of throat disease. Persons 
thus depressed generally have the dark and dingy look of the face 
which indicates functional derangement of the liver. They are often 


DISEASES OF THE THROAT. 


249 


emaciated, nervous, hypochondriacal, irritable in temper, and are ex¬ 
hausted by an excessive secretion of urea. The urine of such per¬ 
sons is always acid, and loaded with crystals of oxalate of lime. 

An explanation of this fact has been attempted, by supposing that 
the oxydation of carbon (of which these persons have a superabun¬ 
dance), imperfectly accomplished in inflamed respiratory organs, is 
vicariously effected in the capillaries of the kidneys,— oxalic acid 
(C 2 O 2 ) instead of carbonic acid (COg) being the result. 

The crystals of oxalate of lime are octahedral in form, and, in the 
field of a good microscope, are beautiful objects for inspection. 

Lawyers, clerygmen, statesmen, and, in general, those who labor 
hard mentally, with but little bodily exercise, and who have a great 
weight of care resting on them, are the persons who suffer most from 
this complication. Generally the inflammation in the throat is of a 
low grade, and must not be treated with a very strong solution of ni¬ 
trate of silver. 

Of course when these attendant diseases exist, something more is 
needed than the local treatment. For the troubles just described, the 
treatment for hypochondria and dyspepsia will be proper. 

Elongation of the Uvula. 

The uvula is the small teat-like or 
pendulous organ which hangs down 
from the palatine arch, just over the 
root of the tongue. It is very apt to 
get inflamed, and its parts becoming re¬ 
laxed, it stretches out lengthwise, so 
that its lower extremity sometimes rests 
upon the tongue. (Fig. 88.) When 
this happens, it flaps about, backward 
and forward, and to the right and left, 

—touching the throat at various points, 
and by the tickling sensation produced, 
exciting a most incessant, uncontroll¬ 
able, and racking cough. Some of the 
most distressing coughs I have ever 
heard have been produced and kept up 
by this cause alone. Many a fatal con¬ 
sumption has begun in this way. When 
long inflamed, it often gets much out 
of shape, being sometimes bent nearly 
double. 

Treatment, — In some cases, the 
uvula, thus elongated, may be reduced 
back to its natural size, by an astrin¬ 
gent gargle, composed of an infusion of 
white-oak bark, with a little alum dis- 




250 


DISEASES OF THE THROAT. 


solved in it (232) ; but it will generally stretch out again and again, 
upon the appearance of any fresh cold, and, therefore, the only certain 
cure is to cut it off. 

To do this, take hold of it with a pair of common forceps, and 
having stretched it down a little, clip it off above the forceps, with a 
pair of curved scissors. Nearly the whole of it should generally be 
removed. To take off a part only leaves a stump, which is often 
more objectionable than the whole organ. Its removal never injures 
the speech in the least. In many cases of nasal catarrh, this organ 
is a sort of diseased centre, from which inflammatory action spreads 
upward into the nasal cavities, and no medicine or power on eartli 
can effect a cure until this offending member is snipped off. 

Acute Inflammation of the Tonsils. — Tonsilitis, 

The tonsils are chiefly a collection or mass of small mucous folli¬ 
cles or glands. They secrete a portion of the fluid which keeps the 
throat moist. 

There is a class of persons who suffer about every winter, some¬ 
times oftener, with an attack of acute inflammation of these glands, 
which causes great suffering for several days. The trouble usually 
is ushered in by high fever, backache, headache and often by chills; 
the temperature often reaches to 103° and 104° F.; swallowing is 
difficult on account of the swollen glands, while pain in the ear is 
not infrequent. The tonsils are at first swollen, reddened and in¬ 
flamed ; later a whitish patch of secretion forms on the surface of 
the gland and is distinguished from that of diphtheria by being 
whiter and less tenacious; if removed, the underlying surface does 
not bleed as in the case of diphtheria. It is, however, very difficult, 
at times, to distinguish between the two diseases at first. 

Another form of Tonsilitis occurs without patches, and is in 
reality an inflammation of the substance of the gland itself. This 
variety, often called Quinsy^ goes on developing into an abscess, the 
anterior pillar of the fauces becomes intensely red, swollen and 
shiny. 

Treatment. — For the more common variety some antipyretic to 
reduce the fever and allay the intense aching of the head and bones 
is properly indicated. For this purpose 10 grains of Phenacetine 
(for an adult), repeated every two to four hours according to the 
effect produced, is quite efficacious. Ammonol in same dose may 
also be used. Some simple astringent and soothing gargle will next 
be found to render signal relief. Tannin, 30 gr., strong Carbolic 
Acid (95%), 30 drops, Glycerin, 1 oz., and peppermint water, 3 oz., is 
an admirable gargle for the average case: this should be used hourly. 

Equal parts of Glycerin, Alcohol and Water makes a very sooth¬ 
ing gargle, while equal parts of Peroxide of Hydrogen and Water is 
preferred by many. The diet should be limited in amount and con¬ 
sist only of liquids. 


DISEASES OF THE THROAT. 


251 


Tincture of aconite in 1 or 2 drop doses together with half teaspoon¬ 
ful of sweet spirits of nitre repeated every hour will help to allay the 
fever and congestion of the throat, and goes far to prevent pus forma¬ 
tion which is usually spoken of as Quinsy sore throat. This abscess, 
if formed, may be evacuated by the physician, who alone should at¬ 
tempt it, as the region is a dangerous one, being close to the carotid 
artery and jugular vein, which would cause instant death if cut. 

It has been found that Tonsilitis is apt to be recurrent and that 
he who has suffered once is very prone to have one or more attacks 
annually thereafter. This class requires constitutional treatment in 
the intervals as outlined below. 

These inflammations are likewise found to be an expression often¬ 
times of rheumatism, and need corresponding treatment. But the 
only cure is to be found by cutting off the tonsils, after the inflam¬ 
mation has subsided. This will put an end to the attacks at once. 

Tonsils which are subject to these periodical attacks of acute in¬ 
flammation *u’e always more difficult than others to operate upon, as 
they are almost invariably bound down very tight to the throat, and 
cannot be raised up for convenient excision. 


Chronic Inflammation of the Tonsils, 

In many of the follicular diseases of the throat, these glands are 
affected by a chronic inflammation, and are found enlarged, and 
sometimes very much hardened. In such cases they secrete a thin, 
unhealthy, irritating fluid, which is spread over the throat, increasing 
and perpetuating its disease. Much of this secretion finds its way 
into the stomach, and thence into the circulation. 

In the throats of many young persons and children, these glands 
are permanently so large as nearly to fill the fauces. The respiration 
of many children thus afflicted is difficult, and when asleep they can 
only breathe with the mouth open. The defective breathing of such 
children often occasions contractions of the chest, and thus lays the 
foundation for consumption. From these diseased parts, the inflam¬ 
mation often spreads upwards, into the posterior nares, and many 
times enters the eustachain tubes, causing deafness or pain in the ears. 
Such children often breathe as though they had a bad cold in the’ 
head. Their health and safety require an immediate attention to 
this state of things. 

Chronic inflammation of the tonsil, likewise the recurrent acute 
form, may be dependent on poor blood or rheumatism. Those causes 
are met by blood-building medicines like Syrup of the Iodide of Iron 
in 10-drop doses three times daily, cod liver oil, and by some one of 
the many preparations of iron, arsenic, and strychnia combinations. 
It is found that generally the excision of the tonsil may be averted 
by visiting the surgeon, who will hunt out the little crypts or holes 
with which the gland is studded, and by gently cutting the narrow 


252 


DISEASES OF THE THROAT. 


bridges which separate these holes, destroy these cavities. These 
little holes retain small particles of food and decomposed secretion, 
which after a while, if allowed to remain, set up a follicular tonsil- 
itis. The size of the gland is thus greatly diminished and the little 
secreting follicle destroyed. Many a little sufferer can thus be spared 
the harsher method of excision, and bear with good grace, especially 
if cocaine be used, what otherwise might be a painful and bloody 
operation. But, as has been said, excision in many cases must be 
resorted to. 

Curability of Throat Diseases.— I have dwelt somewhat upon 
the preceding forms of throat disease, because they prevail to a fear¬ 
ful extent, and are, in thousands of cases, but the first stages of fatal 
disease of the lungs. 

If not connected with lung disease in the heginning^ my experience 
in treating them enables me to say, emphatically, they are generally 
curable. 

But patients often put the question to me — “ If cured, will I ever 
have the complaint again ? ” My answer is — “ Unless I can plant 
in your constitution a better protection than your Maker put there at 
your creation, you will of course be liable to a second attack.” But 
then, where the lungs have been entirely free from disease, I have 
never yet seen a case of simple throat complaint relapse and become 
dangerous after proper treatment with the syringes. Let not those, 
therefore, who have been benefited, but not entirely cured by this 
treatment, undervalue what has been done for them. Even in such 
cases, the advantage derived to them amounts to just the value they 
attach to the continuance of life. 

Dangers of Delay. — In closing these remarks, let me warn the 
reader against the dangers of delay. Many of those who finally seek 
medical attendance in these complaints, first try all nostrums, and 
tamper with their disease till the case is either critical or hopeless. 
Too many wait till they are near enough to the engulfing whirlpool 
to hear it roar, before they seek in any practicable way to escape its 
dangers. 

Many persons neglect a slight inflammation of the pharynx, which 
might have been cured in a few days, but which, from long neglect, 
has gradually crept down the windpipe, spread over the widely dis¬ 
tributed mucous lining of the bronchial tubes, and thus become cur¬ 
able only in a partial degree, and after long and tedious treatment. 
Hundreds of persons are now suffering from slight attacks of this 
sort, who might be rid of the affliction in a week or a fortnight, but 
who will either carelessly give it no attention at all, or resort to use 
less nostrums, until it has run through its primary stages and invaded 
the constitution, and will finally die of some of the forms of pulmo¬ 
nary disease. 


DISEASES OF THE THROAT. 


253 


A Cold. — Influenza. 

A SLIGHT attack of the disease about to be described, affecting only 
here and there a person, and lasting only for a few days, is called a 
cold. When it affects a large part of the community at the same 
time, lasting many days, or even weeks, it is then an e{)idemic, and 
passes under the name of influenza. In this latter form, it sometimes 
spreads over a whole country, and has at times, as in 1832 and 1894, 
extended to nearly the whole civilized world. It often shows marked 
severity in its progress, and leaves serious results behind. 

Symptoms.— A tingling, with dryness, and a sense of fulness in 
the mucous membrane of the nose, are among the first indications of 
an attack of this complaint. Sneezing is a common symptom. Soon 
pain is felt in the forehead, and breathing through tlie nose becomes 
difficult. The eyes are red and watery, the throat is sore; there is a 
dry cough, hoarseness, thirst, general lassitude, chills, and a desire 
to get near the fire. The mucous membrane of the nose, throat, 
windpipe, and breathing-tubes is inflamed, red, swollen, and some¬ 
times painful. 

In a short time, water begins to run from the nose and eyes, and 
the cough becomes a little more moist. There is also a slight dis¬ 
charge from the throat and tubes, which gradually increases, and, at 
length, as the disease declines, and becomes less acute, the expectora¬ 
tion is thick and yellow. 

Aching of the back and limbs, thirst, loss of appetite, flashes of 
heat, and chills whenever the patient is exposed to air a little cooler 
than he is accustomed to, are almost constant attendants upon the 
disease. 

Causes. — It is not always easy to say what the causes of this com¬ 
plaint are. Frequently, it can be traced to an improper exposure to 
cold or dampness; but in a great majority of cases, especially when 
it takes the form of influenza, the causes are not obvious. They 
probably exist in some peculiar states of the atmosphere, and in a 
depression of the nervous system. 

The influence upon disease of the different degrees of density in 
the air which surrounds us, and of other circumstances affecting it, 
have not been much studied. -Some valuable facts will be drawn 
from this source before many years. The putting upon the body, or 
taking from it, several tons of pressure every time the barometer rises 
or falls, must have, of itself, no small influence upon its health. The 
comparatively new science of Physical Geography, by spreading be¬ 
fore us its interesting facts in regard to temperature, storms, atmos¬ 
pheric currents, etc., is opening the way for the physician to learn a 
great deal more about the causes of disease than he now knows. 

Treatment.— In mild cases, only the most simple treatment is re¬ 
quired,— such as remaining in the house for a few days, soaking the 


254 


DISEASES OF THE THROAT. 


feet in warm water, taking a gentle sweat, drinking warm infusions 
of flax-seed, mullein, slippery elm, or warm lemonade, and taking 
only a spare vegetable diet. If the bowels be costive, some gentle 
physic (34), (41) may be used. A laxative drink (132) will like¬ 
wise be useful. 

. At the outset, especially when the nose runs water, a small dose of 
atropia, grain, taken every two hours till the throat is dry, will 
entirely arrest the disease at this point. The coryza pill found at 
the druggists’ is a more valuable remedy still. 

When the attack is more severe, sweating must be induced by de¬ 
cisive measures. This may be affected by the spirit vapor-bath, or 
by putting the patient in bed, putting bottles of hot water to the feet 
and sides, and administering warm drinks, and the compound tinc¬ 
ture of Virginia snakeroot. Five drops every hour of the tincture 
of veratrum viride will often cause very free perspiration, and wdll 
reduce the inflammation upon the mucous surface. 

An emetic is sometimes very useful. To produce vomiting, use 
the powder of ipecac, ten to twenty grains, or the compound tincture 
of lobelia. 

It soothes the inflamed mucous surfaces very much to inhale the 
vapor from half a pint of hot water, with five drops of tincture of 
veratrum viride, or the same amount of the tincture of aconite root. 

If the cough is severe, use the preparations recommended under 
bronchitis and consumption. 

In the latter stages of the disease, if there be debility, — as there 
generally is,— quinia, iron, nux vomica, etc. (75), should be taken ; 
or, to support the nervous system, the extracts of scullcap, and bone- 
set, and the sulphate of quinia (81) will be found useful. At this 
stage of the complaint, the diet should be more liberal and nourishing. 

The patient should not venture into the open air until the unpleas¬ 
ant sense of chilliness, peculiar to the disease, ceases to be produced 
by exposure. 

La Grippe. 

This is a variety of influenza with which the world has become 
well acquainted within the last few years. Its history is interesting 
and its symptoms and results are severe and annoying. It is one of 
the most severe forms of catarrhal disease of the nose or throat with 
which we are acquainted. It owes its origin to a germ which found 
its birth in the filth and pollution of eastern Europe, and has visited 
the globe with terrible ravages on several occasions since the Middle 
Ages. It spreads by travelling the most frequented paths of com¬ 
merce, and attacks those in a depressed state of health. The varieties 
of la grippe are as numerous as that of any other disease. The catar¬ 
rhal form is much like that of ordinary head influenza, only it is more 
severe and prostrating; the bronchial assumes the influenza type, at 
first, but soon attacks the lungs and sets up a severe, prolonged and 


DISEASES OF THE THROAT. 


255 


harassing bronchitis; the intestinal variety, besides producing the 
general symptoms of malaise, fever, cough, severe aches and pains, 
gives rise to a diarrhoea which lasts many days and is very debilita¬ 
ting; the most common variety, however, is the rheumatic^ which is 
ushered in by chills, fever, muscular pains, coryza, cough and general 
rheumatic pains. The characteristic feature of all of these forms is 
the great prostration which accompanies these symptoms and the ob¬ 
stinacy with which it clings to the patient. 

The sequelae of the disease, though much exaggerated, are numer¬ 
ous. The aged are often left infirm with heart weakness, the young 
with lessened resistance to disease, and the middle-aged with chronic- 
coughs. 

Many an undiscovered disease has passed unnoticed under the dis¬ 
guise of “ la grippe.” It has no doubt served as a broad mantle to 
cover our ignorance of real disease and been made an easy refuge for 
the complaining; still its affects at times cannot be over-estimated, 
and death has not infrequently resulted. 

Treatment.— The onset is to be met with large doses of quinine, 
say 10 grains on retiring, by phenacetine and salol, 10 grains each, 
taken with some hot lemonade on retiring. This latter may be re¬ 
peated every three hours. The coryza is checked by small repeated 
doses of belladonna, camphor and quinine, as found in the coryza 
tablets bought at the druggist’s — one taken every two hours till the 
throat is dry, then once in four to eight hours. The debility is to 
be met by tonics. 

Acute Inflammation of the Epiglottis. 

This is the disease by which our country lost its most loved and 
distinguished citizen, George Washington. This complaint was not 
understood at the time of his death, — the intelligent physicians who 
attended him supposing it to be inflammation of the windpipe. From 
their very clear description of the symptoms, we now know it to have 
been an acute inflammation of the epiglottis and glottis. 

From the rapid inflammation of the epiglottis, water is effused into 
this cartilage, so as to puff it up, and prevent it from shutting down 
in the act of swallowing. The lips of the glottis are swollen from 
the same cause, and brought so near to each other that air passes 
through to the lungs with great difficuly, and unless relief is soon 
obtained, the patient is strangled. 

Symptoms.— The disease begins with a severe chill, accompanied 
with some pain, and a sense of stricture or tightness in the upper and 
fore part of the throat. There is cough, with difficult and sometimes 
painful swallowing. These symptoms are soon followed by quick 
and laborious breathing. Speaking aloud is from the first difficult, 
and soon becomes impossible. As the complaint runs its rapid course, 
the breathing grows more difficult, and death soon results from com¬ 
plete strangulation. 


256 


DISEASES OF THE THKOAT. 


Treatment.— Apply immediately to the parts a strong solution of 
nitrate of silver. The solution should be of the strength of ninety 
to one hundred and twenty grains to the ounce of soft water. It 
should be applied every hour or two till the feeling of suffocation 
subsides, and should be done with the laryngeal shower syringe, 
though if this is not at hand the sponge probang may be used. 

While this local treatment is being employed, liberal doses, from 
five to twenty drops, of tincture of veratrum viride should be given 
every hour, watching the effect, and discontinuing when the pulse 
sinks too low. 

Hot fomentations applied externally, and filling the room with 
steam, as recommended in cases of croup, would be useful. 

Mumps. — Parotitis, 

This disease appears most often among children; but as it is not 
confined to them, I have not placed it among their complaints. 

Symptoms.— It begins with soreness and stiffness in the side of 
the neck. Soon a swelling of the parotid gland takes place, which is 
painful, and continues to increase for four or five days, sometimes 
becoming very large, and making it difficult to swallow, or open the 
mouth to receive food. After the fourth or fifth day the swelling 
subsides, and disappears in from seven to ten days. 

Both glands generally swell about the same time, but sometimes 
the swelling appears in one only after it has subsided in the other, 
and occasionally the swelling is wholly confined to one side. 

When the swelling is great, there is heat, and sometimes fever, 
with dry skin, quick pulse, furred tongue, constipated bowels, and 
scanty and high-colored urine. 

The affection is sometimes translated, as we say; that is, in females, 
the breast swells, and in males, the testicles become swollen and pain¬ 
ful. This accident generally happens in consequence of taking cold 
from some imprudence. 

The disease is contagious; that is, it is communicated from one 
person to another. 

Treatment.— In mild cases, very little treatment is required. 
Keeping the face and neck warm, avoiding exposure to cold and 
damp, drinking warm infusions of balm, spearmint, or sage, and ap¬ 
ply a poultice of flax-seed over the glands until the patient is fully 
relieved; or the compound powder of jalap, if there be costiveness, 
is about all that is required. The diet should consist of rye hasty 
pudding, or brown bread and sweetened water. 

If the case be severe, and other glands swell, physic must be freely 
used, leeches must be applied, and cooling lotions, or poultices. 
Sweating must also be induced by the compound tincture of Vir¬ 
ginia snakeroot, or by a vapor bath. 


DISEASES OF THE THROAT. 


257 


In young girls mumps often attack the ovaries and make the in¬ 
valid a great sufferer for a few days ; the testicle of the male is simi¬ 
larly affected at times. These complications call for soothing appli¬ 
cations and rest in bed. 


DISEASES of the CHEST 


DISEASES OF THE CHEST. 

(Also see Anatomy of the Lungs and Respiratory Organs.) 


Consumption. — Phthisis. 

As it was asserted a short time ago that the incurability of con¬ 
sumption was an acknowledged fact, it is encouraging to know that 
in many instances now we may effect a cure even under relatively 
poor conditions, also that many persons have the disease and get 
well of it without their knowledge. This is proved by the large num¬ 
ber of cases that have come to autopsy for death from some other 
cause and the diseases of the lung which has healed are discovered. 
If the disease can be taken in hand early enough and the constitu¬ 
tion of the person’s body protected from these ravages by appropriate 
climatic conditions, good food, and possibly a little medicine, we are 
justified in thinking that a favorable outcome will occur. It is neces¬ 
sary to keep the weight of the person maintained and especially the 
digestion more than good. 

Marriage should be avoided by anyone afflicted with the disease, 
as the bearing of children on the part of the woman will often cause 
the disease to take a fresh start and the extra effort required by the 
husband to maintain his family will do the same for him. It is only 
fair to the friends surrounding the patient that precautions should be 
taken to prevent the contraction of this disease from one whom they 
are trying to help, as the disease is propagated by the increase of 
the germ known as the bacillus of tuberculosis; we must destroy 
this organism as soon as it is expelled from the person. 

In the expectoration these germs are present in very large numbers 
and in singing and coughing they are sent into the air to possibly be 
inhaled and land on new soil for future trouble. The kiss of a con¬ 
sumptive is very dangerous and even the use of toilet articles which 
have been used to wipe the nose or mouth is dangerous until they 
have been boiled. All expectoration should be received in articles 
which can be burned before they become dried, and if the person is 
confined to the house they may be received in an earthen vessel 
which holds a solution of disinfectant such as carbolic acid, I part 
of the pure acid to 20 of water, or corrosive sublimate, 1 part to a 
1000 . 

It is for this reason that the boards of health of all the large cities 
of the United States and Europe within the past few years have passed 
ordinances prohibiting expectoration of sputum on the sidewalks, floors 
of cars, at stations or public places, and the disease is now reported to 

269 



260 


DISEASES OF THE CHEST, 


them by physicians under penalty of fine in the same manner as small¬ 
pox and diphtheria. Sunlight is another prevention, for this germ 
cannot live in the rays of the sun and this is taken into account in 
our treatment of the patient, as good air and sunlight are perhaps 
the most important aids in helping us to get the better of the disease. 

Methods of Examining the Chest.—Before speaking further of 
consumption, I propose to do what has never been done, namely, to 
instruct the general reader very briefly in the method of examining 
the chest to learn the existence of disease. Perhaps this will be 
considered a departure, in some slight degree, from my purpose to 
make this entire book intelligible to the general reader. If so, my 
reply is, that there are many school teachers, mechanics, masters of 
vessels, and farmers, who have inquiring minds, and sagacity enough 
to learn the physical signs of chest-disease, and to make them, in 
many cases, practically useful; and that even readers of little re¬ 
flection cannot fail to comprehend a portion of my explanations. 

Position of the Patient. — In performing percussion upon the 
front of the chest, the patient should be required to sit in a square 
position, with the arms hooked over the corners of the back of the 
chair, and the head thrown a little back. 


Instrument with which to Thump. — The index and middle 
fingers of the right hand are to be brought together, into a line, and 
used as the percussing instrument. The blow given with these is to 
be nmart and quiche rather than heavy. 


Medium to Thump Upon. —Either the index or middle finger of 
the left hand is to be pressed firmly upon the surface of the chest to 
be percussed or struck, and thus used as a pleximeter. 


Auscultation. — Listening for the purpose of hearing within the 
chest the sounds produced by breathing, talking, coughing, etc., is 
called auscultation. 



Fig. 90. 


Fig. 91. 


Instruments with which to Listen. — The naked ear is generally 
considered best for hearing low and delicate sounds; but for hearing 




DISEASES OF THE CHEST 


261 


loud and rough ones, it is not so good as the stethoscope, repre¬ 
sented by Fig. 90. A still better instrument is the double-eared 
stethoscope. Fig. 91. It magnifies the sounds very much, and is apt 
to confuse an examiner not accustomed to it; but when the ear is 
once familiar with it, the aid it affords is very valuable. 

The examiner should pass from side to side, continually comparing 
the sounds upon one side, with those upon the other. 

The patient must he calm, and the examiner in no hurry. 

Healthy Sounds. — To become skilful either in percussion or aus¬ 
cultation, the examiner’s ear must first be trained to healthy sounds. 

These are best heard in the child, in whom they are louder than 
in the adult. 

In describing the healthy sounds in the different regions of the 
chest, I shall refer the reader constantly to Figs. 92 and 93. 

Clavicular Region. — This, in Fig. 92, is represented by 1, 1. 
Upon thumping upon the collar-bones, the sound given out at the 
breast-bone end should be very clear; less clear in the middle; and 
dull at the shoulder end. 

Subclavian Region. — This is represented by 2, 2, and lies be¬ 
tween the collar-bone and the fourth rib, on both sides. It covers a 
considerable portion of the upper lobe of the lungs. The sound 
upon striking this place should be very clear. 



Fig. 92. Fig. 93. 


The Mammary Region, represented by 3, 3, extends from the 
fourth to the seventh rib, on each side. In the upper part of this 
region, the healthy sound is clear; but at the bottom of it, on the 
right, the sound is deadened by the liver; on the left, by the heart. 






DISEASES OF THE CHEST. 


262 

The Infra-Mammary Region, 4, 4, lies between the seventh rib 
and the edge of the cartilages of the false ribs. On the right side, 
the liver makes the sound dull; but under the left side lies the 
stomach, which is hollow, and the sound is generally quite loud. 

In the Sternal Region, 5 6, 7, which covers the breast-bone, the 
sound is generally clear. 

The Axillary Region, 8, 8, is in the arm-pits. In this the sound 
should be clear. 

The Lateral Region, 9, 9, is immediately below the above, and 
pelds, likewise, a clear sound. 

The Lower Lateral Region, gives a dull sound on the right side, 
and on the left a very hollow one. 

Fig. 93 represents the hack part of the chest. In looking at this, 
we see the 

Acromial Region, represented by 11,11. In this space the sound 
is dull, but it has not much meaning. 

The Scapular Region, 12, 12, covers the part occupied by the 
shoulder-blades. It gives rather a dead sound. 

The Intra-Scapular Region, 13, 13, lies *between the shoulder- 
blades, on each side of the back bone. If the patient’s arms are 
crossed, and the head bent forward, a clear sound will be obtained. 

The Dorsal Region, 14, 14, covers the base of the lungs, and, in 
health gives, a clear sound. 

Observation, — If, now, on thumping upon the chest, we find a 
dull, dead sound in any spot where a clear one ought to be yielded, 
we are to conclude that underneath there is not the usual quantity 
of air; but we cannot tell merely by percussing, whether tubercles 
are deposited there, or the lung has become solid by inflammation, 
or water has been poured out into the cavity of the pleura. This 
point must be determined by auscultation, etc., to be explained 
gradually as we go along. 

Auscultation of Breathing. — On applying the ear or the stetho¬ 
scope to the chest, two sounds are heard which immediately succeed 
each other, — the louder is produced by the ingoing breath, or in¬ 
spiration ; the weaker by the outgoing breath, or expiration. These 
sounds will be further explained as we go along. 

Auscultation of the Voice and Cough. — The chest of a healthy 
person speaking communicates to the ear no distinct sound, but only 
a vibratory sensation, called, in technical language, the pectoral fre¬ 
mitus. 

Over the larynx and windpipe, the examiner may hear natural 
pectoriloquy; between the shoulder blades, in the space correspond¬ 
ing to the roots of the lungs, natural bronchophony. 


DISEASES OF THE CHEST. 


263 


Philosophy of Chest Sounds. — The fullness and clearness oi 
sound upon percussion, depends upon the amount of air in the chest. 

The sounds called hreathing murmurs^ are caused by the expansion 
and contraction of the air-cells or vesicles, as the air passes in and 
out; hence they are called vesicular murmurs. 

The friction of the air against the sides of the windpipe and large 
bronchial tubes causes the blowing sound beard in those parts. 

In children a larger amount of air enters the lungs, and the air 
vesicles are expanded with more force; hence their breathing has a 
louder sound, which is called puerile respiration. This kind of 
breathing, heard in the grown person, is a sign of disease. 

The lung tissue is a bad conductor of sound; and the voice is ac¬ 
cordingly heard only over those parts where large bronchial tubes 
are near the surface; heard elsewhere, it indicates disease. 

Division of Consumption. — Consumption may be divided into 
two kinds, the tubercular and the bronchial. The former has a con¬ 
stitutional, the latter a local origin. 


First Stage of Tubercular Consumption. 

Physical Signs.' — Dullness of sound on and under the collar¬ 
bones. Inspiration shortened; expiration augmented both induration 
and intensity. This dullness often first perceived in armpits, or at 
base and back of lungs. 

Occasionally a pulmonary, crumpling sound. Dry, crackling rat¬ 
tles. 

The resounding of the voice increased at the top of the lungs. 

General Symptoms. — A sense of weariness and languor. 

Occasionally, slight, flying pains about the chest and shoulders. 

A peculiar sensitiveness to the effects of cold. 

Breathlessness on moving quick, or ascending a hill or stairs. 

In many cases a blue lividity of the lips and roots of the finger¬ 
nails, and coldness of the hands and feet. 

Occasionally, in females, even at this early stage, a cessation of 
the monthly turns. These usually stop later in the disease. 

Observations. — The formation of tubercles almost always begins 
at the top of the lungs. Laennec and others thought they appeared 
oftenest on the right side first; Louis, Andral Watson, ^ir James 
Clarke, and others, believed they appeared more often on the left side. 
Recent investigations show that they were all mistaken. Tubercles 
appear first about as often upon one side as upon the other. 

The pulmonary crumpling sound is caused by a mechanical ob¬ 
struction to the expansion of the lungs. It is generally heard only 
during the drawing in of the breath. The sound is like that pro¬ 
duced by blowing upon very fine paper. 


264 


DISEASES OF THE CHEST. 


Second Stage. 

Physical Signs. — Marked dullness of sound on the collar bones, 
and extending below them. 

Inspiratory murmur diminished in duration and intensity; expira¬ 
tory murmur augmented in both. 

In upper lobes of lungs, moist, crackling rattles, succeeded by 
mucous rattles. Also bronchial respiration, or tubular breathing. 

In lower lobes of lungs, puerile respiration. 

Sounds of the heart heard under the collar bones. 

Bronchophony heard in the same parts as bronchial respiration. 

General Symptoms. —A quickened pulse; slight fever towards 
evening, oftentimes amounting to quite high fever. 

Great susceptibility to the effects of cold, and liability to take cold 
easily. 

Bowels generally costive ; oftentimes seat of pain. 

The eye has a peculiar whiteness and lustre. 

The skin and mouth become dry in the afternoon; chills occur 
about midday, followed by fever, during which the cheeks are flushed. 

As the second stage advances to its close, a dry, burning heat 
afflicts the palms of the hands and soles of the feet. 

Night-sweats occur at this time. 

Observations. — A hollow, elastic body, containing air, gives, 
when struck, a clear sound. The dullness of sound on percussing 
the chest, arises from the absence of air in the air-cells, — these 
having been pressed together, or obliterated by the deposit of a mass 
of tubercles. The destruction of these cells causes the cessation of 
the respiratory murmur. 

This stage of the disease is often accompanied by an inflammation 
of the mucous membrane lining the air-tubes. The air, pushing its 
way through the mucous secretions in these tubes, forms bubbles, the 
bursting of which causes the rattle. The crepitant rattle is produced 
by inflammation around the tubercles. The moist, crackling rattle 
is caused by the softening of the tubercles. 

The lungs, rendered more solid by the deposit of tubercles, become 
better conductors of sound; and this causes the beating of the heart 
to be heard as far off as under the collar bones. 

Bronchial respiration gives the idea of air blown through a tube j 
cavernous respiration, of air passing into a large enclosed cavity. 


Third Stage. 

Physical Signs. —In this stage cavities are formed. If the cavi¬ 
ties be small, and considerable tuberculated lung surrounds them, the 
sound, upon percussion, is still dull. 


DISEASES OF THE CHEST. 


265 


If the cavity be large, and near the surface, there is occasionally a 
tympanitic sound with musical tone. 

Sometimes a sound is heard like striking a cracked pot. 

Gurgling; cavernous rattle; cavernous breathing; amphoric breath¬ 
ing; now and then, metallic tinkling; pectoriloquy; cavernous cough. 

General Symptoms. — Great loss of flesh, and weakness ; diarrhoea 
and night-sweats; swelling of the feet and legs; sore mouth; and 
raising of matter with specks of tubercle in it like crumbs of cheese. 

Observations. — The gurgling rattle is caused by air displacing 
liquids, and the formation and bursting of bubbles. It resembles the 
sound produced by blowing through a tube immersed in soap-suds. 

Cavernous breathing is nothing more nor less than the sound pro¬ 
duced by air, breathed in and out, entering and retiring from a 
cavity. The air appears, sometimes, to one listening with the stetho¬ 
scope, as if it were sucked into his ear during inspiration, and blown 
back again during expiration. 

Amphoric respiration is simply an augmentation of cavernous 
breathing, and results, of course, from an increase of size in the 
cavity. 

In pectoriloquy, words uttered by the patient seem to pass through 
the stethoscope into the ear of the listener. The cavity should be 
empty, moderate in size, and have dense walls, in order to furnish 
the best specimen of this sound. 

Air suddenly driven backward through the windpipe, and out of 
the mouth and nose, by smart raps upon the chest over a cavity, 
gives the sound of the cracked pot. It is best heard when the pa¬ 
tient’s mouth is partly open. The same sound is produced, on the 
same principle, by locking the fingers of the two hands, and joining 
the palms, so as to leave a small space or cavity between them, and 
then expelling the air from that cavity, by gently striking the back 
of one hand upon the knee. 

Causes of Consumption. —The human constitution, as shown by 
Liebig, in his profound work on Animal Chemistry, is governed by 
two forces, the nervous and the vegetative. The former disposes the 
particles composing the body to a state of motion; the latter inclines 
them to a position of rest. 

In vegetative life there is motion in one direction only, so to speak; 
that is, motion which tends to the opposite of motion, namely, rest. 
In vegetables, whose life is wholly under this power, there is no waste; 
for here, all ultimate particles, having once taken a place of rest, 
remain undisturbed. In a tree, a layer of matter once deposited, 
always remains. Hence there is growth as long as the tree lives. 
There is no power to break up and destroy. 

But in the animal body there is motion in two directions, or a 
circuit of motion. Particles which under the vegetative force have 
been put to rest, are perpetually being displaced by the nervous energy, 


266 


DISEASES OF THE CHEST. 


and reduced to unorganized amorphous compounds, to be burned in 
warming the system, or cast out by the several excretory processes. 

So constant is the action of these two forces, that John Hunter 
compared the human system to a whirlpool, into which the particles 
of matter are perpetually poured, under the influence of the vegeta¬ 
tive power, and out of which they are as constantly whirled by tlie 
nervous force. 

By a little reflection upon these antagonisms, the reader will see 
that it is just when the vegetative force transcends the nervous, that 
the body increases in weight, and acquires that state in which the 
blood corpuscles abound, and the tendency, if to disease at all, is to 
that of the inflammatory kind. It is the tonic condition of the sys¬ 
tem. Nutrition is more rapid than destruction. New particles are 
laid down faster than old ones are taken up. The body grows. 

On the other hand, when the nervous force overmasters the vegeta¬ 
tive, when the outward or centrifugal motion of the whirlpool prevails, 
then it is that the body is attenuated, the blood thinned and made 
serous, and the consumptive or atonic condition is established. Now., 
there is too much motion. The nutritive particles, instead of tending 
to a state of deposit for the re-supply of waste matter, become fugi¬ 
tive in their habits, perpetually fleeing, like convicts escaped from 
prison. Introduce this power, in excess, into the vegetable kingdom, 
and the matter deposited upon the tree, instead of remaining to swell 
its bulk, would be driven off by the nervous force; and the tree, in¬ 
stead of growing, would be annually lessened., become sickly, and die 
of consumption. 

In Tubercular Consumption, the system is like a field deluged by 
a flood; nothing can take root. The repeated shocks of the nervous 
battery sent to the absorbents so quicken them in their work of re¬ 
moving waste matter, that they dislodge much which is not yet worn 
out, and assist in casting out of the system not a little designed to be 
used in its renewal. A healthy deposit is thus prevented, and nutri¬ 
tion is at an end. The nutritive arteries, those little builders of the 
human frame, are overmastered by the stimulated lymphatics; the 
constructive material is wrested from them, and borne beyond their 
reach, and the body wastes from want of nourishment. The blood 
becomes thin and watery; and from the increased serous portion, 
chiefly albumen, are deposited upon the lungs and other tissues the 
albuminous tumors called tubercles. 

Here is found the cause of that peculiar smallness of bone and 
muscle, and thinness and tallness of person, so peculiar to consump¬ 
tives. The absorbents, under the power of a very active nervous 
system, take down “ the house we live in ” faster than the nutritive 
arteries, confused by the motion around them, can effect its recon¬ 
struction. It is simply an unbalancing of the antagonistic forces, 
which build and pull down our earthly tenement. The men that de¬ 
molish are more numerous and better fed than the artisan builders 


DISEASES OF THE CHEST. 


267 


It is this destructively nervous force which gives to consumptive 
persons their proverbial mental activity; which causes them often to 
dazzle the world with the splendor of their gifts, and to bless their 
friends with the warmth of their affections. They are usually the 
choice spirits^ the idols of their relatives, and the favorites of the com¬ 
munity in which they live. Their mental movements, and the exer¬ 
cise of their affections, are characterized by brilliancy and warmth. 
Of all persons, they are best fitted to enjoy life, and to impart happi¬ 
ness. Loving all, they are by all loved in return. They are speci¬ 
mens of partially etherealized humanity, stepping lightly across the 
earth, to whom friends passionately stretch out their arms, and em¬ 
brace — tneir shadows! 

These views will appear the more reasonable, if we consider that 
in children the vegetative power is very active, while the nervous 
energy is comparatively weak. The preponderance of the former 
over the latter causes the rapid growth of children. The little arterial 
builders work faster than the lymphatic demolishers. This explains 
why so few children die of consumption. 

But from the age of seventeen to thirty-five, when the vegetative 
power is losing something of its extraordinary activity, and the neiw- 
ous force is showing its highest capabilities,—then it is, as this 
theory indicates, that tubercular consumption does its dreadful work, 
— then, that the outward world of this physiological Maelstrom casts 
upon the shores of mortality so many thinned, exhausted, and lifeless 
human forms. More than three-fourths of all who sink under this 
disorder die between the ages just named. The brain, between these 
points of time, acquires its full size and force. 

This disease prevails most, too, in those countries where an enlight¬ 
ened civilization gives to the nervous system its fullest development, 
as in Great Britain, France, and the United States, and in those 
where the nutritive process is most retarded by a relaxing climate ; 
and it is scarcely known among those people who are but little en¬ 
lightened and have small brains, and among those who live in high 
and invigorating latitudes. As the most enlightened, however, are 
generally found in temperate climates, and those with the least culti¬ 
vated brains in low latitudes, the rule is not perfectly explained by 
facts; yet it shows itself sufficiently to establish its validity, and to 
afford another proof of my theory. 

Bronchial Consumption. 

The pei’sons exposed to bronchial consumption are generally of an 
opposite habit to those described above, — having the nervous force, 
m health, well subordinated to the vegetative, the assimilation good, 
and the blood well supplied with red globules. They have usually a 
full habit and an active circulation. The absorbents, aiid other ves¬ 
sels in the lungs, working in the midst of a large amount of caloric 


268 


DISEASES OF THE CHEST. 


evolved by an energetic respiration, often take cold, which brings on 
lung-fever and pleurisy, and these lay the foundation for the ultimate 
destruction of the lungs. For the same reason, the skin of this class 
of persons becomes diseased, and more often the inner skin, or mu¬ 
cous membrane, and most often that portion of mucous membrane 
which goes down into the lungs and lines the air-tubes. It is inflam¬ 
mation of this which constitutes bronchitis, and which lays the foun¬ 
dation for true bronchial consumption. 

As that class of persons who are exposed to the tubercular form of 
the disease suffer a general loss of carburetted hydrogen in its several 
forms, colliquative diarrhoea, sweats, increased breathing, and all con¬ 
ditions that carry fat out of the system, so those who suffer from 
attacks of the bronchial type of the disorder are generally afflicted 
with the opposite condition. They have too much carbon. 

It is well ascertained that carburetted hydrogen, accumulated in 
the system, acts as a poison. And that class of bilious persons who 
are subject to this disease often have their excretions badly performed. 
For this reason, carbonaceous compounds accumulate in the system, 
and give rise to the symptoms of morbid poison circulating in the 
blood. This led Dr. Madden to suspect the presence of such poison 
in the blood of all consumptive persons. He saw the evidence of it 
in numerous cases, and not distinguishing the one class from the 
other, he inferred its presence in all. 

Constitutional Difference. 

The constitutional difference between the two forms of consump¬ 
tion appears to be this : the tubercular type is usually attended, in its 
origin, by a tolerably good state of the digestive function, in connec¬ 
tion with bad assimilation; while the bronchial form generally has 
its foundation laid in connection with bad digestion, accompanied 
with healthful assimilation. In the former case, the food is well di¬ 
gested, the pabulum is properly prepared, but the nutritive arteries do 
not use it for renewing the tissues. In the latter case, the digestion 
is bad, the pabulum poorly elaborated; but the re-constructive vessels, 
under the control of a well-developed system of organic nerves, use 
it to the best advantage. In the one case there are good hvick-makers^ 
and lazy brick-Za^ers ; in the other, the reverse. 

It happens, however, that before the fatal close of the disease, tu¬ 
bercular patients usually become afflicted, more or less, with bad 
digestion, and bronchial patients with defective assimilation; so that, 
in the end, they present us with much the same class of symptoms. 
Starting from opposite poles in life’s celestial sphere, they meet at 
the culminating point of death, and disappear under identical aspects 
of the heavens. 


DISEASES OF THE CHEST. 


269 


Exciting Causes of Tubercular Consumption. 

The preponderance of the nervous force being the state which pre« 
disposes to disease, whatever unduly excites the nervous energy in¬ 
vites an attack. 

These causes relate, mostly, to the prolonged exercise of the intellect^ 
the passions^ and the sentiments. 

Few are aware of the mischief done by excessive stimulation of 
the mind during the most active period of life, — especially if the 
muscular system be left half developed. Here is where ambitious 
students commit great errors. 

The constant plying of the mental powers, in the present modes of 
educating children, leads to a dreadful abridgment of human life. 
Better to train the bodily powers first, and let the mental culture 
come in later time. He who would build a lasting structure must 
lay a solid foundation. 

The age in which we live abounds in the causes of excitement. 
The world is trembling with excess of mental life. The pine trees 
burned by the steam-engine are scarcely more numerous than the 
human constitutions consumed by the train of thought it has set on 
fire. 

Nor are the passions and sentiments less exercised, or less destruc¬ 
tive. 

Briefly, the causes of consumption embrace all those things which 
bring a destructive force against the digestive and assimilative func¬ 
tions, as insufficient and improper food, debaucheries, night-watches, 
sedentary habits, anxiety of mind, etc.; and those which act injuri¬ 
ously upon the breathing organs, as impure air, inflammation of the 
lungs, pleurisy, measles, hooping cough, etc.; and such as disturb the 
sweating process, as insufficient clothing, Sudden changes of temper¬ 
ature, sleeping in damp sheets, etc. These exalt the nervous force, 
or depress the vegetative, or inflame the mucous lining of the air- 
tubes, or the substance of the lungs, or the membranous sack which 
encloses them, so as to induce one form or other of consumption on 
the principles I have explained. 

The immediate cause of consumption we know, now-a-days, to be 
due to a deposit of tubercles either in the neighborhood of the vocal 
cords, the upper parts of the lungs, or, not infrequently, at the bases 
of the same. These tubercles contain a germ called the Tubercle 
Bacillus^ which can only be seen with a high power microscope, 
and then only after being stained with certain aniline colors which 
they absorb. These little germs are of the rod-shaped variety of 
bacilli, and appear under the microscope as little straight lines or 
rods about inch in length. Their presence in the sputum of a 
person means tuberculosis of some part of the air-passages; when 
they are associated with the presence of yellowish fibres (seen under 
the microscope) they are a proof of the deposit being in the lungs 


270 


DISEASES OF THE CHEST. 


proper. The examination of one’s sputum, therefore, in the earlj? 
part of any prolonged and suspicious cough, becomes an absolute ne¬ 
cessity, since thereby one is made aware, in the earliest stages, of 
this dreadful disease, and an opportunity offered of attacking it at once 
in its incipiency. This modern discovery has given rise to much 
experimentation in treatment with the aim in view of killing out the 
germ. Robert Koch of Berlin announced to the world, a short time 
ago, that he had discovered an agent, which he called Tuberculin^ 
that would eradicate these death-producing germs, but time has 
shown his efforts to be unsuccessful as yet, although promising of 
great results in the future. These germs are contagious in character, 
so that v/e now can explain why many contract consumption in whose 
ancestral blood there never existed any tubercular taint. 

We know that husband may impart the disease to wife and mother 
to daughter if only the system is in a receptive state to offer a lodg¬ 
ment to the germs. These tiny but most enduring bacilli retain 
their life for an indefinite time in the midst of dust and other dried 
secretions, so that a practical point is that all persons suffering from 
tuberculous diseases should be exceedingly careful where they spit 
and with whom they sleep. To raise the sputum into small paper 
cups which may be burned is a common and very prudent custom. 

This discovery, while not disproving the old theory of heredity, 
nevertheless explains many a case of acquired Phthisis, and clears up 
many an old-fashioned theory. 

These are indisputable facts from which the medical profession at 
present hope to derive practical benefit by the discovery of some 
germicide which may be applicable and safe for internal administra¬ 
tion. 

Can Consumption be Cured ?■—In many cases it can. It maybe 
cured, first, by the absorption of the tubercles. The celebrated John 
Hunter shows, in his work on the blood, that the absorbent vessels 
have a sort of elective affinity^ by which they take up and remove “ all 
adventitious new matter, as tumors” (tubercles are albuminous tu¬ 
mors), more easily “ than those parts which were originally formed.’^ 
Were this not so, an activity in these vessels equal to the lemoval of 
tubercles would cause them to waste all the tissues, and aggravate 
rather than cure consumption. Probably this does occur where 
proper hygienic means are not used to quicken the excretions. This 
hygienic treatment, to be spoken of hereafter, is not generally em¬ 
ployed, — certainly not as effectually as it should be. Here is the 
source of Laennec’s fatal remark, so often quoted and so widely en¬ 
dorsed, that nature’s efforts towards effecting a cure are injurious^ 
and those of art are useless.” Laennec’s position cannot be true, if 
Hunter’s statement is correct. If the absorbents, by an elective in¬ 
stinct, take up adventitious matter rather than the natural tissues, 
then the reason why they reverse this rule in consumption is, that by 
a weakened state of the constitution, the ultimate particles are not 


DISEASES OF THE CHEST. 


271 


well put together^ and are more easily taken apart than those of the 
adventitious tubercular tumors; and if we would restore these vessels 
to their natural activity, we must improve assimilation, and knit the 
unloving molecules into a firmer brotherhood. We must make the 
fiesh hard^ so that the absorbents cannot pick it to pieces. Do this, 
and “nature’s efforts to effect a cure” will not “be injurious.” 

A second form of cure is the reestablishment of the assimilative 
function, the building up of the general health, the arresting of the 
tubercular deposit, the reducing of tubercles already formed to an 
indolent state; and then, by a strict observance of the laws of health, 
keeping them in that condition through life. * 

A third mode of cure is the healing of the cavities after the tuber¬ 
cles have softened, broken down, and been expelled in the form of 
expectoration. 

A fourth method of cure is a change of tubercles to calcareous 
matter. These calcareous tubercles, Laennec says, “are consequent 
to tuberculous affections that have been cured^ And Andral, at one 
time, hoped to learn how to effect cures by changing tubercles to 
“ the calcareous phosphate.” 

I have had several cases of cure by this last method, and have 
quite a collection of calcareous substances which my patients have 
coughed up, — one of which was raised in my presence by a lady 
who was a few years before in hopeless consumption, but is now in 
good health. 

Treatment. — This should be of two kinds, local and general. 

The local treatment of consumption is by the inhalation of vapors 
and powders into the lungs. It has been practised, more or less, by 
individuals, for many years, particularly in Europe; but for some 
unaccountable reason, the profession generally have never used it, 
and do not know much about it. I had the honor, some years agq 
to bring it freshly before the American public, in some articles writ¬ 
ten for popular reading, since which time it has been rapidly gaining 
public confidence, and is now attracting much attention. Conveying 
the remedy directly to the diseased parts, it strikes the common- 
sense mind as eminently reasonable and necessary. 

I shall speak of inhalation, therefore, very earnestly, not as a 
palliative of consumption only, but as far more, as a remedy. After 
long and patient use, my experience allows me to say, that I know 
it, in many cases, to be such; and knowing this, I should be criminal 
not to press it upon the public; for it is the great multitude of 
sufferers, pressing fast through the gate of death, who need to hear 
words of hope. 

Consumption a General Disease. — It is not denied that con¬ 
sumption is a general disease, needing constitutional treatment; but 
it has also a local development in the lungs, first in the form of al¬ 
buminous tumors, called tubercles, and then, after the softening. 


272 


DISEASES OF THE CHEST. 


breaking down, and discharge of these, in the more formidable shape 
of ulcerous cavities, which, beginning at the summit, devour the 
lungs down to the base. Can it be reasonable to apply no remedy 
directly to this local disease? Not so does our profession deal with 
other local diseases. To an inflamed skin we apply poultices, cold 
compresses, • solutions of acetate of lead, nitrate of silver, etc.; to 
leprous or scaly affections, sulphuret of potash, bichloride of mer¬ 
cury, zinc ointment, nitrate of mercury ointment, sulphur, creosote, 
etc.; to weak and inflamed eyes, sulphate of copper, sulphate of 
zinc, nitrate of silver, and opium ; to chronic ulcers upon the skin, 
tannin, pulverized rhubarb, opium, or cinchona; and to an inflamed 
throat, nitrate of silver and other articles. These are but specimens 
of the thousand cases in which we use local remedies. Wliy then, 
when the mucous membrane, which lines the air tubes, becomes in¬ 
flamed through all its branches, should we neglect, by the inhalation 
of medicated vapor, to apply a remedy directly upon the whole in¬ 
flamed surface ? Why, when tubercular matter is beginning to be 
deposited upon the surface of the air cells, and of the small bronchial 
tubes, should not the vapor go right to those parts, and cause, as it 
would, the immediate expulsion of this offending and dangerous 
matter ? 

Uneducated common sense sees the reasonableness of these sug¬ 
gestions at a glance. Many a person, with pulmonary disease, dies 
of suffocation, not because there is not muscular strength to expel 
the matter which is strangling him, but because the lungs below the 
large pellets of mucus, which plug up the bronchial tubes, cannot be 
inflated, and have therefore no means of driving out the offending 
substance. Yet a proper medicated vapor, drawn in with the breath, 
would either dissolve the mucus, or rouse up the expiring membrane 
to cast it off. 

If the reader were to place one end of a stethoscope directly over 
the disease upon the breast of a person in the third stage of consump¬ 
tion, and should then ask him to talk, the words spoken would seem 
to rise up through the instrument, and enter, well articulated, into 
his ear. This, in technical language, is C'AlQdi pectoriloquy ^—a word 
signifying chest-talkiug. It implies a cavity in the lung. If now the 
patient be asked to coughs a gurgling and splashing sound will be 
heard. This denotes that the cavity is partly filled with fluid, which 
is dashed about by the air explosively driven through it by the portion 
of lung below. Here we have an excavated ulcer, with all its filthy 
contents, composed of pus, mucus, serum, and dissolved tubercles, 
lying in it day and night to aggravate its unhealthy condition. What 
more reasonable, what more necessary, than that a soothing, altera¬ 
tive, or astringent vapor should be drawn into this cavity, to cause 
its sides to heal, and its absorbents to remove this fluid ? A surgeon 
who should permit an ulcer upon the surface of the body to remain 
in that condition without a local dressing would be deemed unfit to 
practise his profession. 


DISEASES OF THE CHEST. 


273 


Both in tubercular disease and in simple bronchitis, the bronchial 
tubes almost always suffer some physical change. The mucous 
membrane lining these tubes is generally softened. At other times 
the tubes become enlarged through their whole length, so that many 
of them, from the size of a quill, reach the bigness of the finger of a 
glove. In still other cases, the straining produced by coughing 
causes a tube to belly out at some point, forming a sack, which is 
generally filled with mucus or purulent matter. At still other times, 
a tubercle will press against a tube so as to flatten, it and convert it 
into a musical instrument, the air, as it is drawn laboriously through, 
producing a high or low note, according to the size of the pipe. 
These physical changes are all produced by causes which the inhala¬ 
tion of a suitable vapor, at the proper time, would almost infallibly 
remove. How strange that this remedy, -— so simple, so effectual, 
so easily comprehended, — should have been so little used! 

Right at this vital point in the lungs, where the blood runs in a 
ceaseless current, — Avhere the whole of it goes every two minutes to 
renew its vitality by contact with atmospheric air, — we have, in 
thousands of cases daily occurring, inflammation with roughening or 
softening of membrane, with its consequent harsh breathing; we have 
mucus, tough or glairy, to impede and interrupt respiration; we have 
tubercles in the hard or soft state, adding to the general embarrass¬ 
ment, and not only lessening the vitality of the blood, but disturbing 
all the sympathies of the system; — and yet the practice has been, 
and is, to attack these central disturbers of life only through the cir¬ 
cuitous path of the stomach, lacteals, etc. 

I have investigated faithfully the effects of the various substances 
proposed for inhalation by European physicians, and have explored a 
wide field of new remedies, not before used, several of which have 
proved to have qualities of great remedial power. 

The chief remedies I employ for inhalation are the following. 

Alterative Inhalant, composed of iodine, six grains; iodide of 
potassium, twelve grains; tincture of ipecac, one ounce; tincture of 
balsam of tolu, six drams; ethereal tincture of conium, one and a half 
drams; alcohol, half a pint. These are to be mixed. The dose is 
one to two teaspoonfuls, to be inhaled ten or fifteen minutes, in 
about a gill of hot water. 

The ethereal tincture of conium is made by keeping a dram of 
powdered conium in one ounce of sulphuric ether a week. 

The above inhalant is used in the tubercular forms of consump¬ 
tion, particularly that of the scrofulous kind, and in many cases of 
bronchitis. 

Expectorant Inhalant. — Take pleurisy root, half an ounce; 
squill, one ounce; ipecac, two drams; black cohosh, two ounces; 
queen’s root, one ounce and a half; American hellebore, two drams; 
diluted alcohol, one pint. Grind the roots, etc., and add the alcohol. 


274 


DISEASES OF THE CHEST. 


Let the whole stand one week, shaking or stirring daily. Draw off 
and filter through paper. Two teaspoonfuls make a dose, to be in¬ 
haled same as preceding. 

This is to be used when the cough is hard and dry, and the expec¬ 
toration difficult. It makes the raising easy, lessening the soreness 
of the chest, and the harshness of the cough. 

Soothing, Febrifuge Inhalant. — Take belladonna leaves, half an 
ounce; black cohosh, two ounces; American hellebore, half an ounce; 
poke-root, two drams; aconite root, one ounce; diluted alcohol, one 
pint. Grind the roots, etc., add the alcohol. Let the whole stand 
one week, stirring daily. Pour off and filter through paper. Dose, 
one to two teaspoonfuls, to be inhaled as the preceding. 

This is excellent in all cases where the skin is hot, the pulse 
quick, the tongue and mouth parched, the chest sore, and the system 
suffering during the whole or a part of each day, from a general 
feverish condition. It is proper in all the forms of chest disease. 

Astringent Inhalant. — Take of wild indigo, one ounce; catechu, 
half an ounce; Peruvian bark, one ounce; golden seal, one ounce; 
diluted alcohol, one pint. Mix, and let the whole stand one week, 
stirring daily. Drain off, and filter through paper. Add two drams 
of creosote. One to two teaspoonfuls to be inhaled as preceding. 

This is to be used when the expectoration is profuse and easy, un¬ 
attended by fever, either in the latter stages of chronic bronchitis, 
when the mucous membrane of the tubes is in a relaxed condition, 
or, in the third stage of tubercular disease, for the purpose of con- 
stringing, cleansing, strengthening, and healing. 

Antiseptic Inhalant. — Take wild indigo, one ounce; belladonna 
leaves, half an ounce; diluted alcohol, one pint. Mix, and let the 
whole stand one week. Pour off, and filter through paper. Then 
add solution of chloride of soda two ounces. Dose, one to two tea¬ 
spoonfuls, to be inhaled as the preceding. 

This is usci in cases of gangrene of the lungs, generally distin¬ 
guished by considerable expectoration having a very fetid smell. 

Anti-Hemorrhagic Inhalant. — Take witch-hazel bark, two 
ounces; black cohosh, four ounces. Grind, and add one pint of 
diluted alcohol. Let the mixture stand one week, stirring daily. 
Pour off, and filter through paper. Add to this two drams of creo¬ 
sote. Dose, one to three teaspoonfuls, to be inhaled as preceding. 

This is an excellent remedy for bleeding from the lungs. When 
there is a tendency to bleed, it should be used for a long time. It 
may frequently take the place of No. 4, as an astringent inhalant. 

For immediate relief give strong solution of salt water. 

Object of Inhalants. — Being vaporized and inhaled, these articles 
enter every air-cell throughout the lungs. Their object is to soothe 
and mollify inflamed mucous surfaces, to reduce enlarged bronchial 


DISEASES OF THE CHEST. 


275 


glands which press upon neighboring parts and cause bleeding, to 
stimulate the absorbents to take up and remove tubercles, to dissolve 
tubercles out of the pulmonary tissue, to cause ulcerous cavities to 
expel their mattery contents, and to stimulate their sides to take on 
a healing process. They should be used from three to six times a 
day, the inhalation continuing from ten to fifteen minutes. 

Other Inhalants. — Great numbers of other articles have been 
used, which I have not space to describe. I will mention, however, 
that the following are sometimes employed with advantage: — 

For an Expectorant Inhalant, take alcohol, four ounces; tincture 
of camphor, half an ounce; tincture of tolu, two drams; naphtha, 
one dram; benzoic acid, thirty grains; oil of bitter almonds, four 
drops. Mix. 

For an Anodyne Inhalant, take, alcohol, four ounces; naphtha, one 
dram; benzoic acid, thirty grains; chloroform, twenty-five drops; 
tincture of henbane, half an ounce. Mix. 

For an Astringent Inhalant, take alcohol, four ounces; naphtha, 
one dram ; benzoic acid, thirty grains ; chloroform, one dram; tannin, 
eight grains. Mix. 

Mode of Inhaling. — For inhaling these, a sponge is fitted into a 
glass cup, to which a fiexible tube is attached. A small quantity of 
the mixture is poured upon the sponge, and the vapor arising is 
drawn into the lungs through the tube. 

To the expectorant inhalant may be added, occasionally, half a 
dram of nitric acid. 

These latter formulas are the principal ones used by those who 
practice what is called cold inhalation, 

A very common mode of inhaling volatile remedies is by saturat¬ 
ing a little cotton, contained in a wire basket, with the desired oil or 
fluid, and placing it over the mouth and nose. It is to be worn 
throughout the day. Oil of peppermint, creosote, menthol, oil of 
eucalyptus, etc., etc., are among the more common remedies thus 
used. 

A good inhaler can be bought of any dealer in surgical instruments. 

Constitutional Treatment. —r The rapid breathing in consump¬ 
tion creates too much oxydation of the blood, — so much, that the 
muscles, especially the heart, are usually of a bright red. To prevent 
the patient from being literally burned up by oxygen, the blood 
must be de-oxydated as fast as possible. 

While there is too much of oxygen^ there is, at the same time, a 
deficiency of carbon. Hence the. cold hands and feet, and the gen¬ 
eral inability to bear frosty weather. The little nutritive arteries, in 
these thin-blooded persons, stand shivering arid torpid with cold, un¬ 
able to perform their allotted function of nutrition. There is not 
fire enough, and fuel must be had in the form of carbon. Hence one 
of the advantages of cod-liver oil. This oil, too, as carbon, devours 


276 


DISEASES OF THE CHEST. 


the oxygen of the blood, and prevents its destroying the patient. 
This idea also explains the fact mentioned by Bennet and others, 
that in their post-mortems they found the evidences of healed ulcers 
in numerous persons who had been spirit-drinkers while living. And 
Liebig helps the explanation by saying that alcohol, taken into the 
system, circulates in a free state in the blood, and devours its oxygen. 
To which I beg to add, that the malaria of intermittent and bilions 
fever districts, has been pretty satisfactorily proved to be an instable 
organic body, consisting of sulphur, carbon, and hydrogen, all of 
which have an affinity for oxygen, and devour it in the system. 
Consumption is not found in such districts. 

As I am here treating of the chemical effects of remedies (and to 
this test most remedies must finally come), I will mention that tar¬ 
trate of antimony and potassa arrests the circulation in the pulmonary 
arteries^ — which fact gives a complete and luminous vieAV of its 
power to prevent oxidation. But I am obliged to detract from its 
merits, by stating that it also retards the circulation in the capillaries 
of the system generally, and so hinders cfg-oxidation. 

Phosphorus. — There is an article wliich has more recently pre¬ 
sented itself to the notice of the profession, to which I wish to invite 
special attention. I refer to phosphorus. This agent, for a time, 
challenged our notice in the shape of phosphate of lime ; but w^e could 
never feel sure that this article was dissolved in the fluids of the 
body. We now use, and with far more marked effect, the hypo- 
phosphites of lime, soda, potash, and iron. These are used in tlie 
form of the syrup of the hypophosphites. The dose is a teaspoonful 
before each meal. The effect uoon tubercular disease is immediate 
and gratifying. 

Need of Phosphorus. — Cerebric acid contains nitrogen and phos¬ 
phorus, and is the peculiar component of the brain and nervous sys¬ 
tem. By combustion and the changes of oxidation in the brain, the 
lohosphorus of cerebric acid is converted into phosphoric acid; so that 
every act of the brain produces phosphoric acid. How rapid, then, 
must be the consumption of the jdiosphoric element of the cerebric 
acid, in that highly active and excitable state of the. nervous system 
which I have described as peculiar to consumption. And how neces¬ 
sary, in order to save the brain from destruction, to meet this increased 
demand for phosphorus, by introducing it into the system. 

Mulder regards the fibrin of the blood as the carrier of oxygen; and 
by this oxidation, the fibrin becomes converted into the binoxide and 
trioxide of protein,—its phosphorus and sulphur (for it contains 
both) being converted into phosphoric and sulphuric acids. Adding 
phosphorus and sulphur, therefore, as medicinal agents, would seem 
to be the proper way to supply the fibrin with materials destructive 
of its freight of oxygen. 

It is well known that the salts of phosphoric acid are essential for 


DISEASES OF THE CHEST. 


277 


the formation of azotic compounds, — compounds which are neces¬ 
sary to sustain animal life. It should be remembered, too, as collat¬ 
erally illustrating this fact, that the tribasic phosphates of potash, soda, 
lime, and magnesia, play an important part in the growth and perfec¬ 
tion of plants. They are always found in the seeds of the cerelia, and 
no mature grains are produced where phosphates are absent from the 
soil. For the production of abundant grain-crops, it is necessary 
that these salts should exist in the soil, or be applied to it in manures. 

It is known, moreover, that in all chronic diseases distinguished by 
wasting of the tissues, a much larger quantity of phosphates is ex¬ 
creted by the kidneys than in the normal state. Hence there is no 
healthful growth; and the human organism, like the soil, exhausted 
of its phosphates by successive croppings, brings nothing to perfec¬ 
tion, and needs to have its drained salts re-supplied. 

I cannot but call attention here to the inorganic substances found 
in healthy human blood. According to very careful analyses, by 
Schmidt: 


1000 parts of blood-corpuscles, contain : 

Chlorine.1.686 

Sulphuric Acid.0.066 

Phosphoric Acid.1.134 

Potassium ..3.328 

Sodium.1.052 

Oxygen.0.667 

Phosphate of Lime.0.114 

Phosphate of Magnesia .... 0.073 


1000 parts of liquor sanguinis (serum 


and fibrin), contain: 

Chlorine.3.664 

SulhuricAcid.0.115 

Phosphoric Acid.0.191 

Potassium.0.323 

Sodium.3.341 

Oxygen.0.403 

Phosphate of Lime.0.311 

Phosphate of Magnesia .... 0.222 


Iron is omitted. Now, I venture the prediction, that out of these 
figures, mainly, in connection with those which represent the consti¬ 
tuents of the saliva, the bile, the gastric juice, the pancreatic secretion, 
and the organic compounds of the blood and tissues, are to be evolved 
within a few years a correct and partially demonstrative system of 
medication. In consumption, all the inorganic bodies represented by 
the above figures, with the exception of oxygen, are deficient in quan¬ 
tity. By reflecting upon the proportions of these several bodies, par¬ 
ticularly upon the large amount of chlorine and soda in the plasma, 
and of potassium in the corpuscles, the mind can hardly fail to obtain 
useful hints. I have not hesitated to make one of these hints the 
of a very free use of alkalies, — particularly in the form of 

Sugar of Milk. — There is one other medicinal article which I deem 
worthy to be mad prominent, and to be placed side by side with cod 
liver oil and the hypo-phosphites. I refer to mgar of milk. It belongs 
to that class of non-nitrogenized articles which Liebig has denomi¬ 
nated supporters of respiration. Its great affinity for oxygen is well 
worthy to be taken into the account, in considering its value in con¬ 
sumption. So great is this attraction, that, with ammonia and other 
alkalies, it has the power of reducing some of .the metallic oxides. 


ground 

bathing 
















278 


DISEASES OF THE CHEST. 


When taken into the stomach, it is rapidly absorbed into the blood, 
which, being an alkaline fluid, augments its great de-oxidating power 
to a considerable degree. It unites rapidly with oxygen after enter¬ 
ing the blood, forming carbonic acid and water. A part of it, how¬ 
ever, does not enter the blood in an uncompounded state, but is 
changed in the stomach into lactic acid; and this, in the blood, be¬ 
comes an alkaline lactate. But the portion thus changed appears 
also very useful; for Lehmann says: “We know of no substance 
which could better act in the blood as food for the respiration, than 
the alkaline lactates.” 

Corroborative of these views is the fact that all those kinds of 
milk, such as goat’s, ass’s, etc., which contain the largest amount of 
sugar of milk, have at different times, and in various countries, oly 
tained a reputation for curing consumption. Goat’s whey, in which 
this article abounds, and from which it is largely manufactured, has 
been celebrated for its virtues in this line. Aneel speaks of it as an 
excellent remedy; and Pereira says, “ Sugar of milk, in consumptive 
cases and chronic diseases of the digestive organs, is a most valuable 
aliment.” 

One of the best forms of taking sugar of milk is that of a gruel, 
which is quite palatable, and may be freely eaten by consumptive 
persons. 

Creosote, Quaicol, etc. — Modern researches having proved that 
consumption, as well as many throat and other diseases are propa¬ 
gated by germs or bacilli^ as explained on page 239, medieal investi¬ 
gators have for a long time been seeking some agent that would 
destroy these germs without at the same time injuriously affecting 
the human system. A few years ago Dr. Robert Koch, a celebrated 
German scientist, who had long been investigating the consumption, 
cholera, and other microbes, thought he had discovered a lymph that 
would destroy or at least counteract the consumption bacillus; but 
unfortunately it proved a failure. Creosote, carbolic acid, guaicol 
and similar drugs kill the germ when outside the body, and for this 
reason most therapeutists of to-day use these remedies in as large a 
quantity, and for as long a time as the system will tolerate. At all 
events, whatever may be the outcome of thecustom at present in 
vogue, creosote certainly arrests the rapid proliferation of germ-life 
in the lungs, improves the appetite and digestion, lowers the temper¬ 
ature, and apparently helps the patient. The only offset to the use 
of this class of remedies lies in the fact that one cannot thoroughly 
disinfect the blood sufficiently to kill these germs completely. Creo¬ 
sote made from beechwood, taken in three-drop doses with a wine¬ 
glass of milk, after food, three times a day, is the usual form of 
administration. Tliis dose should gradually be increased till ten and 
even twenty drops are taken at a time. The carbonate of creosote is 
a more elegant and perhaps more effective form of the drug. This 
medicine may also be procured in the form of capsules and pills. 


DISEASES OF THE CHEST. 


279 


By Dr. Cyrus Edison’s recently discovered product of carbolic 
acid, asepsin, it is claimed that seventy per cent of consumptive 
cases can be cured. It can only be administered as a hypodermic 
injection, however, at the hands of an experienced practitioner. 

The Cough. — The jDest article I have ever used for this is the 
‘‘ Pulmonic Cherry Cordial.” I was five years in compounding this 
article to suit me,, and I believe it to be the very best cough prepa¬ 
ration ever made. Dose, from one to two teaspoonfuls. 

Pulmonic Cherry Cordial.—Wild-cherry bark, ground, 10 pounds 
ipecac root, 20 ounces; bloodroot, 24 ounces; squill root, bruised, 12 
ounces; pulverized liquorice root, 5 ounces; cochineal, bruised, 2 
ounces; anise seed, 32 ounces; fennel seed, 8 ounces; orange peel, 
16 ounces ; acetate of morphine, 12 drams ; alcohol, 8 gallons ; water, 
8 gallons ; pulverized white sugar, 40 pounds; sulphuric acid, 1 
ounce. 

Directions for making, — Grind all the articles to a coarse powder 
except those directed to be bruised or pulverized, and put them all 
to the alcohol except the wild-cherry bark, the water, the sugar, and 
the sulphuric acid. Let them stand one week, shaking or stirring 
thoroughly twice a day. Then, having kept the wild-cherry bark two 
days in a covered vessel, with water enough upon it to wet it through, 
place it in a percolator, and run eight gallons of water through it. 
Add this to the alcohol and other ingredients. Let the whole stand 
three days longer, stirring as before, twice a day. Draw off, and fil¬ 
ter through paper. Now add the sugar, and lastly the sulphuric acid. 
The acid is intended mainly to improve the color, by acting chemi¬ 
cally upon the cochineal. The color is a fine cherry red, tinged with 
orange. 

I have given the directions for making sixteen gallons—this being 
the smallest quantity in which I make it. Any person can easily 
make the calculation for reducing the quantity. The assertion pre¬ 
viously made that this is the “ best cough preparation ever made,” I 
see no cause to modify in the smallest degree. Were it kept in 
every apothecary shop, and were physicians to prescribe in pul¬ 
monary complaints, adding a little syrup of squills or wine of ipecac 
when a more expectorant effect is wanted, or a little morphine if 
greater narcotism is sought, it would save them much trouble in com¬ 
pounding cough syrups, and give them much more satisfactory re¬ 
sults. I have compared its effect, again and again, with the best 
other preparations in use, and I pledge my word that it will succeed 
in twice as many cases as any other compound that may be chosen. 
Let physicians try it; and I will be responsible for ever hair’s 
breadth in which they find this proportion of successful results 
abridged. 

When a more quieting effect is needed, a little morphine may be 
added to this preparation ; if a more expectorant influence is required, 
add a few drops of the tincture of veratium viride. For the great 


280 


DISEASES OF THE CHEST. 


majority of cases, it will be found to be right without any addition. 
When this is not at hand, any of the preparations (108), (112), (109j, 
(113), (110), etc., may be used. Another good preparation is Dr. 
King’s consumption cure. 

Night Sweats. — The very best preparation for these sweats is a 
compound of the oxide'of zinc, one dram; extract of conium, half a 
dram; to be made into twenty pills, of which one or two are to be 
taken every night. The sponge bath also does much to check these 
sweats, and vinegar baths (369). Atropia, of a grain on retiring, 
and especially Agaricin, ^ grain, will cause the sweats to stop abso¬ 
lutely. 

Diarrhoea. — This is a most exhausting symptom in the latter 
stages of consumption. The only remedy which has much effect in 
controlling it is the tris-nitrate of bismuth. This should be given in 
doses of thirty grains immediately after, or at the time of each meal. 
These doses are much larger than used to be given; but they will 
do no harm. Given to this extent, 1 find the bismuth very effectual. 

Iron. — This preparation, in some of its forms (316), (73), (159), 
(102), is almost always needid in consumption. If the scrofulous 
habit be strongly marked, give syrup of iodide of iron, in thirty-drop 
doses, three times a day. It should be taken in a glass of water, 'i'o 
the feeble administer Gude’s pepto-mangan in teaspoonful doses three 
or four times daily. This is one of the simplest and most effica¬ 
cious forms of iron we have. 

External Irritants. — These are needed where there is much in¬ 
flammation and soreness of the chest. Blisters should very seldom 
be used. Croton oil, from two to half a dozen drops, rubbed over 
the sore part, generally answers very well. Sometimes the mustard 
paste, applied to the extent of producing redness, two or three times 
a week, is sufficient. Nitric acid, reduced with water to a strength 
a little above the strongest vinegar, answers a good purpose for 
keeping up an irritation. 

Atmospheric Inhalation. — It has been said by Laennec and others, 
that asthma has sometimes the effect of arresting tubercular consump¬ 
tion. Dr. Ilamadge thought this was effected by an expansion of 
the vesicular structure of the lungs; and he reasoned that the same 
expansion, by mechanical means, would secure a similar end. To ef¬ 
fect this, he made his patients take long breaths through a tube con¬ 
structed for the purpose. 

It is manifest that the philosophy of atmospheric inhalation was 
not understood by Dr. Ramadge, nor has it been by any of his fol¬ 
lowers in this country. 

Rokitansky thinks the tubercular habit depends upon the excess 
of fibrin in the blood; and says that the reason of consumption being 
arrested by pregnancy is, that this condition offers a mechanical ob- 


DISEASES OF THE CHEST. 


281 


stacle to the transmission of blood through the lungs, — thus pre¬ 
venting its excessive oxidation, and keeping it in a venous state. 
This destroys the fibrinous condition, on which he thinks tuberculosis 
depends. 

Now this is precisely what is done by atmospheric inhalation. The 
trachea divides, on its entrance into the lungs, into two branches, 
which again divide and subdivide until the tubes become smaller 
than can be seen, each terminating in a minute air-cell. Over this 
entire surface the air is intended to be brought into communication 
with the blood for the purpose of oxidating it. By forcible inhala¬ 
tion, the air-vesicles are inflated to the extent of their capacity, by 
which means the extreme branches of the pulmonary arteries are so 
flattened between these extended cells, as to be able to convey but a 
small amount of blood, and but little is oxidated. This furnishes a 
mechanical obstruction to the transmission of the blood, and secures 
the defibrination of which Rokitansky speaks. 

This is my view of the philosophy of atmospheric inhalation. The 
benefit results, not from a larger amount of oxidation, as is generally 
supposed, but from a smaller. Asthma does the same thing by pro¬ 
ducing spasmodic contraction of the extreme bronchial tubes, and 
preventing air from entering the cells. 

The same end is gained in part by certain kinds of employment, as 
glass-blowing, playing upon wind instruments, and the like. Writers 
of distinction mention cases of recovery from incipient consumption 
by a vigorous use of the lungs in singing. Dentists subject their 
lungs to a similar process of expansion in the use of the blow-pipe; 
the writer has known several instances in that profession, in which 
recoveries have taken place. 

The Conclusion to which I come is, that atmospheric inhalation 
may be used with great advantage in some cases, but should never 
be resorted to except under the direction of a competent physician. 
In a congested state of the lungs, with haemorrhagic tendencies, or 
with inflammation and soreness, it is well fitted to produce fatal 
bleeding and is of course dangerous. 

External Use of Water. — As a relaxation from severe exertions, 
the ancients had frequent recourse to bathing. Those who contended 
in the race, throwing the javelin, and wrestling, at Rome, plunged 
into the Tiber while warm and panting with their efforts. That this 
promoted prowess and physical endurance, none can doubt. 

Louis, the great French authority on pulmonary diseases, lays 
down several rules to be observed by consumptive patients, and par¬ 
ticularly mentions cold bathing. 

Few things give tone to the capillaries of the skin like cold water, 
systematically applied. It rallies the powers of the constitution, and 
improves assimilation. And by it another object is gained of scarcely 
less importance, — that of guarding the system against taking cold. 


282 


DISEASES OF THE CHEST. 


Those in the daily habit of applying cold water to the whole person 
seldom suffer from colds and catarrhs; they generally become har¬ 
dened so as to endure the assaults of the elements. 

Consumptive persons should generally use the sponge bath, with 
cold water, if it can be endured, otherwise the tepid bath, to be fol¬ 
lowed, in all cases with brisk rubbing, with a coarse towel. If a sense 
of chilliness and discomfort follows the bath, a large portion of the 
water must be squeezed from the sponge, so as to use but very little, 
and the washing must be speedy, and the rubbing more lively than 
usual,—beginning with tepid water, and gradually lowering the 
temperature till it can be borne cold. A large teaspoonful of salera- 
tus to each quart of water should be used. 

Diet. 

The diet, like all other parts of the treatment, must have reference 
to the present condition of the patient. If the disease take the bron¬ 
chial form, and rapid breathing, and other conditions calculated to 
carry fat out of the system have not yet supervened; or if the pa¬ 
tient have thirst and hectic, the diet must be spare and simple, — 
consisting chiefly of milk and farinaceous substances. 

But in all cases where the disease is tubercular, or, being bronchial, 
has reached the stage of emaciation, the very earliest moment at 
wliich the fever can be subdued should be improved to build up the 
patient with a generous diet. I have seen cases where the stuffing 
sometimes reported to for fattening turkeys for Thanksgiving would 
seem to be almost justifiable. A good rule is to give the most gener¬ 
ous diet that can be taken without disturbing the stomach, or increas¬ 
ing the feverish symptoms. Animal food with a good quantity of 
salt should be freely taken. Fat meats, if well received by the stom¬ 
ach (and they generally are if taken cold^^ are particularly useful. 
The same is true of sweet butter and cream. 

Out=Door Exercise. — Without exercise, as a general thing, the 
consumptive patient will die. Exercise involves muscular exertion, 
which is attended by the tension, compression, and greater compact¬ 
ness of the muscles used. Extend your walk a little every day. 
Stretch it out to the distant fields. Gather flowers from the top of 
the hills and from the bosom of the valleys, and bring them home as 
trophies of your victory. 

If not able to begin with walking, ride as often as possible in a 
carriage. The jolting of a vehicle will jog the blood along much 
better than no exercise. 

Horseback riding is still better. It combines, in some measure, 
the passive exercise of carriage riding, with the active exertion of 
walking on foot. 

If the person who has only a small portion of the lung affected 
and whose general health and strength has not failed, the employment 


DISEASES OF THE CHEST. 


283 


of this advice for exercise cannot be too strongly put forth, as it means 
the continual inhalation of pure air, caused by the exercise, but I 
would not have a patient who has perhaps been greatly affected by 
the disease, think that the way is not open to him for improvement. 
He will of course not be able to exercise so strenuously, in fact, per¬ 
haps the majority of cases do not require as much exercise as has 
been advocated, provided however, they are placed in a 'position 
ivhere an abundance of fresh air is also available and no symptoms 
appear which show that the strength is being called upon too vigor¬ 
ously, such as the patient being unable to sleep at night and diges¬ 
tive disturbances occur. But to the cases more advanced in the dis¬ 
ease, it should be remembered that exercise will do more harm than 
good and the whole question will be an individual one as no general 
rules can be laid down for the patient. For as many hours and days as 
is possible, the patient should be exposed to the direct rays of the sun 
and protected from high winds. This may be attained on a high 
elevation, such as the roof of the house, with a southerly exposure. 

If it is so the patient can travel, some high, dry climate about 4000 
feet in elevation is the best place, and in selecting this resort the thing 
to be considered is the number of hours of the sunshine he or she will 
be able to be subjected to. We do not consider now the degrees of 
temperature, if the climate is free from moisture, as the patient can 
be properly clothed and be allowed to remain out of doors all day. 
The high altitude recommended is also beneficial because the patient 
is obliged to take deep breaths, thus being obliged to exercise his 
lungs. 

Colorado and certain parts of Arizona and New Mexico in the 
United States, portions of Switzerland which have an elevation of 
four to five thousand feet above sea level, and San Moritz, abroad, 
are examples of suitable places. 

Before leaving the subject, and for the encouragement of those 
affected, from the latest statistics at command, sixty per cent, of 
early cases have been discharged well from the Adirondacks Cottage 
Sanitorium. 

Trudeau, the eminent authority of the United States, reports that 
one-third of all the cases under his observation during the past seven¬ 
teen years are well and that two-thirds of the earlier cases are cured 
at the present time. Thirty years ago physicians thought that 
only two per cent, of the cases were curable. 

Sea voyages are now not recommended, with the dampness natu¬ 
rally attending the trip, the lack of comfort on the steamer, the short 
length of time consumed by the trip, its compulsory confinement and 
the inability to eat nourishing food, if seasickness is present, all 
weigh against this treatment; in fact, from what has been said, if 
common sense is used a great improvement can be expected at, or 
within a reasonable distance of, the patient’s home. 


284 


DISEASES OF THE CHEST. 


Numerous other modes of exercise may be resorted to with advan¬ 
tage. Dumb-bells, adapted in size to the strength of the patient, 
and used with caution, are highly serviceable. The battledoor, the 
football, bicycle riding, pitching quoits, and the athletic sports of the 
gymnasium, all have their appropriate place. The greater the variety 
the better, as by it all parts of the system are brought into play, and 
both the mind and the muscles get the change which they need. 

It is hard to impress patients with the importance of this subject. 
Say what you will, they somehow or other get the idea that a mod¬ 
erate amount of exercise, taken when they feel like it, is all that is 
required. Fatal mistake ! Whatever the physician may do, the pa¬ 
tient has a great deal to do for himself. He must strive to develop 
his physical powers to the utmost. He must train himself as runners 
and fighters do when preparing for their surprising feats; for he is 
running against the swiftest disease (or the surest winner) of our cli¬ 
mate, and fighting with the elements. 

If he regards life as not worth this exertion, of course he will not 
make it; but I beg him to consider that without it recovery will be 
uncertain, and in many cases, impossible. Do as I have directed, and 
if your medical attendant is skilful, the current of health will, in 
many cases, begin to flow back to you. Life will renew to you its 
policy of insurance, and multiply your days. 

Drugs. — Tonics and bitters to help the appetite, iron, strychnine, 
quinine in very small doses as a tonic; of the heart supporters digi¬ 
talis may be given when indicated and used carefully under the 
advice of a physician, cough sedatives of which, perhaps, the most 
useful is one which may now be obtained at all drug stores, is the 
Elixir of Terpin hydrate with heroin in the dose of a teaspoonful 
four or five times a day. 

Travelling;— Consumptive patients have generally been sent to a 
southern climate. But where the case involves dyspepsia and affec¬ 
tions of the liver, low latitudes are generally unfriendly. Liver com¬ 
plaints are the bane of a southern climate, and a sallow complexion is 
the inheritance of a southerner. 

Tuhercular persons, chilled by our northern climate, are sometimes 
temporarily relieved by the warmer atmosphere of the south. But 
the relief is only temporary; for, having lost the power, as they im¬ 
agine, to bear the frowns of our northern sky, they are dying, and 
will die anywhere unless they recover this power. And the way to 
retrieve a lost advantage over an enemy, is, not to retreat to a point 
where recovery will be harder, but to meet him at once. If the con¬ 
stitution cannot bear up against an enemy under the bracing of a 
northern atmosphere, it will be still harder to do so under the wilting 
of a southern. ® 

After all, the objects aimed at should be change and travelling. 
The exercise involved, the constant exertion required in getting from 


DISEASES OF THE CHEST. 


285 


place to place, the agreeable sensations produced by the motion of 
cars and steamboats, the ever varying change of sights and sounds, 
and the constantly increasing stock of one’s ideas of men and things, 
— these are what rally the constitution, and open anew the springs 
of life. 

Especially should all journeys for health be taken, if possible, with 
an object in view. Let the consumptive start with the view of see¬ 
ing the cave of Kentucky, the prairies of the West, the great lakes 
of the North, the falls of Niagara, the fortress of Quebec, the Sague¬ 
nay river, the doctor, who he has reason to think will cure him, — 
anything which he is willing to make exertion to see, and that he is 
sure his eyes will rejoice in beholding. 

I have thus spoken of consumption more at large than of other 
complaints, because it is the great disease of the world, and is in¬ 
creasing with the advancement of civilization. 


Acute Bronchitis. 

This is an acute inflammation of the mucous membrane lining the 
air-tubes in the lungs. It is generally quite a serious disease. 

Physical Signs. — The sound upon percussion is generally good. 
If there be any dullness, it is commonly in the lower and back part 
of the chest. This occurs only in “ Capillary Bronchitis.” 

The breathing murmurs are sometimes more, sometimes less in¬ 
tense than natural. Occasionally they are almost extinct. 

In the early stage, sibilous and loud rattles. 

In the more advanced stage, mucous rattle. 

Now and then sub-crepitant rattle accompanies the inward-drawn 
breath. 

General Symptoms. — The disease begins with chills followed by 
fever; tightness across the chest, difficulty of breathing, hoarseness, 
loss of strength, costive bowels, and a quick and hard pulse. Water 
runs from the eyes and nostrils, and there is a dry, harsh, croupy 
cough. 

After a few days, mucus begins to be raised. This expectoration 
gradually becomes more copious, and is opaque, yellowish, or green¬ 
ish, and occasionally streaked with blood. This mucus is very ropy 
and adheres to the vessel. 

There is more or less pain in the chest; pain across the forehead, 
which is increased by coughing; and a pale and anxious countenance. 

In severe cases, the tightness across the chest is extreme, with a 
sense of suffocation, causing the patient to call for the opening of 
the windows. There is great difficulty of breathing; a paleness and 
lividity of the cheeks and lips; a loud wheezing and rattling in the 
throat, followed by cold sweat, insensibility and death. 

In children the disease comes on like a common cold, attended by 


286 


DISEASES OF THE CHEST. 


a sore throat, a great desire to drink, but a disinclination to take 
food. But two or three swallows of diink can be taken at a time 
for want of breath. The phlegm is frequently vomited up spom 
taneously. 

Observations. — The loud and sibilous rattles are produced by 
similar causes, namely, the passage of air along tubes whose interior 
is dry and rough from inflammation, or whose calibre is contracted or 
altered in form by the swelling of the membrane, effusion upon its 
inner surface of a tough, mucous substance, or a pressure upon its 
external surface of tubercles, swollen glands, aneuiLmal tumors, 
etc. The two sounds differ mainly in the key upon which they are 
pitched,— the sonorous, or low-kejed, coming fiom the larger tubes; 
the sibilous, or high-keyed, from the smaller, — just as the low notes 
of an oigan come from the large pipes, and the high notes from the 
small ones. 

Causes. — It is generally brought on by a sudden cold, by changes 
of the weather, and by inhaling irritating substances. It is a second^ 
ary result, too, of scarlet fever, measles, small-pox, hooping cough, 
and the remittent fever of infants. 

Treatment. — In mild cases, give warm balm or flax-seed tea, hot 
lemonade, or other similar drinks, — at the same time soaking the 
feet ill hot water, and, on retiring to bed, apply bottles of hot water 
to the feet and sides, to produce sweating. If the bowels be costive, 
some gentle physic, as rhubarb and magnesia, or salts and senna, may 
be taken. 

Chloride of ammonia in teaspoonful doses diluted in water and 
citrate of potassium in 10 to 20 grain doses, or better still, a mix¬ 
ture of 

Chloride of ammonia, 3 drachms or teaspoonfuls. 

Citrate of potassium, 4 “ 

Compound licorice mixture, 3 ounces. 

Shake the bottle. 

Take of the above, one teaspoonful diluted with water every three 
hours. 

In the case of infants, an emetic of wine of ipecac, or compound 
tincture of lobelia, should be given, and followed with slippery elm 
tind flax-seed tea. The compound tincture of lobelia, with tincture 
of veratruni viride, may be continued for a time as an expectorant. 

In more severe cases, both of adults and children, an active emetic 
is required, — perhaps the compound powder of lobelia is as good as 
any. This must be followed with tinctuie of veratrum viride, in full 

doses, so as to reduce the pulse at once, and keep it "down to the 

natural standard. This is one of the very best articles in this conn 
plaint, and will generally very much lessen its violence and duration. 

If there is much difficulty of breathing, the air of the room must 
be kept moist, as recommended in croup. 


DISEASES OF THE CHEST. 


287 


The room should also be kept warm, -— decidedly warmer than in 
the case of other fevers. 

A gentle perspiration should be kept up by small doses of com¬ 
pound tincture of Virginia snake-root, and by frequently bathing the 
surface, or else by tincture of veratrum. 

Mustard should be applied to the chest, and to the soles of the feet. 

The cough may be managed by preparations (104), (106), (110), 
freely given. 

The diet should be confined to barley-water, toast-water, apple- 
water, rice-water, and a solution of gum-arabic. 


Chronic Bronchitis. 

This is an inflammation of the mucous membrane of the air-tubes, 
which continues a great length of time, without any sudden or re¬ 
markable changes. 

Physical Signs. — The percussion-sounds are similar to those of 
acute bronchitis. When a bronchial tube is dilated, we sometimes 
have dullness around the dilated part. 

The breathing murmur is always accompanied by a mucous, sono¬ 
rous, or sibilant rattle, — sometimes by a subcrepitant. 

When dilatation of the tubes exists, the intensity and duration of 
the sound of the ingoing breath is decreased^ — of the outgoing 
increased. 

In this state of the tubes, we also have cavernous breathing, bron¬ 
chophony, sometimes pectoriloquy, and bronchial or cavernous cough. 

General Symptoms. — A cough is generally present, which is in¬ 
creased in wet weather, and by every slight cold. This comes on in 
paroxysms; is generally worse in the morning; and is relieved by 
raising freely. The matter raised is generally yellowish, but some¬ 
times whitish and sticky; and in the latter stages is thick, and 
sometimes very much like that of consumption. Indeed, the disease 
often ends in bronchial consumption. 

Remarks. — The breathing is bronchial or cavernous when the 
dilated portion of the tube is empty; if it contain fluid, the 
mucous rattle will be heard. 

Dullness on percussion will exist if a dilated tube press upon the 
surrounding portion of lung so as to condense or make it solid. 

Dilatation of the tubes occurs only in chronic bronchitis of long 
standing. Its physical signs are much like those of a cavity in ad¬ 
vanced consumption. The examiner may learn to distinguish them 
by considering that in consumption, dullness precedes the cavity^ while 
in bronchial dilatations, the cavity precedes dullness. 

The dilatation or swelling out at some point of a bronchial tube 
is caused by obstructions to the passage of air through it, — just as 


288 


DISEASES OF THE CHEST. 


an India-rubber tube, partially closed up at a given point, will bulge 
out just in front of the obstructed place, when air is forcibly blown 
through it, and just as the left ventricle of the heart enlarges when 
the blood is obstructed in its passage through the aortic valve. 

Causes. — It often occurs as the result of acute bronchitis, and 
also of measles, hooping-cough, etc. But taking cold, and damp and 
changeable weather, are more frequently its causes. It most often 
follows chronic inflammations of the throat, which, being neglected, 
gradually creep down the windpipe into the tubes, and become very 
obstinate in their character. 

Treatment. — Medicinal inhalation is one of the best remedies for 
this complaint. The inhaling powder has, in many cases, great 
efficiency. The dose is about what can lie on a ten-cent piece. It 
should be used once a day, in an instrument represented in the cut. 

This instrument I had constructed for my use. It consists mainly 

of a glass tube and a receiver, — 
the latter being something like a 
tube-vial, pierced with fine holes 
around the lower end. The pow¬ 
der is poured into the receiver, 
which is placed in the larger tube, 
and twirled between the thumb and finger while inhaling. 

When the powder cannot be easily got down into the tubes in the 
lungs, — as often happens, — the inhalation of medicated vapor will 
do better. If the expectoration be difficult, the expectorant inhalant, 
described under “ consumption,” should be used; if the expectoration 
be too profuse and free, the astringent inhalant must be taken. 

The cough preparations recommended for consumption, also (113), 
(112), will be the proper ones in this complaint. 

The daily alkaline bath, and brisk friction, are particularly service¬ 
able. 

Out-door exercise is almost as necessary in this disease as in con¬ 
sumption. 

Enlargement of the Air-Cells. — Emphysema, 

This disease consists in enlargement of the air-cells, the oblitera¬ 
tion of their vessels, and the wasting of their walls. 

Physical 5is:ns. — Thumping upon the chest gives a clearer and 
louder sound than natural, — one which is tympanitic, or drum-head 
like. 

The murmur of the ingoing breath is diminished both in duration 
and intensity, — of the outgoing breath, it is increased. 

Dry, crepitant rattle attends the ingoing breath only: occasionally, 
sibilous rattle. 




Fig. 94. 










DISEASES OF THE CHEST. 


289 


General Symptoms. — Habitual shortness of breath, and very 
great difficulty of breathing, occurring in paroxysms, which cause 
the patient to rush to the open window for air. 

There is generally a cough, and the matter raised is frothy, liquid, 
and mucous, or watery. 

The face has a peculiar dusky color, and the countenance an anx¬ 
ious, melancholy expression. The nostrils are thick, and the lower 
lip full. The muscles of the neck are large, and the gait of the pa¬ 
tient is stooping. The strength is wasted in proportion to the diffi¬ 
culty of breathing. 

Emphysema tends to produce disease of the heart, Bright’s disease, 
and venous congestions in the head. 

Observations.—The tympanitic sound is caused by the increased 
amount of air in the cells. 

The air-cells have lost their elasticity, the air, in a great degree, 
remains in ihem^ — not passing in and out, — hence the absence of the 
vesicular murmur. 

The crepitant rattle attends the ingoing breath only, and is sup¬ 
posed to arise from the expansion of the lungs which are in a drier 
state than natural. It has been compared to the sound producd by 
blowing into a dried bladder. 

Treatment. — To whatever extent the air-cells are destroyed, to 
that extent, of course, the disease is incurable. It may, however, be 
palliated and relieved to a great extent. 

Generally, bronchitis exists in connection with emphysema; and 
when this is found to be the case, the remedies for that disease must 
be employed. (370) often is curative. 

The inhalation of tincture of stramonium, in one or two teaspoon¬ 
ful doses, the same as the alterative inhalant is used, will be useful. 

To be taken internally, an excellent preparation may be made by 
uniting one dram of etheral tincture of lobelia with two drams of 
tincture of ipecac, and two ounces of ammoniac mixture. The dose 
is one or two tablespoonfuls. Half-grain to grain doses of extract of 
cannabis indica are excellent to relieve the difficulty of breathing. 

The diet must be very carefully regulated, as overindulgence at the 
table aggravates the symptoms. 

Change of air is often highly beneficial; but it is impossible to 
predict its effect beforehand in each individual case. 

Swelling of the Lungs. — Hypertrophy of the Lungs, 

This can hardly be regarded as a disease. It generally takes place 
in but one lung, and is the result of the inaction of the other. Thus, 
when one lung is diseased, the other has to do the work of both; and 
being overworked, it enlarges, as the heart or an arm does when very 
much exercised. 


290 


DISEASES OF THE CHEST. 


The only treatment required is to eat sparingly, and exercise with 
great moderation, so as not to increase the rapidity of the breathing. 


Pulmonary Apoplexy. 

This is generally the result of a disease of the heart, particularly 
of the mitral valve. 

Physical Signs. — Percussion yields a clear sound, except where 
the engorgement of blood is large, and near the surface, — in which 
case, it is dull. 

The sound of breathing is feeble or absent over a limited space. 

Bronchial breathing is heard in some places, and bronchophony in 
part, in the same regions. 

Mucous rattle is also heard. 

Observations. —In this disease the small air-tubes and air-cells are 
the seat of bleeding; and the blood becoming coagulated here, closes 
these vessels against the entrance of air. This explains the feeble¬ 
ness or absence of the breathing murmur. 

The fluidity of blood in the immediate vicinity gives rise to the 
mucous rattle. 

General Symptoms. — These are, difficulty of breathing, tightness, 
and dull pain in the chest. The mucus raised is tinged or streaked 
with blood. The blood raised is darkish, and dirty-looking. This 
last symptom, the dirty look of the blood, is peculiar in this disease. 

Treatment. — The most important remedy is dry-cupping upon the 
chest. This will often arrest the disease at once. Counter-irritation 
by croton-oil is also useful. A free movement of the bowels by a 
preparation containing croton-oil, or elaterium (31), (33), has an ex¬ 
cellent effect. 

Air in the Chest. — Pneumothorax, 

This disease consists in the presence of air in the cavity of the 
pleura. Generally, there is also water in the pleural sac at the same 
time ; the water, being the heavier fluid, occupying the lower part of 
the cavity, and the air the upper part. 

Physical Signs. — Tympanitic or drum-like sound over the upper 
part of the side. Dull sound over the lower part. Breathing mur¬ 
mur diminished or suppressed. Amphoric breathing. Metallic tink¬ 
ling. 

General Symptoms. — Great oppression of the chest, and difficulty 
of breathing; generally attended by palpitation of the heart, and fre¬ 
quently by severe pain under the breast-bone, on the affected side. 
The patient generally has to remain in the sitting posture, and can¬ 
not lie an instant on the sound side. 


DISEASES OF THE CHEST. 


291 


If, on percussion, one side of the chest sounds louder than the 
other and the breathing murmur is heard distinctly on the side which 
gives only a moderate sound, and is not heard at all on the loud- 
sounding side, we may be sure it is a case of air in the chest. 

Observations. — The metallic tinkling is like the sound produced 
by dropping a pin’s head into a metallic dish, or like the distant tink¬ 
ling of a sheep-bell, or the gentle pulling of the string of a violin. 

It is supposed that when the fluid in the cavity of the pleura hap¬ 
pens to be higher than the oriflce, the air, when it enters at each 
in-drawn breath, forces its way up through the fluid, in the shape of 
bubbles, and, bursting at the surface, gives the tinkling sound. This 
sound is sometimes produced, too, by the falling of drops cf liquid 
from the upper part of the cavity, upon the surface of the fluid. 

The amphoric breathing is like the sound produced by blowing 
obliquely into an empty cask. One writer says he heard the same 
sound when out shooting on a rough day, produced by the wind blow¬ 
ing sideways into the gun-barrel. 

Treatment.— I would recommend the use, two or three times a 
day, of the antiseptic inhalant, mentioned under the head of con¬ 
sumption. 

To this should be added dry-cupping over the whole chest, which 
generally gives great relief. Blisters may also be used. 

Sweating must be encouraged in the manner recommended under 
acute bronchitis. 

For the difficulty of breathing, give half-grain doses of cannabis 
indica, or five-drop doses of tincture of aconite, or one-sixth of a 
grain doses of svapnia. Extract of belladonna, or of stramonium, is 
also worthy of trial. 

Water in the Chest. — Hydrothorax. 

This disease consists in a collection of water in the cavity of the 
pleura. 

Physical Signs.— There is a dull sound over the effusion. 

The breathing murmur is diminished, and gradually disappears 
altogether over the space occupied by the effusion. 

Bronchial breathing is heard in the same part. 

When the amount of fluid is small, egophony is heard in the mid¬ 
dle regions of the chest. 

Bronchophony is heard when the effusion is larger. 

General Symptoms.— Either upon lying down, or using active 
bod ly exercise, the patient finds his difficulty of breathing increased. 
When in bed, he lies with his head and shoulders raised, which, by 
causing the fluid to settle at the bottom of the cavity, prevents, in a 
measure, its pressure upon the lungs, and gives him a little rest. 


292 


DISEASES OF THE CHEST. 


His sleep is interrupted by sudden starts with alarm and terror. The 
pulse is hard, the thirst great, the urine scanty and high-coloi-ed, and 
has a sediment. After a time the feet swell, the face is pallid and 
livid, and the countenance expresses anxiety and alarm. There is a 
short, dry cough. 

When the quantit}^ of fluid in the chest becomes large, the patient 
cannot lie down at all, and only gets short and disturbed naps in the 
sitting posture. 

Of all the symptoms, the starting in sleep is the most certain sign 
of the disease. 

Causes.— In some rare cases, this may occur as a primary disease, 
— that is, as a disease not dependent upon any other as its cause. 
The greater number of cases, however, are secondary. They arise 
from organic disease of the heart, or liver, or stomach. Inflammation 
of the pleura is a very frequent cause. 

A plethoric, or full state of the system, predisposes to this com¬ 
plaint,— particularly in those persons who indulge freely at the 
table. 

It may arise, too, from the striking in of skin eruptions; from the 
free use of liquors; and from fre.quent excessive bleedings or purg¬ 
ings. 

Treatment.— Dry-cupping is a valuable remedy, and should al¬ 
ways be practised. 

The chest should be painted with the tincture of iodine, and a 
good degree of substantial soreness be kept up. 

The internal remedies are purges (31), (14), (30), and diuretics 
(123), (129), (130), (131) when the patient is not very weak. 

The iodide of potassium, in doses of five or six grains, once in 
three or four hours, is an excellent remedy. The following is a good 
form of taking it; iodide of potassium, one ounce; fluid extract of 
pipsissewa, two ounces; water, half a pint. Dose, one teaspoonful. 

The skin should be bathed and rubbed daily, three or four times, 
with much friction. Tapping the chest should be done when the 
fluid persists any length of time, otherwise a simple hydrothorax may 
become a doubly serious empyema or pus in the chest. 

Pleurisy. — Pleuritis, 

Pleurisy, or pleurisy fever, as it is sometimes called, is an in¬ 
flammation of the pleura, or the membrane which lines the chest, 
and, at the same time, is folded back so as to cover the outer surface 
of the lungs. 

The pleura, as is elsewhere explained, is a short sac or bag, whose 
inner sides are kept moist, so that they may slide easily upon each 
other as they are moved by the alternate contractions and expansions 
of the lungs in the act of breathing, and whose outer sides are made 
to grow, — one to the inside of the chest, and the other to the out¬ 
side of the lungs. 


DISEASES OF THE CHEST. 


293 


Pleurisy and lung-fever, then, must be kindred diseases, and exist, 
more or less, together. In truth there is almost always some affec¬ 
tion of the pleura in lung-fever, and some affection of the lungs in 
pleurisy. The pain in lung-fever is owing to some inflammation of 
the pleura; and the appearance of the rusty-colored phlegm in pleu¬ 
risy indicates that the lungs have been reached by the inflammation 
of the membrane which covers them. 

Physical Signs.— Flatness on percussion, at the lower part of the 
chest, which ascends as the effusion of water increases. 

If the effused fluid is not great, there is puerile breathing at the 
top of the lung. 

Friction sound is heard occasionally in first stage of disease. 

Egophony is heard when the amount of fluid in the pleura is 
small. 

As the amount of water increases, bronchophony appears. 

General Symptoms. — This disease is most frequently introduced 
by shiverings^ which are soon succeeded by high fever, with a pecu¬ 
liarly hard, resisting pulse; sharp, stabbing pain in the side,—gener¬ 
ally just below the nipple, but sometimes extending to the shoulder, 
arm-pit, and back;’hurried and interrupted breathing; and a short, 
dry cough. 

The pain is greatly aggravated by motion, coughing, or an attempt 
to take a long breath. It holds the patient under constant and 
powerful restraint. We find him lying upon his back, or his well 
side; his countenance full of anxiety, — fearing to move, cough, or 
even breathe needlessly; and often crying out from the keen torture 
these necessary acts inflict in spite of all his caution. 

At a more advanced stage, when the tenderness has somewhat 
abated, he will prefer to lie on the diseased side, as this leaves the 
h-ealthy lung more at liberty. 

Observations. — The first effect of the inflammation of the pleura 
is to dry up the moisture with which its inner surfaces are lubricated, 
or made smooth and slippery. As a consequence, these surfaces be¬ 
come rough, and rub harshly upon each other, and produce a sound, 
in the early stages of pleurisy, like that of rubbing two pieces of wet 
leather together. It may be imitated by rubbing the finger back and 
forth upon a table. It is sometimes a creaking noise, like that of 
new shoes. 

As the disease advances an important change takes place in the 
state of things. Instead of an unnatural dryness, a watery fluid is 
poured out copiously from the inflamed surfaces of the pleural sac. 
This is called the period of effusion. This generally, though not al¬ 
ways, relieves the pain. But, by compressing the lung, causes dan¬ 
gerous difficulty of breathing. 

The air-cells are compressed' by the effused fluid, and are not 
penetrated by air. Hence the absence of the breathing murmur. 


294 


DISEASES OF THE CHEST. 


The pouring out of water between the layers of the pleura, com¬ 
presses the Inng, and removes it from the walls of the chest. Hence 
the dullness or deadness of sound upon percussion. 

When listening with the stethoscope, the voice of the patient 
sounds feeble and interrupted, like the bleating of a goat, and is 
hence termed, egophony^ or goat-voice. 

This peculiar voice is heard only when the effusion of water has 
been moderate in quantity, and only a thin layer of liquid lies be¬ 
tween the ribs and lung. It is caused by the voice passing over tliis 
thin layer, which is thereby thrown into vibration%^ or wavy, quivering 
motions. When thus agitated, the fluid reacts upon the voice, 
making it sharp and tremulous. 

When the effusion has become large, these effects cease; but an¬ 
other sign then shows itself, and distinguishes pleurisy from the 
healthy state, and likewise from the solid, hepatized state of the 
lung in lung-fever. It may be discovered thus: 

If the hand be laid flat upon the chest of a healthy person, while 
he is speaking, a vibration or thrill will be left. If, in like manner, 
the hand be laid upon the chest of a person having lung-fever, with 
hepatized lung, this thrill will be found still more perceptible. But 
Avhen the hand is placed over the place of wately effusion on the 
chest of a person having pleurisy, there will be discovered, when the 
person speaks, no thrill whatever. The absence of this thrill,, then,, is 
one of the very best signs of pleurisy with effusion. 

Persons recover from pleurisy sometimes very rapidly, before effu¬ 
sion has taken place. It is then said they have had an attack of dry 
pleurisy. When liquid has been poured out, even in considerable 
quantity, it is sometimes reabsorbed, and the patient recovers per¬ 
fectly. In other instances, it compresses the lungs, interferes seri¬ 
ously with breathing, reduces his strength, and he sinks rapidly. 

Treatment. — Pleurisy has been divided for description and treat¬ 
ment into three stages, following the natural events of the inflamma¬ 
tion. The first stage comprises the period from the first onset to the 
time when effusion commences. The second stage, or stage of effu¬ 
sion, extends to the time when the liquid begins to diminish; and 
the third stage consists of the period occupied by the absorption of 
the liquid. 

Should the quantity remain stationary or diminish very slowly 
after the lapse of two or three weeks, the disease becomes chronic. 

The indication for treatment during the first stage is to arrest the 
progress of the disease, to diminish its intensity, to limit the amount 
of morbid products, and to relieve suffering. 

If the patient is robust, has a hard, frequent pulse, accompanied 
with extreme pain and fever, blood-letting is indicated. The abstrac¬ 
tion of ten to fifteen ounces of blood will give great relief and 
diminish the intensity of the attack; but if the patient is not seen 
early, and is of a feeble constitution, some other measures should be 


DISEASES OF THE CHEST. 


295 


substituted for it. The mass of blood may be lessened by saline 
cathartics, such as the sulphate of magnesia, or the bitartrate of 
potash in combination with jalap. 

The effect of a full dose of Epsom salts is equal to the abstraction 
of a pint of blood from the system. Depletion is obtained this way 
without the impoverishment of the blood. 

The frequency and force of the heart’s action may also be affected 
by the nauseant sedatives, such as tartarized antimony and ipecacu¬ 
anha, and by the direct sedatives, such as the tincture of aconite and 
of veratrum viride; therefore, if blood-letting is contra-indicated, the 
first thing to be done is to give the sulphate of magnesia, and follow 
it with some diaphoretic like (130), to alleviate the painful stitch in 
the side and to tranquillize the system. 

It is well to administer salicylate of soda in 10-grain doses every 
three hours till a little ringing is heard in the ears, then once in four 
hours. This drug increases the action of the skin and kidneys and 
overcomes the rheumatic element present in most if not all pleurisies. 
The diet should be dry, all liquids being excluded, that the abstrac¬ 
tion of water from the chest may be favored. 

Nothing gives so much and such immediate relief to pain as a 
subcutaneous injection of morphine. Aconite also is a valuable 
sedative in this stage. It may be given in half or whole-drop doses 
every fifteen minutes for two hours; then afterwards a drop, to be 
repeated hourly till some impression is made upon the heart’s action. 
Smaller doses are to be given if the pulse becomes feeble. 

In the second stage, if the acute symptoms have yielded to treat¬ 
ment, as they usually do, the object of treatment is to promote the 
absorption of the fluid. This is done by the judicious use of saline 
cathartics and by diuretics, for the bowels and the kidneys are the 
natural pumps of the system. 

The application of counter-irritants is also of use for this purpose, 
such as the tincture of iodine, and small blisters, which* are to be 
allowed to remain on till vesication, and then the blister is to be 
dried up and a new one applied. If at any time during this stage 
the effusion is rapid and excessive, so as to endanger life, it is to 
be drawn off by puncturing the chest between the fifth and sixth 
ribs on the side with a small trocar, and the fluid is to be drawn off 
by suction. 

Convalescence commences when the liquid begins to be absorbed; 
and active medication should then cease, and that course should be 
pursued which will lead to the restoration of the general health. 
This is done by tonics, a nutritious diet, and other hygienic means. 
If the effusion ceases to be absorbed or the process takes place very 
slowly, then that state of things exists which is called chronic pleu¬ 
risy. Then the main objects of treatment are to effect the removal 
of the fluid, and to develop and sustain the powers of the system. 
Under these circumstances, it is better to discontinue remedies which 
act upon the bowels and kidneys, at least for a time, and try general 


296 


DISEASES OF THE CHEST. 


treatment. This consists of tonics, stimulants, and general exercise 
in the open air, and with this the surgical removal of the fluids from 
the cavity of the chest. 

The operation is now so much improved, and is so safe and simple 
and attended with so little pain, that it has become an every-day 
practice, and an operation which was only resorted to as an extreme 
measure to save life, is now admissible whenever the pleural cavity 
remains filled with liquid, after only a brief trial of the remedies 
assigned to promote absorption. 

Lung Fever. — Pneumonia, 

This disease, by common usage, has been called a fever ; but by 
physicians it is reckoned as one of the inflammations. It is inflamma¬ 
tion of the lungs or lights ; and whatever fever there may be results 
entirely from this local inflammation. 

For the purpose of more clearly describing this complaint, it is 
found convenient to divide it into three stages, or degrees of progress. 

First Stage. — This is called the stage of engorgement. The lungs 
during this stage are engorged or crowded with blood. If we could 
inspect them, we should find the inflamed portion redder., thicker., and 
heavier than usual. We should find them weaker, that is, more 
easily torn than in the natural state; with less air in them, and con¬ 
sequently crackling less upon pressure, — yet not entirely destitute 
of air and crackling, and not so heavy as to sink in water. Eapping 
upon the chest at this period gives out a flatter, duller, or less hollow 
sound than usual. On applying the stethoscope, we hear less of the 
natural rustling sound of health; and, either mingling with, or over¬ 
coming it, we hear a minute crackling sound, as the air passes in and 
out in breathing. 

This crackling has been compared to that produced by fine salt 
thrown upon red-hot coals; or by that of rubbing a lock of fine hair 
between the thumb and finger near the ear. It is caused by small 
bubbles of air being forced along the moist and sticky sides of the 
small tubes and air-cells. It is heard only while the breath is being 
drawn in. 

Second Stage. —If the inflammation advances to the second stage, 
the swelling of the diseased lung increases so as to force out the air 
entirely, and it becomes solid., and wholly useless for the purpose of 
breathing. In solidity and general appearance, it resembles a piece 
of liver. Hence it is said to be hepatized., or liverized; and this is 
called the stage of hepatization. 

As the lung grows more solid, its vitality and strength diminish; 
it is not near as strong as a piece of healthy liver, though it looks 
like it; it is soft and easily broken; indeed it seems to be in a state 
of commencing decay or rottenness. Hence some writers, in order 
to be more precisely correct, call this the stage of red softening. 


DISEASES OF THE CHEST. 


297 


With increased solidity, there is of course increased dullness on 
percussion. When the stethoscope is applied to the chest, we hear 
no sound of air passing into and out of the diseased lung; no natural 
rustling, or minute craclding; but in their stead, we have a kind of 
whistling, produced by the air passing back and forth in the wind¬ 
pipe and its branches, but finding no entrance into the solidified air- 
cells. The breathing sometimes sounds like a sort of puff, — owing 
to the column of air rebounding when refused admission to the 
closed-up cells. 

The general symptoms now increase in severity. There is greater 
difficulty of breathing; the phlegm is more gluey; perhaps some 
delirium shows itself; and the patient grows weaker. 

Third Stage. — At this period, the lung changes from red hepa¬ 
tization or red softening to gray hepatization or gray softening^ and 
matter is now found diffused through its whole substance. The 
percussion sounds are much the same as in the second stage. On 
listening, we hear more of the rattling sound produced by disturbed 
phlegm. The matter raised is thinner, — more like liquid; and 
looks like prune-juice. The symptoms generally indicate that the 
patient is sinking. Patients may recover from the first and second 
stages, but rarely from the third. 

Symptoms—For several days before the disease is pronounced 
enough to make the patient appear very sick there is a general discom¬ 
fort of the principal air passages, especially the nose ^and throat, in 
fact, a great many cases of pneumonia follow a so-called cold, which 
has been present for two or three weeks. In others, and in this 
disease perhaps the first symptom to be noticed is a chill, mild or 
severe, which has no influence upon the severity of the disease that 
is to follow. Following this chill comes the fever and usually the^ 
so-called pluritic pain over some portion of either lung, many times 
it appears to be over the nipple of the side affected, or it may appear in 
the lower chest or even in the back. Shortness of breath caused by the 
pain when a deep inhalation is attempted then appears, and though the 
pain in the chest may diminish, which is frequently the case, fever and 
shortness of breath continues; the appetite leaves, thirst appears to a 
greater or less extent, the bowels are usually sluggish, the flush shows 
on the cheeks and a distressed, hacking cough, suppressed if causing 
too much pain, and the raising of a scanty, dark reddish phlegm, 
which, when expectorated into a vessel has a tendency to stick to 
the sides, and does not flow freely like saliva. The disease rapidly 
assumes a severe condition, and in favorable cases remains about 
the same for five to eight days. During these days mentioned, the 
so-called crisis occurs, which is the sudden dropping of the tempera¬ 
ture from 102 to 104 at which height it has been, down to the normal, 
which is 98J degrees. The respiration during these times is rapid 
and short. The sickness of the patient progressively increases the 

f 


298 


DISEASES OF THE CHEST. 


pulse which is around 100 to 130. The mind is many times clouded, 
especially in children or those addicted to liquor. 

Treatment.—It is well to understand that in this most serious 
disease the best care and maintenance of strength is absolutely 
required. There are a certain number of cases that will die m spito 
of the best treatment that can be obtained, another number will 
get welJ if not given the wrong treatment or neglected, but a large 
middle class between these two extremes will need careful treatment 
to carry them through to recovery. There can be no absolute routine 
treatment in pneumonia, as the condition of the patient will demand 
how much stimulation is needed and what degree of lung tissue is 
affected. In the early stages of pneumonia, some depressant to the 
increased circulation which will be seen by the rapid beat of the 
pulse, IS needed a tincture of aconite or of veratum viride in one 
drop doses repeated every half hour until five or eight doses have 
been given. Although the temperature will be increased at this 
time, a hot mustard foot bath will help the aconite in its action and 
relieve temporarily the congestion of the lung. If violent pain in 
the chest, due to pleurisy is present, small doses of Dover’s powder 
which may be obtained at drug stores and which consists of ipecac 
which IS a sweat producer, and morphine which is a pain quieter, 
and the combination of these two, act most happily upon the system 
in this condition. Thus 5 to 10 grains of Dover’s powders repeated 
if the pain continues, every three or four hours will often give great 
relief. This remedy must be used only during the first two or three 
days, as later on they will only tend to further depress the heart, 
which may by this time be showing the effect of the disease. It will 
now be necessary to see that the eliminating organs of the body, such 
as the bowels, the kidneys and the lungs are kept m a state of active 
work, an expectorant such as the prescription recommended under 
bronchitis consisting of chloride of ammonia, citrate of potash and 
licorice mixture will enable the patient to raise the phlegm and the 
citrate of potash will exert a favorable action of the kidneys. 
It then remains for us to keep the heart in as good condition as 
possible, care being taken not to over-stimulate as the chances are 
good tor all the stimulants we possess to be needed before the patient 
is through the crisis. This is done by the use of strychnia, the 
most favorable and digitalis and alcohol in the form of whiskey and 
brandy m the order named. Strychnia may be given on the second 
and third days, or if not needed then, when the acceleration of the 
pulse to above 110 renders it necessary. The dosage may be at first 
1-bO of a gTam tour times a day; when this dose ceases to hold the 
pulse at 110 the dose may be increased to 1-40 of a gram every four 
hours, and even later again increased to 1-30 or even 1-20 of a gram, 
but of course, these later doses only on the advice of the 'physician who has 


DISEASES OF THE CHEST. 


299 


taken charge of the case. Whiskey or brandy in tablespoon doses for 
adult every four to six hours will be of temporary service in tiding 
the patient over attacks of heart failure. Digitalis in the form of 
tincture given in doses of 10 drops three, four or five times during 
twenty-four hours may be needed after the third, fourth or fifth days. 
The fever will often rise to 103 or 104 degrees and remain at this 
point, but as the disease will turn sometime between the fifth and 
eighth or ninth days we do not have to use strenuous measures to 
reduce the fever unless the patient is very nervous or delirious. In 
this latter case tepid or cool water sponging will often relieve the ner¬ 
vous troubles by reducing the fever and enabling the patient to sleep 
without artificial aid. A jacket made of sheet-wadding and kept about 
the chest is a good precaution if constant care of a nurse is not given. 
This will often tend to reduce congestion and surely keeps the chest 
from exposure to changes in temperature, should the patient throw 
off the clothes. In emergencies which may occur at any time during 
the course of the disease and to be watched for especially at the crisis 
or turn of the disease, the aromatic spirits of ammonia in half tea¬ 
spoonful doses diluted with water may be given evpry hour for the 
stimulating effect. Oxygen is often of value though many times used 
without effect. It will quiet labored breathing to some extent and 
supply the blood with a necessary article which the consolidation in 
the lung IS withholding from it. As soon as possible withdraw what 
unnecebsary stimulation is being given and through the convalescence 
give the expectorant mixture and nourish well with eggs, broth, milk 
and light but concentrated articles of diet. 

Typhoid Lung Fever. — Typhoid Pneumonia, 

This is an inflammation of the lungs, differing from the preceding 
only in the character of the fever attending it, which is of a low, 
typhoid character. The disease, like typhoid fever, is characterized 
by great debility and prostration. 

Symptoms. —These are a combination of the symptoms of pneu¬ 
monia and of typhoid fever. The disease begins with great weari¬ 
ness, lassitude, dizziness, pain in the head, back, and limbs. Soon 
there is much difficulty of breathing, tightness across the chest, with 
a dry, short, hacking cough. 

As the disease advances, the active symptoms pass away; there is 
a dull pain across the chest; drowsiness is very apt to come on,with 
the various symptoms of sinking peculiar to typhoid fever. The 
skin is harsh and dry, the temperature uneven, the tip and edge of 
the tongue red, and the middle covered with a yellow or brown fur. 
The bowels are tender, swollen, and drum-head like; while there is 
often a diarrhoea, — the discharges having a dirty-yellow color. 

Treatment. — This should be like the treatment of pneumonia 
and typhoid fever united. 


300 


DISEASES OF THE CHEST. 


Great care must be taken not to use reducing remedies. While 
active purging must not be used, yet, if there are symptoms of an 
inactive state of the bowels, podophyllin and leptandrin (34), (39), 
may be employed with advantage. 

When there are symptoms of great depression, use tonics (46), 
(48), (50), (53), (60), (64), (67), (73), taking care to keep the 
cough loose by flaxseed, slippery elm, and marshmallow tea, and by 
some external irritant. 

Broncho-Pneumonia. 

This is an infectious inflammation, characterized by an exudation 
from the blood-vessels, the formation of new connective tissue, and 
the growth of bacteria. The disease involves the walls of the bronchi 
and the air-spaces surrounding the inflamed tubes. It is frequently 
called capillary bronchitis and catarrhal pneumonia. It is the ordi¬ 
nary pneumonia of children, and is frequently seen in young people. 

It comes on primarily, but is often secondary to measles, whooping- 
cough, etc. 

Symptoms.—In the very young, the only symptoms are fever, 
prostration, and rapid breathing. There is no cough, no physical 
signs, but the disease is, almost always, fatal within a few days’ time. 

There is a great difference in the invasion of the disease in dif¬ 
ferent cases, the severer cases being ushered in by one or more con¬ 
vulsions, by rapid rise of temperature, vomiting, difficulty in breathing, 
and delirium; the milder cases beginning with lower temperature, 
moderate prostration and shortness of breath. 

The height of the temperature is, as a rule, in proportion to the 
severity of the disease. Temperatures of 105° and over are usually 
fatal. The pulse reaches 150 to 170 in adults, and even higher in 
children, — so high, in fact, that it cannot be taken. The respiration 
varies from 40 to 80. Sleeplessness, restlessness, and even delirium 
are frequently present. The face is flushed, the tongue coated, and 
oftentimes diarrhoea and vomiting occur. Cough is usually present, 
and in the young the sputum is swallowed. The urine is frequently 
albuminous and contains casts. 

Between the second and fifth days the signs of consolidation and 
pleurisy appear, i. e., dullness on percussion, bronchial breathing and 
bronchophony with crepitant rattles. 

The duration of the disease in children varies: of the fatal cases 
the majority die within the first fortnight. The cases which recover 
vary from one to three weeks, though many persist for six and eight 
weeks. The softening and absorption which occurs in all pneumo¬ 
nias that recover occupy a much longer period in broncho-pneumo¬ 
nia than in lobar pneumonia. 

Many cases of broncho-pneumonia are complicated by cerebral 
symptoms of convulsions, delirium, stupor, vomiting, etc., even before 


DISEASES OF THE CHEST. 


301 


any marked lesions in the lungs appear; as these subside the lung 
symptoms appear. Many cases are protracted for a long time, and 
though they may terminate favorably at last, yet they are apt to run 
into a chronic hardening of the lung which lasts for years; or they 
recover with a permanent consolidation of the lung. Some die of 
exhaustion. 

Treatment. — The use of hot fomentations and poultices over the 
chest and the administration of small doses of ipecac and aconite at 
short intervals soothe the bronchitis and pain. 

For the cerebral symptoms, phenacetin and the bromides are very 
useful. Aconite and digitalis are usually employed when the pneu¬ 
monia stage comes on. As a rule stimulants are not required in 
children, in whom the disease most frequently occurs. 

In convalesence, iron, quinine, cod-liver oil, oxygen and a change 
of air are to be recommended. 

Other Forms of Lung Inflammation. 

Of the various other forms of lung inflammation which occur, 
mention may be made of pneumonia dependent on Heart Disease; 
Interstitial Pneumonia, or the formation of new connective tissue 
and obliteration of the air-spaces; Tubercular Pneumonia, which is 
caused by the presence of tubercle bacilli; Acute and Chronic Mi¬ 
liary Tuberculosis, characterized by the presence of numerous minute 
nodules called miliary tubercles; Acute and Chronic Tubercular 
Consumption; Gangrene of the Lung, where a portion of the lung 
has lost its vitality and the germs of putrefaction have entered. 

Asthma. 

Asthma may he defined to be great difficulty of drawing in the 
breath, — coming on suddenly, sometimes gradually, — accompanied 
with a sense of extreme suffocation, and a desire for fresh air; con¬ 
tinuing for a longer or shorter period, and then passing away, and 
leaving the patient a period of comparatively easy respiration. 

Symptoms. — There are sometimes no premonitory symptoms, 
the attack coming on suddenly, and without warning $ but more fre¬ 
quently there are, for some days before the onset, loss of appetite, 
flatulence, belching of wind, irritability, languor, chilliness, oppres¬ 
sion, and drowsiness. The hard breathing generally makes its 
appearance in the night, — quite often at three or four o’clock in 
the morning, when the nervous system is at its lowest ebb. There 
is first a sense of tightness, or stricture, across the chest, which 
seems to expand with difficulty. The patient can no longer remain 
lying down; he rises up, draws up his knees, and, leaning forward, 
puts his elbows upon them, and his head upon his hands, and then 
struggles hard to draw in his breath; which, passing in slowly and 


302 


DISEASES OF THE CHEST. 


laboriously, produces a loud wheezing sound. Sometimes he feels 
that he must have fresh air, and, rushing to a window, puts his head 
far out, to catch a stirring breeze. The hands and feet are cold, the 
face haggard and distressed, — sometimes a little red and swollen, 
but more generally pale and shrunk, — the body wet with pers];ira- 
tion, the pulse irregular, feeble, and small, though sometimes not 
disturbed. These symptoms continue for some hours, more or less, 
when the breathing becomes more easy, and there is a little phlegm 
raised, sometimes considerable. This cessation of difficult biealhing 
may be complete, or only partial; and lasts for a longer or shorter 
period, when the attack again recurs. 

Causes. — It is well known that Asthma has its cause mainly in 
the nervous system. The air-tubes are encircled with a series of 
little bundles of fibres, which are, in fact, muscles, and like all other 
muscles have the power of contracting or shortening themselves. 
These muscles, too, like all others, have nerves distributed to 
them; and when these nerves become diiSeased or irritable, they will 
become disturbed on certain occasions, and cause these small, circu¬ 
lar puckering strings to contract and close up the air-tubes near 
their terminations, very much as the puckering-string closes the 
mouth of the work-bag, so that very little air can pass into the air- 
cells, and that little with great difficulty and slowness. When these 
contractions take place, and the air is thus shut off, the result is a fit,of 
asthma. This disease may be brought on by any of those states of 
the atmosphere which disturb or irritate the bronchial surfaces, or by 
any of the numerous causes which mysteriously unbalance the 
nervous system. A fit may be brought on by whatever disturbs the 
mind. 

In addition to this cause which is known as the bronchial type of 
asthma there are the cardiac and nephritic types. The so-called 
cardiac asthma, in the early stages is perhaps more amenable to treat¬ 
ment than the bronchial type but its course would not be effected 
by the drugs given for the latter type and appropriate remedies for 
the heart must be given. In the nephritic type the asthma is due 
to the retention in the system of the poison which is prevented 
from passing out of the body in the urine because of disease ot the 
kidneys. 

Treatment. — The disease has been regarded as extremely diffi¬ 
cult of cure. There are certain remedies, however, which have a 
remarkable control over it, and, if skilfully used, will frequently 
bring it to a complete termination, and, even in the worst cases, to a 
state of very great mitigation and improvement. 

Inhalaiion. — The most important and certain remedy is the use 
of the Alterative Inhalant, described on page. 243. I have with this 
article alone effected some surprising cures; yet it is well to combine 


DISEASES OF THE CHEST. 


303 


other treatment with it. I have had several cases of a most distress¬ 
ing character, — the attacks continuing night and day, — in which 
the inhalation, judiciously administered, has caused the disappearance 
of the complaint within twenty-four hours, and in which no return of 
suffering has occurred for several weeks, and then only in a modified 
form. This remedy should be used four or five times a day. 

Iodide of potassium is a most valuable internal remedy in this 
complaint; indeed, in a certain sense, it is almost a specific. It 
should be used (prescriptions 101, 138, 140, 151) at the same time 
with the inhalation. The following preparation is a very good 
remedy for this disease: Ethereal tincture of lobelia, two ounces; 
tincture of asafoetida, one ounce; grindelia, one ounce; iodide of 
potassium, two ounces; simple syrup, four ounces. Mix. Dose, 
from a teaspoonful to a tablespoonful, every hour or two. 

Several other remedies are used for asthma, with more or less 
success, such as electro-magnetism, smoking stramonium leaves, 
burning paper dipped in a strong solution of nitrate of potash, and 
inhaling the smoke, etc., — but none of these have as much value as 
the two remedies first named. 

For the cardiac type strychnia, digitalis, spartine, strophanthus and 
cocaine in appropriate dosage must be given to effect an improve¬ 
ment. For the kidney type relief of the system by other channels 
than the kidneys, until they are in better working order will be 
necessary. This can be accomplished by the use of saline cathartics 
such as one or two teaspoonfuls of epsom salts diluted with water, 
given often enough to cause two or three watery discharges during 
twenty-four hours. In addition to this sweating of the skin by 
means of hot lemonade or small doses of Dover’s powders in hot 
drinks may be given. 

In as grave a complaint as a severe case of asthma, it is always 
well to seek the aid of a physician. 

Hay-Asthma. — Hay-Fever. 

This is a very troublesome complaint, which seems to combine 
the peculiarities both of asthma and of influenza. Fortunately, it 
attacks but few persons, and those only at particular seasons of the 
year, — namely, while hay is in blossom, and during hay-making. 

Symptoms. — These are a combination of the symptoms of the 
two diseases above named. There is great irritation of the eyes, 
with sneezing, and a free discharge from the nose. There is 
tightness across the chest, difficulty of breathing, and a pricking 
sensation in the throat. These symptoms often appear in great 
severity, making the complaint a really distressing one. 

Cause. — This disorder appears to have but one cause, — namely, 
some sort of emanations from the grasses, flowers, etc., while in 
blossom; which emanations come in contact with the mucous lining 
of the eyes, nose, and throat, producing very great and teasing irri¬ 
tation. 


304 


DISEASES OF THE CHEST. 


Treatment. — One of the best remedies for this troublesome com¬ 
plaint is to avoid the cause, by removing, during the flowering and 
haying season, to some large city, or, still better, close down to the 
seashore, where flowers and hay do not grow. 

Of medicines, the tincture of lobelia, taken in moderate doses, is 
a very good remedy. Quinine and iron, given in combination (75), 
are valuable preparations. Strychnine and nux vomica, in connec¬ 
tion with iron or otherwise (316), (83), (84), (85), (86), (95), are 
very useful. Iodide of potassium (101), (138), (140), is also worth 
a trial. Another very good remedy is the chloride of lime, or the 
chloride of soda, placed in saucers about the sleeping-room. Pieces 
of cotton cloth may also be dipped in one of these solutions, and 
hung about the apartments of the house. The hands and face may 
likewise be washed, once or twice a day, in a weak solution. 

The oxide of zinc and the extract of nux vomica, made into pills, 
two grains of the zinc to half a grain of the extract to each pill, and 
one pill taken morning and evening, should not be forgotten. 

Of late cocaine, painted by means of a camel’s hair brush on the 
mucous membrane of the nose, has been used to check a paroxyism 
and mitigate the disease. 

The following formula is the most efficacious of this class of 
remedies and should be painted onto the nasal mucous membrane as 
high up as possible; its use may be repeated several times till the 
membrane becomes numb. 


Cocaine.^2 gr. 

Antifebrin.25 gr. 

Alcohol.1 dr. 

Simple Elixir.3 dr. 


Mix and shake before using. 






DISEASES of the HEART 


HEART DISEASES. 

(Also see Anatomy of Organs of Circulation.) 


Life rests upon a tripod, — the brain, the lungs, and the heart. 
These are equally important to its well-being and continuance. 

In substance, the human heart is a bundle of muscles, so put to¬ 
gether as to bear the greatest possible amount of work. In size, 
shape, and look, it is much like the heart of the hog. I wish it 
never had a likeness to it in its moral nature. 

The heart is enclosed in a case or sac, called the pericardium. It 
lies between the two lungs, a little to the left side of the chest. Its 
point is under the sixth rib on the left side, and its lower surface 
rests on the diaphragm, — a horizontal partition between the chest 
and belly. 

The heart is double. It has four cavities, — two for receiving the 
blood, which are called auricles^ and two for driving it out, called 
ventricles. 

The venous, or dark blood, is brought from all parts below, and 
emptied into the right auricle through the ascending vena cava^ and 
from all parts from above, and pour into the same cavity through 
the descending vena cava. From this it passes into the right ventri¬ 
cle, which contracts, and forces it through the pulmonary artery into 
the lungs, where it becomes red., and passes into the left auricle 
through the pulmonary vein, thence into the left ventricle, which 
contracts, and throws it out through the great aorta to all parts of 
the body. Fig. 95 gives a good idea of the circulation through the 
heart and lungs. 

The heart is divided into two sides, which are separated from each 
other by a muscular partition, — each side having an auricle and a 
ventricle. 

The auricles have comparatively thin walls, as they are only used 
for reservoirs. The walls of the ventricles are much thicker, being 
used, — particularly that of the left side, — for forcing the blood 
over a large surface. 

Between the auricle and ventricle on the right side, are three folds 
of triangular membrane, called the tricuspid valves. Between the 
auricle and ventricle on the left side, are three valves, called mitral. 

At the beginning of the pulmonary artery., and the aorta., are three 
half-moon shaped folds of membrane, called semilunar valves. 

806 



HEART DISEASES. 


307 


The office of all these valves is, to close after the blood has gone 
through, and prevent its flowing back while the cavity is being again 
filled, dhey do the same duty, in fact, as the valves of a pump. 

Through this heart, thus constructed, all the blood in the body,— 
about twenty-eight pounds, — passes once in about one minute and a 
half. This is rapid work; and when we consider that the heart 
works in this way through the whole life, resting not, day or night, 
we cannot wonder that it gets out of order. 



Fig. 95. 


The whole heart is seldom affected. The left side' is more liable 
to disease than the right. 

Impulse of the Heart. 

The ear, when placed over the heart, feels, at each beat, a slight 
shock. This is felt at the same time the first sound is heard. This 
impulse is caused by the apex or point of the heart being thrown up 
against the ribs by the contraction of the ventricles. It is felt best 
between the cartilages of the fifth and sixth ribs on the left side. 

The Sounds of the Heart. 

Oh applying the ear to the chest just over the heart, two sounds 
are heard. Tlie first one is dull and slightly prolonged; the second 
is a shorter and smarter sound, having a sort of clack. These occur 
in pi'etty rapid succession, and then comes a brief interval. And this 
round of action, first a long and dull sound, then a short and smart 
one, and then an interval, — called the heart’s rhythm, — is repeated 
continually. If the space of time' occupied by the rhythm be divided 


308 


HEART DISEASES. 


into five parts, the first sound will take about two parts, the second 
one, and the interval of repose, the remaining two. The first sound 
is heard about the time of the contraction of the ventricles, and is 
therefore called the systolic sound; the second is synchronous with 
the opening of the ventricles, and is called the diastolic sound. The 
syllables too-to — too-to^ very fairly represent the two sounds of the 
heart. These sounds are heard over the largest space in lean 
persons. 

Percussion Sounds. 

If the ends of the fingers be struck upon the chest over the heart, 
a dull sound will be heard over a space from one and a half to two 
inches square, — beginning at the fourth rib on the left side, and ex¬ 
tending down nearly to the sixth. The dullness is diminished by 
lying upon the back, and increased by leaning forward, and by taking 
a full breath. The deadness of sound is caused by the heart being 
a partially solid body. The lungs which surround it yield a clear 
sound. 

If a solid substance, as large as the heart, were placed on the in¬ 
side of a drum, against the head, only a dead sound would be ob¬ 
tained by striking on that spot; everywhere else, the sound would 
be louder. 


Altered Sounds of the Heart. 

These sounds are changed by disease in a variety of ways, both as 
to their character and duration. One or both sounds may be turned 
into a noise like the blowing of a pair of bellows. This is called the 
bellows sound. When this sound is very harsh, it may become like 
the noise of a rasp, or file, or saw. These altered sounds are all pro¬ 
duced by an altered condition of the valvular passages through 
which the blood passes. If you build an aqueduct of equal dimen¬ 
sions throughout, and smooth on the inside, you may send a certain 
volume of water through, at a given speed, without noise. But if 
you make sudden contractions in the aqueduct, or allow large stones 
to project into it, and then attempt to send through the same body 
of water, at the same rate of speed, you will hear all sorts of noises. 

Enlargement or Hypertrophy of the Ventricles. 

This is simply a thickening, or an increase of bulk, in the walls 
of the ventricles. The muscles composing the walls of one or both 
of these cavities grow thick and large. 

Physical Signs. — Impulse stronger than natural. When consid¬ 
erable, it is accompanied with a lifting and heaving of the parts. 
Dull sound on percussion over a larger space. First sound of heart 
prolonged; second sound feeble. The interval of silence, shorter 
than natural. In bad cases, the second sound is nearly extinguished. 


HEART DISEASES. 


309 


General Symptoms.—Hypertrophy of left ventricle gives a strong, 
prolonged, and tense pulse. Palpitation more constant than in any 
other disease of the heart. In advanced stages, the patient is easily 
out of breath. There is a rush of blood to the head on making exer¬ 
tion or stooping, with more or less throbbing and lancinating head¬ 
aches, which are aggravated by suddenly lying down or rising up. 
There are vertigo, ringing in the ears, sparks of light and other illu¬ 
sions before the eyes ; also a purplish, violet or livid color upon the 
cheeks, nose, and lips. In many cases there is a dull, severe aching 
pain in the region of the heart, and extending towards the shoulder 
and the inside of the arm. 

When the right ventricle is enlarged, there is a swelling of the ex¬ 
ternal jugular veins. 

Causes. — The walls of the heart are thickened by overwork.) in the 
same way that the blacksmith’s arm is made muscular and large. All 
muscles grow in the same way. More action sends more blood to 
them, and this causes an increase of nutrition. 

Whatever interposes an obstacle to the passage of the blood through 
the valvular openings, will cause the ventricles which force it through 
to work harder. Hence, obstructions in the semilunar valves cause 
hypertrophy of the ventricles. 

Any excitement of the mind, or any great exertion, which causes 
the heart to beat harder and faster, if it be often repeated, will induce 
a thickening of the ventricles. 

Treatment.—First, remove, as far as possible, all causes of excite¬ 
ment which produce palpitation. If the head is much affected, apply 
wet cups to the back of the neck. The same may be applied over 
the heart. This will generally improve the symptoms at once. A 
blister placed over the heart will likewise make a favorable impres¬ 
sion. 

The meals should be taken at regular intervals, and should be very 
light. The food should be plain and simple, and composed much 
more of vegetable than of animal food. In fact, the diet should be 
so spare as slightly to reduce the strength. 

The patient should be careful never to take violent exercise, or, 
indeed to be in a hurry about anything. In bad cases, walking up 
hill, or against a strong wind, is often out of the question, and must 
in any case be attempted with great caution. Staircases are to be 
shunned as enemies. An attempt to run, even to avoid being left by 
the cars, might, in some cases, prove immediately fatal. Carriage¬ 
riding is not objectionable. 

The passions must be held in the most thorough subjection. Ex¬ 
citements of all sorts are dangerous, and must be avoided. 

For the first week or two of treatment, active purgatives will be 
useful. For this purpose, epsom salts and senna will answer a good 
purpose, and should be used so as to procure two or three watery 
stools a day, • 


310 


HEART DISEASES. 


In addition to this, some sedative to lessen the force of the heart’s 
action is generally needed, especially when there is considerable 
palpitation. For this purpose, tincture of black cohosh, and tincture 
of scullcap, or the former with tincture of digitalis (285), (94), are 
quite useful. Three to ten drops of tincture of the American helle¬ 
bore (veratrum viride) will reduce the action of the heart perhaps 
more effectually than any other medicine, for a few days or weeks. 

Dilatation of the Ventricles. 

The several cavities of the heart hold about one and a half ounces 
each. Dilatation is simply an enlargement of these cavities, so that 
they will hold more. And this increase in the size of the cavity in 
simple dilatation is generally at the cost of the walls, which are made 
thinner and weaker,—just as the walls of a bladder are made thinner 
by blowing into it and increasing its internal dimensions. 

Physical Signs.—Impulse more abrupt, and less marked than nat¬ 
ural. Dull sound on percussion commensurate in extent with the 
dilatation. The first beat of the heart, clearer, louder, and shorter 
than natural, and more nearly resembling the second. 

General Symptoms. — Difficulty of breathing ; terrific dreams ; 
starting from sleep; swelling of the feet and legs; purple, violet, or 
blue color of the cheeks, nose, lips, and especially around the eyes; 
feeble and oppressed palpitation; various disturbances in the head ; 
bleeding from the nose, stomach, bowels, and womb; and frequently 
enlargement of the liver. 

Explanations.—The first sound of the heart is short and not well 
marked, in consequence of the muscular walls of the ventricles in 
this disease being thin and in a weakened condition, so that every 
stroke they make is short, quick, and spasmodic, instead of strong 
and lifting, as in hypertrophy. For the same reason, the impulse is 
a brief blow dealt the walls of the chest, which gives a slight shock, 
but has not power enough to lift the chest up. The blow is quick, 
because the muscle is thin and can contract quicker than a thick one. 

Dilatation, by thinning the walls of the cavities, enfeebles the heart, 
and shows us an obstructed circulation. Accordingly the blood is 
not transmitted by the left ventricle, and being retained in the lungs, 
it causes a crowded state of the vessels, and difficulty of breathing; 
also congestion of the brain, with terrific dreams, etc. And this en¬ 
gorgement of the lungs, being propagated backwards to the right 
heart, great veins, and all their ramifications, produces dropsy of the 
feet and legs, discoloration of the face, passive hemorrhages, and con¬ 
gestion of the brain, liver and membranes. Fig. 95 gives an idea of 
how all this happens. 

Treatment.—As in many other diseases, search out the causes, and 
remove them. If it be obstruction of the circulation in the lungs by 



INTERIOR OF THE LUNGS 
SHOWING TRACHEA AND BRONCHIAL TUBES 


SECTION OF LIVER. 


FRONT VIEW OF THE STOMACH 


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INTERIOR OF THE HEART 

















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HEART DISEASES. 


311 


bronchitis or other complaint, that needs the first attention. If it be 
caused by violent exercise, by strong emotions of the mind habitually 
indulged, or by drunkenness, or any other irregularity of life, these 
habits must be corrected without delay. 

If it be caused by organic disease of the valves of the heart, relief 
cannot be so readily obtained; but even in these cases, it is to be 
sought and expected. 

The circulation is to be kept as tranquil as possible by a strictly 
quiet and orderly life, and a plain, moderate, unstimulating diet. Jn 
this disease, however, it should be more nutritious, and composed to 
a larger extent of meats, than in hypertrophy. 

In some cases the general health and tone of the system will need 
to be improved by bitters (50), (67), (64), (69), (79), mineral acids 
(60), iron (269), (61), and aromatics (115). The compound mix¬ 
ture of iron is a good preparation when this mineral is called for by 
a low state of the blood. 

The stomach should be kept in the best possible condition, as a 
very small disturbance of it, even from acidity, will set the heart to 
beating very violently. 

If hysterical symptoms are present, the compound galbanum pill, 
and valerian (97), and other nervines will be called for. 

In attacks of great difficulty in breathing, immerse all the extremi¬ 
ties in warm water, and throw a blanket around the patient to pro¬ 
mote sweating, — at the same time admitting fresh air to satisfy the 
desire for breath. Give a draught, composed of ether, camphor, 
ammonia, etc. (135). This may be repeated two or three times, at 
intervals of half an hour, or an hour, according to the urgency of the 
case. 

Hypertrophy with Slight Dilatation. 

This is one of the most common complications of heart disease. 
It consists both in a thickening of the walls of the heart, and an en¬ 
largement of the cavities, — the former being more marked than the 
latter. 

Physical Signs. — Both sounds are louder than in any other dis¬ 
ease of the healt, and are heard sometimes over the whole chest. 
The impulse is strong and heaving, with an abrupt back-stroke. In 
bad cases, the whole person, and even the bed, is shaken by it. The 
dull sound on percussion covers a large space. 

General Symptoms. — The same as those of the two diseases of 
which it is composed, slightly modified by the action of each upon 
the other., 

Dilatation with Slight Hypertrophy. 

This is an enlargement of the cavities of the heart, with a slight 
thickening of its walls; the dilatation being the predominant disease, 
or greater than hypertrophy. 


312 


HEART DISEASES. 


Physical Signs.—Percussion gives a dull sound in the region of 
the heart, in proportion to its size. The first beat resembles the sec¬ 
ond. The second beat is louder than natural. 

The impulse is a short, quick stroke, which contrasts strongly with 
the slower and heavier one of hypertrophy and dilatation. 

The general symptoms and the treatment are a modification of 
those of the two disease united in it. It is, however, to be kept in 
mind that the dilatation takes the lead; and, furnishing the predomi¬ 
nant symptoms, is specially to be regarded in the treatment. 

Aneurismal Tumors of the Heart. 

When, from some obstruction in the valves, the blood cannot easily 
pass out of an auricle or a ventricle, its inner walls may become 
unable to bear the distending force, and giving way, let the blood 
through against the outer coats, which stretch, and swell out into the 
shape of a tumor, — the inside of the tumor becoming a regular me. 
Such a state of things constitutes an aneurism of the heart. Of 
course it is a very grave disease. 

Softening of the Heart. 

In this disease the substance of the heart becomes soft, and easily 
broken. It is generally the result of some form of inflammation. 

Physical 5igns.—The contractions of the heart being weakened 
by softening, the impulse is reduced in force, and both beats are 
weaker, and often they are intermittent. The first beat becomes 
short and flapping, like the second. 

General Symptoms.—A quick, feeble, small, and faltering pulse, 
great anxiety, and a disposition to faint. General languor; a sallow, 
bloodless, withered complexion, with a purple, livid tint of the lips 
and cheeks, and frequently, general dropsy, from the inability of the i 
heart to propel its contents. 

Treatment.—When accompanied by acute inflammation, softening 
is to be treated on the same principles as inflammation of the heart- 
case. 

If it be a result of chronic inflammation, it calls for iron, bitters, 
nutritious animal food, and good air. 

Induration of the Heart. 

The muscular substance of the heart sometimes undergoes a hard¬ 
ening process. It is occasionally so much hardened as to sound, 
when struck, like a hollow horn vessel. The disease is rare. 

It increases the heart’s impulse, like hypertrophy; and it requires 
about the same treatment as that disease. 


HEART DISEASES. 


313 


Fatty Degeneration of the Heart, 

The heart sometimes becomes overloaded with fat, which is depos¬ 
ited between the heart-case and the muscular substance, — covering 
the organ all over externally, and in some cases penetrating to some 
depth into its substance. The muscular walls themselves become 
thin and flabby. 

Symptoms. — The sounds of the heart are diminished,—especially 
the first. The pulse is irregular. Pain, and a feeling of oppression 
in the region of the heart, with general signs of retarded circulation, 
such as congestion of the brain and liver. There is occasionally gid¬ 
diness, loss of memory, and palpitation. 

Treatment.—Exercise, mental excitement, and stimulating drinks 
must be avoided; and the patient must live for one or two years on 
a very light diet, taking but very little animal food. 

Bony and Cartilaginous Productions in the Heart. 

These productions in the heart are fortunately rare. Yet they 
occur; and the point of the heart, in its whole thickness, is some¬ 
times changed to cartilage. The ventricles are sometimes so ossified 
as to resemble the bones of the head. 

The symptoms of these degenerations are obscure; and as such 
cases are not curable, it is of less consequence that we should be able 
to know their precise nature during the life of the patient. The 
treatment can only afford temporary relief, and should be such as is 
prescribed in other heart-diseases with similar symptoms. 

Shrinking of the Heart.— Atrophy. 

The heart, like any other muscle, is liable to defective nutrition, 
and in consequence of it may become small. It shrinks, in some 
cases, to the size of an infant’s heart. 

The complaint is generally caused by whatever reduces the general 
flesh, as consumption, diabetes, chronic dysentery, cancer, and exces¬ 
sive loss of blood. 

It can hardly be called a disease. Persons who have it are less 
subject to inflammatory diseases than others, though they faint from 
slight causes, and have nervous affections. 

Treatment.—If its causes can be discovered, treat them; if not 
the treatment should be the same as for dilatation. 

Acute Inflammation of the Heart-Case. — Pericarditis. 

The pericardium, or heart-case, is a membranous sac, in which 
the heart is contained. It is composed of two layers. The outside 


314 


HEART DISEASES. 


one is fibrous^ dense and white ; the inside one is serous. The serous 
layer forms the lining of the fibrous one, and then is reflected over 
the heart and the roots of the large blood-vessels. 

When the pericardium becomes acutely inflamed, it throws out 
both lymph and serum or water. The lymph often causes the two 
layers of the sac to grow together. 

Physical Signs. —The impulse is strong when the effusion of water 
is small, — feeble and unequal when it is large. Percussion yields a 
dull sound in proportion to the amount of fluid in the sac. 

When listening with the stethoscope, a rough noise is heard, resem¬ 
bling either the rasping of wood, the grating of a nutmeg, the rustling 
of silk, or the crackling of parchment. Sometimes it is softer, like 
the blowing of a pair of bellows. Occasionally it resembles the 
creaking of a new shoe-sole, or has a low creaking, like the tearing 
of linen cloth. 

When there is effusion, the ordinary beats of the heart sound dull 
and distant. 

General Symptoms. — Acute inflammatory fever, generally pre¬ 
ceded by chills, with pungent pain in the region of the heart, shooting 
to the left shoulder-blade, shoulder, and upper arm. 

Pain increased by taking a full breath, by stretching the left side, 
by percussion, and by pressure between the ribs over the heart. 
Sometimes the pain is in the epigastrium, or left hypochondrium. 
Inability to lie on the left side. 

Explanation.—The noises mentioned above are produced by the 
rubbing together of opposite surfaces of the heart-case, made rough 
by the exudation of lymph. The rasping is supposed to be caused 
by firm and rugged lymph; the rustling and creaking, by soft and wet 
lymph; the bellows muimur, by soft and dry lymph; the creaking, 
croaking, and crackling, by dry., tough lymph. These sounds may all 
be imitated by rubbing a damp finger upon the back of the hand, 
while listening with the stethoscope applied to the palm. 

Chronic Inflammation of the Heart»Case. 

When acute pericarditis runs for more than ten days or a fortnight, 
it becomes chronic. It is chronic from the beginning, when it runs a 
slow, insidious course, without marked or violent symptoms. 

The symptoms are much the same in kind with those of the acute 
form, only less in degree. This low grade of the symptoms of the 
disease renders it more obscure than the acute. 

Treatment. — In the acute form of the disease, apply wet cups 
over the region of the heart, or apply from a dozen to forty leeches 
to the same parts. 

At the same time, move the bowels freely by an injection (247), 
or by a purgative pill (31). 


HEART DISEASES. 315 

The strength and amount of the remedies employed in each case 
must be in proportion to the vigor of the patient’s constitution. 

It is of great importance that the treatment should be active and 
prompt, and that the disease should be broken down early. 

Diluent, cooling drinks (132), (129), (298), (299), should be al¬ 
lowed as freely as the patient desires, in order to dilute the blood, 
and render it less stimulating to the heart. 

At the same time, five to fifteen-drop doses of tincture of veratrum 
viride should be given every hour, to bring down the action of the 
heart. Ten-drop doses of tincture of digitalis every four hours are 
good. 

Let the diet be wholly of barley-water, thin gruel, weak tea, or 
arrow-root. 

During recovery, the diet must be spare, and the greatest tranquil¬ 
lity of mind and body be preserved. 

In the treatment of chronic cases, when the cavity appears to con¬ 
tain fluid, counter-irritation is suitable. Blisters, croton-oil, the com¬ 
pound tar-plaster, and especially the tincture of iodine. The diet 
may be a little more nutritious than in the acute form of the disease, 
— embracing light animal food and broths. 

Inflammation of the Heart. — Carditis. 

This is an inflammation of the muscular substance of the heart. 
When existing alone, it is a very rare disease. Being mixed up with 
other forms of heart disease, it does not require any separate account 
of its symptoms or treatment. 

Acute Inflammation of the Lining of the Heart. 

Endocarditis. 

The heart is one of the citadels of life. Disease attacks it on all 
sides. In this complaint, it has entered the fort and taken possession. 
The inflammation is on the lining membrane. 

Physical Signs. — The impulse is violent, abrupt and regular, as 
long as the circulation through the heart is free, but when this is im¬ 
peded, it is at first a confused tumult (which generally happens when 
a fort is first taken), and gradually sinks to a feeble flutter. 

The dull sound upon percussion covers a space of from three to 
seven square inches. 

The beats of the heart are generally accompanied or marked by a 
bellows murmur, the loudness of which depends on the strength 
of the heart’s action. 

General Symptoms. — Inflammatory fever. The action of the 
heart being generally violent and abrupt, the pulse corresponds with 
it, and is strong, full and hard. 


316 


HEART DISEASES. 


Explanation. — The bellows sound is supposed to depend on the 
inflamed and swollen condition of the valves. 

The dullness on percussion will be slight when the circulation 
through the heart is free; — more distinct and marked when it is 
obstructed. 

Dr. Hope says the disease may be anticipated, if a person be sud¬ 
denly attacked with these three signs: namely, fever, violent action 
of the heart, and a murmur which did not exist before. 

This disease, like inflammation of the heart-case, is often produced 
by, and is intimately connected with, acute rheumatism, and is then 
to be treated on same principles as rheumatic disorders. 

Chronic Inflammation of the Heart’s Lining. 

Physical Signs. —The impulse more perceptible and diffused than 
natural. 

The dull sound upon permission covers a space of from four to 
eight square inches. 

There is a sawing, rasping, or filing sound. This sound may cover 
one or both beats of the heart. Sometimes these unnatural sounds 
are double; in which case, the first is caused by an obstruction to the 
natural flow of the blood forward; the second, by the regurgitation 
or retrograde flow of the blood from some defect in the valve, — just 
as a pump-valve may get out of order, and allow the water which 
has gone through to flow back. 

Explanation. —A variety of organic changes occur in the valves, 
which give rise to the murmurs. Inflammation of the lining mem¬ 
brane of the heart reaches the valves, causing puckering, thickening, 
vegetative, cartilaginous, bony and fatrlike degenerations, which ob¬ 
struct the blood in its onward flow, or prevent a closure of the valves, 
and allow it to flow back; the former causing the first sound, the 
latter the second. If the unnatural noise be synchronous with the 
first beat of the heart, it implies disease in either set of the semilunar 
valves, or an impossibility of closing the auriculo-ventricular open¬ 
ings ; if it accompany the second beat, it signifies that either set of 
the semilunar valves may be open. 

A murmur attending the first beat of the heart must be caused by 
a current of blood from a ventricle; one attending a second sound, 
by a like necessity, is produced by a current into a ventricle. 

Treatment. —The same as that for pericarditis. It should be 
QciMdlly prompt and vigorous. It must not be forgotten that this dis¬ 
ease leads to various organic diseases of the valves of a very grave 
character, and that such mischiefs can only be escaped by cutting the 
disease short in the very beginning. 


HEART DISEASES. 


317 


Disease of the Semilunar Valves. 

The inflammation of the lining of the heart makes sad work with 
the valves. The semilunars are subject to various changes in their 
structure. 

Physical Signs. — Obstructive Murmur. —In disease of the semi¬ 
lunars, the first beat of the heart is accompanied or obscured either 
by the bellows murmur, or a sawing, rasping, or filing sound. The 
unnatural murmur, whatever it is, appears superficial or near. The 
second beat is natural. 

When the opening into the aorta is contracted, or in any way ob¬ 
structed by unhealthy growths, so that the blood is subjected to more 
than a natural degree of friction in passing, this sound will be heard. 
It is called obstructive,, because it arises from the obstruction of the 
blood in its forward course. 

Regurgitant Murmurs. — First beat of heart natural. Second 
beat accompanied or replaced by bellows murmur. There is some¬ 
times a musical murmur. 

Explanation. — The regurgitant murmurs arise from the valves 
being too small, or defective in some way, and allowing the blood to 
fiow back through the orifice. 

This murmur is loudest opposite the semilunar valves, and is more 
audible above these valves than below them. 

When the aortic valves are contracted or shortened, and the open¬ 
ings are not guarded by them, so as to prevent the backward passage 
of the blood, there is a double bellows murmur, — one when it is 
driven through the orifice, and another when it flows bach. 

Disease of the Mitral Valves. 

Physical Signs. — Obstructive Murmur. — First beat of heart 
natural. Second beat accompanied or replaced by bellows murmur. 

Regurgitant Murmurs. — The first beat of the heart accompanied 
by a loud and rough bellows murmur. This sound is like sawing or 
filing. It is loudest above or below the nipple, between the fourth 
and seventh ribs. There is occasionally a musical murmur. The 
second beat of the heart is natural. Sometimes there is a purring 
tremor. 

General Symptoms of Valvular Disease. —Cough, in many cases 
with watery expectoration; difficulty of breathing; frightful dreams 
and starting from sleep; congestion of the lungs; expectoration 
stained with dark and grumous blood ; swelling of the jugular veins ; 
a livid look of the face; a feeling as if a cord were tied tight around 
the lower part of the chest; general dropsy, of the legs and feet in 


318 


HEART DISEASES. 


particular; passive hemorrhages from the mucous membranes; en¬ 
gorgement of the liver and spleen; congestion of the brain, with feel¬ 
ings of oppression. When the mitral valve is contracted, admitting 
regurgitation, the pulse is small, weak, irregular and intermittent. 

These are the worst symptoms of an advanced stage. 

Explanations. —The examiner will distinguish the various sounds 
thus: 

The murmurs generated at the origin of the arteries spread their 
sonorous currents upwards along these arteries. 

Those produced in the auricular orifices will be conducted into the 
auricles, and propagated downwards towards the apex of the heart. 

Which Set of Valves. — To learn in which set of valves it origi¬ 
nates, therefore, find its seat, and trace its direction. 

Finding the murmur to be in the aortic orifice., it is then known to 
be obstructive., if the first sound is morbid., and the second sound natu¬ 
ral ; and regurgitant., if the first sound is natural., and the second sound 
morbid. 

But if the murmur be in the mitral orifice, it is obstructive when the 
first heat of the heart is natural., and the second beat morbid; and re¬ 
gurgitant when the first beat is morbid and the second heat natural. 

The Pitch or Key of a murmur depends on the distance of its seat 
from the ear of the listener,— nearness giving a high., and distance a 
low key. Thus, a murmur seated in the orifice of the pulmonary 
artery, being nearer the surface, has a higher pitch than any other. 
It is on about the same key with a whispered — sometimes a little 
lower, and depending somewhat on the strength of the current of 
blood, a strong current elevating., and a weak current depressing the 
tone. 

The mitral orifice is situated opposite the junction of the cartilage 
of tlie third rib with the left side of the breast-bone. The aortic 
orifice is about half an inch to the right of this, and the same dis¬ 
tance lower. It is known by the key being lower, — about like a 
whispered r, which is the ordinary type of the sawing sound. 

Murmurs from pulmonic and aortic regurgitations are about two 
tones lower, in consequence of the currents of the blood being weaker. 
They are like whispering atve by inspiration and if the click of the 
valve be heard, the sound will be changed to paw. 

Murmurs in the mitral valve, being more deeply seated, are about 
four tones lower, and are like a whispered who. 

The tricuspid murmurs are higher than the mitral, because nearer 
the surface. 

The musical murmur has been compared to whistling, the cooing 
of a dove, and the mewing of a kitten. It generally results from re¬ 
gurgitation. 

The purring tremor is caused, generally, by regurgitation through 
the mitral valve* 


HEART DISEASES. 


319 


Other Symptoms Explained. —The difficulty of breathing, fright¬ 
ful dreams, congestion of the lungs, hemorrhages, engorgements, etc., 
mentioned above, all proceed from such valvular stiftenings, pucker- 
ings, ossifications, enlargements, and contractions, as occasion a decid¬ 
edly obstructed circulation. 

The small, weak, irregular, and interrupted pulse, is caused by con¬ 
traction of the mitral valve, which occasions an insufficient or irregu¬ 
lar supply of blood to the ventricle, and causes the ventricle, by losing 
the resistance of the valve, to expend its force in a backward as well 
a forward direction, thus sending but little blood into the arteries. » 

Treatment.—The great object of treatment is to diminish the force 
and activity of the circulation,—to induce the heart to cease striving 
to do what cannot be done. 

To accomplish this, give sedatives (285), (94), (124). The helle¬ 
bore and cohosh will be found particularly serviceable. 

The tincture of the American hellebore is about the best, of 
all. Purgatives may be given according to the strength of the 
patient. 

When there is dropsy, and a scanty secretion of high-colored urine, 
diuretics, or medicines to increase the action of the kidneys, are very 
important. For this purpose, digitalis and acetate of potash (130) 
are excellent. Should this not succeed in reducing the dropsy, an 
active purgative (31) may accompany it. 

A remedy which comes in powder form called diuretin, given in 
20 grain doses dissolved in water every four hours for one or two 
days exerts a favorable influence in many cases. If no improvement 
has been noticed at the end of two days the remedy may be discon¬ 
tinued, but it has worked so satisfactory in a large per cent, of cases 
that its use is justified. 

Diaphoretics, or medicines which promote perspiration, are also 
useful. 

The diet should be unstimulating, and yet should be sufficiently 
nourishing to prevent the patient from running too low. Animal 
food of the most digestible kind may be taken once a day; though 
there are many cases requiring its entire rejection. 

The passions should be kept in the most perfect subjection, and 
the life should he as tranquil is possible. Nothing must be done in a 
hurry. 

Water in the Heart-Case. — Hydropericardium, 

This disease is common as an attendant of general dropsy. 

Physical Signs. — The impulse is undulatory, as if transmitted 
through a fluid, and it is not always of the same strength. 

The dullness extends upward in a conical form, in proportion to 


320 


HEART DISEASES. 


the amount of fluid, — sometimes rising as high as the second rib. 
The impulse does not coincide with the first beat of the heart. 

General 5ymptoms. — The patient has a sensation of the heart 
being in a floating state. The pulse is small, frequent, and intermit¬ 
tent. 

Explanation. — The reason that the impulse does not occur at 
the same time with the first beat of the heart is, that the apex does 
not immediately strike the walls of the chest, — some time being re¬ 
quired to push it up through the fluid. 

The beats of the heart sound more distant than natural in conse¬ 
quence of the organ being pushed away from the walls of the chest 
by the fluid and the impulse will be noticed in the usual place namely, 
inside the nipple line between the fifth and sixth rib spaces, but the 
intensity of the sound will be lessened. The position is in a different 
place; in dilatation of the heart, when the impulse more or less faint 
will be noticed far to the left of the nipple line. 

Palpitation. — Nervous Palpitation. —Ansemic 
Palpitation. 

There is a great deal of palpitation of the heart dependent on 
dyspepsia, hypochondria, hysterics, mental agitation, excessive study 
with deficient sleep, venereal excesses, and masturbation. 

Palpitations likewise occur from what is called anaemia^ or a low 
and deficient state of the blood. 

Physical Signs. — The impulse is weak, fluttering, or tumultuous, 

— generally increased by trifles. 

The beats of the heart are increased in frequency, and sometimes 
marked by intermission. Now and then the}^ are accompanied by a 
bellows murmur. There are musical murmurs in the jugular veins, 

— loudest a little above the collar-bones. 

General Symptoms. — The complexion is generally pallid and 
bloodless; the lips and the inside of the mouth partaking of the 
same paleness; the pulse quick, small, weak, and jerking; and during 
palpitation it sometimes has a thrill. Slight causes produce breath¬ 
lessness and faintness. A dislike of animal food, and a fondness for 
acids. The monthly discharge in females is deficient, and the whites 
take its place. Sometimes the menses are too profuse, lasting for 
several days, and consisting only of blood. In this state of things 
there is great feebleness both of mind and body, with rushing noises 
in the ears. 

Explanations. — The murmurs depend on a lack of blood. ' The 
conditions of their existence are, thinness of blood, a swift and spas¬ 
modic circulation, and particularly an unfilled condition of the blood¬ 
vessels. A brook is the more babbling in proportion as its water is 
more shallow. It is a law in physics, that heaviness of freight gives 


HEART DISEASES. 


321 


steadiness of motion; and lightness of freight gives unsteady motion. 
The fireman's hose trembles and vibrates when only half full of 
water. In like manner the blood-vessels are agitated when imper¬ 
fectly filled. 

Treatment; —- This is to be governed altogether by the cause of 
the trouble. If it be dyspepsia, hypochondria, hysterics, etc., these 
several diseases require their usual treatment; when they are cured, 
the palpitation will stop. 

A very good treatment for this disorder is a teaspoonful of the 
following mixture given three or four times a day with water: 

Tincture of aconite.fifteen (15) drops. 

Tincture of nux vomica.three (3) drachms. 

Compound elixir of gentian with iron . ‘ . three (3) ounces. 

But when it is caused by a low state of the blood, then give for 
several weeks, iron, the compound mixture, and (316), (310). 

The food must likewise be nourishing, — tender meat, beef and 
mutton, with broths, etc. 

Gentle exercise will be required, and much exposure to a bracing 
out-door air. 

Neuralgia of the Heart. —Angina Pectoris. 

This is a strictly nervous disease. It begins with a sensation of 
pain and constriction in the region of the heart. This pain is accom¬ 
panied with more or less pain and numbness in the left arm. In 
females it is not uncommon for it to be attended by great sensitive¬ 
ness and pain of the breasts. When the attack is violent, the pain 
in the heart is excruciating, and even terrific. There is attending 
this a feeling of great oppression in the chest, amounting, in the 
worst cases, to a sense of suffocation. The heart palpitates violently, 
the brain is oppressed, and fainting sometimes occurs. 

The disease is brought on, in nervous subjects, by over-excitement 
of the heart. Walking up hill, against a strong wind, may bring it 
on. If walking at the time of the attack, the patient is compelled to 
stop, and stand still till the pain subsides. 

The disease is often connected with organic changes in the heart’s 
structure, such as ossifications and other alterations. 

Treatment. — When the complaint depends on organic disease 
of the heart, the treatmept must be directed to the cure of these 
diseases. 

To relieve a severe attack, the patient should be instantly placed 
in a quiet position; wind in the stomach, if present, should be ex¬ 
pelled by peppermint or anise water, or ether, or (115), or some other 
aromatic. If there is acidity or sourness of the stomach, it must be 
corrected by a teaspoonful of soda in half a tumbler of water; and 
if the stomach be full of undigested food, let the patient take a table¬ 
spoonful of ground mustard, stirred up with a teacupful of warm 
water. This will cause almost instant vomiting. 


322 


HEART DISEASES. 


These things being done, give some quieting or antispasmodic 
medicines, or one of the following prescriptions : (285), (97), (135), 
(124). Inhale 5 drops of nitrite of amyl on a cloth frequently. 

Great relief is often obtained by sending a current of magnetism 
through the region of the heart, by applying one pole of the machine 
in front, and the other upon the back. 

During the intervals, the general health is to be improved by a 
wholesome, nourishing diet, gentle out-door exercise, and a careful 
control of all the passions, yjij of a grain of nitro-glycerine every 
hour, while in pain, steadies and slows the heart. 

Polypus of the Heart. 

A PORTION of the fibrin sometimes separates from the blood in 
the heart and large vessels, and becoming more or less organized, 
forms polypuses, which fill the cavities to which they are attached, 
and seriously obstruct the circulation. 

Physical Signs. — When the pulsations of the heart, previously 
regular, become suddenly anomalous, confused, and obscure, so that 
they cannot be analyzed, we may suspect a polypus. 

General Symptoms. —A sudden and great aggravation of the bad 
breathing, without any visible cause, — the patient being in agony 
from a sense of impending suffocation, and tossing about from side 
to side, struggling for breath. The pulse small, weak, irregular, in¬ 
termittent, and unequal; the surface and extremities cold; the face, 
livid, — to which there is generally added nausea and vomiting. 

Treatment.—When the polypus is once formed, the case is hope¬ 
less. The treatment, therefore, can only be preventive. 

The chief things to be done are, to keep the patient in a state of 
entire tranquillity, and to bring the circulation to the surface, by keep¬ 
ing the skin warm, and excited by friction. This will call the blood 
away from the heart and great vessels, and lessen the chances of the 
polypus. 


Displacements of the Heart. 

The heart may be misplaced from birth. I have seen a case in 
which it lay upon the right side, and had always been in that posi¬ 
tion. Its action was natural. 

A variety of causes may tend to push it out of its place, as water 
in the cavity of the pleura. In such cases, it will return to its place 
when the water is drawn off or absorbed. 


DISEASES 

OF THE 

ABDOMINAL CAVITV^ 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY, 


Under the above head I shall consider most of the diseases which 
occur in the great cavity below the diaphragm, called the abdomen 
or belly. These affections are quite important, and make up a con¬ 
siderable part of the ills we suffer from disease. 

Before speaking of these diseases, however, I will call the reader’s 
attention to a profile view of the 
relative position of the several or¬ 
gans lodged in t!iis cavity. 

In Fig. 96, L is the liver^ S the 
stomachy C the colon^ R the rectum 
B the bladder^ P D the pancreas^ 
and I the intestines. The double 
lines, folded back upon each other, 
and surrounding most of the or¬ 
gans, represent the peritoneum^ a 
membrane which lines the great 
cavity of which I am speaking. 

It will be well, too, before pro¬ 
ceeding further, to make the reader 
acquainted with the names of cer¬ 
tain regions of the abdomen which 
he will find constantly spoken of 
in medical books. I have not 
used these terms much in my 
book; but it will be convenient 
to be acquainted with them. Phy¬ 
sicians who are careless in their 
readings are not always familiar 
with their exact locality. 

In Fig. 97, the abdomen is di¬ 
vided into nine different regions 
by the drawing of two parallel lines up and down, 2, 2, and 3, 3, 
and two lines across, 4, 4, and 1,1. This gives three regions above, 
three in the middle, and three below. 

In the upper row, 6 is the epigastrium or epigastric region.^ in which 
are the left lobe of the liver, and a portion of the stomach; 5, on the 

824 











DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


325 




Fig. 97. 


right side, is the right hypochondrium^ in which is the right lobe of the 
liver; and 5, on the left side, is the left 
hypochondrium^ which contains the spleen, 
and a portion of the stomach and liver. 

In the middle row, 7 is the umbilical 
region^ which contains the small intestines. 
On the right side, 8 is the right lumbar 
region^ which holds the right kidney and 
the ascending colon; and 8, on the left, is 
the left lumbar region^ which contains the 
left kidney and the descending colon. 

In the lower row, 9 is the hypogastrium 
or hypogastric region^ which contains a 
portion of the small intestines and bladder. 
On the right, 10 is the right iliac fossa^ 
containing the coecum or caput coli; and 
10, on the left, is the left iliac fossa^ con¬ 
taining the sigmoid flexure. 

And now I may as 
well present, in Fig. 98, 
a front view of many of 
the organs, both in the 
chest and abdomen: 1, 1, 

1, 1, are the muscles of 
the chest; 2, 2, 2, 2, the 
ribs; 3, 3, 3, the upper, 
middle, and lower 1 
of the right lung; 4, 
the lobes of the left lung, 

5, the right ventricle of 
the heart; 6, the left ven¬ 
tricle ; 7, the right auricle 
of the heart; 8, the left 
auricle; 9, the pulmonary 
artery; 10, the aorta; 11, 
the vena cava descendens; 

12, the windpipe; 13, 
oesophagus; 14, 14, 14, 

14, the pleura; 15, 15, 

15, the diaphragm; 16,16, 
the right and left lobes of 
the liver; 17, the gall¬ 
bladder; 18, stomach; 26, 
the spleen; 19, 19, the 
duodenum; 20, the as¬ 
cending colon; 24, the 
transverse colon; 25, the 
descending colon; 22, 22, 22, 22, the small intestines; 23, 23, the 


Fig. 98. 











326 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


walls of the belly turned down; 24, the thoracic duct, opening into 
the left subclavian vein (27). 

Acute Inflammation of the Liver, — Hepatitis, 

The liver is the largest gland in the body. (See Fig. 31.) It lies 
in the right side, and at the top of the great abdominal cavity, di¬ 
rectly under the midriff, and lapping upon the stomach. Fig. 96 
shows its relative position. Its office was supposed to be to take the 
superabundant carbon out pf the blood. This carbon it unites with 
other elements and forms bile, the peculiar bitter substance which is 
poured into the upper bowel, and greatly aids digestion. 

The liver is liable to become inflamed from several causes, such 
as gravel-stones, external violence, suppressed secretions, hot climates, 
inflammation of the duodenum, etc. 

Symptoms. —These are sympathetic fever, with pain, and a sense 
of tension in the right side, inability to lie on the left side, difficulty 
of breathing, a dry cough, vomiting, and hiccup. 

The pain is acute and lancinating generally, though sometimes 
dull and tensive. When sharp, it is like the stitch of pleurisy, and 
it indicates that the peritoneum which covers the liver is inflamed. 
When dull, it is the body of the organ which is suffering. When 
the convex surface of the liver is the seat of the disease, the pain is 
apt to run up to the right collar-bone, and to the top of the right 
shoulder. Breathing, coughing, and lying on the left side, increase 
the pain. A soreness is felt by pressing over the liver. The pulse 
is full, hard, and strong, the bowels are costive, and the stools are 
clay-colored, owing to not being tinged with bile, — this having 
stopped flowing. The tongue is covered with a yellow, dark brown, 
or even black coat, and there is a bitter taste in the mouth. 

Explanation. — The bile, secreted by the liver, is poured into the 
upper bowel, and gives the brown or yellow color to the contents 
of the bowels. When the liver is inflamed, it cannot work, — it se¬ 
cretes little or no bile, and the discharges from the bowels lose their 
color. The bile is slightly laxative, and when it ceases to flow into 
the bowels, they become bound or costive. When the liver does not 
work, the bile has to be taken out of the blood by the kidneys, and 
the urine becomes of a deep yellow color. Much of it goes out 
through the skin, too, which is likewise yellow, and the sweat be¬ 
comes so yellow as to stain the linen. 

Treatment. — Flax-seed poultices applied over the liver are very 
good. Purgatives will also need to be used pretty freely at first. 
Those which produce watery stools (31), (247), (34), will be of the 
greatest service. 

After the cups and purgatives have been thoroughly used, blisters 
will be useful, and it will be better to apply several in succession. 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


327 


rather than to keep the first one open. Or, in the milder cases, a 
mustard poultice may be applied over tho whole side, and even along 
the spine. 

Frictions over the stomach and liver with dilute nitro-muriatic 
acid, and a foot-bath of the same, will sometimes do well. The acid 
should be reduced with water to about the strength of sharp vinegar. 
Water a little soured with this same acid makes an excellent drink 
for the patient. 

Perspiration should be induced by the spirit vapor-bath, and kept 
up gently by the tincture of the American hellebore, from three to 
ten drops every hour. Or, the same thing may be done by prescrip¬ 
tions (126), (358). 

When the urine is small in quantity and red, give some diuretic, 
as infusion of marshmallow-root, pumpkin-seeds, or trailing arbutus. 

The diet should be rice-water, gruel, and toast-water. While 
getting up, it may gradually be improved, and some light tonics 
(49), (58), (64) be added to it. 

Chronic Inflammation of the Liver. — Chronic 
Hepatitis, 

There are few chronic diseases for which the physician is more 
often consulted than this. In the warm climate of the South, in 
the bilious districts of the West, and indeed even in the Middle and 
Eastern States, it meets us continually, and demands our attention. 
That it is difficult to cure must be admitted; but a constant famil¬ 
iarity with chronic diseases, for several years, has convinced me that 
it is generally curable. 

Symptoms. — A sense of fulness and weight in the right side 
with some enlargement, and shooting pains felt in the same region, 
particularly when it is pressed, with pains in one or both shoulders, 
and under the shoulder-blades; uncomfortable sensations when lying 
on the left side; yellowness of the skin, eyes, and urine; bowels 
irregular, loose, or costive; appetite disturbed; sometimes a dry, 
hacking cough; shortness of breath; tongue whitish, and brown or 
yellow towards the root; a bitter and bad taste in the mouth in the 
morning. The urine deposits a sediment on standing. There is 
generally a low and desponding state of mind, with irritability and 
peevishness of temper. 

The skin is often covered with yellow spots and with a branny 
substance. The various symptoms of dyspepsia are often present. 
The nervous system is generally much disturbed, and there is a dis¬ 
inclination to apply the mind. There is frequently a great dread of 
imagined evil, supposed to be impending. 

Treatment. —This does not require to be as active as that for the 
acute form of the disease. 


328 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


If there be much tenderness of the liver, begin with mustard 
poultices, and the compound pills of podophyllin, or the compound 
pills of leptandrin, or (36). 

I have abandoned the use of mercury in this disease, as in most 
others; but if any prefer to use it, the blue pill (52) will be found 
the most useful form. 

The compound tar-plaster placed over the liver, in bad cases, is 
often very ‘serviceable. 

An alterative (138), (146) will be found useful. 

The daily alkaline sponge-bath must on no account be omitted. 
Vigorous friction must follow it. Vigorous constitutions will bear 
the shower-bath; in such cases it may, occasionally, take the place 
of the sponge-bath. 

The diet must be simple, yet nourishing and wholesome, and 
embracing but a small amount of fat, as this is composed largely of 
carbon, and the liver is unable to remove what is already in the blood. 

Especially and above all, out-door exercise must be taken to the 
full amount of the strength, and tjie thoughts be occupied with 
cheerful subjects. Let the hot sun be avoided, and the summer 
exercise be taken in the cool hours of the day. 

The recovery from this, as from all other chronic diseases, must 
necessarily be slow. 

Congestion of the Liver. 

This is not strictly a disease, but the result of gastro-intestinal 
disorders. There is an enlarged, congested liver, with a sense of 
fulness and weight in the right side under the ribs. 

The application of heat, and even leeches, to the side, and the ad¬ 
ministration of saline laxatives, afford relief. The diet must be light 
and farinaceous. 

Passive Congestion of the Liver 

Results from mechanical obtruction to the outflow of blood from 
the liver. When this condition has existed some time, there is a 
sense of weight and fullness in the liver region when sitting up or 
lying on the left side. The liver is enlarged and tender; the breath 
is shortened, and pain may be present, extending to the shoulder. 

Jaundice is usually present, but only to a slight degree. When 
the heart is the cause of the obstruction to the outflow of blood, 
there is often present an associated gastro-duodenal catarrh, in which 
case loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, belching of gas, and pain, 
are also present. In the later stages of a prolonged case, ascites, or 
dropsy of the peritoneal cavity, is present. 

Prognosis. — The outcome of passive congestion of the liver is 
usually grave, since it is the result of some structural disease else¬ 
where, as of the heart, asthma, chronic pleurisy, tumors, etc. 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


329 


Treatment. —The indications for treatment are to strengthen the 
heart with digitalis, strophanthus, etc., increase the strength of the 
patient with strong, stimulating food, and to deplete the portal circu¬ 
lation by vegetable laxatives like podophyllin, rhubarb, aloes, etc.; 
the salines also furnish an agreeable method of depletion, as for 
instance. Crab-orchard water, Hunjadi, etc. It occurs usually after 
middle life, and is more common in women than men. It is usually 
secondary to cancer elsewhere, as in the bowels or stomach, rectum 
and womb. The liver is increased in size, and is frequently studded 
with cancerous nodules, which in well-marked cases may be felt 
through the abdominal wall. 

The disease usually gives rise to loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, 
constipation, emaciation and weakness. Pain over the liver is gen¬ 
erally present, while jaundice exists in about fifty per cent of cases. 
Dropsy of the bowels exists likewise in about the same proportion of 
cases. Hemorrhages from the nose, stomach and bowels occur in 
the later stages of the disease. The temperature is usually lower 
than normal, and the pulse slow, especially if jaundice be present; 
the urine is diminished in amount and high colored. The disease 
progressively advances to a fatal termination inside of a year. No 
known treatment is of avail in arresting the terrible malady. 

Cirrhosis of the Liver. 

This is a disease characterized by an excessive increase of the 
fibrous tissue in the liver, whose later function is to contract and 
squeeze out, so to speak, the softer, glandular structure of the liver 
proper, thus causing its atrophy and diminution in size. The dis¬ 
ease is caused mainly by the introduction into the portal system of 
some irritant like alcohol. It is generally known as the gin-drinker’s 
liver, but it does not result especially from gin any more than from 
any other spirit. It is, at all events, essentially a disease due to pro¬ 
longed though moderate use of spirits of one sort or another, and 
occurs between the ages of thirty and sixty, mostly in men. 

The symptoms of this disease are at first those of gastric and intes¬ 
tinal disorders due to alcohol, as nausea, flatulence, constipation and 
looseness, etc. 

Dropsy is finally the most pronounced symptom of the disease, but 
hemorrhages from the bowels not infrequently occur. The disten¬ 
sion of the abdomen by dropsy is sometimes enormous; finally the 
feet and legs become swollen, emaciation and weakness progress, and 
the patient may finally die in coma or convulsions. The disease, when 
sufficiently advanced to be recognized, is incurable. 

Treatment. —The treatment is to be directed toward the removal 
of all irritating food and alcohol. The diet should consist largely of 
milk; green vegetables and fruit, beans, peas, eggs, lean meat, etc., 
may be taken if well borne. 


330 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


The stomach and bowels are to be kept in good condition, the 
dropsy drawn off or removed by means of loose evacuations from the 
bowels. 

Hydrochloric acid in three-drop doses, well diluted, after meals* 
may be of service, while bitter stomach-tonics are to be given before 
eating. 

Acute Inflammation of the Spleen.— Splenitis. 

The spleen is in the upper part of the belly, on the left side, 
opposite the liver. It is subject to acute inflammation, which is 
known by a pain just under the short ribs on the left side, also by 
swelling, soreness to the touch, and by more or less fever. The pain 
often shoots up through the midriff and to the left shoulder. There 
is a short, dry cough; a feeling of tightness about the heart; a sick¬ 
ness at the stomach, and vomiting; and a discharge frequently of 
black blood from the bowels. The urine is scanty, is passed with 
some difficulty, and is high-colored. 

This disease appears most frequently in hot climates, and is often 
connected with intermittent fevers. 


Chronic Inflammation of the Spleen. 

This prevails most in fever-and-ague districts, and is a frequent 
result of chills and fever. It is generally very stubborn, often lasting 
many years. 

Symptoms. — A feeling of weight, tightness, and sometimes pain 
in the left side, the pain being increased by pressure, or an attempt 
to lie on the left side. The organ sometimes enlarges very much, so 
that it can be felt by the hand. This enlarged mass passes under 
the common name of “ ague cake.” There are sometimes numbness, 
weakness of the legs, difficulty of breathing, palpitation of the heart, 
inability to exercise much, obstinate constipation, vomiting of food, 
piles, dry skin, tongue coated white or red, low spirits, and occasion¬ 
ally dropsical affections. 

During the chill in fever and ague, the spleen becomes enormously 
loaded with blood. Surfeited and stretched in this way again and 
again, it is not strange that the organ should become diseased. 

Treatment. — This should be about the same as the treatment foi 
acute and chronic inflammation of the liver. 

After the active symptoms of inflammation are subdued, the warm 
bath may be used one or twice a week. 

In the chronic form of the disease, counter-irritation with the 
compound tar-plaster, with mustard poultices, croton-oil, or tincture 
of iodine, will be particularly needed. 

Among medicines, muriate of ammonia (53), has a high reputation. 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


331 


To keep the bowels open, podophyllin, quinine, and nux vomica 
(46), have a fine effect. Iron may be given (73) when the patient 
is bloodless and pale. 

Jaundice. — Icterus, 

The jaundice is a very common disease, and to be known needs 
only to be seen; but inasmuch as it may be but a symptom rather 
than a disease per se, it behooves one to be careful that some hidden 
disorder be not preying upon the system. Among the more common 
affections which giv^e rise to jaundice are gastro-duodenal catarrh, 
frequently affecting children, obstruction of the gall-ducts by thick 
bile or mucus, or by gall-stones; cancer, chronic forms of liver com¬ 
plaints, and some forms of blood diseases. 

Symptoms. — The most p'rominent symptoms are, yellowness of 
the skin and whites of the eyes, saffron-colored urine, and whitish or 
clay-colored stools. So full is the urine of bile, that a piece of white 
linen dropped into it receives a bright yellow tinge. 

Besides these symptoms, there are impaired appetite, a loathing 
of food, the sense of a load at the pit of the stomach, sourness of 
stomach, sometimes sickness and vomiting, a bitter taste in the mouth, 
disinclination to move about, sleepiness, a dull pain in the right side, 
which is increased by pressure. 

The entire body of a person who has died of jaundice, including 
bones, muscles, and membranes, are found to be full of bile, and col¬ 
ored yellow. 

Explanation.—The bile flows into the upper bowel, a little below 
the stomach, through a duct or tube about as large as a goose-quill. 
This little tube or vessel receives the bile from a smaller tube, called 
the hepatic duct, and from another which goes to the gall-bladder, 
called the cystic duct. 

These little tubes sometimes get obstructed or plugged up by 
sticky, thickened, or hardened bile, or by gall-stones, formed in the 
liver; and the bile, finding no outlet thiough its natural channels, is 
taken up by the absorbents, distributed over the system, and produces 
the yellowness we witness. When these ducts and the gall-bladder 
are filled and stretched by this thickened and hardened bile, they be¬ 
come tender and sore. Hence the sore feeling in the side when 
pressure is made. 

There is another explanation of the way in which the yellowness 
of jaundice is produced, and it matters not whether it or the one just 
given be adopted. It is this: The bile is formed by the blood, and 
not by the liver. The office of the liver is to draw or strain off the 
bile from the blood. And when this organ is inflamed, or gets slug¬ 
gish and will not work, the blood is not relieved of its yellow freight. 
The bile accumulates, and in attempting to escape through other 
channels, it lodges in the various tissues, particularly in the skin. 


332 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


Treatment. — An infusion of thoroughwort, drunk freely every 
day, is a valuable remedy. The inner bark of the barberry steeped 
in cider, or this article compounded with others (286), (287), will 
be found excellent. 

The diet should be plain, wholesome, and nourishing, but com¬ 
posed mostly of vegetable articles, particularly green vegetables and 
berries when thej^ are to be had. 

Cold water should be the principal drink; or drink and medicine 
may be combined in the shape of three drops of muriatic acid, and 
two drops of nitric acid, dissolved in a tumbler of water slightly 
sweetened. This is generally a pleasant drink, and will assist very 
much in the cure. 

The warm bath once or twice a week, and the alkaline sponge-bath 
every day, with smart friction, must not be omitted. 

When jaundice is caused by the passage of gall-stones through the 
bile-duct, there is sometimes terrible pain and suffering, — the stone, 
occasionally, being as large as a nutmeg, and forcing its way through 
a quill-sized tube. So great is the distress that the patient sometimes 
rolls upon the floor in agony. To alleviate this pain, large doses of 
opium, laudanum, or morphine, are required. A large teaspoonful of 
bicarbonate of soda dissolved in a tumblerful of hot water is an ex¬ 
cellent remedy if drunk at a single draught. It relieves the acidity 
of the stomach, and acts as a fomentation to the internal seat of the 
pain. Mustard poultices, or warm fomentations, over the seat of the 
pain, are required. The warm bath is excellent. 

The acid bath, made by mixing three parts of muriatic acid with 
two parts of nitric acid, and adding as much of this mixture to water 
as will make it about as sour as weak vinegar, is valuable in jaundice. 
Only a quart of water need be taken ; and the solution should be 
applied with a sponge. It is of the right strength, if it produce a 
slight tingling of the skin. 




Qall=Stones. — Biliary Calculi. 

These are brownish, chocolate-colored concretions which form, 
either in the gall-bladder itself, in the duct leading from the gall¬ 
bladder, or in the common duct which is formed by the 
union of the gall-duct and the hepatic duct which leads 
from the liver. They are solid, generally have bodies of 
irregular shape and size, and have facets caused by the 
stones being impacted against one another. Fig. 99 
shows their appearance. These concretions are formed 
of inspissated bile and organic salts. When they settle into the ducts 
their natural course is downward through the duct into the bowel, 
where they are naturally carried off with the faeces. Their passage 
through these ducts is accompanied often with extreme pain and 
colic, the pain being the severest of any to which the system is sub¬ 
jected, and generally requires an ooiate- When once an attack of 


Fig. 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


333 


gall-stones has pccurred, the patient is liable to more, as they seldom 
exist singly in the gall-bladder. These repeated attacks have been 
the subject of a great deal of thought among surgeons. 

5ymptoiiis.—An almost constant uneasiness in the right hypo¬ 
chondriac region, with spasms of pain, coming on suddenly, and last¬ 
ing for a time with great severity, and then subsiding. The pain is 
caused by a stone being suddenly forced into the duct and moving 
forward in it, and it subsides when the stone either stops, or gets 
through the duct. When the stone reaches the bowels, it passes off 
with the stools. 

The patient generally has a pale, sallow complexion, a small, feeble 
pulse, and often suffers from nausea and vomiting, and from restless¬ 
ness and hurried breathing. 

Treatment. — To reduce the spasm, give svapnia powder in full 
doses, or chlorodine. Also, apply mustard over the right hypochon- 
drium and stomach, and follow it with hot fomentations with hops, 
or use wet cups. 

If the stomach is irritable, give the neutralizing mixture until it 
moves the bowels. To relieve the intense pain, morphine should be 
administered, together with hot baths and hot cloths over the abdo¬ 
men. 

Sweet oil was at one time advocated as a solvent of these bodies, 
but experience has not proven the validity of the claim. Many 
practitioners, however, still insist that oil in large doses hastens the 
passage of the stones. 

To remove the acidity on which the formation of these stones so 
often depends, a neutralizing preparation (338) may be given for a 
long time, the diet, in the mean time, being well regulated. The 
sponge-bath with saleratus and water, should be taken daily, followed 
by brisk rubbing; and free exercise in the open air should on no 
account be omitted. 

Of late years it is customary to treat this complaint surgically, 
operating directly bn the gall-bladder by incising it and removing 
the stones. If the ducts become obstructed, they too are incised and 
the stones dislodged, either by pushing them down into the bowel, 
or otherwise, as may be most convenient. The gall-bladder is either 
sutured to the abdominal wall, and a biliary fistula forms, discharg¬ 
ing the bile upon the abdominal wall; or it may be drained off into 
a bottle; or, as has been recently advocated, the bladder may be 
sewn up tightly and replaced. Sometimes communication is estab¬ 
lished between the gall-bladder, or the duct, and the duodenum, by 
means of an ingenious device called “ Murphy’s Button.” This 
button, invented by Dr. Murphy of Chicago, is intended to draw to¬ 
gether the parts to be connected, retaining them in that position. 
After some days the walls slough away, and the button passes into 
the bowel, and is thus removed from the system. By this means 


334 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


many stubborn cases of impacted gall-stone have been permanently 
cured. 

Abscess of the gall-bladder, inflammation of the surrounding 
tissue, and even death are not infrequent results of the presence of 
these foreign bodies. 

For preventing the formation of gall-stones, see the articles on 
Biliousness, Diet, etc. 

Acute Inflammation of the Stomach. — Gastritis. 

This is a rare disease. It is generally induced by irritating and 
corrosive substances taken into the stomach. Poisons, as arsenic, 
aquafortis, corrosive sublimate, and the like, are the most common 
causes of it. Blows, sudden stoppage of sweat, and excessive use of 
ardent spirits, may also excite it. 

Symptoms. —It is marked by burning pain in the stomach, thirst, 
restlessness, anxiety, constant vomiting, prostration of strength, a 
quick, hard, and small pulse, incessant retching, a sunken counte¬ 
nance, hiccough, cold hands and feet, and a damp skin. 

Treatment. — If the inflammation be excited by poison, the reme¬ 
dies named under antidotes for poisons must bo first employed. 

The poison being neutralized or thrown off, the inflammatory con¬ 
dition must be combatted with the remedies usual for such states. 
Mustard poultices to the feet, along the spine, and particularly over 
the pit of the stomach, will be among the first things to be employed, 
and should be followed by hot fomentations of stramonium leaves or 
hops, — both the fomentations and the poultices to be repeated as 
occasion may require. Dry cupping over the region of the stomach 
is useful. Small and repeated doses of bismuth, or -l-grain doses of 
cocaine, are generally very soothing to the stomach, and relieve the 
terrible vomiting. 

Drinks.—Cold water, bread-water, rice-water, arrow-root gruel, 
infusion" of slippery-elm bark, and of marshmallow. These should 
be taken in very small quantities, — say a teaspoonful at a time, — 
about twenty drops of tincture of aconite-root being added to a half 
tumblerful. Lumps of ice may be held in the mouth, and occasion¬ 
ally swallowed. 

Injections. — Emetics and physic are not proper, but injections 
(248), (253), or simply soap-suds, will be required. 

The remedies must be pursued until all tenderness has disappeared 
from the pit of the stomach. 

While the patient is recovering, great care must be taken not to 
overload the stomach with food. Arrow-root, sago, and milk are 
among the first articles to be allowed. After these, will come grad¬ 
ually beef-tea, chicken-broth, soft-boiled eggs, and beef-steak, until 
the whole diet can be restored. 


t)ISEASES OF I'HE ABDOMINAL CAVITZ. 


335 


Chronic Inflammation of the Stomach. 

This is a much more common disease that the preceding; indeed 
it is very common. Though it does not put life in immediate danger, 
it perverts the feelings of the stomach, and causes many of the symp¬ 
toms of indigestion. Dyspepsia, however, is a different complaint, 
and not necessarily connected with inflammation. 

Symptoms. — There is generally pain in the stomach, which is, in¬ 
creased by the presence of food, and by external pr essure. The pain 
is sometimes felt only during digestion. The fermentation of the 
food in the stomach generates a gas, which is frequently belched up. 
This is what is meant in common language by having “ wind in the 
stomach,” and “ belching wind.” The meals are frequently vomited 
up; the appetite is flckle, sometimes voracious, and again nearly ab¬ 
sent ; the thirst is likewise variant; the tongue is white in the centre, 
and red at the sides and tip, — sometimes smooth and red all over, 
like a slice of raw beef. The urine is scanty and high-colored. 

The disease is very liable, if badly managed, to lead to ulceration 
of the coats of the stomach, and thence to a fatal end; for an ulcer 
may penetrate the walls of the stomach, and let its contents into the 
abdominal cavity, which would excite an immediately fatal inflam¬ 
mation. 

Treatment.—If there be much tenderness, we may apply leeches 
over the stomach. With less tenderness, counter-irritation will an¬ 
swer,*— as blisters, croton-oil, mustard poultices, the compound tar- 
plasters, or dry cups. 

The skin of the whole surface should receive special attention. 
The warm or the cold bath should be used often, according to the 
strength of the patient. When the reaction is good, a cold compress 
bound upon the stomach every night, will do much to bring relief. 

The diet cannot be too carefully managed. While there is consid¬ 
erable tenderness, the nourishment must he of the most simple and 
unirritating kind, — consisting of little more than, the most bland 
nutritive drinks; and even these should be taken in small quantities 
at a time. Gum arabic water, rice-water, barley-water, arrow-root, 
gruel, tea, and toast without butter, will be amply sufficient to keep 
soul and body together, and will, in two or three weeks, generally 
starve the enemy out of his quarters. After this, a more nourishing 
diet may gradually be resumed. Many of the recent proprietary 
foods serve an admirable purpose in furnishing a large amount of 
nutriment in small bulk, which is easily digested. Among these- 
may be mentioned proteinol, in teaspoonful to tablespoonful doses, 
liquid peptonoids, malted milk, koumiss, matzoon, etc. These latter 
are milk preparations with the cooling and refreshing taste of soda. 


336 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMIKAL CAVITY. 


Indigestion. — Dyspepsia. 

Dyspepsia is a disease of civilization. Savages know nothing of 
it. It is the costly price we pay for luxuries. All civilized nations 
suffer from it, more or less, but none so much as the people of the 
United States. It is here, in the new world, that the disease has 
become domesticated, and we, as a people, who have threatened to 
monopolize its miseries. 

Few disorders inflict upon their victims greater suffering; yet it is 
not particularly dangerous, and it is even doubtful whether it tends 
very much to shorten life, unless the length of life be judged to com 
sist in the sum of happiness enjoyed, — in which case few complaints 
shorten it more. 

Symptoms. — These vary very much in different stages of the dis¬ 
ease, and in different persons. In general the complaint begins with 
a sense of fullness, tightness, and weight in the stomach, sooner or 
later, after meals, and a changeable, diminished, or lost appetite. 
Occasionally, the appetite is craving, and when, in obedience to its 
promptings, a large meal is taken, there is pain in the stomach, with 
general distress and nervousness, and sometimes vomiting. Flatu¬ 
lency and acidity are common, with sour and offensive belching of 
wind; and very often there is a water-brash, or vomiting of a clear, 
glairy fluid when the stomach is empty. Dizziness is a prominent 
symptom. There is a great deal of what patients call an “ all-gone 
feeling at the pit of the stomach, — a weakness so great at that par¬ 
ticular spot, that it is very hard to sit up straight. There is a bad 
taste in the mouth; the tongue is covered with a whitish fur; there 
is headache, heartburn, palpitation at times, high-colored urine, and 
tenderness, now and then, at the pit of the stomach. The bowels 
are generally irregular, sometimes very costive, at other times loose, 
when portions of food are passed off undigested. 

Nervous Complication. — Such are the symptoms in a case of 
simple disorder of the stomach, when no other part of the system is 
materially involved. This is indigestion^ well-marked, and distressing 
enough; but it is only a part of what is understood by a case of 
modern dyspepsia. In this., either the indigestion, in its course, dis¬ 
turbs and involves the nervous system, or the nerves become them¬ 
selves disordered, and produce the indigestion. Sometimes one hap¬ 
pens, sometimes the other, it matters not which; both are present — 
the affection of the stomach and of the nerves — in a case of thorough 
dyspepsia. To make out a full case, in its tormenting completeness, 
we must add to the above symptoms, great depression of spirits, 
amounting at times to complete hopelessness and despondency; a 
dread and fear of some impending evil; a lack of interest in passing 
events; unwillingness to see company or to move about; an irritable 
and fretful temper; a desire to talk of one’s troubles, and nothing 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


337 


else; a sallow, haggard, sunken, and sometimes wild expression of 
countenance; a dry, wrinkled, and harsh skin, with unrefreshing 
sleep, disturbed by all sorts of annoyances and difficulties, such as 
shipwrecks, falls down precipices, and nightmare. 

The man who has all these symptoms, or any considerable portion 
of them, has dyspepsia^ and is about as miserable as if all the sorrows 
of life were electrical currents, and were running through him con¬ 
tinually. 

Causes of Dyspepsia. — To healthy digestion, three conditions are 
especially necessary, — that the food should be well chewed and 
mixed with saliva before it is swallowed; that the stomach should 
pour out and mix with it the right amount of healthy gastric juice; 
and that it should be well churned while in the stomach. 

It is well known that the first of these conditions, a thorough chew¬ 
ing of food, is rare in this country. We eat too fast; we do not 
masticate our food; we holt it whole. 

This is the first cause of dyspepsia, and it is the fruitful mother of 
causes. It furnishes the occasion for eating too much; for when the 
food is swallowed with such rapidity, the stomach is taken by sur¬ 
prise, as it were; it cannot secrete gastric juice fast enough to be 
diffused through the fast-growing mass; and the appetite does not 
decline until a great deal too much is taken. The coats of the 
stomach, being stretched unnaturally, do not pour out the gastric 
juice at the right time, or as much of it as is wanted, and what there 
is, is altered in quality. 

Moreover, the stomach being overburdened, cannot turn over and 
churn it contents properly. 

To fast eating, we may add, high-seasoned dishes, too stimulating 
for the stomach; eating between meals, and at unseasonable hours, 
— particularly at bed-time; excessive use of strong drinks and 
tobacco; habitually sitting up late at night; inactive habits of body; 
and excessive use of the mind. 

No causes of dyspepsia are more active than those which disturb 
and fret the mind. It is surprising how suddenly any mental agita¬ 
tion will put an end to the appetite, and suspend digestion. And 
when these mental disturbances are protracted, when care becomes a 
daily and hourly companion, dyspepsia is almost sure to show itself. 
Considering the numerous causes of unpleasant mental excitement 
which we have in the politics, the business, the ambition, the family 
jars, etc., of this country, it is a wonder that dyspepsia is not even 
more prevalent. It is hard for the sensitive to escape. 

These causes may seem too simple to be the frequent origin of so 
much misery, and yet whole volumes might be written on this one 
subject. One cannot too forcibly nor too frequently remind the 
reader of the importance of these simple and brief remarks. No 
treatment will avail if they are not heeded. 


338 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


Urinary Deposits. — Before speaking of the treatment of dyspep¬ 
sia, it will be proper to take notice of certain deposits in the urine, 
to which persons suffering from this complaint are liable, and the 
discovery of which will, in many cases, indicate the treatment. 

Many dyspeptics have acid urine, which is loaded with crystals of 
oxalate of lime. These persons are much depressed in spirit, and 
look upon the dark side of everything. They are painfully disturbed 
by small annoyances, are irritable in temper, incapable of exerting 
themselves, look with dread upon the future, and generally have the 
dark and dingy look of the face which indicates functional derange¬ 
ment of the liver. 

The most of these crystals are octahedral in form, and in the field 
of a good microscope are beautiful objects for inspection. (Figs. 100 
and 101.) To obtain them, take a portion of urine passed in the 
morning (urina sanguinis')., and let it stand till a deposit takes place. 
Pour off the upper portion of the urine; put a part of the remainder 
in a watch-glass, and gently heat it over a lamp. The heat will 
cause a deposit of the crystals. 



Fig. 100. 



Fig. lOL 






^ V 

Ir 1 

Li 

fk % 

r 


Fig. 102. 


The oxalate of lime is frequently found in urine, the crystals hav¬ 
ing the form of dumbells. When examined by polarized light, they 
appear beautifully colored and striated. (Fig. 102.) 

The urate of ammonia, and uric acid gravel, are likewise found in 
large quantities in the urine of many dyspeptics. Some are ex¬ 
hausted by them, and reduced almost to skeletons, and to a wretched 
state of health, — having boils, eruptions, etc. 

To find the urates, put a little of the urine containing the deposit 
in a test-tube, and warm it gently over a lamp. If the deposit readily 
dissolve., it is probably urate of ammonia (Figs. 103 and 104), and 
may then be examined under the microscope, to make the matter 
sure. 

To find uric or lithic acid, let morning urine stand until a solid 
deposit has sunk to the bottom; then pour off the liquid, and place 
some of the solid portion upon a glass, and examine it with a micro¬ 
scope, and if this acid be present, its peculiar crystalline forms 
(Fig. 105) will be discovered, either alone, or mixed with urate of 
ammonia. 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


339 



In those cases in which there is a great prostration of the nervous 
system, with a loss of sexual power, bad feelings in the head, perhaps 
pain and weakness across the loins, and a tendency to consumption, 


Fig. 103. 


Fig. 104. 


we may suspect the presence of the triple phosphates in the urine. 
Phosphorus is one of the elements of the brain and nerves, and when 

there is a constant drain of this element 
through the kidneys, the nervous system 
is gradually exhausted. To find the triple 
phosphates, put some morning urine in a 
glass vessel, and let it stand till a sedi¬ 
ment has gone to the bottom. Put some 
of the sediment in a test-tube, and warm 
it gently over a lamp. If the warmth 
do not dissolve the deposit, add to it a 
little acetic acid; if the deposit dissolve in 
the acetic acid, it probably consists of earthy 
phosphates. This is then to be exam¬ 
ined under the microscope to ascertain 
whether it is the phosphate of lime, the 
triple phosphate, or a mixture of both. 

Fig. 106 shows us the prismatic crys¬ 
tals of the triple phosphate. In a few 
rare cases, these are penniform (Fig. 107). Fig. 108 gives us an¬ 
other specimen of the crystals of the triple phosphates, as they 




1)10. 106. 


FIG. 107. 


Fig. 108. 




appear under the microscope, mixed with amorphous particles of 
phosphate of lime. If an excess of ammonia be added to the urine, 
the crystals become star-like and foliaceous, as in Fig. 109. 







340 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 



Fig. 109. 


Treatment of Dyspepsia. — As there are few complaints which 
distress the patient more than dyspepsia, so there are few which give 
the physician more trouble. Generally our 
art has failed upon it because too much has 
been required of us. We have not merely 
been asked to cure the disease, but to do it 
while the patient continues the indulgence 
of his appetite, or his excessive application 
to business or study. It has been expected 
of us, that with medicine we should contra¬ 
vene the laws of nature, and restore health 
while the causes of the disease are in full ac¬ 
tivity. 

This complaint is often brought on by 
not keeping the bowels open. To cure it, therefore, one of the first 
things to be done is to remove costiveness and regulate the bowels. 

One of the very best articles I know of to remove constipation is 
Mettauer’s Aperient. I have placed it in the department of Phar¬ 
macy ; it ought to be in the United States Dispensatory. Taken 
immediately after meals, in doses of a teaspoonful, it corrects acidity 
of the stomach, it gently opens the bowels, and when its action is 
over, will be found to have diminished the costiveness, rather than 
increased it, as most kinds of physic do. It is excellent in the bil¬ 
ious forms of dyspepsia,—acting finely upon the liver,—particularly 
if a few drops of aqua regia in water be taken before meals, — the 
aperient being taken after. 

If piles exist, this mixture will be objectionable on account of the 
aloes, and the fluid neutralizing extract may take its place. Sweet 
tincture of rhubarb and soda (37), is sometimes preferable to the 
aperient. 

Several other preparations (38), (289), (39), (290), will be found 
useful to remove costiveness and debility of the stomach. 

For acidity, besides the remedies already mentioned, prepared char¬ 
coal may be used, in teaspoonful doses, or carbonate of magnesia, or 
fl.uid magnesia, or trisnitrate of bismuth. A good remedy is pulver¬ 
ized guaiacum, rhubarb, prepared charcoal, and carbonate of mag¬ 
nesia, equal parts; also (28), (37), (38), (42). If crystals of oxa¬ 
late of lime be found in the urine, give a few drops of aqua regia, in 
water, three times a day. 


Hygienic Treatment. — The diet must be managed with great pru¬ 
dence. Food must be taken in such quantities only as the stomach 
can digest, however small that quantity may be ; and it must be taken 
slowly, and well chewed. No article should be touched, or thought 
of, which disagrees with the stomach. Costiveness may frequently 
be entirely removed by eating no bread except that made from un¬ 
bolted wheat-flour, commonly called Graham bread (that made from 
Franklin Mills flour), or by making one of the three daily meals of 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


341 


boiled cracked wheat, with milk or molasses. If the triple phosphates 
be found in the urine, there is a special reason why the unbolted 
flour, or the cracked wheat should be used. The wheat-grain abounds 
in phosphorus, the largest portion of which is in the bran, and this 
is much needed when the kidneys are robbing the brain of its phos¬ 
phoric element. 

Not too much Brain-work.—It is important that the brain and 
nervous system should be relieved of the burden of too much work, 
and that the thoughts should be turned into the most agreeable chan¬ 
nels. If the patient would get well, the disinclination to move about 
and see company must be resisted. In many cases, dyspeptics are 
like sea-sick persons,—feeling as though they would rather go over¬ 
board than move. In such instances, friends must not be harsh with 
them, and frown upon their listlessness as if it were a fault; but 
rather treat them affectionately, and beguile them out by all sorts of 
pleasing enticements. Exercise must be had, every day, and be con¬ 
nected, if possible, with an object, so that it may be performed cheer¬ 
fully. It is important to engage the mind in the exercise; and for this 
purpose, some contested game is very useful, as playing at billiards, 
rolling nine-pins, pitching quoits, or, where the strength will permit, 
playing ball or riding the bicycle. 

Cheerfulness. —Nothing does more to drive away dyspepsia than a 
cheerful, lively, and even mirthful state of mind. All the nervous 
influences sent from the brain to the stomach should be of the most 
agreeable kind. Some people think it vulgar to laugh. Let such 
stand with long faces in life’s shadows, if they choose. As a general 
rule, the best men and women laugh the most. Good, round, hearty, 
side-shaking laughter, is health for everybody ; for the dyspeptic, it 
is life. 

Dyspeptics who have a taste for it, and can endure the expense, 
should travel. A voyage to Europe, and a year spent in seeing the 
wonders of the old world, will generally cure the most stubborn case 
of indigestion. This, however, depends upon circumstances. For 
those having the finer organizations and the higher natures, extensive 
travelling is sometimes indispensable. The narrow circle of thoughts, 
associations and things in their own neighborhood, do not fill the 
compass of their wants; their many-sided faculties need to be drawn 
on by the large variety to be found only in travel. Their large and 
impressible natures want to be filled full in order to drive out disease, 
and it takes a world, or a considerable part of it, to fill them. The 
dyspepsia of such natures is not comprehended by the multitude, and 
even physicians are often amazed that their narrow prescriptions do 
not reach it. 

Heartburn. — Cardialgia, 

This is a gnawing and burning pain in the stomach, attended by 
disturbed appetite. It is generally caused by great acidity of the 


342 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


stomach, and is a symptom of dyspepsia, and often afflicts pregnant 
women. Whenever too much food is taken, it is liable to ferment, 
and become extremely sour, — causing heartburn. In such cases, 
vomiting often occurs; and what is thrown up is sour, and some¬ 
times bitter. 

Treatment. — Immediate temporary relief may be obtained by 
swallowing a teaspoonful of soda, magnesia, or chalk, in a tumbler of 
cold or warm water. Fluid magnesia, or lime-water, will answer the 
same purpose. If there is wind in the stomach, as well as acidity, a 
teaspoonful of the aromatic spirit of ammonia, or (135), will often 
still the uneasiness in a moment. 

To cure the complaint, the stomach must be strengthened by the 
remedies directed for dyspepsia. 

Spasm or Cramp in the Stomach. — Gastrodynia. 

Though generally of shorter duration, this is more violent than 
heartburn. It is attended by a sense of fullness, by anxiety, and by 
great restlessness. In females, hysterical symptoms are often coupled 
with it. Great quantities of air or gas are generally expelled, and 
the pain shoots through to the back and shoulders. 

Treatment.—A strong purgative injection (248) will often bring 
immediate relief. The sweet tincture of rhubarb and soda (37), with 
a few drops of tincture of cayenne mixed with it, will often bring 
speedy relief. So will a mustard poultice laid upon the stomach. 
The mustard poultice is a remedy of great excellence, in many cases. 
It deserves to be called the poor man’s friend. 

Water-Brash. — Pyrosis. 

This consists in a discharge from the stomach, generally in the 
morning, of a thin, glairy, watery fluid, sometimes insipid, at other 
times sweetish, and at still others sour. A burning heat or pain in 
the stomach attends, and seems to be the immediate cause of the 
discharge. The discharge appears to be the natural mucus of the 
stomach, which is poured out in large quantities in consequence of a 
kind of catarrh of its mucous lining. The amount thrown up varies 
from a spoonful to a pint or more. 

The complaint is caused by a poor, innutritions diet, or by what¬ 
ever causes the blood to become thin and watery. 

Treatment.—Ten or fifteen drops of water of ammonia, in half a 
tumbler of water, will quiet the distress, and check the discharge. 
The most effectual remedy I am acquainted with for breaking up the 
discharge, is the trisnitrate of bismuth, taken at meal-times, in from 
twenty to thirty-grain doses, three times a day. The compound pow¬ 
der of kino is a valuable remedy. The compound tincture of senna 
and the tincture of balsam of tolu, in equal parts, and administered 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 343 

in tablespoonful doses, are sometimes useful. The tincture of nux 
vomica is a good remedy. 

To restore the blood, some of the various preparations of iron (74), 
(80), (73), (316), will be required. 

The diet should consist of easily-digested, nutritious food, — as 
soups, broths, fresh meat, and unbolted wheat-bread. 

Vomiting. 

This occurs under a great variety of circumstances. It may be 
induced by acidity of the stomach, by irritability of the stomach, by 
distress of mind, by injury of the brain, by offensive odors, and by all 
organic diseases of the stomach. 

Treatment. — Generally, it is cured by treating the disease which 
induces it. But in many cases it persists very ofctinately, and may 
become the chief thing to be attended to. In such cases, it may re¬ 
quire a careful investigation of the cause to check it. But generally 
some aromatic, as ginger, spearmint, peppermint, or spice-tea, will 
put an end to it. Some cordial or stimulant, as brandy, champagne, 
tincture of ginger, paregoric, elixir solutis, or cherry brandy, will 
answer well. Strong coffee, without sugar or milk, will, in some 
cases, act like a charm. If it is dependent on acidity, the remedies 
are given under “ dyspepsia.” If caused by irritability of stomach, 
a pill of extract of belladonna and ipecac (339) will do well. 

While vomiting, the patient should lie still in bed, and in bad 
cases, a mustard poultice should be placed upon the stomach. 

The vomiting of children may sometimes be stopped by wetting a 
piece of cloth with laudanum, and laying it upon the pit of the 
stomach. 

Seasickness. 

This is the great terror of persons who, for the first time, cross the 
ocean. It is said that dark-complexioned persons suffer more from 
it than others. 

If it cannot be entirely prevented, it may be mitigated by lying 
flat upon the back. To lie on deck, in the open air, is much better 
than lying in the close air of the cabin or stateroom. A wdneglass 
of brandy, or iced champagne, sipped now and then, will relieve the 
sickness very much. For a child, it is sometimes sufficient to wet a 
cloth with mustard, and lay it upon the pit of the stomach. Creo¬ 
sote, one drop at a dose, made into a pill, is excellent. Ten drops 
of hartshorn, in half a tumbler of water, is good for some. 
Bromide of soda in large doses, daily, prevents it, or bromo-caffein 
when it first comes on. Cocaine in one-eighth grain doses every 
twenty minutes is usually very helpful. A spinal ice-bag placed 


344 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


opposite the stomach while the sufferer lies upon the back Will do 
more toward curing sea-sickness than any other single remedy. 
These bags are about eight inches long, made of thin rubber, and are 
to be filled with small pieces of cracked ice. When the ice melts 
refill the bag. 

Milk Sickness. 

This disease prevails in the West, chiefly in the neighborhood of 
level, heavily-timbered, rather wet oak-land. 

The cattle, horses, and sheep, which range in this land, are fre¬ 
quently attacked by a disease which the people call the trembles. It 
is supposed to be produced by eating some plant growing upon those 
lands, as cattle which feed in the neighboring regions are free from 
it until they find their way into these low grounds. It has been sug¬ 
gested that the offending plant may be the poison ivy (^rhus toxicoden- 
dron). Be this as it may, the calves, soon after sucking cows which 
have run in these grounds, are seized with trembling, and frequently 
die of the disease. Dogs which lap the milk are affected in a similar 
manner. Children drinking it leave the table and vomit. Upon 
grown persons the effects are more severe, but not so sudden. The 
eating of the beef, mutton, or veal, of affected animals, brings on the 
same disease. 

Symptoms.—The disease sets in with sickness at the stomach, 
which is preceded by general debility, more jDarticularly of the legs. 
There is nausea, vomiting, and the breath is so offensive and peculiar 
that those acquainted with the complaint immediately recognize it 
from this smell. 

These existing for weeks, constitute, in some cases, the whole of 
the symptoms. In other cases they are more severe, being attended 
by chills and flushes, great oppression about the heart, anxiety, deep 
breathing, heat in the stomach compared to fire and boiling water, 
violent retching and vomiting, alarming beatings of the heart, and 
throbbings of the large vessels, and cold extremities, — producing, 
all together, extreme distress. 

In most cases, the vomiting returns every hour or two, attended 
by great burning at the pit of the stomach, the substance thrown up 
having a peculiar bluish-green color, and a sour smell. As soon as 
this discharge takes place, the patient falls back upon the pillow, and 
lies easy until another turn comes round. The tongue is covered 
with a whitish coat, the bowels are obstinately costive, and the pulse 
is small and quick. 

Treatment. — It is believed that the neutralizing mixture, given 
in tablespooiiful doses every time the nausea and burning sensation 
are felt, is the most effectual remedy yet used. It relieves the 
acidity, and seems well adapted to allay the irritation. Some anti- 
bilious physic (40) to move the bowels should also be given. 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVlTY. 


345 


Besides these remedies, a mustard poultice should he put upon the 
stomach, and hot bricks to the feet, and the patient be kept still for 
some hours. The diet should be very mild, — only toasWater, rice- 
water, or thin gruel. 

Acute Inflammation of the Peritoneum.— Peritonitis. 

This disease affects the extensive membrane which lines the whole 
inside of the belly, an extension of which forms the omentum or 
apron. It is an inflammation to which women are much exposed 
after confinement, and is known, in such cases, as child-bed or puer- 
pral fever. It is common among men also, and is a grave' disease. 

The accepted notions of no disease have undergone so much of a 
revolution of late years as those relating to peritonitis. It was formerly 
considered to be generally of spontaneous or idiopathic origin, whereas 
now we know it to be the outcome of some one of several diseases, 
but lately understood, as for instance, appendicitis, septicaemia or 
blood-poisoning, inflammation of the fallopian tubes and ovaries, 
tuberculosis, abscess of gall-bladder, strangulated hernia, etc. 

Symptoms. — Like other forms of fever and inflammation, it is 
preceded by chills, with increased heat of surface, thirst, full, strong, 
and frequent pulse, flushed face, and red eyes, dry tongue with red 
edges, dry skin, restlessness, short, quick breathing, nausea and 
vomiting. 

The pain is increased by the patient sitting or standing up, — the 
bowels being thus pressed against the inflamed membrane. Lying 
upon either side is painful for the same reason. To lie flat upon the 
back, with the feet drawn up, is the only endurable position. The 
patient lies still., for all movements give pain. 

The pain in this disease is generally sharp, cutting, and pricking, 
but is not always equally intense. It is aggravated by the passage 
of wind along the bowel, by which the inflamed membrane is slightly 
stretched. 

When the disease is advancing towards a fatal termination, the 
belly becomes greatly swollen and tense, — having to the hand a 
peculiarly tight, drum-head feeling; the pulse is rapid and feeble; 
the countenance is full of anxiety, and is pinched and ghastly ; and 
a cold sweat breaks out. 

Treatment.—No time should be lost in calling a competent surgeon 
to see a case with symptoms of peritonitis, for as before pointed out there 
are comparatively few cases but what depend upon some disease which 
will require operating upon the abdomen. It is of the utmost import¬ 
ance to distinguish local inflammation within the belly wall so that 
no time will b6 lost when it is so important that an early operation 
should be performed if needed. 


346 


DISEASES OP THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 

The two main indications in the treatment of peritonitis after having 
discovered and treated the causes, are the thorough draining of the 
bowels of their watery secretions by some gentle saline which will 
not stir them up; and secondly to maintain them in a state of quiet and 
rest. The first is met by magnesia in the form of the solution of the 
citrate, say one-half bottle every four hours till copious watery move¬ 
ments occur. This drains the glands and causes a flow of the poi¬ 
sonous eflete material into the bowels and rids the system of so much 
poison. The second indication is met by opium in some of its many 
forms. It is often, however, a serious problem for even the physician 
to decide, and should only be undertaken with his advice. 

The drinks should be lemonade, soda-water, tamarind-water, cur¬ 
rant-jelly dissolved in water, and preparations (298) and (299). 
Indian-meal gruel, toast-water, barley-gruel, and the like, are the 
only allowable diet. 

Chronic Inflammation of the Peritoneum. 

When the acute inflammation of the peritoneal membrane is not 
successfully treated, it may run on for a time, and then subside into a 
lower grade of inflammation, called chronic^ and in this state remain 
for an indefinite time. But it often arises independently of the acute 
disease, and attacks persons of both sexes, and of all classes and ages. 
Scrofulous children have it, and, wasting away under it to mere skel 
etons, are said to have consumption of the bowels. 

Symptoms.—These are sometimes very obscure, and the advances 
of the disease stealthy. At first there may be only a little soreness 
of the belly, so slight as not to be noticed except after hard work, or 
upon some wrenching motion. Generally, there is a sense of fullness 
and tension of the belly, although it may not be increased in size. 
After a time, it enlarges a little, and its tension or tightness increases, 
especially towards evening. By pressing carefully with the hand, a 
deep-feeling tension may be detected, giving to the hand a sensa¬ 
tion as of a tight bandage underneath, with the skin and integu¬ 
ments sliding loosely over it. If water has been poured out into the 
abdominal cavity, its fluctuation may be frequently detected by press¬ 
ing upon one side of the belly with the palm of one hand, and strik¬ 
ing the other side with the ends of the fingers. 

As the disease goes on, the features become sharp and contracted, 
and the countenance grows pale and sallow. Costiveness comes on, 
sometimes chills and fever, with debility, loss of flesh, cough, difficult 
breathing, hectic, and swelling of the legs. 

Treatment. — Costiveness, if present, may be relieved by Mettauer s 
aperient, or the neutralizing mixture, assisted by coarse bread, and 
boiled cracked wheat. 


DISEASES OE THE AEDOMIHAL CA^^ITY. 


347 


Daily bathing is especially necessary, particularly the alkaline 
sponge bath, with vigorous friction over the bowels. The warm bath 
once or twice a week will be useful. In some cases, a wet towel 
laid upon the bowels over night, and well covered by flannels, will 
afford relief; or the compound tar-plaster may occasionally be used. 

If there be dropsy of the belly, iodide of potassium (138) should 
be taken freely, and the skin made sore over the inflamed part, by 
tincture of iodine, well rubbed in, once a day. 

If the patient be pale and bloodless, give iron, quinine, etc. (74) 
(75), and let the diet be nourishing; and if nervous symptoms be 
connected with the debility and paleness, add some nerve-tonic (93), 
(81), (316). When the disease is known to be the outcome of a 
deposit of tubercles on the peritoneum, it is now customary to open 
the abdomen under antiseptic methods and wash out the cavity. The 
effect of a mild salt-solution and the light and air oftentimes arrests 
the disease. 

Acute Inflammation of the Bowels. — Enteritis, 

By inflammation of the bowels is generally understood an inflamed 
condition of the mucous membrane which lines them; but this, most 
commonly, is only a part of the disease; it involves more or less, 
besides this mucous lining, the whole substance of the bowel. After 
an inflammation has existed some time, and even, in severe cases, at the 
start, certain poisonous substances are formed as the result of germ 
invasion, called toxines. These are genuine poisons, and often 
spread rapidly through the walls of the bowels by means of the 
numerous lymphatic vessels to the peritoneum itself,—that delicate 
membrane which we have seen covers all organs within the abdomi¬ 
nal cavity. When this membrane once becomes poisoned, an acute 
inflammation sets up, which masks all other symptoms, and is indeed a 
veritable blood-poison. We have then to deal with peritonitis. 

Symptoms. — The disease begins with a chill, and with uneasiness 
and slight griping pains, which increase in severity until they are in¬ 
tense and burning. Pressure aggravates the pain, which is most 
intense about the navel, but extends more or less over the whole 
bowels. 

From the beginning there is sickness at the stomach, and some¬ 
times vomiting; there is loss of strength, costiveness, great anxiety, 
thirst, heat and fever, dry, furred, and red tongue, and but little urine, 
with pain in passing it. The matters passed from the bowels are 
dark and fetid; and the whole belly is tender and sore to the touch. 
The pulse is quick, hard, and small. 

The stomach will be but little affected, comparatively, when the 
disease is at some distance from it in the lower portion of the bowels. 
Indeed, the nearness of the inflammation to the stomach, or its re¬ 
moteness from it, may be judged pretty correctly by the degree of 


348 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


disturbance in that organ. The length of time after drink and medi¬ 
cines are swallowed, before they are vomited up, is a pretty good 
measure, likewise of the distance of the disease from the stomach. 

How to Discriminate. — This disease is liable to be confounded 
with colic, and with inflammation of the peritoneum. It is important 
to distinguish it from colic, particularly, because the treatment for that 
would aggravate this. In this disease the pain is increased by pres¬ 
sure; in colic, it is not, but is rather relieved. In enteritis, the pain 
remits, but never ceases wholly, as it does in colic. In enteritis, 
the knees are drawn up, and the breathing is short; in colic it some¬ 
times gives relief to stretch the feet down, and the breathing is not 
altered. 

To distinguish it from inflammation of the peritoneum, take notice 
that diarrhoea is much more common than in this latter complaint, 
while the pulse is not as quick, nor the pain as severe. 

Treatment.—This should be very much the same as that recom¬ 
mended for peritonitis. Perhaps in both diseases it might be well 
to begin with covering the belly all over with leeches. 

The tincture of veratrum viride, in full doses, so as to keep up a 
free perspiration, cold compresses, mustard poultices, hot fomentations, 
poultices, blisters, soothing and quieting injections, and demulcent 
drinks, as slippery elm, marshmallow, flax-seed, etc., if judiciously ap¬ 
plied, will do about all that we have it in our power to accomplish. 

In this disease it is well to inquire if the patient has a hernia, for 
if so, it is liable to become sti'angulated without his knowledge. A 
strangulation of the gut may be the cause of the disease. When this 
happens, the complaint is very unmanageable. The bowel may pos¬ 
sibly, in such case, be disentangled by applying a large dry cup; or, 
what is better, a number of small ones; but the tenderness of the 
belly makes the use of this remedy difficult. Here again magnesia 
may be of signal benefit unless the movements are already too copious 
and exhausting, in which case disinfectants or astringents must be re¬ 
sorted to. The possibility of tuberculosis must not be ignored. 

Chronic Inflammation of the Bowels. 

Like other chronic inflammations, this may follow the acute torm, 
but it also results from various other causes, as unripe fruit, taking 
cold, drastic physic, and improper treatment of other diseases. 

Symptoms. — Red end and borders of the tongue, dull pain in 
belly, increased by pressure and rough motion, abdomen either swelled 
or flat, skin dry and husky, feet and hands cold, small frequent pulse, 
thirst, loss of flesh, low spirits, urine scanty and high-colored, and 
dirty, slimy discharges from the bowels, from one to four times a 
day. 

Treatment.—To begin with, blisters, or croton-oil, or mustard 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


349 


poultices, or dry cups, if the tenderness is not great, or leeches if it is. 
If the bowels are hot and feverish, bind a cold compress upon the 
belly over night, covering it well with flannel. The warm bath 
should be used twice a week. Salol, ten grains every three hours, 
bismuth and opium, are in this case very valuable. Washing out the 
lower bowel with hot water by means of a syringe often soothes and 
heals. 

The diet must be of the most simple, unirritating kind, beginning 
with a solution of gum-arabic, rice-water, barley-water, arrow-root or 
sago-gruel, and gradually rising, as the symptoms improve, to beef- 
tea, mutton and chicken broth, tender beefsteak, etc. 

When the strength will permit, gentle exercise must be taken in 
the open air, but not on horseback, or in hard, jolting carriages. 

As soon as the inflammation is subdued, some mild laxative (35) 
may be given, in connection with an infusion of wild-cherry bark, 
geranium, and Solomon’s seal, equal parts. 


Appendicitis. 

This is one of the so-called modern diseases, — not that it has not 
existed for a long time, but that not till lately has it been recognized 
as a distinct ailment. Formerly it fell under the general category 
of peritonitis or inflammation of the bowels. American physicians 
have done more toward discovering its characteristics than others. 
It is an inflammation of the appendix vermiformis, which is situated 
at the end of the large bowel, in the right flank, close to the junction 
of the colon with the small bowel (see manakin). This organ is a small, 
round, tail-like body, about the size of a slate-pencil, and aver¬ 
ages some three inches in length. It is hollow, lined with mucous 
membrane, and covered like the bowel proper with a peritoneal mem¬ 
brane. It secretes mucus. Its use is as yet unknown, being thought 
by many to be a rudimentary organ like the uvula, without function, 
and possibly analogous to the herbivorous stomach. Whenever small 
seeds enter the cavity of this organ (which is in reality a rare occur¬ 
rence) or whenever, from any cause, a catarrhal inflammation is de¬ 
veloped in it, the secretion increases, and being confined, aggravates 
the trouble. This catarrhal inflammation is generally mild and the 
trouble often subsides either for good or to start up again sooner or 
later. 

The inflammation may, however, become purulent^ the germs pen¬ 
etrating the walls of the appendix and causing a general inflammation 
of the peritoneal coat of the bowel. In these cases nature fights 
hard to resist the invasion of the germ and throws out a large amount 
of lymph and serum, which, when it hardens, often acts as a barrier 
to the further progress of the peritonitis which has begun about the 
appendix. These cases are characterized by a hard lump in the ap¬ 
pendicular region, the inside of which contains pus as a rule, which 


350 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY 


has escaped from the bursting appendix. Cases of this class are ex¬ 
tremely dangerous and require the immediate aid of a surgeon, as 
they are bound to give trouble sooner or later, even if the first attack 
does not prove fatal. 

There is still a third class of cases, called fulminating, because 
from the very first they seem to be purulent, and spread rapidly into 
a general peritonitis, death occurring within a few days from the ap¬ 
pearance of the first symptoms. These cases are the most hopeless 
of all, and must be operated on without the slightest delay, since im¬ 
mediate evacuation of the pus, before a general infection of the ab¬ 
dominal cavity supervenes, is the only possible hope of saving the 
patient. 

Symptoms. — The disease, as generally observed, begins with lan¬ 
guor and pain in the abdomen, with special soreness on the right 
side, oftentimes nausea and vomiting, constipation, a slight rise of 
temperature, and headache. As the disease progresses the tenderness 
amounts to pain, a bunch may be felt by the medical attendant: the 
temperature gets a little higher and symptoms of pus formation set 
in. The case may hang in this initial stage (up to the point of pus 
formation) for several days and finally subside, it being a more or 
less catarrhal inflammation; but when pus has once formed the pa¬ 
tient cannot escape without an operation for the removal of the of¬ 
fending body. Many surgeons at the present day even take the 
ground that every inflamed appendix should be removed. 

Treatment. — The medical treatment consists in giving magnesia 
in form of the solution of the citrate, with a light diet, and keeping 
the patient in bed. Poultices may be of some benefit. Opium should 
not be used unless pain is extreme. 

The operation for appendicitis, when performed between the attacks, 
is a comparatively safe one in competent hands; but it becomes a very 
grave one if pus forms rapidly and invades the general abdominal 
cavity. Between these two classes of cases there are all grades of 
difficulty and danger. 

Cancer of Intestine, 

This disease is much less frequent than cancer of the stomach, 
constituting about five per cent of all cases of cancer. It occurs 
usually about the middle period of life. We are in absolute igno¬ 
rance of its causation in this region. The rectum is the most favor¬ 
able part of the bowel for its development, the large intestine next, 
and then the small intestine. 

Symptoms. — Intestinal hemorrhage, pain; emaciation, irregular 
movements of the bowels, pain in the sacral region, radiating to the 
genitals and down the course of the sciatic nerves (in case of rectal 
cancer), are among some of the indefinite symptoms of cancer of the 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


351 


bowels. When well marked and when located favorably, a tumor 
may be discovered by palpation, but often this cannot be felt and the 
masses which at first seem to indicate cancer may afterward prove 
to be merely fsecal accumulations. When the mass can be felt in 
the rectum the diagnosis becomes clearer. The prognosis of the 
disease is extremely unfavorable. 

Treatment. — As for treatment, only in rare cases is much aid 
ever procured. The formation of an artificial anus in the left flank 
may avert for a while the final end. The injection of the new cancer- 
serum is still of doubtful success. 

Opiates to relieve pain, nourishing food frequently repeated, and 
the use of antiseptic enemas, are, for the most part, the chief meas¬ 
ures that afford relief. 

Intestinal Obstruction. 

This is a mechanical interference with the movements of the fae¬ 
ces, and is caused either by intussusception or invagination, con¬ 
striction, twists, stricture or hernia. These conditions are frequently 
produced by irregular movements of the bowels as a whole, and by 
irregular movements in various parts of the same, there being an 
increased peristalsis in one part and constipation in an adjacent part. 
Many cases of intussuception occur at the ileo-csecal valve, the small 
bowel entering the large bowel and being driven downward. The 
circulation of the bowels is naturally interfered with, and intense 
congestion occurs, with swelling and final obstruction of the calibre 
of the gut. Pain becomes paroxysmal and peritonitis ensues. Pain 
increases, with vomiting and the discharge of mucoid stools; finally 
the patient dies of exhaustion. 

Constriction of the bowel forms the larger proportion of cases and 
is not infrequently caused by fibrous bands which are the result of 
inflammation. Strangulation may be produced by a loop being held 
down by such bands or by being twisted about it. Intestinal ob¬ 
struction, ulceration, and even perforation are common results. 

A twist or volvulus is also a cause of obstruction, though less com¬ 
mon than the two causes just mentioned, and occurs generally near 
the sigmoid flexure. 

Stricture of the bowel usually occurs at the sigmoid flexure, or in 
the rectum, and is not usually complete, some small amount of faecal 
matter still escaping. Tumors, like cancer, not infrequently cause 
stricture by their compression. 

Functional obstruction occurs chiefly in hysterical females, but also 
in disease of the brain and spinal cord, as well as from peritonitis 
and blows on the abdomen. It is the result of a paralysis of the 
bowel. 

Impaction of fceces is still another frequent cause of obstruction. 
The contents of the bowels, especially in the rectum, become hard, 


352 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


blocking the passage till quite a perceptible bunch may be felt ex¬ 
ternally. The channel is not always blocked completely. Gall-stones 
may become impacted near the ileo-csecal valve in their passage 
downward, and form the starting point of the faecal accumulation. 

These various causes produce either acute or chronic obstruction. 

Symptoms.—In the acute variety, pain, vomiting and constipa¬ 
tion are the prominent symptoms. There are at first some digestional 
disturbances, with moderate pain. Afterwards the pain becomes 
severe, even intense, and is usually located near the seat of the ob¬ 
struction. It is at first colicky and intermittent, but finally becomes 
continuous and severe over the whole abdomen. Vomiting sets in, 
first of food, then later of bile, and finally stercoraceous if the ob¬ 
struction becomes complete. Vomiting occurs whether the obstruc¬ 
tion is in the large or small bowel. Before the close of the scene 
this vomiting assumes a ricewater-like character, perhaps attended 
with hiccough. 

There is an absence of the passage of wind, although at first some 
small amount of faecal matter may pass. In intussusception there 
are usually bloody discharges in addition to constipation. The ab¬ 
domen of course soon becomes tympanitic or swollen, and sounds of 
water and gas may be heard very distinctly. 

The general symptoms are those of a very grave disease, — restless¬ 
ness, cold extremities, pinched features, and cold, clammy skin. The 
pulse is small, the temperature generally subnormal, tongue dry, and 
thirst very pronounced. 

In the event of chronic obstruction^ all these symptoms appear very 
much more gradually. Pain is less severe, vomiting often absent till 
the obstruction becomes complete. The faecal matter may often be 
several feet long before the obstruction becomes severe. Long-stand¬ 
ing constipation which does not respond to proper laxatives should 
arouse suspicion. The stools themselves are often ribbon-like in 
shape and very small, not infrequently resembling the faeces of sheep. 

The prognosis of obstruction of the bowels is usually very grave, 
and the duration of life varies from a few hours to ten or twelve days. 
The higher up the obstruction, the worse the prognosis. Simple 
faecal impaction perhaps offers the most hope; next those cases 
amenable to surgical interference. 

Treatment. —Opium to relieve pain and to stop the exaggerated 
peristaltic movement in parts of the bowel above the obstruction is 
surely indicated; it also relieves the vomiting. Continued, large 
enemas of suds and oil, and even the addition of turpentine, should be 
resorted to at once as soon as the trouble has been made out. These 
are best given with the hips elevated, and should consist of four to 
six quarts of water; they are to be given slowly and without much 
force. Oftentimes an anaesthetic is needed. 

If the obstruction is from faecal impaction, small, repeated doses 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


353 


of some saline should be used ; say two ounces of the solution of the 
citrate of magnesia every two hours. Castor-oil in teaspoonful doses 
hourly till movement occurs is also good. But if the obstruction is 
from intussusception, twist, stricture, etc., all laxatives must be 
strictly interdicted. Finally, these simple means failing and the case 
be suspected to be due to impaction by foreign bodies, fibrous bands, 
etc., the abdomen must be opened and the seat of the obstruction 
found and if possible removed. The operation in this class of cases 
is not attended with a great percentage of recoveries, and yet the 
fatal termination is much surer if left alone ; in many cases it is 
brilliantly successful. 

External methods of treatment by hot fomentations of turpentine, 
and even of massage, often add greatly to a favorable termination. 

The diet must be very light and nutritious, and in case of vomiting 
must be given by the rectum. After the obstruction has been re¬ 
lieved, one must be very careful about the diet and see that the bow¬ 
els are open daily. 

Wind Colic. — Flatulent Colic. — Interalgia. 

This is a severe and distressing pain in the bowels,—sometimes a 
stoppage, and a swelling about the pit of the stomach and the navel. 
What children call helly-ache is a mild form of it. The wind passing 
from one portion of the ])owel to another causes a rumbling noise. 
The pain is not increased by pressure; and this distinguishes it from 
the pain of inflammation. It moves about, too, from place to place, 
and is much relieved by the escape of wind up or down. 

The complaint may be caused by a weakness in the digestive or¬ 
gans, by eating indigestible food or unripe fruit, by costiveness, and 
by taking cold. Some persons always have the colic excited by eat¬ 
ing certain kinds of fruit. 

Treatment.—When the complaint is caused by an indigestible sub¬ 
stance taken into the stomach, the offending matter should be thrown 
off by an emetic as soon as possible. If this does not bring relief, 
let it be followed by a dose of salts, salts and senna, compound infu¬ 
sion of senna, elixir salutis, elixir pro., or sweet tincture of rhubarb. 
If there is no sickness of the stomach, a little essence of peppermint 
or spearmint in hot water, or brandy, gin, or whisky, in hot water, 
may prove sufficient to expel the wind, and relieve the pain. Ginger 
and hot water does well with some. If there be costiveness, and the 
pain is obstinate, let the bowels be unloaded by a stimulating injec¬ 
tion (248), (249), (250). Inject one dram of ether in a little starch- 
water into the bowels, and relief will often be instant. It can be 
repeated every half-hour. The injection of a table-spoonful of tur¬ 
pentine in suds can also be tried and repeated every two hours. 


354 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


Air*SwelIings. — Tympanites. 

It is quite common for persons in delicate health — particularly 
females — to have their stomach and bowels swell up, sometimes 
slowly, sometimes suddenly, so that they cannot bring their clothes 
together. They do not know what to make of it; it sometimes 
alarms them; and they ask their medical adviser what it means. 

These swellings may occur from an accumulation of air within 
the bowels, and also within the abdominal cavity. This latter gives 
the belly a peculiarly hard feel, like the head of a drum, and when it 
is pressed upon with the finger no indentation remains. It usually 
is the result of a weakened sympathetic nervous system, brought 
about by some one of the many abdominal diseases. 

Treatment.—If the air be in the intestinal tube, a stimulating in¬ 
jection may bring away the wind. It may be composed of one pint 
of infusion of peppermint, one gill of tincture of prickly-ash berries, 
half a gill of tincture of castor, and a teaspoonful of ginger. The 
bowels of the patient should be rubbed for a long time ; and in all 
forms of the complaint, it would be well to do this every day. Some¬ 
times the wind may be drawn off by inserting into the rectum a long 
rubber tube. Treatment often resolves itself into a cure of some 
existing uterine or ovarian disease and the various phases of peri¬ 
tonitis, in which latter case there is fever and other well marked 
symptoms. 

The best constitutional remedies are tonics, —iron, quinine, mineral 
acids, and bitters, (48), (55), (59), (60), (62), (63), (64), (71), 

Exercise in the open air, and a careful regulation of the diet, will 
do much towards removing these troubles. Costiveness must be care¬ 
fully guarded against. 


Bilious Colic. 

This is a dangerous disease. There is pain of a griping, twisting, 
tearing kind, — what the ancients called atrocious pain. It is chiefiy 
about the navel, but sometimes tortures the whole belly. It comes 
and goes in paroxysms. Sometimes the abdomen is drawn in, at 
other times it is swelled out, and stretched like a drum-head. At 
first the pain is relieved by pressure ; after a time the belly is tender to 
the touch. There is thirst and heat, and a discharge of bilious mat¬ 
ter from the stomach. In the worst cases, the pulse is small, the face 
pale, the features shrunk, and the whole body covered with cold 
sweat. While the head is hot the feet are cold. In advanced stages 
of the disease, the action of the bowels is sometimes reversed, and 
the fecal matter forced up through the mouth, owing to impaction of 
faeces or other obstructions of the bowel. 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


355 


Causes. — Costiveness, irritating substances in the bowels, thick, 
vitiated bile, long exposure to cold, torpidity of the liver and skin, 
great unnatural heat, with dampness, obstructed gall-duct, etc. 

These attacks are usually the result of indigestion in the upper 
bowel, near the bile-ducts, creating a thick mucus which obstructs 
the passage of bile from the ducts into the bowels. A regulation of 
the duct, small doses of podophyllin or the acids, with daily doses of 
some mild bilious laxative, will prevent their return. Crab-orchard 
water, sal-muscatelle, and other simple medicines answer every pur¬ 
pose. 

Treatment.—Administer an active purgative injection immediately 
(251),(252). Internally, dioscorin, camphor, etc. (340), every fifteen 
minutes until relief is obtained, at the same time covering the whole 
belly with a large mustard-poultice. A strong decoction of the wild- 
yam root, drunk freely, is a medicine of some value, — so is a decoc¬ 
tion of scullcap and high-cranberry bark, equal parts. This latter 
article is excellent in spasmodic affections, on which account it has 
gained the name of cramp-bark. The sickness at the stomach may 
frequently be allayed by effervescing drafts, to which twenty-five or 
thirty drops of lavender are added. Croton-oil, given in one-drop 
doses, done up with crumb of bread, will sometimes succeed well as 
a purgative medicine; or castor-oil and spirits of turpentine, equal 
parts, in two great spoonful doses, may be tried before the croton 
oil. 

The warm bath is worth remembering, and trying, too, if the 
means are at hand. Hot fomentations of the bowels with a decoc¬ 
tion of poppy-leaves, stramonium-leaves, hops, wormwood, boneset, 
or peppermint leaves, should not be overlooked. Bottles filled with 
hot water, or hot bricks rolled in flannel, should be placed at the back 
and feet to promote perspiration. 

Persons subject to this complaint may derive advantage from one 
pill composed of extract of high-cranberry bark, etc. (100), taken after 
each meal for some months. At the same time a reasonable amount 
of exercise should be taken out of doors, and a sponge bath, with 
friction, be employed daily. Care should be taken not to be often 
exposed to the hot sun. 

Painters’ Colic. — Colica Pictorum. 

This form of colic is caused by the slow introduction of lead into 
the system, — generally the carbonate of lead. It passes under the 
different English names of painters’ colic, Devonshire colic, and dry 
belly-ache. The first of these is the name by which it is most com¬ 
monly known, from its frequent occurrence among painters, who use 
white lead (carbonate of lead) a great deal in the preparation of their 
colors. 

Symptoms. — The disease generally comes on in a very gradual 


356 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


way. At first, the ^.ppetite is impaired, there is a slight nausea, 
belching of wind, languor, very obstinate costiveness, transient pains, 
with a feeling of weight and tightness in the belly, and a disinclina¬ 
tion to make any exertion. 

By degrees, the pain in the bowels, and particularly about the na¬ 
vel, becomes more severe, and has a twisting character. The belly 
becomes hard, drawn in, and a little tender to pressure, and the stom¬ 
ach very irritable. The pain occasionally slacks ofP a little; but 
never, even in mild cases, entirely stops, as in other kinds of colic. 

In some severe cases, the pain runs up to the chest, and down the 
arms; also down to the bladder, causing the urine to be passed with 
pain and difficulty, and giving a sense of weight and bearing down 
in the lower belly. During the severest pains, the countenance is 
pale, contracted, and full of suffering; cold sweats break out upon 
the face and limbs, and anxiety and agitation seize the patient. 

When the disease is not seasonably removed, it degenerates into 
the chronic form, the mental and physical energies become torpid, 
the circulation in the small vessels inactive, the skin dry, harsh, shriv¬ 
elled, pale, sallow, or of a leaden hue, the temper irritable, despond¬ 
ing and gloomy, and the body wasted. Besides all this, the muscles 
which lift up the lower arm become palsied^ so that, when the arms 
are raised, the hands hang down in a helpless condition. In some 
cases, there is a blue line along the edges of the gums. 

Treatment. — For relieving the pain and opening the bowels, the 
treatment should be very much the same as that for bilious colic. 
There is one article, however, which is thought to have some special 
influence in curing this disease, after it has become chronic; it is 
alum. Fifteen grains of alum, two of aloes, two of jalap, and four 
of ipecac powder, may be mixed, and taken for a dose two or three 
times a day. If the muscles of the arm be palsied, one thirtieth of 
a grain of strychnine may be added to the above. The aromatic sul¬ 
phuric acid, taken as a drink, fifteen drops to the tumblerful of water, 
is always worthy of trial. 

The use of the electromagnetic machine maybe tried for the palsy; 
or a splint applied to the arm and hand, with vigorous friction once or 
twice a day, will sometimes do much for recovering the use of the 
muscles. 

But the best remedy for the palsied muscles is iodide of potassium 
(146), taken freely. The sulphuret of potassa, one ounce dissolved 
in a quart of water, and taken in teaspoonful doses, three times a day, 
is also worth a trial. The affected arm should be soaked an hour, 
once or twice a day, in the same amount of this latter salt, dissolved 
in a gallon of water. 

Means of Prevention. — The numerous persons who work in lead 
should comb their hair with a fine comb, wash their hands and face, 
and rinse their mouth several times a day, and also wash the whole 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


357 


person with soap once or twice a week, and with clear water, or sal- 
eratus and water, once a day. Their working clothes should be of a 
kind to admit of being washed once or twice a week, and they should 
be put off for others when out of the workshop. A paper cap should 
be worn while at work. The food of the workmen should not be ex¬ 
posed to the vapors or floating particles of lead, and consequently 
should not be carried into the shop; and when much of the poison is 
floating in the air of the workroom, it is a good plan to wear a mask 
to prevent its being drawn with the breath into the throat and lungs. 

It has been said that those who eat freely of fat meats, butter, and 
other oily substances, are not attacked by the disease, though exposed 
to the poison. I know not what protection this can give, unless the 
skin is in this way kept more oily, which prevents the absorption of 
the poison. This would seem to afford a hint in favor of anointing 
the whole person once or twice a week with sweet-oil. 

Costiveness. — Constipation. 

Few disorders are more common than costiveness. By this term 
I mean a sluggish state of the bowels, which causes them to retain 
the faeces longer than is warranted by health. In this complaint, the 
discharges from the bowels are not always less frequent than they 
should be, but they are less in quantity, are compacted and hard, and 
are passed by hard straining, and sometimes with considerable pain. 

5ymptoms. —Headache, dizziness, feverishness, bad feelings in the 
head not easily described, loss of appetite, sometimes nausea, but 
little desire to go to stool, a weight and heaviness about the lower 
part of the belly, and a sense of confinement over the whole body. 

Causes. — Sedentary habits, particularly when connected with close 
application of the mind; astringent articles of medicine; stimulating 
diet, composed chiefly of animal food; various diseases, particularly 
those of a nervous character, and especially, a neglect to evacuate 
the bowels at proper periods. All these causes tend to weaken the 
bowels, and gradually to arrest that peculiar undulatory movement, 
or worm-like action, called the peristaltic motion of the bowels. It 
is this continual contraction of the muscular fibres of the intestines 
from above downward, which pushes the contents steadily along; and 
whatever weakens the force of this vermicular play of the intestinal 
walls, brings on constipation. 

Treatment. — One of the first things to be done is to establish the 
habit of attemptinj to evacuate the bowels at a particular hour every¬ 
day. The best time for most persons is soon after breakfast in the 
morning, or just before retiring. 

Use Glycones (Lilly). They are much better than taking medicine 
internally. They produce prompt, painless, and copious stools. 

Diet_To this should be added a careful regulation of the diet. 


358 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


The quantity of food taken should be no greater than can be easily 
digested. Full meals which distend the stomach and cause it to press 
upon the bowels embarrass their movements. Bread made from fine 
wheat flour is an abomination in this disorder. Eat only that from 
unbolted flour. Cracked or rolled wheat, prepared as directed among 
dietetic preparations, is excellent for the cure of costiveness. Fresh 
vegetables, as peas, beans, potatoes, squashes, and ripe fruits, in their 
season, are all wholesome, and help to relieve costiveness. But rich 
pies, puddings, cakes, doughnuts, and all that sort of trash, increase 
the disorder. 

Water Injections, etc. — One of the best remedies is water, cold 
or tepid, according to the condition of the patient, injected into the 
bowels with the fountain syringe. Syringes for this purpose may be 
obtained in any drug-store, and one should be in every family. 
Water used externally, in the form of the sponge-bath, is also useful.. 

Medicines. — All the above measures having failed to give relief, 
take Mettauer’s aperient, or the neutralizing mixture. If these fail, 
podophyllin, etc. (36), may have a trial. A cold decoction of thorough- 
wort, drunk daily, sometimes has an excellent effect. It must be re¬ 
membered that medicines may make matters worse, and they should 
be used cautiously. Cascara Sagrada taken in small, repeated doses, 
say, half a grain once, twice or more times daily till the bowels move, 
for some weeks, then gradually decreased, often yields excellent re¬ 
sults. A glass of some aperient like Hunyadi Janos water, one-third 
glass with one-half glass of plain water on rising, will then take the 
place of the cascara; and finally a glass of plain water will accom¬ 
plish all that previously required the use of the cascara. Daily knead¬ 
ing of the bowels, following the course of the large bowel, will add 
greatly to break up the sluggishness of the muscular atony of the 
bowel-walls. 


Piles,— Hemorrhoids, 

There are few complaints more common than the piles, and 
scarcely any which cause more trouble and misery. They consist in 
a fullness of blood, and languid circulation in the lower portion of the 
lower bowel or rectum. In consequence of this congestion, either the 
veins of the gut become enlarged or varicose, or the blood gets infil¬ 
trated into the cells ]beneath the mucous membrane, and collects, so 
as to form bloody tumors. 

These tumors, which are seldom absent, are the leading features of 
the piles. They sometimes appear externally, around the anus ; this 
is external piles. At other times they are within the bowel; the com¬ 
plaint is then called internal piles. They are called bleeding piles 
^vhell blood is discharged, and blind piles when it is not. 

Symptoms. — Usually there is a sense of weight and weakness in 
the lower part of the back and lions, with a painful itching about the 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


359 


anus. On going to stool, there is a burning, cutting pain experienced, 
which is followed by bearing down and tenesmus. If it be bleeding 
piles, the little tumors will bleed at every motion of the bowels. 
There are frequently disagreeable sensations in the head, general las¬ 
situde, an irritable state of mind, and a sense of fullness and anxiety 
in the stomach. The pains experienced range all the way from the 
slightest twinges up to the most terrible sufferings, which appear like 
tearing the body asunder. 

Causey — Everything that irritates the lower bowel, and causes a 
determination of blood to the part. All drastic physic has this effect, 

— particularly aloes, which acts* especially upon the rectum. Habit¬ 
ual costiveness, straining at stools, riding much on horseback, sitting 
a great deal, tight-lacing, high-seasoned food, and stimulation gener¬ 
ally, lifting and carrying heavy weights, and indurations of the liver, 
as well as a bilious indigestion. 

Females during pregnancy are much affected with piles, which are 
induced by the costiveness so peculiar to their condition, and by the 
pressure of the enlarged womb upon the veins of the pelvis. 

Treatment. —This should be medicinal and dietetic. 

Great care must be observed not to push medication too far. Ac¬ 
tive purging will do great mischief. Yet costiveness must in some 
way be corrected. For this purprse, no remedy that I have ever 
tried has done better in this complaint than an electuary composed 
of confection of senna, flowers of sulphur and cream of tartar (6), 
taken in doses just suflicient to procure one natural motion of the 
bowels each day. Pills made of extract of thoroughwort are said to 
do well. If the liver be in a congested state, take some of the arti¬ 
cles recommended in the chronic inflammation of that organ. 

For the local treatment, nothing is better than two ounces of lard 
and one dram of the flowers of sulphur mixed, and rubbed between 
two plates of lead until they are well blackened. This ointment is 
not only soothing but curative, both in the bleeding and blind piles. 
An ointment of almost equal excellence may be made from one hand¬ 
ful each of witch-hazel bark, white-oak bark, and sweet-appletree 
bark, boiled together in one pint of water down to one-third of a pint. 
Then strain, and add two ounces of lard and simmer away the water, 

— stirring continually before and after removing from the Are, till it 
cools. Witch-hazel suppositories are excellent, as is also an oint¬ 
ment composed of 1 ounce stramonium ointment, 6 grains pulveriz'ed 
opium, and 5 grains tannin. 

If there is much inflammation and distress, an emollient and 
soothing. poultice should be applied, composed of slippery-elm 
bark and stramonium or poke leaves. Steaming the parts is some¬ 
times useful, by sitting over a hot decoction of hops, stramonium, 
and poke. 

Piles may often be cured by the use of the domestic syringe. Daily 


360 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


injections of cool or cold water will do much to strengthen the bowel, 
and restore the dilated veins to their natural condition. 

The food should be of a laxative nature, corn-bread, rye-pudding, 
bread of unbolted wheat flour, mealy potatoes, ripe fruit, pudding 
and milk, buckwheat cakes, broths, and a little tender meat once a 
day. 

When the piles are very painful an ointment of cocaine, ten 
grains, vaseline, one-half ounce, smeared well over them, is exceed¬ 
ingly grateful. Five-grain iodoform suppositories are very effective 
in reducing piles; its odor, however, is quite objectionable to many. 
Surgical treatment is often the only resource left for their cure. 

Looseness of the Bowels.— Diarrhoea, 

Looseness, or relax of the bowels, is manifested by frequent, copi¬ 
ous, and thin or unusually liquid discharges. The excessive dis¬ 
charge may be caused either by irritating and unwholesome food, by 
inflammation and ulceration of some portion of the bowels, or by de¬ 
bility. 

Symptoms. — Rumbling noise in the bowels, with more or less 
weight and bearing down and uneasiness in the lower part of the 
bowels. This pressing down and uneasiness are relieved as soon as 
the evacuation takes place, but returns when another is near at hand. 
Griping is generally present, the strength is reduced, and the skin is 
pale, dry, and, after a time, sallow. 

Treatment: — When the complaint is caused by irritating food, it 
will generally stop as soon as the offending substance is removed, and 
not much medicine will be required. 

To neutralize any acidity, to remove wind, allay irritation, and 
strengthen the stomach, the compound syrup of rhubarb and potassa 
is well adapted, given in teaspoonful doses, every hour, till it oper¬ 
ates. A little paragoric added to it occasionally, or essence of pep¬ 
permint, or spearmint, may aid its good effects. 

If nausea and vomiting are present, put a mustard poultice of one- 
third strength upon the stomach, and give one-tenth grain of cocaine in 
a teaspoonful of water every fifteen minutes. If there is much grip¬ 
ing, give an injection (248), with twenty drops of camphor in it. 
A common diarrhoea may generally be arrested at once by prescrip¬ 
tions 159 or 162, in teaspoonful doses, after each discharge. 

When there is inflammation and ulceration of the bowel, the treat¬ 
ment must be similar to that for dysentery, — fomentations exter- 
nall}’, and the occasional use of starch injections, mild cathartics (9), 
(10), and poultices externally. 

Chronic Diarrhoea. 

The acute form of diarrhoea, not being properly managed, often 
runs on, and becomes chronic, and is at times exceedingly difficult 
to cure. 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


361 


Symptoms. — Frequent discharges, generally with some pain and 
griping, restlessness, thirst, poor appetite, debility, loss of flesh, dry, 
rough, and somewhat sallow skin, and tongue dry and dark-colored. 
The food often passes through the bowels pretty much in the condi¬ 
tion in which it was swallowed. The liver is generally out of order, 
and the bowels are frequently afilicted with a low grade of inflam¬ 
mation. 

Treatment.—In this form of the disease, astringents and tonics 
will generally be required. Sometimes a teaspoonful of brandy, in a 
little sweetened water, or in clear water, several times a day, will 
effect a cure. Good cherry brandy is a valuable remedy ; so is black¬ 
berry brandy. Many of the worst cases have been cured by taking 
no nourishment, for a long time, except milk, with a little lime-water 
in it. 

When the liver is involved in the complaint, as. evinced by light- 
colored stools, leptandrin, geranium, etc. (341), may be given with 
advantage. 

In some instances, when there is considerable debility, pills of 
quinine, catechu, etc. (842), will do well. 

A sponge-bath must be taken daily, and the skin be well rubbed 
after it. 


Cholera Morbus. 

The above name is given to a disease common in warm weather, 
and characterized by sudden attacks of bilious vomiting and purging, 
with severe pain in the belly, cramps, and general fever and subse¬ 
quent prostration. * The great amount of bile secreted and discharged 
has given it the name cholera^ from cholos^ bile. 

Symptoms. — The disease begins by sickness and distress at the 
stomach, which is succeeded by violent gripings, with vomiting of 
thin, dirty-yellowish, whitish, or greenish fluid, with discharges from 
the bowels similar to that vomited. The nausea and distress, with 
some few exceptions, continue between the vomiting and purging, 
and the pain, at times, is intense. The pulse is rapid, soon becoming 
small and feeble, the tongue dry, the urine high-colored, and there is 
much thirst, though no'drink can be retained on the stomach. It is 
to be distinguished from diarrhoea by the bilious discharges. 

Treatment.—Apply a large mustard poultice over the stomach and 
liver, and give tablespoonful doses of compound powder of rhubarb 
and potassa, every half hour, until the vomiting and nausea are 
checked, adding to each dose five to ten drops of camphor, if neces¬ 
sary. Perhaps it would generally be best, however, to give liberal 
draughts of warm water, at first, or flax-seed tea, that all the solid 
contents of the stomach and bowels may be washed out. 

A teaspoonful of laudanum in a' wine-glass of flax-seed tea, given 
as an injection, eveiy two hours, will sometimes do excellently well; 


362 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


or a tea made of chamomile flowers, or Colombo, and made sour by a 
few drops of nitric or sulphuric acid, and given internally, will some¬ 
times succeed better than most other things. One grain of svapnia 
and thirty grains of bicarbonate of soda dissolved in an ounce of sweet 
tincture of rhubarb, and given in teaspoonful doses, every half hour 
will often have a fine effect. The prescription 162 is also valuable. 

Hot-water bags should be applied to the feet, and warm flannels, 
or other kinds of dry heat, to the whole body. 


Asiatic Cholera. 

Besides the above name, this fearful disease Das been called epi¬ 
demic cholera, malignant cholera, spasmodic cholera, and cholera 
asphyxia. It first attracted notice in Bengal in 1817, whence it 
spread westward through Europe, and in 1832 it reached Quebec, on 
this continent. It has since then visited Asia and Europe several 
times with great severity, and has even been present on our shores. 
But at the present day the strict vigilance of sanitary boards has 
done much to prevent its spread and mitigate its terrors. Through 
the investigations of Koch and others it is now known to be propa¬ 
gated by a microbe, called the comma bacillus, and the efforts of 
investigators is now being directed to the discovery of an ‘agent that 
will destroy this germ and thus control the disease. 

Symptoms. — First Stage.— The first, premonitory stage, is 
mxrked by derangement of the digestive organs, rumbling in the 
bowels, pain in the loins or knees, twitching of the calves of the legs, 
impaired appetite, thirst, and especially, a slight diarrhoea; and these 
symptoms continue from a few hours to several days. I should add 
to these symptoms what is said to have been recently discovered, 
namely, that for several days before the attack, the pulse is down to 
forty or fifty heats in a minute. This, if it prove to be reliable, is a 
very valuable symptom. 

Second Stage. — This stage is marked by vomiting and purging a 
thin, colorless fluid, looking almost exactly like rice-water; by severe 
cramps in the calves of the legs, which soon attack the bowels and 
stomach. These cramps are excessively painful, and draw the mus¬ 
cles into knots. The tongue is pale and moist; the pulse feeble, 
though sometimes full and firm; the breathing hurried, with distress 
about the heart; great thirst; a feeling of internal warmth, and the 
secretion of urine entirely stopped. 

These thin, colorless discharges by vomiting and purging, are the 
serum or watery portion of the blood, \Nfhich oozes through the sides 
of the blood-vessels, and runs off rapidly, leaving the crassamentum, 
or red, solid part of the blood, stranded upon the inner surfaces of the 
arteries and veins. When so much of this is discharged that the 
blood cannot circulate freely, the patient sinks into the 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


363 


Third Stage, which is characterized by great prostration; pulse 
hardly perceptible ; skin cold and clammy; face blue or purple, and 
eyes much sunken ; hands dark-colored and sodden, looking like a 
washerwoman’s; breathing short and laborious; a sense of great heat 
ill the stomacli; and intense thirst. Recoveries from this stage sel¬ 
dom take place. 

Treatment. —In the first stage, the diarrhoea should receive the 
most prompt attention. From five to ten drops of laudanum, re¬ 
peated a few times, every three hours, will generally put a stop to it. 
Catechu (162) is also a suitable remedy.. The compound syrup of 
rhubarb and potassa, with some other articles (343), in tablespoonful 
doses, every hour, till it operates gently, is worth a trial. The diet 
should of course be very carefully regulated at such a time, though 
not particularly changed, except to leave off any indigestible article 
which is known to be injurious, and to be made a little more sparing 
than in time of perfect health. 

When the second stage has set in, or the stage of vomiting, purg¬ 
ing, and cramps, the treatment must be energetic. The sinking pow¬ 
ers must be sustained by chloroform, opium, and ammonia (119), or 
by camphor, opium, and cayenne (344), giving one pill every hour. 
Brandy may also be given freely. 

The warmth of the surface must be promoted by all possible means, 
hot bricks and bottles, tincture of cayenne, friction, etc. 

In the third stage, the remedies recommended above are to be pur¬ 
sued with increased energy, particularly the stimulants, and the efforts 
to promote the warmth of the surface. 

Dysentery. — Bloody Flux. — Colitis, 

This is an inflammation of the mucous membrane lining the lower 
or large bowels. The small bowels begin at the stomach, and are 
eight or ten yards long ; being largest near the stomach, and dimin¬ 
ishing in size as they approach their termination in the caecum. The 
lower or large bowels are two or three times as large as the small 
ones, and from their junction with the latter, they extend about six 
feet to the outlet, or anus. The large bowels are composed of the 
caecum, the colon, and the rectum. The rectum is about one foot in 
length. 

In most cases of dysentery, the rectum, and about half the adjoin¬ 
ing portion of the colon, experience the chief force of the inflamma¬ 
tion. Sometimes the whole of the colon and caecum are affected. 
Sometimes the mucous membrane lining these is ulcerated, and, be¬ 
coming wholly disorganized, passes off in shreds. 

Symptoms. — The disease comes on with loss of appetite, costive¬ 
ness, lassitude, shivering, heat of skin, and quick pulse. These are 
followed by griping pains in the bowels, and a constant desire to pass 


364 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


their contents. In general the passages are small, composed of mucus 
mixed with blood. These passages are attended and followed by 
severe gripings and inclination to strain, learnedly called tormina^ and 
temimui. They are sometimes, in the early stages, attended by nau¬ 
sea and vomiting. The natural feces, which do not pass off much, 
are small in quantity, and formed into round, campact balls, or irreg¬ 
ular, hardened lumps. This tenesmus, or great desire to strain, will 
continue, perhaps increase, for several days—the discharges being 
mostly blood in some cases, and chiefly mucus in others. Having 
generally but little odor at first, these discharges become, as the dis¬ 
ease advances, exceedingly offensive. 

Causes. —Dysentery is very frequently caused by sudden changes 
from hot to cold, by which sweating is suddenly checked, and the 
blood repelled from the surface. Hot climates, and dry, hot weather 
are predisposing causes. All green, unripe, and unwholesome food, 
and indigestible food of every sort, may induce it. 

Treatment. — In mild cases give a tablespoonful of castor-oil and 
two teaspoonfuls of paregoric, mixed, once a day. Sometimes, in 
place of the above, a dose of rochelle powder, dissolved in water, and 
eleven or twelve drops of camphor, may be taken. A moderate quan¬ 
tity of flax-seed or slippery-elm tea, may be taken as a drink, and the 
bowels be well emptied by an injection of starch. 

For this type of diarrhoea as well as for most of those that precede 
it the following prescription is most valuable: Subgallate of bismuth, 
4 drachms or teaspoonfuls, salol, } drachm, paregoric, 6 drachms, 
tincture of camphor, 2 drachms, compound tincture of cardamon, 
3 ounces. A teaspoonful in a little water every three hours. 

The patient should not be allowed to sit up, and must be kept very 
still, and be allowed only a very scant diet, as flour porridge, well 
boiled, rice water, etc. 

Chronic Dysentery. 

When dysentery “runs on” for some time, it is liable to become 
chronic. 

Symptoms. — Looseness of bowels, — the discharges being un¬ 
healthy, more or less bloody, attended by bearing down, or a desire 
to strain, and being in number from two to forty a day. There is 
great debility, the pulse is weak and quick, the tongue slightly furred, 
the appetite lost, the face pale and sallow, the skin dry and parched. 
Sometimes the relax alternates with costiveness. 

Treatment.—In this form of the complaint, astringents will be 
necessary (159), (161), (162), (345), (346), (347). 

Injections may be used, if necessary, composed of nitrate of sil 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


365 


ver, fifteen grains to the ounce of water, or an infusion of golden se^l, 
with a little tincture of prickly-ash berries added to it. 

The diet must be very light, easy of digestion, and nutritious. In 
some cases, it should be composed chiefly of wheat porridge, or boiled 
milk and boiled rice. In other cases, a little tender beef-steak should 
be taken once a day. 


Worms. — Vermes, 

The intestinal canal is subject to various disturbances from the 
presence of worms. Of these troublesome tenants, there are three 
principal varieties. 

The Ascaris, or pirirworm^ called also maw or thread worm, is a 
small, white, thread-like worm from half an inch to an inch in length. 
These worms live, in great number, in the rectum, where they excite 
great irritation and itching. 

The Lumbricus, or ascaris lumbricoides^ is a round worm, about an 
eighth of an inch in thickness, and from an eighth to a quarter of a 
yard in length. Its color varies from a milky whiteness to a deep 
red. It generally occupies the small bowels. 

The Tenia Solanum, or tape-^orm^ is a flat worm, with four suck¬ 
ers at the head, is from a few feet to some hundreds in length, and 
full of joints. It dwells in the small bowels, and feeds on the chyle 
as it comes along, before it is absorbed by the lacteals. In this way, 
it robs the body of nourishment, and produces great loss of flesh, and 
an enormous appetite. 

Symptoms. —- In the grown person the symptoms of worms are 
quite obscure, except an intolerable itching within the anus, which 
generally indicates pin-worms. 

In children worms are indicated by paleness, itching of the nose, 
grinding of the teeth and starting in sleep, irregular appetite, bad 
breath, swelled upper lip, picking of the nose, hard swelled belly, and 
one cheek constantly flushed. 

Treatment. — For expelling worms various articles have been used. 
Among these spirits of turpentine (155) has a high reputation. The 
following preparation does well: Spirits of turpentine, half an ounce; 
essence of anise, half an ounce; castor-oil, one ounce; worm-seed 
oil, one ounce. Mix. The dose for a child one or two years old is 
ten to twenty drops, every two or three hours. In two or three days, 
a brisk physic should be given. The worm-powder is quite success¬ 
ful. 

An injection composed of quassia (66), or aloes (22), or of simple 
sweet-oil, is very effectual in removing pin-worms from the lower 
bowel. So is an injection composed of the red iodide of mercury, 
one grain; iodide of potassium, half a grain; and two pints of 
water. 


366 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


Most of the above preparations are thought to be successful in ex¬ 
pelling all kinds of worms; but for the tape-worm^ no other remedy 
has yet shown itself as effectual as pumpkin-seeds. The seeds should 
be well bruised, and steeped in water. This should be drunk freely 
for several days, if need be. It is believed to be a sure remedy, even 
in cases of several years ’ standing. The expulsion of a worm may 
be hastened by having a movement over a vessel in which a quart or 
so of boiling water has been placed, which will have a tendency to 
relax parts so that the worm will loosen his hold the more readily. The 
drinking of the decoction of pumpkin seeds should be followed after 
an interval of an hour or so by a good saline cathartic, such as one 
or two teaspoonfuls of epsom salts. 

In all cases of worms, the diet should be carefully chosen, and be 
connected with proper exercise, pure air, frequent bathing, and all 
those measures which tend to improve the general health. 

After the expulsion of the worms, tonics should always be taken 
to strengthen the bowels, that the same evil may not return. 

Acute Inflammation of the Kidneys. — Nephritis. 

Before speaking of this disease, I wish to give the reader a general 
idea of a kidney, and shall do so by the use of two cuts. 

Fig. 110 presents the external surface of the right kidney, with its 
renal capsule mounted on top; z, being its upper edge; /, A, superior 
and inferior branches of the emulgent artery; c, c?, g, three,branches 
of the emulgent vein; a, the pelvis of the ureter; 5, the ureter. 

Fig. Ill is the same kidney laid open; 1, being the super-renal 
capsule; 2, the vascular portion; 3, 3, the tubercular portion, consisting 




Fig. no. Fig. 111. 

of cones ; 4, 4, two of the calices receiving the apex of their corres¬ 
ponding cones; 5, 5, 5, the three infundibula; 6, the pelvis; and 7, 
the ureter. 

The kidneys are glands, and their office is to draw or strain off 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


367 


from the body those effete or worn-out particles, or products of decay 
which contain nitrogen^ while the liver takes away those carbonaceous 
matters which have no nitrogen. These useless substances which go 
out through the kidneys are generally in the form of urea. In carry¬ 
ing off these matters, the kidneys may have more to do than properly 
belongs to them; and may be so stimulated, or irritated, or injured 
in some way, as to become inflamed. 

Symptoms—Like most other inflammatory diseases, it begins with 
cold chills and rigors, especially in the back and loins, followed by 
fever and pain. The pain frequently extends to the bladder, the loins, 
and the thighs, and is of a severe, lancinating kind — though some¬ 
times obtuse. Pressure, motion, straining, or taking a full breath, add 
to its pungency. The urine is scanty, high-colored, sometimes bloody, 
and can only be passed drop by drop. In the loins there is a sense 
of heat, gnawing, and constriction ; the bowels are either constipated, 
or relaxed by diarrhoea. A numbness of the thigh, and drawing up 
of the testicle on the affected side, are marked and peculiar symptoms. 
In some‘cases, there are nausea, vomiting, oppression of the stomach, 
faintness, hiccough, drum-head distention, and rumbling of the bowels. 
The skin is hot and dry, the pulse hard and frequent. 

Causes. —The use of cantharides, oil of turpentine, and other di¬ 
uretics, taking cold, violent exercise, mechanical-injuries, the transla¬ 
tion of rheumatism or gout, the striking in of skin eruptions, and 
gravelly formations in the kidneys or ureters. 

Distinctions-This disease is to be distinguished from colic by 

the pain being increased by pressure, and by the frequent but difficult 
discharge of red urine; from lumbago^ from its being confined fre¬ 
quently to one side, and also by the urinary troubles, and by the 
nausea and vomiting; and from all other diseases, by the numbness 
of the thigh, and the drawing up of the testicles. 

Terminations of the Disease.—It runs a rapid course, and may 
terminate by resolution, or by suppuration. When the latter happens, 
it is indicated by the decline of the more violent symptoms, a throb¬ 
bing and a sense of weight, with chills, followed by flushes of heat, 
and sweating. The matter formed, generally small in quantity, may 
pass into the cavity of the kidney, and thence through the bladder to 
a natural outlet with the urine. 

Treatment.—Either put the feet into a hot mustard-bath, or put 
mustard drafts upon them. At the same time apply a large mustard 
poultice upon the small of the back, and follow it up with hot fomen¬ 
tations of stramonium leaves and hops, or stramonium and wormwood 
or tansy. 

Let perspiration be induced as soon as possible by five to ten- 
drop doses of tincture of veratrum viride, repeated every hour, or by 
teaspoonful doses of the compound tincture of Virginia snake-root, 
driven every half hour. 


368 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


If costiveness exist, the bowels must be opened by epsom salts, 
cream of tartar, or salts of tartar; or by copious injections of warm 
water, containing a few drops of the tincture of arnica-leaves. Such 
injections not only unload the bowels, but act as a local bath, by lying 
ill the bowel near the inflamed kidneys. • 

The drinks must be mucilaginous and diuretic. The marshmal¬ 
low root and peach-leaves, slippery-elm bark, flax-seed, mullein, elder 
blows, hair-cap moss, and cleavers, are all valuable. If the disease is 
caused by gravel, twenty drops of liquor potassse, largely diluted 
with flax-seed and upland-cranberry tea, and taken freely as a drink, 
is excellent. We recommend Poland water in large quantities. 

Chronic Inflammation of the Kidneys. 

This is frequently the result of the acute form of the disease, but is 
also produced by injuries and other causes. 

Symptoms. — A weakness in the small of the back, and a dull, 
heavy pain in the kidneys. The urine is passed often and in small 
quantities. It is alkaline—sometimes white and milky—and has 
in it deposits of phosphate of lime, and triple phosphates. 

Treatment. — Infusions of pipsissewa, uva ursi, trailing arbutus, 
wild carrot, queen of the meadow, buchu-leaves, or foxglove are use¬ 
ful diuretics, and may be taken with advantage. 

The bowels must be kept open with some gentle physic (18), if 
they are costive; and the alkaline sponge bath, with friction, be used 
daily. 

An eruption may be brought out upon the small of the back by 
rubbing on a few drops of croton-oil; or, if the patient prefer it, a 
mustard poultice may be applied two or three times a week. 

The food should be nutritious, and easily digested, and a little ex¬ 
ercise be taken daily in the open air. 

Acute Inflammation of the Bladder. — Cystitis. 

This disease affects the lining membrane of the bladder, — some¬ 
times its muscular substance. It may attack the upper portion, the 
middle, or the neck of this organ. It runs a rapid course. 

Symptoms.—Burning, piercing, and throbbing pain in the region 
of the bladder. The pain extends to the perineum, and in some 
cases, to the testicles and thighs, and is much increased by pressure. 
The perineum, the space between the fundament and testicles, feels 
sore to the touch. The desire to pass urine is incessant, but the 
effort to do so is mainly ineffectual. The water passes off drop by 
drop, with great pain, or is entirely stopped, causing enlargement 
of the bladder, and great distress. Mucus from the inflamed lining 
of the bladder passes off with the water. Nausea, vomiting, and 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


369 


great anxiety are common. The bowels are bound, and when the 
disease is on the side next the lower bowel, there is a desire to empty 
the bowels; and if the inflammation be in the neck, there is great 
pain in the perineum, and frequently an entire retention of the water. 
The pulse is full, hard, and frequent, the skin hot and dry, the thirst 
urgent, and the patient restless and dejected. 

/ Causes. — This disease may be produced by taking cantharides and 
turpentine; by irritating substances forced into the bladder with a 
syringe, or by pushing bougies or catheters into it; by gravel-stones 
in the bladder; by retained urine; by external injuries; by gonor¬ 
rhoea ; and by cold applied to the feet, or to the lower portion of the 
abdomen. 

Treatment. — If the urine be retained, it is of the utmost impor¬ 
tance that it be early drawn off with the catheter, lest a distention of 
the bladder bring on mortiflcation. Great care is required not to pro¬ 
duce irritation by any roughness in introducing the instrument. 

Leeches should be applied upon the lower part of the bowels, the 
perineum, and around the anus. When these are removed, warm 
poultices should be applied. Cold compresses will often do as well. 
The bowels must be opened with epsom salts. Injections of warm 
water, with a few drops of tincture of arnica-leaves, will act finely as 
a local bath, — the water being retained as long as possible. 

The tincture of veratrum viride will be required in five to ten-drop 
doses, or the compound tincture of Virginia snake-root, to induce 
perspiration. Ex. jaborandi may sometimes be used for the same 
purpose. 

Drinks must be taken very sparingly. A small amount of cold in¬ 
fusion of slippery-elm bark, or marshmallow and peach-leaves, or 
cleavers. This mucilaginous drink must be the beginning and the 
end of the diet during the active stage of the disease. Alkalis are 
exceedingly useful in allaying the pain and smarting of urination, 
perhaps the best remedy being liq. potass, citratis, in tablespoonful doses 
every two hours. Suppositories of opium and belladonna in one-fourth 
grain doses by the rectum every two to four hours allay the frequent 
urination and pain and quiet the spasm of the neck of the bladder. 

Chronic Inflammation of the Bladder.— Cystirrheea. 

This is much more common than the active form of the disease. 
It often arises from the same causes which produce acute inflamma¬ 
tion of the bladder. 

It often passes under the title of “catarrh of the bladder.” It is 
a chronic inflammation of the mucous lining of that organ, and is a 
very common and troublesome affection among old people. 

Symptoms. — Slight lancinating pains, with a feeling of heat in the 
region of the bladder, and a sense of weight and tenderness in the 


370 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


perineum; frequent and tormenting desire to pass water, with occa¬ 
sional spasmodic action of the bladder. The urine is loaded with 
tenacious mucus, just as the expectoration has large quantities of 
mucus in it when there is inflammation of the membrane lining the 
windpipe and bronchial tubes. When the water has stood a while, 
this mucus settles at the bottom of the vessel, leaving the fluid clear 
above. Great quantities of this are sometimes passed, — amounting 
even to pints in a day. The triple phosphates of magnesia and am¬ 
monia are often found in the water. 

Frequently there are derangements of the appetite and digestive 
functions, a white or brown fur upon the tongue, a harsh, dry skin, 
with thirst and general debility, — especially in the back and loins. 
Sometimes there is a little fever. 

Treatment.—To reduce the inflammation apply a mustard poultice. 
Urotropin in powder form, 7 grains to a dose or the tablet of 7^ grains 
may be used as they are more readily bought, followed by a good 
drink of water and taken three or four times a day is the best drug 
to clear the urine of pus or other debris caused by inflammation of 
the bladder. 

An injection into the bladder, once a day, of a tepid infusion of 
golden-seal root, with much care, may be of great service; or an 
infusion of equal parts of golden-seal, witch-hazel, and stramonium. 
It may be done with a gum-elastic catheter and a small syringe. 

The bowels must be kept open with the neutralizing mixture, or 
some other mild physic; and the skin bathed with saleratus and 
water once a day, and rubbed well with a coarse towel. 

Should there be any scrofulous, or gouty, or rheumatic condition of 
the system, the remedies for those complaints may be used in addition 
to the above. 

Milk, bread and vegetable food should be the only articles of diet 
allowed. 


Disease of the Supra-Renal Capsules. 

The supra-renal capsules are small bodies situated above the kid¬ 
neys. (Fig. Ill, 1.) Their office is not well understood. It has 
been found of late that they are subject to a disorder having peculiar 
symptoms. This is a comparatively new disease. 

Symptoms-The most marked symptom is a peculiar change in 

the color of the skin, called “ bronzing.” This bronzing process be¬ 
gins in patches on those parts exposed to the sun, and to friction, 
as the neck, the backs of the hands, the fronts of the thighs, and the 
arms. These patches look, in color, like spots upon a bronze statue, 
deprived of their gloss. 

Another marked symptom is a general dehility, which comes on 
without any apparent cause, — there being, generally, no evidence of 
organic disease, and no loss of flesh, — and is attended with faint- 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


371 


ings, loss of energy both of body and mind, a peculiar flabbiness of 
flesh, and an early death, apparently from sheer weakness. 

The blood becomes depraved, and loses its coloring matter, as 
shown by the paleness of the skin where there is no bronzing. 

The pulse is generally very soft and compressible. The stomach is 
irritable, the appetite is gone ; there is nausea and sometimes vomiting, 
with pain and a sense of sinking at the pit of the stomach. Fre¬ 
quently there is costiveness, sometimes diarrhoea, and pains in the 
back and loins. In some cases there are epileptic fits, failure of 
memory, change of temper, or a numbness of the fingers, legs, etc. 

Treatment.—The only method of treatment that promises any hope 
of cure in this trouble is a preparation made from healthy Suprarenal 
Capsules. These are concentrated and undergo a process which 
enables the important elements to be retained and a fair proportion of 
cases are now cured by their use. 

Bright’s Disease of the Kidneys. — Albuminuria. 

This peculiar disease was first explained to the profession in 1837, 
by Dr. Bright, of England, whose name it took. It consists of a dis¬ 
order of the kidneys, — probably a congestion and an obstructed cir¬ 
culation in them, from which arise two most important effects ; first, 
albumen, an essential alimentary constituent of the blood, is secreted 
and passed off, in larger or smaller quantities, in the urine; and sec¬ 
ondly, urea, the worn-out matters of the blood which the kidneys are 
made expressly to carry off, is permitted to remain. If the urine of 
a person having Bright’s disease be examined, therefore, albumen, 
which should not be there, will be found, and urea, a natural constitu¬ 
ent, will be absent. The presence of albumen, however, while ab¬ 
normal, is not necessarily indicative of Bright’s disease, as it may 
proceed from indigestion and blood disorders. 

Method of Examination. —To discover albumen in urine suspected 
to contain it, place a little in a test tube, and boil it over a spirit- 
lamp. If albumen be present only in minute quantity, it may cause 
only a delicate opalescence ; if in larger quan¬ 
tity, it may separate in curdy fiakes, and fall to 
the bottom as a more or less abundant white 
precipitate. If very abundant., the liquid may 
become nearly solid. 

The albumen is the same as tht white of an 
egg, and the boiling has the same effect in 
whitening and hardening it, as upon that sub¬ 
stance. 

Albumen is sometimes fv^und in the urine in 
a coagulated state, and having the shape of tubes or worms (Fig. 
112). This is quite common in Bright’s disease. The deposit seems 
to be made up of fibrous casts of the uriniferous tubes of the kid¬ 
neys. 



372 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


Symptoms. — The two unnatural conditions mentioned above 
give rise to the symptoms of Bright’s disease. One of them, how¬ 
ever, is itself the most constant and characteristic symptom of the 
disease, namely, the presence of albumen. This, too, being one of 
the nutritive constituents of the blood, its abstraction thins the 
serous portion of the blood, and causes it to filter out of its vessels 
into the cells, — causing dropsy of the cells, usually called cellular 
dropsy, or anasarca. This general dropsy begins frequently in the 
face, and spreads rapidly over the whole body and limbs. In addi¬ 
tion to this, there are pains in the back and loins, a gradual failing of 
strength, and a derangement of digestion. The skin becomes dry, 
with a pale and bloodless appearance, and there are frequently thirst, 
nausea and vomiting. The urine frequently has fat, blood, epithelial 
scales, mucus, blood-discs, fibrous casts of the uriniferous tubes, and 
saline sediments; and is generally lighter by weight than in health, 
and less in quantity, and is apt to be red, brown, or dingy in color. 

The retention of urea in the blood acts as a poison, and causes, 
toward the latter end of the disease, when accumulated in large quan¬ 
tity, drowsiness, convulsions, and apoplexy. 

A frequent desire to make water, with a shifting back and forth 
of the bowels between costiveness and diarrheea, are common symp¬ 
toms. 

Treatment.—The results of treatment in this disease are often un¬ 
satisfactory. Yet if taken in season, investigated with proper care, 
and treated with due diligence, much may be done for its cure. It is 
one of those harassing complaints, which physicians in family prac¬ 
tice seldom have the patience to investigate and manage with suffi¬ 
cient care. 

Let the healthy and active condition of all the vessels of the skin 
be the first object aimed at. This will relieve the laboring and falter¬ 
ing kidneys of a portion of their burden. The alkaline sponge-batli 
with vigorous friction every day will secure this object. 

In the next place, the skin being put in a working condition, should 
be made to work by some internal diaphoretic, — as the tincture of 
veratrum viride, in doses of from five to ten drops, or the compound 
tincture of Virginia snake-root, in teaspoonful doses. 

The kidneys may be still further relieved, especially when there is 
considerable tenderness and other signs of inflammation, by cupping, 
leeching, mustard-poultices and croton-oil. 

The bowels should be regulated by some gentle physic, as cream of 
tarter dissolved in flax-seed tea, rochelle powders, epsom salts, etc. In 
some cases, podophyllin and leptandrin (40), or the compound 
powder of jalap (41), are useful. 

When there is dropsy of the cells, elaterium may be used as physic 
(31), or the kidneys may be jogged by digitalis (130), (129), its effects 
feing carefully watched. Cider, freely drunk, has been found useful 
in some cases. 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


373 


To restore the blood, iron (73), (93), (74), (75), (72), (71) is 
the essential article. When there is considerable debility, some of 
the vegetable bitters, as quinine, quassia, gentian, Colombo, etc., may 
be used daily. 

Coffee, and all indigestible articles of food, as rich pastries, new 
bread, high-seasoned meat, and fats, must be avoided, — in a word, 
nothing must be taken, either in kind or quantity, which the stomach 
cannot easily digest. 


Diabetes. 


A CHRONIC disease of mild beginning which is associated with the 
presence of a large amount of sugar together with a great increase 
of the amount of urine passed. The usual amount that a healthy 
adult passes during the day is three pints and this disease may cause 
an increase in severe cases to several quarts; three to four quarts is 
not unusual and it can be noticed that this great waste of the tissues 
must naturally be associated with considerable loss of flesh and 
strength. It is a disease most often found in middle life and more 
common among men than women and is quite frequently passed 
down through generations. 

Nature of the Urine.— Not only is there too much urine discharged, 
but, instead of being lighter than healthy urine, as in Bright’s disease, 
it is heavier, and instead of holding albumen in solution, it contains 
grape-sugar. 


To Detect Sugar.— Put a little of the suspected urine in a test- 
tube ; add to it a drop or two of solution of sulphate of copper, which 
will give the fluid a pale-blue tint. Now add liquor potassa in 
excess: if sugar bd present, this will throw down a pale-blue precipi¬ 
tate (hydrated oxide of copper), which will immediately re-dissolve, 
forming a purplish-blue liquid. Boil this over a lamp; if there be 
sugar, a reddish or yellowdsh-brown precipitate (sub-oxide of copper) 
will be thrown down; if no sugar, a black precipitate (common oxide 
of copper) will fall to the bottom. 

Another Test ,—Place a little urine in a test-tube; add to it half 
its volume of liquid potassa, and boil five minutes. If there be sugar 
present, the liquid will take a brownish or bistre tint. 

G-rowih of Torula as a Test, — Place a portion of saccharine urine 
in a warm place, and a scum will soon rise, as 
if a little flour had been dusted on it. This, 
when examined under the microscope, proves to 
be minute oval bodies. These expand and dilate 
i the vesicle containing them into the form of a 
I tube. They still continue to .enlarge, and pro- 
ject from the parent bladder, like buds. The 
whole then resembles a jointed fungoid giowth 
(Fig-113), which finally breaks up, and falls to 
the bottom, as a copious deposit of oval vesicles 
or spores. 



Fig. 113. 


374 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


Other Symptoms. — Great thirst, craving appetite, dry skin, a 
sense of weight and uneasiness in the stomach after eating, dry and 
parched mouth, white and foul or clean and red tongue, wasting of 
flesh, languor and aversion to exercise, debility, pain and weakness 
in the loins, costiveness, loss of the sexual feeUng, and cold feet. 
As the disease draws towards a fatal end, the gums become spongy, 
the breath fetid, sometimes smelling like urine. 

Treatment. — The skin should have about the same treatment as 
that recommended in Bright’s disease. Also, the same counter-irrita¬ 
tion over the kidneys. The bowels must be kept open by some 
gentle physic (13), (12), (15). 

Tonics. — These will be required to restore the tone of the system, 
particularly iron, — same preparations as recommended in Bright’s 
disease. 

Astringents to check the flow of urine will be needed. Alum, in 
three-grain doses, three times a day, or sugar of lead, or white vitriol, 
or clear opium, will be serviceable. Creosote, in one or two-drop 
doses, and tincture of cantharides, have each cured cases. 

One scruple of Peruvian bark, one scruple of wild-cranberry leaves, 
powdered, and half a grain of opium, mixed and taken three times a 
day, is a good remedy. 

All articles which contain sugar and starch must be forbidden in 
the diet. Bread and potatoes contain a large amount of starch; and 
beets, parsnips, and some other vegetables, have sugar. It is best 
to confine the patient almost entirely to tender, fresh meats; and the 
drink, notwithstanding the great thirst, must be restricted to a very 
small quantity. Saccharin should be used to sweeten drinks instead 
of sugar. 

Bleeding from the Kidneys, etc. — Hcematuria, 

By this I mean a discharge of blood from the urinary passage. It 
may come from the kidneys, the ureters, the bladder, or the urethra. 

Symptoms. — The passage of the blood is preceded by pain in the 
region of the bladder or kidneys, and accom¬ 
panied by faintness. There is generally heat 
and distress in the loins, and tenderness upon 
pressure in the region of the bladder or kid¬ 
neys, according to the place from which the 
blood comes. 

It is sometimes difficult to decide whether 
the coloring matter in the urine is really blood. 

In such cases, the microscope will generally 
detect the blood corpuscles, if present.. They 
commonly appear as in Fig. 114, having a yellow color, and being 
pretty uniform in size. 





© 

° 0 
.K® 

© O 

o \l 

O' 


9 

W 


no. 114. 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


375 


Treatment.—This must of course vary according to the nature of 
the case, and the immediate cause producing it. Where active bleed¬ 
ing exists, the patient must have absolute rest in bed, with applica¬ 
tions of cold to the hips and loins. If the patient be strong and full 
of blood, wet cups or leeches may be applied over the kidneys, or the 
bladder. In such cases, too, the bowels must be freely moved with 
some preparation of salts (14), (18), (20), (25). 

Sugar of lead is a valuable remedy; but it should be given in large 
doses for a short time, rather than in small doses for a long time. It 
is best taken in form of solution (348), two great spoonfuls every 
two hours, until five or six doses are taken. 

But the best remedy is gallic acid. It seems to have extraordinary 
power in this complaint. It should be given in five-grain doses, 
mixed with a teaspoonful of mucilage of gum-arabic, and ten drops 
of tincture of henbane. 

Suppression of Urine.— Ischuria Renalis, 

This disease is, in one respect, just the opposite of diabetes. 
While immense quantities of urine are secreted in that, none is se¬ 
creted in this. In that, the kidneys do too much; in this, they do 
nothing. 

This complaint is sometimes called paralysis of the kidneys. It 
usually occurs in old persons, and those inclined to corpulency. 

Symptoms. — The patient makes no water; and if the catheter be 
applied, none will be found in the bladder. The patient feels unwell, 
restless, anxious, with a slight pain in the loins and bowels, perhaps; 
but on the whole not illness enough to give any very good account 
of it. After a little time, nausea comes on, and perhaps vomiting, 
and soon drowsiness, wanderings of mind, incoherent talk, hiccough, 
stupefaction, and death. These head symptoms are caused by the 
shutting up, in the kidneys, the natural outlet of urea, of an excre- 
mentitious matter, which acts as a poison to the nervous system. 
Before death, the perspiration has a strong smell of urine. 

Treatment.— The cause of this complaint not being known, the 
treatment must necessarily be a little uncertain. We cannot go 
amiss, however, in placing the patient immediately in a warm bath 
for fifteen or twenty minutes. Then apply wet cups over the kidneys, 
and follow these either by mustard poultices or by hot fomentations. 

' Let the bowels be opened by the compound powder of jalap, or by 
elaterium (31). Epsom salts or cream of tartar might in some cases 
be substituted for the above. A stimulating injection is also desira¬ 
ble (246). 

Diuretics, as sweet spirits of nitre, digitalis, queen of the meadow 
and peach-leaves, equal parts, and marshmallow, are of course called 
for. 


376 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


Much of the poisonous matter retained maybe got out through the 
skin, by a free use of the compound tincture of Virginia snake-root 
or tincture of veratrum viride in full doses. 

Although the symptoms, in the earlier stages of this complaint, 
may not attract much attention, or be thought worthy of notice, yet 
the treatment should be prompt and energetic, as a fatal termination 
is sometimes reached in the brief space of forty-eight hours. 

Retention of Urine. 

This disorder is often confounded with suppression of the urine, 
but it is different in every respect. In suppression^ the urine is not 
formed by the kidneys; in retention^ it is formed, and, in some cases, 
poured into the bladder, but is retained on account of some inability 
to pass it. 

Ischuria. — This is one of the forms of retention. In this com¬ 
plaint, the urine has passed from the kidneys to the bladder, but from 
some cause, generally palsy of the museles of the bladder, it cannot 
be passed off. In this case, there is no pain, but the stream of water 
flows off with slower and slower pace, — the patient having to make 
tiresome efforts with the abdominal muscles to get the bladder 
emptied. As the quantity discharged diminishes, the desire to uri¬ 
nate grows more urgent. Pressure just above the pubes gives pain, 
and the bladder feels under the hand like a large, hard tumor. 

Dysuria.—In this form of the complaint, the water is passed to 
some extent, but with pain and heat along the water-pipe. This is 
generally caused by some inflammation along the urethra. 

Strangury. — In this the water is only passed drop by drop, and 
with great burning, scalding, and tenesmus in the neck of the bladdei. 
When there is considerable inflammation, the skin becomes hot, the 
pulse hard and quick, and the tongue covered Avith a white fur. 

Causes. — These several forms of the complaint are caused by palsy 
of the bladder, gonorrhoea, inflammation in the neck of the bladder 
or the water-pipe, mechanical injuries of the bladder in child-bearing 
or otherwise, by tumors pressing upon it, by irritation from gravel or 
stone within its cavity, by stricture or partial closing up of the ure¬ 
thra, by disease of the prostate gland, by taking spirits of turpentine 
or cantharides, or by the absorption of this latter article when used 
as a blister. 

Treatment. — It is obviously necessary in this complaint, that 
treatment, in order to be of any avail, should be prompt; for when 
the retention is complete, the bladder will burst in from two to five 
days, and cause the death of the patient. 

The treatment must vary according to the cause of the retention. 

If it be caused by palsy of the bladder, the common flexible cathe- 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


377 


ter must be used daily until the muscular fibres recover their lost 
power. When much irritation is caused by introducing it, it is better 
not to withdraw it, but to close its external orifice with a small plug, 
which the patient can remove as often as necessary to let off the 
urine. To remove the paralysis, the electro-magnetic machine is 
worth a trial, the current being passed through the bladder. At 
the same time let the patient take strychnia (85), (86), (83), (95). 
Cantharides, in the form of tincture, or in connection with strychnia 
(291), is often used. 

If the retention is caused by inflammation of the neck of the blad¬ 
der, leeches should be applied to the perineum, and three or four drops 
of croton-oil may be rubbed on just above the pubes to bring out an 
eruption. Warm fomentations will also be serviceable, and warm 
hip-baths. Cooling diuretics, as infusions of marshmallow, cleavers, 
pumpkin-seeds, buchu, sweet spirits of nitre, etc, must not be omitted. 

Inability to Hold the Urine. — Enuresis, 

This complaint, generally called incontinence of the urine, is quite 
common among children. In some cases the child has no ability to 
hold its water at any time; but generally it is only passed off invol¬ 
untarily at night while in bed. In adult life it is less frequently met 
with, except among the old. 

Causes -Irritation of the roots of the spinal nerves which go to 

the bladder, mechanical injuries of the bladder, palsy of the bladder, 
particularly in old people, debility of the neck of the bladder, a gen¬ 
eral weakness of the nervous system, worms in the bowels, piles, 
whites, gravel or stones in the bladder, long prepuce in boys, etc. 

Treatment. — Asa general rule, the change of constitution which 
occurs at puberty cures this complaint. But as this does not always 
happen, it is important that parents do everything in their power to 
break it up early, lest it become an affliction for life. 

Children who suffer from this disorder are apt to drink largely. 
This habit should be restrained. But little drink should be allowed, 
whatever the desire for it. Care should be taken that the child make 
water before going to bed, — also that it be aroused at a late hour for 
the same purpose, and that the foot of the bed be elevated so as to 
draw the urine away from the neck of the bladder. 

The skin should be washed all over, every day, with cool or cold 
water, and vigorously rubbed with a coarse towel. This will cause 
the excess of fluids to pass off through the skin, and lessen the action 
of the kidneys. 

In some instances children urinate in bed through carelessness, 
being half conscious of what is occurring, but not caring enough to 
rouse themselves. In such cases, they are often cured by some de¬ 
cided correction, — the impending act of passing water connecting 


378 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


itself in their mind with the correction, and recalling them instantly 
to full consciousness. Of course this mode of relief should be resorted 
to with great judgment and caution. 

Ergotin in 1 grain dose given two or three times a day or a mix¬ 
ture containing 15 drops of the fluid extract of ergot or 10 drops 
of the tincture of belladonna given in water, morning and night are 
the best remedies. When any disturbances of the eyes are com¬ 
plained of, belladonna must be stopped. 

If the disorder be caused by irritation of the spinal nerves, cold 
water douched upon the back, or croton-oil rubbed along the spine, 
or a warm stimulating or irritating plaster upon the lower part of the 
back, will be required. The electro-magnetic machine may do well 
in some cases. 

Urinary Deposits. — Gravel. — Stone. 

Unnatural deposits in urine are to be regarded simply as evi¬ 
dences of changes which disease is making in the body. As such 
they are valuable, — more valuable, in many cases, than any or all 
other symptoms we can study, and most valuable from the ease with 
which they may be investigated. Yet but very few physicians, com¬ 
paratively, pay any special attention to them, or make any effort to 
acquire the small amount of knowledge needed for their detection. 

Sources of the Urine. — The urinary secretion has three sources. 
The largest bulk of it comes from the superabundance of drink taken 
into the stomach. This is shown from the free flow of pale urine 
after taking copious drafts of water or other fluids. Such quantities 
of water as are often drunk, would embarrass the functions of animal 
life, were it not pumped off by the kidneys. 

A second source of supply for the urinary secretion is to be found 
in the elements of imperfectly digested food, and also some abnormal 
elements arising from incomplete assimilation. Oxalic acid is a 
specimen of the latter, being sometimes largely excreted, in dyspep¬ 
sia, soon after a meal. 

The third source of urine is found in those old and worn-out atoms 
of the system, which can serve no further useful purpose in the ani¬ 
mal economy, and which cannot be got rid of by the lungs or skin 
It is only, however, one portion of the dead tissue, namely, that which 
is rich in nitrogen, which goes out through the renal strainer; an¬ 
other portion, which has a preponderance of inflammable elements — 
carbon, hydrogen, and perhaps sulphur — takes the outward channel 
through the liver, as bile. 


DISEASES OE THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


379 


Characteristics of Urine.—Healthy urine has a light amber color, 
is transparent, and has different degrees of density, its specific gravity 
varying from 1.003 to 1.030. It has an aromatic, violet-like smell, 
and a bitter, disagreeble taste, like salts. 

That which is passed a little time after drinking largely, is pale, 
and has a low specific gravity, varying from 1.003 to 1.009, and is 
called urina potus. That passed soon after the digestion of a full 
meal, is called urina chyli^ or urina cihi; it has a specific gravity from 
1.020 to 1.030. That which is secreted/rom the bloody and is passed 
before eating or drinking in the morning, is called urina sanguinis; 
and has a specific gravity of from 1.015 to 1.025. This is the best 
specimen of the average density and nature of healthy urine. 

Healthy urine contains urea, uric acid, sulphuric acid, phosphoric 
acid, lime, magnesia, phosphate of soda, etc. It is only when these 
are discovered in excess^ that they indicate disease. 

Examination of Urine.—Let a piece of blue litmus-paper be first 
dipped in the urine; if it be acid, the color of the paper will be 
changed to red^ or reddish-brown. Should the blue color remain un¬ 
changed, then use yellow turmeric or reddened litmus paper; 
if the urine is alkaline, the turmeric will become brown, and 
the reddened litmus will be changed to blue. If the color in 
both cases remains unaltered, the urine is neutral; that is, 
neither acid nor alkaline. 

This being done, let the specific gravity be taken. This is 
easily done by the urinometer (Fig. 115). This instrument 
is known also by the names hydrometer, and gravimeter. It 
is generally made of glass. When placed in distilled water, 
it will sink to a certain point; and as all bodies immersed in 
fluid displace a bulk equal to themselves, it follows that in 
a fluid denser than water, the instrument will not sink so 
deep. The space above the large bulb is marked off into de- 
FiG. 115 . gp00g corresponding to different densities. When this instru¬ 
ment is immersed in urine, and has come to rest, the number on the 
graduated scale, which stands at the surface of the liquid, when 
added to 1.000, will represent the specific gravity of the fluid. If, for 
example, the surface of the liquid corresponds with 9 on the scale, 
the specific gravity of the urine will be 1.009 ; if at 25, it will be 
1.025. 

By attending to the specific gravity of the urine, the physician may 
often gain important information respecting his patient, as it may be 
made to show him how much solid matter is daily carried out of the 
body through the kidneys. This, at the bed-side, may often give 
useful hints in regard to treatment. 

The following table, constructed by Dr. Golding Bird, shows at a 
glance the amount of solid matter in 1000 grains of urine of different 
densities: — 






380 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


Specific 

Gravity. 

Solids. 

Water. 

Specific 

Gravity. 

Solids. 

Water. 

Specific 

Gravity. 

Solids. 

Water. 

Specific 

Gravity. 

Solids. 

Water. 

1001 

2.33 

997.67 

1011 

25.63 

974.37 

1021 

48.93 

0.-)1.07 

1031 

72.23 

‘J27.77 

1002 

4.66 

995.34 

1012 

27.96 

972.04 

1022 

51.26 

948.74 

1032 

74.56 

925.44 

1003 

6.99 

‘193.01 

1013 

30.29 

969.71 

1023 

53.59 

‘J46.41 

1033 

76.89 

‘J23.ll 

1004 

9.32 

‘190.68 

1014 

32.62 

967.38 

1024 

55.92 

944.18 

1034 

79.22 

920.78 

1005 

11.65 

998.35 

1015 

34.95 

9(55.05 

1025 

58.25 

941.75 

1035 

81.55 

918.45 

1006 

13.98 

986.02 

1016 

37.23 

962.72 

1026 

60.50 

939.42 

1035 

83.88 

916.12 

1007 

16.31 

683.69 

1017 

39.61 

960.39 

1027 

62.91 

937.09 

1037 

86.21 

913.79 

1008 

18.64 

‘J81.36 

1018 

41.94 

958.06 

1028 

65.24 

934.76 

1038 

88.54 

911.46 

1009 

20.97 

979.03 

1019 

44.27 

955.73 

1029 

67.57 

932.43 

1039 

91.87 

909.13 

1010 

23.30 

976.70 

1020 

46.60 

953.40 

1030 

69.90 

930.40 

1040 

93.20 

906.80 


The mode of using the above table is this. Having learned the 
density of the urine passed in twenty-four hours by means of the 
urinometer (Fig. 115), a glance at the table will show the proportion 
of solid matter and water in 1000 grains of the urine. Then, by 
weighing the whole quantity of urine passed in twenty-four hours, 
the weight of solids drained off by the kidneys may be determined 
by the simple rule of proportion. 

Symptoms of Gravel. —• A sudden attack of pain in the region of 
the kidneys, so acute and severe, frequently, as to cause fainting and 
even convulsions. The pain runs down to the groin and thigh, caus¬ 
ing a numbness on the affected side, and a drawing up of the testicle. 
The pain is excessive at times, and then remits. Finally it stops 
suddenly. 

Leading from the kidneys to the bladder are two small tubes about 
the size of a goose-quill, called ureters, — being the appointed chan¬ 
nels of the urine. The pain, of which I have spoken, is caused, gen¬ 
erally, by the passage of a stone along one of these small tubes. If 
the stone happen to be a little too large for the tube, or uneven or 
ragged upon its surface so as to bruise and tear the delicate lining 
of the ureter, severe pain is the result. The pain is intense when the 
stone moves along; remits when it stops; and suddenly ceases alto¬ 
gether, when it gets through, and drops into the bladder. 

Sometimes there is no pain, the gravel being so fine as to pass 
through the ureters very easily. It then passes through the urethra 
also, and is found as a sediment of the urine at the bottom of the 
vessel. 

These urinary deposits are various, and quite unlike each other in 
kind. They indicate different states of health, and require to be 
spoken of separately. 


Uric-Acid Gravel. 

This form of deposit passes indifferently under the name of uric 
acid gravel, or lithic acid gravel. The person who is in the habit of 
passing this kind of deposit largely, is said to have the lithic or uric 
acid diathesis or condition. 

The urine of persons in this state lets fall, after it has stood awhile. 



























DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 381 


a reddish sediment, like hrickdust. This consists chiefly of urate of 
ammonia (Figs. 116 and 117), tinged with certain coloring matters. 
This coloring substance may be more or less abundant, and give to 
the deposit various shades, as dirty-white, yellow, pink, and red. The 

V 


FIG. 116. 


Fig. 117. 


pure uric acid sometimes appears as fine sand, or large crystals (Fig. 
118). The urine is of a dark copper-color, about like brown sherry, 

and is more scanty than in health. It is 
also highly acid, giving to litmus paper 
a deeper shade of red. 

Persons who pass this kind of gravel 
largely are apt to be troubled with in¬ 
flammatory complaints; with acidity of 
the stomach and heartburn; and some 
of them with gout and iheumatism. 

Placed under a blowpipe, uric acid is 
decomposed, and gives out an odor like 
that of burnt feathers, ♦combined with 
the oil of bitter almonds. It is dissolved 
by liquor potassa, from which muriatic 
and nitric acids precipitate it; and by 
sulphuric acid, from which it is precipi¬ 
tated by water. Acetic, nitric, and mu¬ 
riatic acids, alcohol, ether, and water, do 
not dissolve it. 


Causes. — Uric acid is the form in which nitrogen and the effete 
compounds which contain it are got out of the body. It is the result 
of the decomposition of the tissues of the body. Its gravelly particles 
are the sands of life daily washed out of us, — reminding us always 
that we are wasting away. Whatever causes the body to waste 
rapidly, produces it in excess. We find it, therefore, in the urine of 
those who suffer from gout, rheumatism, dyspepsia, fevers, debility of 
the genital organs, straining of the loins, etc., which produce loss 
of flesh. 


Treatment. —The remedies for this uric-acid gravel are the alka- 
lie^y bicarbonate of potash, bicarbonate of soda and magnesia. The 







382 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


first named is generally the best. It may be used in the form of the 
neutralizing extract,—especially if there be costiveness. If the bowels 
do not need physic, let the potash be taken in the shape of lye made 
from hai’d-wood ashes (300). Fluid magnesia is an excellent remedy; 
so is liquor potassa, taken in twenty or thirty-drop doses. The urine 
must be watched, and these remedies discontinued when it becomes 
alkaline. Black coffee drunk freely every day is an excellent remedy. 

At the same time the stomach should be supported by some bitter 
tonic, as the infusion of quassia, gentian, columbo, Peruvian bark, etc. 

Iron is, in many cases, not to be overlooked. If the patient be 
pale and bloodless, some of the preparations of this metal will be 
needed (61), (73), (74). 

Acid must be carefully avoided, both in food and drink. 

The diet must be plain, digestible and nourishing, and quite mod¬ 
erate in amount. The quality is of less consequence than the quan¬ 
tity. 

Exercise is of great consequence, and must be regular, and, if pos¬ 
sible, in the open air. 

The skin must receive daily attention in the shape of an alkaline 
sponge-bath, with friction. This will throw upon the skin much of 
the labor done by the kidneys. Poland Spring water used in large 
quantities is good. 

Phosphatic Deposits. 

These deposits are indicated by a state of the urine just the oppo¬ 
site of that which contains the uric-acid gravel. They are contained 
in urine which is either alkaline when passed, or becomes so very soon 
by standing. 

As the urine cools, a white sand falls to the bottom, and frequently 
a film forms upon the surface of the water. Looking at this film in 
different lights, you may see in it the several colors of the rainbow. 
Skim off this pellicle, place it upon paper, and let it dry; and you 
may then see the little shining crystals. This urine quickly grows 
putrid and offensive. Sometimes it smells strongly of ammonia. 
The more phosphates it contains, the sooner it becomes alkaline. 

These deposits are generally the triple phosphates. Healthy urine 
contains the phosphate of magnesia in a state of solution. Under 
some circumstances, the urea of the urine is decomposed in the kid¬ 
neys, and ammonia is disengaged. This combines with the phosphate 
of magnesia, and forms the triple salt of the phosphate of ammonia 
and magnesia, which is not soluble. 

Symptoms. — A sallow complexion, a languid, spiritless state of 
mind, and an exhausted, debilitated condition of body. The urine is 
pale, rather copious, slightly turbid, has a low specific gravity, and 
smells unhealthy, having sometimes the faint odor of weak broth. 
There is generally derangement of the digestive organs, windy stom¬ 
ach and bowels, nausea, constiDation. or diarrhoea, stools of various 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


383 


colors, and sometimes, in diarrhoea, resembling yeast, and an aching 
pain and weakness in the loins. 

Causes. — These deposits are produced by great debility of the 
constitution, by injuries of the spine, dyspepsia, defective assimila¬ 
tion of food, bad diet, irritation of the neck of the bladder, and or¬ 
ganic disease of the kidneys. But they are caused more especially 
hy whatever wears and exhausts the nervous system^ as heavy cares, de¬ 
pression of spirits, sedentary habits, great mental exertions, mastur¬ 
bation, and venereal excesses. 

Treatment.—These deposits being connected with great debility, 
care must be taken not to make the matter worse by taking active 
purgatives, by extreme fasting, or by any means which will increase 
the weakness. 

On the contrary, the strength must be supported by all the means 
that can be commanded. With this view, the citrate of iron (75) 
may be taken. Arsenic combined with iron (80), to allay irritability, 
and impart strength at the same time, may be used. The valerianate 
of iron (93) is excellent for the same purpose. 

Connected with a state of urine just the opposite to that which 
holds the uric-acid deposits, this form of gravel calls for the opposite 
remedies. • Instead of the alkalies, the acids are wanted. The nitric 
and muriatic acids, with a vegetable tonic (76), may be used. Borax 
is spoken of in high terms, and is thought by some to have great 
power in turning alkaline urine acid. The compound balsam of sul¬ 
phur is highly spoken of, and the compound infusion of trailing arbu¬ 
tus is also mentioned with approbation. 

It is all-important to throw off care, and to gi\ e the mind a chance 
to rise up with all the elasticity it has. To bring this about, journeys 
and amusements are useful. The society of lively, laughing, witty 
friends wiU do a great deal to give the spirits a rebound, and the 
whole health an upward movement. Such persons are a blessing to 
the world; and he who reckons a few of them among his friends will 
live the longer for it. 

The skin should have the benefit of the daily tonic effect of a 
sponge-bath, with water at first tepid, and after\vards cool; and exer¬ 
cise, out of doors, should be habitual, and connected, as much as pos¬ 
sible, with objects of pleasure. 

The drinking of hard water is highly injurious ; and if none other 
can be had, it should be distilled, and then spread out to the atmos¬ 
phere, in shallow vessels, that it may recover its pleasant taste by 
reabsorbing air and carbonic acid. 

Oxalic Deposits. 

Oxalate of lime in the urine is the cause of this kind of gravel. 
It appears in the form of dumb-bells, and octahedral crystals. (Figs. 
119,120, and 121.) 


384 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


The urine has a specific gravity of 1.015 to 1.025, and is generally 
of a dark amber-color, and clear and bright; it is generally acid, 



. <S> 

1 


1 

0 J 

L 


j 



Fig. 119. 


Fig. 120. 


Fig. 121. 


though occasionally alkaline or neutral. Urea is generally found in 
it, and epithelial cells (Fig. 122). Unlike the 
uric and phosphatic urines, it is quite free 
from sediments, except, as often happens, there 
is a large amount of urea in it, in connection 
with the oxalate of lime. 

When the urate of ammonia is combined with 
the oxalate of lime, it often happens that the 
latter has to be dissolved with a little liquor 
potassa, before the former can be seen with the 
microscope. 



M 


1 

& 


f 

L 


C 

W 


Fig. 122. 


Symptoms.-—Great depression of spirits, excitable state of the ner¬ 
vous system, painful susceptibility to external impressions, dyspeptic 
symptoms, and disturbances of the liver, a fear and dread of consump¬ 
tion, emaciation, inability to make exertion, — the smallest exertion 
causing fatigue; in men, a deficient sexual power, a pain and weight 
across the loins, and some irritability of the bladder. 


Causes. — These deposits are supposed to result, like most other 
derangements connected with loss of flesh, in too great a degree of 
oxidation. Vegetables produce oxalic acid by just the opposite pro¬ 
cess, namely, deoxidation. 

Whatever depresses the vital powers, may generate this deposit, 
as mental depression, overwork of the brain, burdensome cares, idle¬ 
ness of mind or body, masturbation, debaucheries, intemperance, vene¬ 
real excesses, and injuries of the spine. 

This deposit may also be produced by certain articles of diet, which 
contain the oxalic acid. Among these may be named the rhubarb 
plant, which in summer is largely used for tarts; and sorrel. 

Treatment.—The treatment for these deposits should be very 
much like that for the phosphatic. The stomach and liver should 
receive some special attention. A pill of leptandrin, podophyllin, 
etc. (39), may be used with advantage. The preparation of nitric 
and hydrochloric acids (76) must generally be taken for some time. 
In cases of great irritability, the sulphate of zinc (82) does Avell. 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


385 


The diet should be plain, digestible, and nourishing,— all articles 
containing oxalic acid being rejected, as the rhubarb plant, sorrel, 
tomatoes, onions, etc. 

For the rest, follow the directions for the treatment of phosphatic 
deposits. 

Urate of Ammonia Deposits. 

The urine which contains these deposits is generally pale, and of 
low specific gravity, about 1.012. It becomes opaque on cooling, 
from the deposition of a nearly white urate of ammonia. Instead of 
falling down readily, this forms ropy masses in the fluid, and looks 
like mucus or pus, or something between the two. Its real nature is 
discovered by applying a little heat, which quickly dissipates it. 

Microscopic Character. — Place a drop of this turbid urine be¬ 
tween two slips of glass, and examine it closely with a microscope; 
you will see myriads of minute globules adhering together in linear 
masses. Now place a drop of the turbid urine in a watch-glass, and 
gently warm it; as soon as it has become clear, add a drop of hydro¬ 
chloric acid to it, and when it is cold, examine it with the microscope. 
The muddiness will be gone, and you will now see lozenges, or thick 
cohering prisms of uric acid (Fig. 123). The explanation of this is, 
that the hydrochloric acid combines with the ammonia, forming muri¬ 
ate of ammonia in solution, and liberating the uric-acid crystals. 




Fig. 123. 


Fig. 124. 


Urate of soda (Fig. 124) is sometimes found in urine, which has 
similar chemical reactions with urate of ammonia. 

Causes. — These deposits are generally produced by some over¬ 
eating, or derangement of the skin. 

The treatment is the same as that for uric-acid gravel. 


Hippuric Acid Deposits. 

These deposits appear in the healthy urine of the cow and the 
horse; and also in that of human beings, but in such small quanti¬ 
ties as to be scarcely appreciable. 

They sometimes, however, appear in unhealthy proportions ; but 
they never show themselves as a sediment, until after the addition 


386 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


of a stronger acid. The urine containing them is generally slightly 
acid or neutral, — sometimes alkaline, — having a low specific gravity, 
from 1.006 to 1.008. The triple phosphates 
are often found in it. 

To detect these deposits, fill a large watch- 
glass with urine, and evaporate it over a lamp 
to a few drops. Then add to it about half 
its bulk of hydrochloric acid, and set it aside. 
The addition of the acid produces a bright 
pink color, and an odor like new hay. After 
a few hours, if the hippuric acid be present, its 
peculiar crystals will be seen. (Fig* 125.) 

Cause. — In man, this deposit is supposed to depend on the 
absence of food having a good share of nitrogen. The urine of 
vegetable-eaters contains it in largest quantities. 

Treatment. — The only treatment required is a diet composed in 
good proportion of animal food, a proper attention to the skin by 
bathing, etc., and when debility exists, tonic medicines, as iron and 
bitters, with out-door exercise enough to keep the muscles in working 
order. 

Cystine Deposits. 

These do not occur in healthy urine, and rarely as an element in 
diseased action. They contain twenty-six per cent of sulphur. 

Urine which contains cystine is of a pale yellow color, and has a 
low specific gravity. It frequently has an ofly appearance, and its 
smell is peculiar, resembling that of sweet brier. Sometimes its odor 
is fetid, like putrid cabbage. On being kept for a short time, it has 
its surface covered with a pellicle which looks oily, and consists of a 
mixture of crystals of cystine and the phosphate of ammonia and 
magnesia. 

The cystine deposit appears to be diffused through the urine, which 
is always turbid when boiled. It is a white or fawn-colored powder, 
and falls to the bottom as a sediment. It undergoes no change by 
warming the urine, and this distinguishes it from white urate of 
ammonia. It is not soluble in diluted hydrochloric or strong acetic 
acid, which distinguishes it again from the earthy phosphates. 

To test this deposit, add liquor ammonia to a portion of it, and 
shake them. If the deposit be cystine, it will dissolve readily. Allow 
a few drops of the solution to evaporate on a slip of glass, and the 
six-sided tablets of cystine will remain, which may be examined under 
the microscope. (Fig. 126.) 

It is to be remembered that occasionally the chloride of sodium or 
common salt crystallizes in octahedral forms (Fig. 127), which, in 
some positions, may look very much like cystine. The ready solu¬ 
bility of the chloride in water, and the absence of all color when they 
are examined by polarized light, will prevent mistaking these crystals 



Fig. 125. 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


387 


for cystine. If urine containing common salt be quickly evaporated 
on a slip of glass, and be then examined, instead of the octahedrons, 
we find crosslets and daggers. (Fig. 128.) 





Fig. 126. 


Fig. 127. 


Fig. 128. 


Causes. — An excess of sulphur in the tissues, a scrofulous consti¬ 
tution, and hereditary predisposition, with defective oxidation, and 
torpidity of the liver. It is often found in the urine of girls who 
have the green sickness. 

Treatment. — The great object is to improve the general health, 
which is to be done by attending to the skin, and the administration 
of iron and bitters, and also alteratives. The syrup of iodide of iron 
is a valuable remedy. Podophyllin and leptandrin (34) are wanted 
to regulate the liver. The nitro-muriatic acid (76) should be tried. 

The daily sponge-bath, and daily exercise, as in most chronic com¬ 
plaints, must on no account be neglected. 


Stone. — Calculus. 


It often happens that the proper treatment for removing urinary 
deposits is not adopted in season. In such cases, gravelly particles, 
finding a lodgment for a time, in the kidneys or bladder, are apt to 
draw other particles to themselves, which become fastened to them, 
and form a layer quite around them. Over this, other layers form in 
succession, until a stone is produced so large that it cannot pass off. 
These grow to various sizes,—being sometimes so large as to fill the 
bladder. 


Uric-Acid Calculus. —The most common of these formations is tJie 
uric-acid calculus. It is generally smooth or slightly tuberculated on 
the surface, and varies in color from a pale yellowish-fawn to a red¬ 
dish-brown. When sawn through the centre, its layers will be found 
tolerably regular, but of different thickness. (Fig. 129.) 

To test it, place a small fragment upon platinum foil under the 
blow-pipe. If uric acid, it blackens, and gives out an odor like burnt 
feathers mixed with the oil of bitter almonds. 

Mixed Calculus. — These calculi are frequently composed of two 
or more different kinds of matter arranged in irregular layers. Fig. 
130 is a mixed calculus, — the dark layers being oxalate of lime, the 
light ones uric acid. 


388 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


In testing such, fragments of each ingredient should be separately 
examined. 

Urate of Ammonia Calculus. — We occasionally meet with a cal* 
cuius composed of the urate of ammonia. These calculi, when found, 
are generally small in size, smooth or slightly tuberculated upon the 
surface (Fig. 131), and of a pale slate or clay color. When heated 
before the blowpipe, it gradually disappears. 



Fig. 129. Fig. 130. Fig. 131. 


Phosphate of Lime Calculus. — This has a smooth polished sur¬ 
face, and quite regular layers, which separate easily when the calculus 
is cut asunder. It has a pale fawn or stone color. (Fig. 132.) 

It chars before the blowpipe, and gradually becomes white as the 
carbon burns away. Diluted nitric or hydrochloric acid dissolves it 
without effervescence. 

Oxalate of Lime Calculus. — This is frequently met with uncom¬ 
bined with others, but more generally its nucleus is uric acid or urate 
of lime. It commonly has a brown, dark-olive, or dirty-purple color. 
Its surface is irregular and somewhat rough. It looks like the fruit 
of the mulberry, and is known as the mulberry calculus. (Fig. 133.) 

It dissolves, without effervescence, in diluted nitric or hydrochloric 
acid. When thus dissolved, the addition of a little ammonia will 
cause it to fall to the bottom as a white precipitate. 



Fig. 132. Fig. 133. Fig. 134. 

Fusible Calculus.—This is a mixture of phosphate of lime and the 
phosphate of ammonia and magnesia. It is the most common of 
all the calculi, except the uric acid. It has an oval, irregular form 
(Fig. 134), and is white, soft, and friable, like chalk. Sometimes it 
is hard. 

It may be known by the readiness with which it melts down before 
the blowpipe, without being consumed. 

Causes. — The causes of the different kinds of gravel have been 
already explained. Generally stones of the bladder are formed in the 



DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


389 


kidney, and descending through the ureters into the bladder, are pre¬ 
vented from passing out through the water-pipe by an enlarged pros¬ 
tate gland. Remaining in the bladder, they soon get encrusted over 
by otiier matters in the urine, and grow by accretion to be stones. 

^>ymptoms.—When a stone in the bladder reaches a certain size, 
especially if it is rough, it always produces suffering. A dull, annoy¬ 
ing pain is felt at the end of the penis. The desire to make water is 
frequent, and there is a sense of weight in the perineum. Sometimes 
the stream of urine is suddenly stopped by the stone falling on the 
orifice of the urethra. As the bladder becomes nearly emptied, it 
embraces the stone, and the pain is increased. Jolting in a carriage 
causes great pain. Mucus passes off with the urine, and sometimes 
blood. After a time, the appetite fails, hectic sets in, albumen ap¬ 
pears in the urine, and the patient sinks under inflammation of the 
bladder. 

These symptoms being found in diseases of the kidneys and blad¬ 
der, no one is authorized to pronounce upon the existence of stone, 
until the stone has been touched by a metallic sound introduced into 
the bladder. 

Treatment.—The only effectual treatment is a choice between 
three operations, — lithotrity^ lithotomy^ litholopaxy. 

The first consists in introducing an instrument, a kind of forceps, 
into the bladder, through the urethra, taking hold of the stone, and 
crushing it. The preparatory treatment consists in correcting the 
unhealthy state of the urine, and the frequent introduction of bougies 
or sounds to enlarge the water-pipe for the easy entrance of the 
crushing forceps. The after treatment consists in diluent drinks to 
increase the urine, injections of warm water to wash out the frag¬ 
ments, with hip-baths, soothing injections, and leeches or cupping 
upon the perineum. 

Lithotomy consists in making an incision into the bladder through 
the perineum, and taking out the stone or stones whole. 

Litholopaxy consists in crushing the stone in situ by means of the 
lithotrite and syphoning out the debris. 

Dropsy of the Belly, — Ascites, 

This is a collection of water in the cavity of the belly; sometimes 
the fluid is outside of the peritoneum, and next to the muscles. 

Symptoms. — An enlargement of the belly, with a sense of disten¬ 
tion and weight, — particularly on the side on which the patient lies. 
When the collection of water is large, the breathing becomes short 
and difficult, and the swelling is uniform over the whole abdomen. 

In some instances the fluctuation of the water may be distinctly 
heard when the patient moves about, — just as we may hear the 
water in a half-filled barrel when it is rolled over. This sound of 
the fluid, when heard, distinguishes the complaint from pregnancy, 


390 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


and from the drum-head state of the bowels. This fluctuatiou may 
sometimes be produced by pressing upon one side of the belly while 
the patient is standing or sitting, and striking the other side with the 
ends of the fingers of the other hand. 

In some cases, there is loss of appetite, dry skin, costiveness, scanty 
urine, oppression of the chest, cough, colic pains, and variable pulse. 

Causes. — A frequent cause of this complaint is chronic inflamma¬ 
tion of the serous membrane which lines the abdomen, — I mean the 
peritoneum. It may also be produced by scarlet fever, fever and 
ague, disease of the heart, particularly dilation of the right cavities, 
and diseases of the liver, particularly the shrivelled, hobnail condition 
of the liver, — in short, whatever causes a pressure upon the portal 
veins, and obstructs the venous blood returning from the intestines. 

Treatment. —The remedies for this disease are mainly diuretics 
and purgatives. The bowels may sometimes be reduced in a few 
days from an enormous size, by medicines which excite the action of 
the kidneys. Digitalis combined with acetate of potash, etc. (130), 
forms an excellent preparation. The patient should have as a con¬ 
stant drink, a strong infusion made from two parts of hair-cap moss, 
and one each of juniper berries and dwarf-elder bark; also an infu¬ 
sion of queen of the meadow. 

The purgatives used in this complaint are those which produce 
watery stools. One of the best of these is elaterium. It will some¬ 
times carry off the water with great rapidity; combined with some 
active cathartics (31), it will have all its good effects without the 
griping it is apt to occasion alone. 

Cream of tartar, taken in large doses, every day, will sometimes do 
well. Epsom salts produces watery stools, and is a good remedy. 

For promoting absorption of the fluid, the iodide of potassium, 
taken in from three to ten-grain doses, three times a day, is a valua¬ 
ble medicine in many cases. The compound infusion of parsley is 
said to be still better. 

The-skin must receive careful attention. The alkaline sponge 
bath, with friction, will increase the transpiration of fluid through 
that organ. Exercise does much to keep up an active circulation, 
and to lessen dropsical effusions. 

The strictest temperance, both in eating and drinking, must be 
observed. A light and nourishing diet, with water, tea, and the 
diuretics named above for drinks; beyond these the patient must 
not go. 

A kneading and shampooing of the bowels once a day has an 
excellent effect; it gives activity to the circulation in obstructed 
veins. A bandage tied close around the bowels, and tightened as 
the water diminishes, has an effect upon the sluggish vessels similar 
to that of the laced stocking in varicose veins of the legs. It lessens 
the liability of a return of the complaint. 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


391 


Dropsy of the Cells.—General Dropsy. — Anasarca, 

Just under the skin is a membrane composed chiefly of cells, 
called the cellular membrane. When a considerable part or the 
whole of these cells are filled with a watery fluid, we call the com¬ 
plaint anasarca^ or cell-dropsy. If, besides this, there is a collection 
of water in the large cavities, we give it the name of general dropsy. 

Symptoms. —The disease generally begins with a swelling around 
the ankle and leg, which is more visible at night after standing and 
walking, and is less perceptible in the morning in consequence of 
the horizontal position of the night. To the touch of another person, 
dropsical feet and legs feel a little colder than natural; and when 
hard pressed with the finger, a pit will be sunk in the flesh, which 
remains some time before it fills up. As the disease advances, the 
skin of the legs becomes smooth, shining, and sometimes even cracks 
open to let out the water. The limbs, and indeed the whole person, 
become stiff, heavy, and clumsy. 

As the disease advances, and ascends to the belly and chest, there 
is shortness of breath, a sense of suffocation on moving or lying 
down, a tightness and distress across the epigastrium, thirst, dryness 
of skin, wakefulness, loss of appetite, scanty and deep-colored urine, 
and a slow fever. 

Cause. — General dropsy is caused by whatever weakens the gen¬ 
eral system, and by such circumstances as obstruct the circulation in 
the veins. The most frequent causes, therefore, are certain diseases 
of the heart and kidneys. 

Explanation. —Modern physiology has demonstrated that the veins 
do a certain part of the work of absorption. The serous membranes 
which line the larger cavities of the body exhale watery fluid enough, 
and no more than enough, to keep them moist, and cause the organs 
within to play smoothly upon their surface. If the fluid were not 
taken away as fast as it is poured out, the cavity, being a shut sac, 
would become full, and we should have dropsy. It is the office of 
the veins to absorb this fluid and convey it away in the geneial cur¬ 
rent of the blood. 

This is the method of their doing it: The walls of the veins are 
so constructed as to permit watery fluids to pass through them^ either 
in or out. When they are comparatively empty, or only moderately 
full, fluids on the outside pass m, and mingle with the contents. 
This is called endosmosis. When they are very full, the watery 
portion of the blood will filter through, and pass out. This is called 
exosmosis. 

Now, if the reader will think a little, he will easily see that if the 
veins are barely full enough not to allow any fluid to pass in., the 
natural exhalations of the shut sacs would bring on dropsy; but if 


392 


DISEASES OF THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY. 


the veins are so full as to cause water to flow out^ then the dropsical 
accumulation will be still more rapid. 

Diuretin in 20 grain doses dissolved in water and taken five or- six 
times a day may prove serviceable in both this disease and the one on 
the preceding page. 


VENEREAL or SEXUAL 


DISEASES 


VENEREAL OR SEXUAL DISEASES 


Of all the diseases to which flesh is heir, none bring so much 
misery, moral and physical, as those called sexual or venereal. To 
the physician, they are the source of the greatest anxiety and per¬ 
plexity. They bring him into possession of the most delicate secrets, 
— secrets which involve the peace of families and neighborhoods, — 
secrets which his honor as a man, and his truth as a physician, compel 
him to lock fast in his own breast, and hold sacredly apart even from 
his nearest companions, — secrets which, if revealed would fill domes¬ 
tic circles with unutterable bitterness and heartburnings, and whole 
neighborhoods with scandal and immorality. These secrets are often 
a burden to him. They are in his breast like undigested food in the 
stomach, — disturbing the whole nature. 

The patient, if a man of sensibility, suffers even more, of course, 
than his physician. In many cases, he is a man of virtuous inten¬ 
tions, and perhaps of religious habits, who has fallen in a moment of 
temptation; and he fears that the effect of his sin will spread itself 
through his whole system, and extend to the end of life; or, still 
worse, that having poisoned the fountain of his life, it will go down 
as a heritage of misery to his offspring; or, what he would deprecate 
as almost equally calamitous, that the partner of his bosom may be¬ 
come the innocent partaker of his disease. 

In this state of apprehension, he turns to his physician, not merely 
to keep his secret, but to cure his disease. How great a pity that, in 
such circumstances, he does not always fly immediately to an honor¬ 
able physician, instead of seeking the advice, as many do, of those 
miserable quacks, who lure him to their dens only to get his money, 
having no intention or ability to cure his complaint. 

These diseases are divided into two great branches, characterized, 
in part, by different symptoms, and generally held to be entirely dif¬ 
ferent complaints. The first to come under consideration is 

Pox. — Syphilis. 

This disease had a very early origin. It was known among the 
Jews, as we learn very clearly from the fifteenth chapter of Leviticus. 
Dr. Adam Clarke’s Commentary upon this chapter, at least, makes it 
apparent. David, the king of Israel, has unconsciously left on record, 
in the thirty-eighth Psalm, a most graphic description of Tertiary 

394 



VENEREAL OR SEXUAL DISEASES. 


395 


Syphilis, experienced in his own person. Dr. Clarke says: “ It is 
most likely the Psalm was written in reference to some severe afflic¬ 
tion that David had, after his illicit commerce with Bathsheba; but 
of what nature, we are left to conjecture from the third, fifth, and 
seventh verses.” The Psalm is dated not quite a year after the act 
alluded to, — about the right time for the terrible symptoms David 
describes to make their appearance. 

The term syphilis is from a Greek word signifying filthy. There 
is one unvarying sign of this disease, — the existence of an ulcer or 
ulcers, usually upon the genital organs. The French call this ulcer a 
chancre. The common name is simply venereal sore, or ulcer. A 
pimple first appears; on the summit of this a pustule forms; then the 
rupture of the top of this brings to view the ulcer or sore. This ulcer 
is shallow, more or less circular or oval in form, bounded by a perpen¬ 
dicular and slightly jagged border, and furnished with a smooth, yel¬ 
low base, moistened by an unhealthy secretion. The skin around the 
sore is a little thickened and inflamed. This is a simple venereal 
ulcer. It generally lasts about five weeks, and then heals. 

But it is not always thus simple. It may be an inflammatory 
chancre, attended by excessive inflammation. It may be what is 
called a sloughing chancre^ characterized by the perishing and falling 
off of large parts of flesh. It may be gangrenous^ or marked by a ten¬ 
dency to mortification. It may be phagedenic^ or eating ^—being dis¬ 
tinguished by a rapid loss of substance, or eating away of flesh. Or, 
finally, it may be indurated^ — being noted for the peculiar hardness 
of the base, and of the flesh immediately around it. 

A venereal sore is the result of impure connection with a person 
having the syphilitic disease. The poisonous secretion of a sore, 
applied to the skin of a healthy person, produces inoculation^ and a 
new sore upon the previously healthy person is the result. This 
chancre appears in a few days after coition, — a certain time being 
required for it to produce its effect, as in the application of vaccine 
matter to the arm. 

Bubo. — The next symptom in the order of occurrence, which fre¬ 
quently follows the ulcer, is the bubo. It is named from a Greek 
word which means groin, from its usually appearing in that part. 
It is a painful swelling of the inguinal gland in the groin, and is 
caused by the absorption of virus or poisonous matter from the 
chancre. This gland is one of the lymphatics, a class of vessels as 
numerous, all over the system, as the veins and arteries. They are 
likewise called absorbents. Those that originate from the private 
parts absorb the poison from a venereal sore, and convey it to the 
glands in the groin, which being poisoned by it, inflame and swell. 

The bubo generally appears in from one to two weeks from the 
appearance of the ulcer. It is usually upon the same side which the 
chancre occupies upon the penis. When the bubo advances to sup¬ 
puration, and becomes an open sore, it is then a glandular chancre. 


VENEREAL OR SEXUAL DISEASES. 


.396 

Vegetations. — These are peculiar growths appearing upon differ¬ 
ent parts of the skin, which resemble certain vegetables. 1 hey are 
found most frequently, in the male, on the head of the penis, and on 
the membrane lining the foreskin. In the female, they are found at 
the entrance to the vagina, and not infrequently in the vagina itself. 
They sometimes appear on the neck of the uterus. 

Primary Disease. — Thus far, the diseases noticed are what are 
called primary. If properly treated, and cured in season, the consti¬ 
tution is not infected, and no subsequent troubles appear. Bat a 
result so fortunate as this is not common. Generally, the treatment 
is either too long delayed, or is too brief and superficial. The poison 
is, in consequence, absorbed into the circulation; the whole con¬ 
stitution becomes infected; the fluids and solids are so acted on and 
altered, in fact, that a special constitution is created. For this reason 
the affections of the skin, the mucous membranes, the bones, etc., 
which follow, are called 

Constitutional. — These constitutional diseases never appear im¬ 
mediately, as the result of an impure connection, but only after those 
affections already noticed. The primary diseases are local; the con¬ 
stitutional affections are general. 

The first thing which strikes the eye in these constitutional com¬ 
plaints is the color and appearance they give the skin. It has a red¬ 
dish^ coppery tinge, and a peculiarly dirty appearance. 

The order in which the several parts are affected, are, first, the skin 
and mucous membranes; second, the hard substance surrounding the 
bones, called periosteum,, the tendons, and the bones themselves. 
Those affections which appear upon the skin and mucous membrane 
are usually called secondary,, because they are the second to appear; 
while those affecting the bones, etc., are denominated tertiary,, be¬ 
cause, in the order of their appearance, they are in the third class. 

Eruptions of the Skin, and Ulcers. — Of the constitutional erup¬ 
tions, there is a great variety,—so great that I cannot, in small space, 
give a minute description of them. The breast and arms are not 
infrequently the first to be affected. Attending these eruptions thefe 
is little uneasiness, and no pain; though there is sometimes a slight 
itching. The first breaking out is usually of a copper color,, some¬ 
what paler than it subsequently is. The eruption is often in the 
form of blotches, elevated only a very little above the skin. They 
are composed of small pustules, with a little fluid in them, which 
soon dries away, and the whole may be rubbed off like bran. This 
may leave the skin looking tolerably sound, and inspire the belief 
that no further mischief is to be experienced. No hope can be more 
delusive. Parts afflicted with this complaint show no tendency to heal. 
The first crop of pimples is soon followed by a second, which pro¬ 
duces a thicker crust, and yields a larger amount of bran. This 
rubbed off, small ulcers appear underneath. 









VENEREAL OR SEXUAL DISEASES. 


397 


Vesicular Uruptions. —There is another syphilitic affection of the 
skin, which appears in the shape of vesicles, like small-pox. These 


dry and leave a scab. 


5caly Eruptions. — There is still another affection, which is in 
the form of scales, and one scale will be piled upon another. It 
begins with an eruption of copper-colored blotches, which become 
covered with scales; these are succeeded by scabs, and when these 
fall off, shallow ulcers are left with copper-colored edges. (Fig. 
135.) This is a stubborn form. 



Fig. 135. 


Tubercular Eruptions. —In another variety of the disease, broad, 
red, copper-colored tubercles, or hard elevations appear, most com¬ 
monly about the sides of the nose, or on the cheeks. Gradually they 
suppurate, and are succeeded by deep ulcers, terminating in scars. 
This is an unfavorable form of the disease, and usually appears some 
considerable time after the primary symptoms, in persons whose con¬ 
stitution has been shattered. Plate V. 

This rather belongs to the tertiary form of the disease ; and in addi¬ 
tion to the above, patches of unhealthy inflammation are apt to form 
on the tongue, and after a time break, disclosing ragged, orange- 
colored ulcers. Plate VI. Fig. 2. 

Many other forms of eruption exist; but in a popular work like 
this, it would be useless to make the nice distinctions which their 
description would require. 

Some of the worst forms of the secondary affections are found 
upon the mucous membrane of the mouth and throat. These corres¬ 
pond, in number and size, with the affections of the skin. They 
affect the lips, the internal sides of the cheeks, the tongue, the tonsils, 
the pharynx, the soft palate, the nasal cavities, etc. They are terribly 
destructive in their effects, forming gaping ulcers, and eating deeply 
into the parts. They often make shocking work in the whole mouth 
and throat; and, when attended with considerable inflammation, 
make it almost impossible to swallow anything, or even to open the 
mouth. I have often seen breaches through the palatine arch (Plate 
VI, Fig. 1), and even the whole arch destroyed (Plate VI, Fig. 2). 
Persons have often died from starvation, — not being able to swallow. 
The ulcers sometimes take hold of the tonsils, and “dig them out as 
if it were done with a punch.” 

These ulcerations a&ct the mucous membranes of the genital 
organs. In the female, they often affect the vagina and the neck 
of the womb, and thus may exist for a long time, as the cause 




VENEREAL OR SEXUAL DISEASES. 


398 

of whites, without being suspected as such. They affect also 
the mucous lining of the fundament and the large bowel. They 
sometimes exist in the ear, and more often in the eye. This latter 
affection passes under the name of syphilitic iritis. In Plate V. 
the artist has well represented this form of constitutional disease in 
the eye. 

The disorder having, by frightful ulcers, run riot upon the delicate 
structures of the skin and mucous membranes, advances boldly on¬ 
wards, attacking the muscles, the tendons, the hard covering of the 
bones and the solid bones themselves. No part of the human frame- 

— not even the skeleton — can escape this devouring complaint. 
The bones of the nose and face are generally the first to be attacked. 
These perish slowly, — falling away piece by piece, — the nose, in 
the mean time, sinking down nearer to a level with the cheeks. 
From these parts the disease may spread to the bones of the whole 
system. 

These affections of the bones are attended by pains of almost 
every kind and degree. These pains are sometimes fixed in one 
place; at other times wandering, the whole skeleton being painful. 
In these latter cases, they seem to the sufferer to reach the very mar¬ 
row. Sometimes when the pain is fixed in one place, the feeling is 
such as might be supposed to be experienced if the bone were being 
hored. These pains are most terrible during the night. 

Upon those parts where the skin is near the bone, as the forehead, 
or shin, syphilitic nodes or tumors often appear, which are hard, like 
cancerous tumors. Besides the above, there are the loss of the hair 
(alopecia), blindness, deafness, and various other mischiefs, resulting 
from syphilis, which need not be described. 

Is the Constitutional Disease Communicable ? — Many believe, 

— even among those who are eminent in the profession — that the 
constitutional forms of the disease are not communicable. A few 
years ago, indeed, this latter opinion was generally received. It is 
now quite extensively doubted, or rather disbelieved. Facts are con¬ 
stantly occurring under the eye of unprejudiced physicians, which 
make it very evident that the constitutional disease may be commu¬ 
nicated from one person to another. 

The Disease Hereditary-It is no small amount of suffering, 

bodily and mental, which the individuals endure who contract this 
disease. But the inflictions visited upon them, severe as they are, 
are small compared with the aggregate of ills entailed by it upon 
the long line of their posterity. Whether it be the man or tlie 
woman whom the sphilitic virus has inoculated, if it be allowed to 
be absorbed, so as to affect the constitution, it will be very likely to 
be sent down to the children, and children’s children. The divine 
law which links the sins of the father with the sufferings of even the 
third and fourth generation, is nowhere more painfully illustrated 


VENEREAL OR SEXUAL DISEASES. 


399 


than in the scourging descent, through many generations, of this ter 
rible disease. It may be passed down to posterity by either of the 
parents; but if both be diseased, the transmission will be more cer¬ 
tain. If the mother be infected, she will infect the child while car¬ 
rying it. If the father’s constitution be poisoned, the child will 
receive the infection from him, through the semen, and will be 
likely, while in the womb, to infect the mother. I recollect but one 
author of note (Ramsbotham) who has mentioned this mode of in¬ 
fection. I have myself seen two cases of it. 

This constitutional disease, whether it exist in the mother, or be 
communicated to the child, and thence to her, by an infected father, 
is a frequent cause of abortion. Throughout nature, blight is the re¬ 
sult of a diseased parentage. Mature fruit is seldom obtained from 
infected seed. 

Is the Constitutional Disease Curable ?—No question connected 
with the complaint possesses a greater interest than this. None is 
pressed more earnestly upon the physician. In a certain sense the 
disease is curable. Its outward manifestation may be wholly re¬ 
pressed. The health of the person suffering from it maybe restored, 
and become, in an important sense, good. But this cure is never 
hroujht about by nature ; it may be^ and is often effected by medicine, 
I have never failed to effect such a cure in any case which has come 
under iny treatment. Such results may properly, in general terms, 
be called cured. 

Yet there is a sense in which a cure never occurs. It is a well 
attested fact, that a system once thoroughly pervaded by the poison 
is never completely purged of it. It may be shorn of all its active 
malignancies; but it has too intimately permeated the tissues and 
solid bones to be wholly expelled. Pursue it as we will with the 
remedial forces of our art, it still takes refuge in the most subtle pro¬ 
cesses of animal life, — still infects the currents of being, and finds 
expression in the scrofula, in the lupus, and in the scaly affections of 
other generations. Dr. Erasmus Wilson, the great authority in skin 
diseases, says: “ I feel convinced that a considerable proportion of 
those diseases which pass under the name of scrofula are the produce 
of the syphilitic poison,— are, in fact, not scrofulous, but syphilitic.” 
Astruc thought the same, and suggested, what is doubtless true, that 
the transmission of syphilis must occur through several generations 
before it becomes scrofula. Bierchn, Camper, Stoll, Portal, Hufeland, 
and Alibert, have all advocated the same opinion. 

This is doubtless right, though there are many authorities on the 
other side. He must be a poor observer who cannot discover a prob¬ 
able filial relationship of scrofula to syphilis. 

A variety of facts, admitted by the whole profession, go far towards 
demonstrating this relationship. Scrofula is always hereditary. It 
is a disease of the parent, imparted to the offspring. But there is 
scarcely aiij/ disease so certainly sent down to posterity as syphilis. 


400 


VENEREAL OR SEXUAL DISEASES. 


Scrofula is like sj'philis in many of its characteristics. It is like it 
in its power of propagating itself from parent to child. It is like it in 
affecting nearly all the children of diseased parents. It is like it in 
the variety of the structures it attacks, — affecting the skin, the 
mucous membranes, the bones, etc. Like syphilis it produces hard 
tumors, ulcers of the skin, abscesses, and decaying of the bones. 
And finally, the great remedy for tertiary syphilis, iodide of potas¬ 
sium, is likewise the great remedy for scrofula; and, indeed, almost 
every remedy which acts favorably upon one, is found useful for the 
other. This could hardly occur were not the diseases identical in 
nature. 

We can scarcely be surprised that a disease so widely diffused as 
scrofula should be the product of syphilis, when we reflect how fright¬ 
fully prevalent were the causes of this latter affection during the 
earlier and the middle ages of the world. 

To pass over the records of earlier times, with merely mentioning 
Abraham, and Lot, and Jacob, and Reuben, and Samson, and David, 
and Solomon, and numerous females, of whom some singular things 
are written in the older scriptures, and omitting all mention of the 
incredible and almost. universal debauchery and prostitution of 
Greece, and Rome, and Persia, and Media, and Eg 3 ^pt, I may say that 
Europe^ hi the middle ages^ was well-nigh converted into a vast brothel. 

Foremost in the race of profligacy were those in authority, kings, 
and emperors. The licentiousness of Childeric knew no bounds. He 
carried off and violated the wives and daughters of liis vassals, with¬ 
out regard to any right, human or divine. His successors were gen¬ 
erally a race of lecherous men, who spread debauchery on every hand. 
The French monarchs, from Pepin and Charlemagne, were a race of 
debauchees. Their courts were national brothels, in which the finest 
women in the land were trained in the arts of seduction and lust. 
Francis I, in 1515, endeavored to invest prostitution with elegance 
and chivalry, and even to ennoble it, by abandoning the public 
women of the palace to his subaltern officers, and substituting for 
them ladies of noble blood. In this movement, the nobles and the 
officers gave the king their support. 

‘ ‘ They are all gone aside ; they are altogether become 
filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one."’ 

Bran tome justifies Francis in his selection of girls of noble blood, 
on the ground that “ they could not communicate the venereal dis¬ 
ease to the noblemen of the courts, like the common prostitutes.’’ 
But the king, who was previously diseased, infected them; and these 
noble women, so called, passing from the arms of the prince to those 
of the courtiers, presented to them the fatal infection received from 
the king. 

The way in which Francis himself was infected illustrates, in a 
most shocking manner, the morals of the times. His illicit loves with 


VENEREAL OR SEXUAL DISEASES. 


401 


the Belle Ferroni^re were not concealed from her husband, who, 
though obliged outwardly to regard the dalliance of his wife with 
the monarch as an honor, was inwardly indignant, and determined 
to become infected himself, and thus disease his wife, and revenge 
himself upon the king. This plan was suggested to him by a noble 
who had another motive, namely, that of punishing Francis for some 
personal spite. “ How,” said the husband, when the suggestion was 
made, “ shall I give this disease to my wife, when we are both 
sound ? ” “ Go visit an infected girl,” said the noble, “ and to ren¬ 

der the matter certain, as I am infected, I will see your unfaithful 
wife.” The result was such as the husband desired; and in 1547, 
Francis I, the gay and chivalric monarch, perished of the most foul 
and loathsome of all diseases. 

Debauchery did not die with him. It was cherished by his succes¬ 
sor, Charles IX, and his mother, Catherine de Medicis, and his grand¬ 
son, Henry HI. The reigns of Henry IV, Louis XHI, Louis XIV, 
the Kegency, and of Louis XV, were stained by the same licentious¬ 
ness and disregard of public decency, until the whirlwind of the revo¬ 
lution came to purify the moral atmosphere. 

The reader will now, I think, be in no mood to wonder that the 
men and women, and many of royal progeny, whether the dishonored 
occupants of thrones, or the more private recipients of the public 
bounty, are a scrofulous and degenerating race. Nor need it be 
much wondered at, that so large a portion of men and women every¬ 
where have more or less scrofula in their frames. Happy are those 
who can find no trace of this complaint in their constitution! They 
should rise up and call their virtuous progenitors blessed. They 
should especially thank God that they have sprung from the loins of 
a race more noble and kingly in the eyes of Heaven than all the 
royal lines of the world. 

Treatment.—With the well drawn picture of the results of this 
terrible disease before the reader, he can appreciate the importance 
attached to proper treatment. If there should be any doubt in the 
matter whether he has the disease or not, he should at once obtain 
the opinion of his medical advisor. For instance, the sore on his 
penis known as the chancre may not be syphilitic but be of the so- 
called soft chancre or chancroid type due to connection with unclean 
partners, but not due to constitutional infection. They are in reality 
ulcers but in some cases are markedly similar to syphilitic ones. But 
their treatment would be distinctively local and entirely different 
from the treatment of true chancre. 

Personally I think time is gained rather than wasted in waiting 
for an exact diagnosis to be made, and if the train of symptoms be¬ 
ginning with the chancre which will appear from two to six weeks 
after infection and followed by the ulcerated throat, copper colored 
rash, sore and enlarged glands in groin, hair falling out and gastric 


402 


VENEREAL OR SEXUAL DISEASES. 


disturbances often accompanied by fever, show that we have a case 
of syphilis to attend to, then the way is clear. It was formerly the 
universal treatment to cauterize the sore at once. The writer has 
seen so many unsyphilitic sores cauterized unnecessarily, and on the 
other hand has seen many cases of true syphilis that had been cauter¬ 
ized, and that the only treatment given which is almost malpractice, 
that he earnestly advises moderation in this matter and desires that 
the too often assured security promised be at least accepted with 
reservation. The reason why cauterization is not successful in many 
cases is because the virus or poison has entered the system before 
the pimple or sore demonstrates its presence. This will appeal to 
your reason if you realize that sometimes six weeks elapse after impure 
connection before the chancre appears. 

As in some cases, in my opinion a great minority, thorough cauter¬ 
ization minimizes the trouble and perhaps prevents constitutional 
troubles, its application is described. The general belief is that 
poison remains in the sore for a time before it is absorbed into the 
constitution. It is of the utmost importance that it be destroyed 
before the absorption takes place. 

The caustics used are nitrate of silver (stick nitrate), nitric acid, 
chloride of zinc, potassa with lime, caustic potassa, and the painless 
caustic. 

The nitrate of silver is much used, but the best surgeons now regard 
it as useless. It does not prevent the absorption of the poison. The 
caustic potassa, the potassa with lime, and the painless caustic, are 
the sure remedies,—that is, if applied in season. But they must be 
employed with caution. It will not do to trust them in bungling 
hands. A little vinegar and water must be immediately used to 
neutralize the caustic when it has accomplished what we desire. 
After the sore is cauterized, a piece of lint, dipped in a solution of 
watery extract of opium, one dram to four ounces, should be laid 
on it; and the organ enveloped in another piece of lint soaked in tepid 
water, and covered in oiled silk. The patient should remain at rest 
as much as possible, keeping the penis elevated, and repeating the 
opium dressing to the wound, and the water dressing to the whole 
organ, night and morning. In addition, the patient should take two 
pills (19), to be followed, night and morning, for three or four days, 
with a tablespoonful of (20). In some cases, a piece of lint, wet with 
the tincture of muriate of iron, diluted and kept upon the chancre 
Avill cause it to heal kindly, and with safety to the patient. 

If this treatment be adopted early and properly, the patient is 
cured, and nothing further needed. But time is generally lost. The 
poison is absorbed before the patient is seen by the physician; and 
the question then is, how it is to be driven out. 

To accomplish this, the diet should be regular and unstimulating; 
alcoholic drinks and tobacco should be forbidden; the mind should 
be kept at rest; a cold or tepid bath should be taken daily; the 


VENEREAL OR SEXUAL DISEASES. 


403 


action of the bowels and kidneys should be kept properly regulated. 
These things will put all the expelling agencies in proper condition 
for work; and no single medicine will put them all into action like 
mercury. For this reason, no other single drug has enjoyed a reputa¬ 
tion for curing pox so wide as this. 

But it must be used with judgment. No remedy is more safe, if 
judiciously employed, or more destructive if abused. Abuse made 
mercury a curse; judicious use makes it a blessing,—at least in this 
disease. 

Of the many varieties of mercury we have to choose from the pro- 
tiodide known as the yellow iodide can be handled best. It may be 
obtained in one-sixth grain pills in bottles of one hundred, and be¬ 
ginning with one pill at meal time worked up by degrees to six a day. 
For example, the first week one pill morning, noon and night, the 
next week two in morning, one at noon and one at night; the follow¬ 
ing week two in morning, two at noon and one at night, etc. If 
symptoms of mercury saturation” appear such as sore,or bleeding 
gums, dripping of saliva from the mouth, griping pains in the bowels 
or diarrhoea, then immediately drop back to three or four a day and 
find the limit of each individual. The point is to find how much the 
patient will take and then keep that dose constantly for three or four 
months. At the end of that time the iodide of potassium may be 
used in conjunction with the mercury. The form of the mixed 
treatment pill. Number 2,” compounded by eight or ten reputable 
chemists is very useful. Each pill contains: 

Iodide of Potassium, ... . . . 

Syrup of Iodide of Iron, ..... 

Corrosive Sublimate, ...... 

Solution of Arsenic and Iodide of Mercury, 

Tincture of Nux Vomica, ..... 

And the dose is three to six pills during the day, or 
desired: 

Iodide of Potassium, ...... 

Corrosive Sublimate, ...... 

Compound Syrup of Sarsaparilla, .... 

Give one teaspoonful in water after meals. 

This treatment is continued for nine months steadily, then for the 
next six months to a year it is taken on alternate months and if 
faithfully carried out the patient may rest assured that he has followed 
the line of treatment that science has found to give the best chance 
to escape the clutches of the most loathsome as well as one of the 
most prevalent diseases known since the beginning of the world. 

In the third or tertiary stage, where the bones are affected, where 
the mind gives way, as in dementia and paresis, or the muscles refuse 
to obey the bidding of the brain, as in locomotor ataxia and kindred 
spinal chord troubles, enormous doses of iodide of potassium, even 
to six hundred grains a day may be used. 


2 grains. 

5 minims. 
1-64 grain. 
2 minims. 

2 minims, 
if a solution is 

4 drachms. 
1 grain. 

4 ounces. 




404 


VENEREAL OR SEXUAL DISEASES. 


I should mention that there are those who claim to cure the disease 
with other remedies, without mercury, and I am not disposed to be 
dogmatical, and say it cannot be done. For this purpose, perhaps as 
good a recipe as has been proposed is the compound syrup of stillin- 
gia, tincture of poke-root, tincture of sheep-laurel, each four ounces, 
mixed; of which, from a teaspoonful to half a tablespoonful is to be 
taken three times a day. I think well of this remedy, especially if it 
be in connection with a small amount of mercury. If stillingia be 
used, obtain McDade’s stillingia comp., 1 dram three times daily. 

The Bubo, if not attended with pain, may be treated with com¬ 
pression, by a piece of plaster of ammoniac with mercury, or by 
toucliing it with nitrate of silver. Should there be inflammation, 
and the formation of matter be inevitable, the bubo should be opened 
by touching it with the caustic potassa; and the resulting sore must 
be treated with the solution of opium and water dressing. Should 
the sore need stimulating, it may be touched lightly with nitrate of 
silver. 

Eruptions upon the Skin.— In treating the disease after it appears 
upon the skin, etc., we shall derive great advantage from the use of 
either the warm or the vapor bath once a day. With this, if the case 
be not very old, we may employ (148) or (150) ; but if the disease 
be an old one, showing itself in the throat, or attacking the bones of 
the face, we must give iodide of potassium (138), combined with 
compound decoction of sarsaparilla. This is the great remedy for 
tertiary syphilis; but when the case is obstinate, it may sometimes 
be discontinued, and the corrosive sublimate (139) be substituted 
for it. 

It is to be observed that the older the disease grows, and the more 
chronic its character, the more does mercury lose its control of it. In 
the first attack, the blue pill is the best; in the second, as a general 
thing, the iodide or the biniodide of mercury; in the third, the cor¬ 
rosive sublimate; in the attacks subsequent to this, particularly in 
the tertiary form of the disease, the iodide of potassium. When the 
throat and nose are so ulcerated as to make a case absolutely terrible 
to contemplate, it is surprising to see how rapidly the recovery will 
often take place under the influence of this latter remedy. 

For syphilitic iritis, apply frictions twice a day on the eyelids and 
eyebrows with ointment (1T2), (173); and administer internally two 
pills of (136) daily. 

Clap. — Gonorrhoea, — Blenorrhagia. 

The reader is aware that the nose, mouth, and lungs are lined 
with a mucous membrane, which is liable to become inflamed from 
various causes. This inflammation we call a cold or catarrh. During 
its continuance, mucus and other matters, of different colors and 
degrees of consistency, are more or less freely discharged. 


THROAT DISEASES 


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VENEKEAL OK SEXUAL DISEASES. 


405 


The mucous membrane of the private parts of both sexes is just 
like that of the mouth and throat, and subject to similar inflamma¬ 
tions and discharges. But these inflammations of the private parts, 
instead of being produced by change of weather, etc., generally result 
from the application of the specific poison or germ-microbe of 
gonorrhoea. When a woman abandons herself to unlimited inter¬ 
course with different men, the private parts become stimulated to so 
unnatural an extent, that the secretions of the parts, which are largely 
augmented, at length become altered in their nature, acrid, and finally 
poisonous, — so acrid and poisonous that they cause inflammation of 
the parts, and when brought in contact with the male organ, in the 
sexual act, they poison and inflame that. The specific germ of 
gonorrhoea is called the gonnococcus. 

This is the shortest and plainest explanation I can give of clap. 
From this explanation, one may learn why a man will sometimes take 
a disease from a woman who has never had any evidence of being 
diseased herself. If she have indulged her sexual propensities un¬ 
reasonably, though not enough to produce inflammation upon herself, 
her secretions may yet have become acrid enough to poison one whose 
organs are delicate and sensitive. And more than this, — the secre¬ 
tions of a female may become acrid and poisonous from other causes 
than excessive venery. The discharges in bad cases of whites will 
sometimes irritate and inflame the male organ, and induce a disease 
which has every appearance of gonorrhoea. A husband, in great 
distress of mind, sometimes submits a case of this sort to the phy¬ 
sician’s inspection, and lays upon him the delicate and responsible 
duty of deciding whether the wife has been unfaithful. No act in a 
whole professional life can be more momentous than a decision of this 
sort. If a man be well skilled in his art, he may give an answer in 
such case, which shall dispel the most terrible apprehensions, and 
save the peace of a loving family. 

The poison, when communicated by a diseased person to the male 
or female organs, requires a certain time for the germs to produce 
their peculiar effect, — generally from three to eight days. 

Symptoms. — The first symptom of the disease is uneasiness in the 
end of the penis, accompanied, generally, with a little redness, and 
difficulty in passing water. The color of the first discharge may be 
white or straw-colored. There is tenderness where the parts are red. 
Scalding in passing water is sometimes, not always, present at first. 

This is the beginning, or first stage of clap. Now is the time to 
cure it easily. But, unfortunately, the physician seldom sees a case 
in this early stage. Before he is allowed to inspect it, the second 
stage has generally appeared, which is known by violent scalding 
when water is passed, by chordee, or painful erections of the penis, 
and by an increased discharge of greenish matter often tinged with 
blood, and coming from much farther down the urethra, or water- 
passage. The matter sometimes comes from as far down as opposite 


406 


VENEREAL OR SEXUAL DISEASES. 


the scrotum, or bag which holds the testicles. There is more or less 
pain the loins and back. The whole body of the penis may become 
affected, and abscesses form. 

A third and more terrible stage of the disease begins when the in¬ 
flammation has reached the lowest part of the water-passage, just 
where it enters the bladder. Around this part of the passage, and 
lying upon the bladder, is a gland in size and shape like the largest 
chestnut. It is called the prostate gland. On either side of it lie the 
receptacles of the semen, each of which sends its duct into the water- 
passage. When the inflammation extends through this gland, it irri¬ 
tates the neck of the bladder, and causes a distressing desire to pass 
water; and fj orn^ its proximity to the larger bowel, it sends its irrita¬ 
tion thither likewise, and impels a terrible effort to evacuate the 
bowels, called tenesmus. It is the same awful feeling experienced in 
dysentery. Few things can be more terrible than these two distress¬ 
ing feelings conjoined, — the desire to pass water and to empty the 
bowels. Racked with terrible pains and awful tenesmic distresses, 
and often with painful erections, the patient passes back and forth 
between the bed and stool, — often vowing in the sincerity of his 
heart, that if he can but recover from this, he will never be caught 
again. The enlargement of the prostate gland may become chronic 
and permanent, and be the affliction of a man’s life. 

Stricture. — One of the most troublesome and persistent conse¬ 
quences of gonorrhoea is a partial closing up of the water-pipe, at¬ 
tended generally by quite a serious obstruction to the passage of the 
water. It is called stricture. The mucous membrane which lines 
this passage, being long inflamed, becomes thickened and less pliable 
or elastic. The tissues which lie underneath this membrane also 
become swollen and hardened, and, pressing upon the water-passage, 
lessen it still further, making the stricture more difficult of cure. 

In stricture, the stream of urine is altered in size, length, and force. 
Its course is changed, when the stricture is lateral. The stream is 
often flattened, like the blade of a pen-knife, or twisted like a gimlet, 
or forked, one stream reaching beyond the other. In consequence 
of obstruction, the bladder is not entirely emptied, and the desire to 
urinate immediately returns, and is very urgent. 

Gleet. — Another very troublesome result of gonorrhoea is gleet .,— 
a thin, colorless discharge, which persists, in a chronic form, after all 
active inflammation has subsided. It is very annoying, and very ob¬ 
stinate. It is often dependent on the altered condition of the mucous 
membrane occasioned by stricture. 

Orchitis. — Another very severe result of clap is swelling of the 
testicles, called orchitis. It begins frequently with chills and fever, 
with a feeling of weight in the scrotum, and pains in the loins. The 
swelling rapidly increases, and reaches its height in from three to five 
days. 


VENEREAL OR SEXUAL DISEASES. 


407 


Besides the above, there are still other mischiefs which follow this 
disease, such as inflammation of the prostate gland, already described, 
of the bladder, and of the kidneys. 

In the female gonorrhoeal inflammation affects the external geni¬ 
tals called the vulvae, the water-pipe, the vagina, and the neck of the 
womb, and often plays havoc with the ovaries and Fallopian tubes. In 
women the disease is often fatal by ascending the tubes and penetrat¬ 
ing to the abdomen, where an acute peritonitis is set up, with the 
formation of pus. 

There is a difference of opinion as to whether gonorrhoea ever pro¬ 
duces secondary or constitutional symptoms. Ricord, the great 
French authority on this subject, affirms, and with him a great num¬ 
ber of followers, including most of the profession in this country, 
that constitutional symptoms never follow clap; that they never re¬ 
sult from anything but a syphilitic ulcer, Vidal, a French authority, 
safer, in my judgment, than Ricord, though not as renowned, says, on 
the contrary, that secondary and tertiary complaints do follow viru¬ 
lent gonorrhoea. Wilson, the highest English authority, and many 
others, agree with him. Unprejudiced observers feel well convinced 
that this latter opinion is right. I have myself seen not less than 
half a dozen cases of secondary and tertiary syphilis, which were 
preceded by gonorrhoea, and nothing more. 

Treatment.— One treatment is by injection in the early stage. It 
is not often used except by a physician and consists of the injection 
of nitrate of silver in weak solution carefully used grain to 2 ounces) 
or some other silver salt such as argyrol, 20 grains to two ounces 
injected in teaspoonful doses twice a day. Argyrol is less irritating, 
less astringent and fully as efficacious as silver nitrate. 

The physician should have entire control of the patient, and com¬ 
pel him, if possible, to keep his room, and live for a few days on 
crackers and water, or something equally simple. All meats and 
stimulating drinks are to be excluded. 

The other mode of treatment, which is perhaps the more commonly 
ado[)ted, is more general in its nature. It embraces the use of warm 
baths, warm sweating drinks, and rest. If the patient is full of blood, 
and strong, from five to fifteen leeches are applied to the space be¬ 
tween the scrotum and fundament. These things, with a low diet, 
will frequently reduce the disease in a few days. If the discharge 
should continue, after a fair trial of the above, then copaiba and 
cubebs (272) are to be used. Several articles are added in the above 
prescription, to make the copaiba acceptable to the stomach. This 
preparation can be taken by most persons, and generally produces 
very gratifying results. Vidal strongly recommends an electuary, or 
thick paste (273), of which a piece twice as large as a nutmeg is to 
be taken in the course of the day. The prescriptions which contain 
copaiba and cubebs are numerous; but the above two are as good as 
a hundred. With these articles, the baths, the leeches, and the re¬ 
pose, are to be united. 


408 


VENEREAL OR SEXUAL DISEASES. 


Vidal says he never resorts to injections first, but employs the anti¬ 
inflammatory course first. If that fail, then he uses the injection 
(207), three or four times a day; and if he employs the nitrate of 
silver at all, it is only as an astringent (208). Prescription (304) 
is a valuable injection. 

When the second stage sets in, and the symptoms become more 
violent, injections must not be used. For the very severe scalding in 
passing water, which is now felt, take thirty drops of a solution of 
potassa in half a tumblerful of water, twice or three times a day. 
Persons of full habit, may be benefited by dissolving a grain or two 
of tartar emetic in a tumbler of water, and taking to the extent of 
producing a little nausea. Relief is occasionally obtained by holding 
the penis for some time in warm water. 

For the painful chordee, or erections, camphor and opium (120) are 
required,—from one to three pills a day. Thirty drops of laudanum 
may be given when the patient retires. Cold applications to the gen¬ 
ital organs, or walking barefooted upon the cold floor, will frequently 
give relief. When other things fail, three pills a day may be taken 
of extract of hyoscyamus, containing from one to four grains each. 
The quantity of drinks must be diminished, and cold lotions must be 
applied to the penis on going to bed, — the patient covering himself 
lightly. 

It must be borne in mind that the quacks depend on strong injec¬ 
tions to stop the discharge, but they almost invariably cause stricture 
which is worse than the original disease and that the average time 
that will elapse before a cure is effected may be from four to six weeks. 

Gleet is generally very obstinate, and often requires a very pro- 
tracked treatment. If there be any tenderness along the under side 
of the penis, it is well to apply three or four leeches. Occasionally 
recipe (272) will have an excellent effect. But gleet is an unhealthy 
action, sustained by habit, and may often be cured by simply exciting 
a new action which shall break the old habit. It is always well, 
therefore, to resort to injections. Sugar of lead and sulphate of zinc 
(207) answer a good purpose; or sulphate of zinc and tannin (209) 
may be tried. Chloride of zinc (210), does well in some obstinate 
cases. 

But gleet is often dependent on stricture^ and when this is the case, 
we must learn the location of it by exploring the water-pipe with a 
bougie. When the instrument reaches the constricted part, the pa¬ 
tient feels pain, or the surgeon meets an obstruction, — often both. 
When the stricture is found, it is either to have the solid nitrate of 
silver applied to it with an instrument called the porte caustique^ or a 
solution of nitrate of silver (211), or of acid nitrate of mercury 
(226), with a shower-syringe. When these means fail, we must pass 
a small bougie gently through the stricture; then a larger, and then 
a still larger one, until the obstruction be removed. They should be 
used once or twice a day, and not be retained long in the passage. 
They frequently have to be used ten or twelve weeks, and should 


VENEREAL OR SEXUAL DISEASES. 


409 


not be discontinued till the cure is complete. Put no confidence in 
those quacks who promise to cure these old troubles in a few days. 
They want your money, but have no expectation or ability to cure 
you at all. 

For inflammation of the testicles, apply leeches at once. To this 
should be added warm fomentations and poultices. If these means 
fail, more serious measures are to be adopted, which it would be out 
of place to describe in this book. 

Inflammation of the prostate gland is also to be treated with 
leeches and poultices ; likewise a warm hip-bath. The water must 
be drawn off with a catheter until it can be passed in the natural 
way. 

Prevention of Sexual Diseases. — I have several times been in 
doubt as to the best method of presenting some of the topics which 
the wide scope of this book has brought before me; but no one sub¬ 
ject has perplexed me like the one announced in the above head¬ 
ing, — not that it is not easy enough to furnish the rules for 
preventing venereal disease, but that it is a grave question in morals 
whether to instruct the world in the methods of such prevention is 
right. Is it proper to give any other advice than the simple direction 
to abstain from all liability to disease ? That is the question. 

If such advice would be heeded, of course no other should be 
given. But it would not. If the person disregarding it would alone 
suffer the penalty of the transgression, it might then be best to em¬ 
body the whole advice in the simple imperative word, abstain! But 
this cannot be. The infection will be imparted to a third person, and 
onward to thousands; and many of these thousands will be innocent 
wives, who will perish of the disease, or send the infection down to 
the second, the third, the fourth, and to all generations! While a 
strict morality might seem, therefore, at first view, to forbid the in¬ 
culcation of rules for avoiding infection, the good of the race would 
appear to justify and lequire it. 

The first requisite for prevention is cleanliness. Frequent washing 
is of prime importance. 

The precautions should not be the same before and after the vene¬ 
real act, when a person is about to expose himself to risk. Before 
the act, the parts should be carefully examined to see if there be any 
break in the skin. The least breach in this covering of the penis 
greatly promotes contagion. Before coition, there should be no wash¬ 
ing with soap, for this deprives the parts of the mucus and oil, — 
thus rendering the naked and exposed skin liable to infection. On 
the contrary, to apply a solution of alum, tannin, or a decoction of 
oak-bark, or aromatic wine, constringes or hardens the covering of the 
organ, and renders contagion more difficult. An article called con¬ 
dom is often used to ward off disease. It is a sack made of gold¬ 
beater’s skin, and is drawn over the penis like a glove over the finger, 
and thus protects it from contact with poisonous matter. 


410 


VENEREAL OR SEXUAL DISEASES. 


Of still greater importance are prompt measures of prevention 
after the act. Lotions should be immediately applied to every part 
of the organ, and in the case of females, should be used as injections. 
These lotions should be acids or alkalies. A mixture of vinegar and 
water has been recommended as an excellent wash. Ricord recom¬ 
mends aromatic wine; Malapert, corrosive sublimate (212), in the 
form of solution. Probably the best preventive is composed mainly 
of alcohol and soap (213), as recommended by Langlebert. 

An exposed person, using any one of these solutions, particularly 
the last, or, in the absence of all these, washing thoroughly with soap 
and water, will be likely to escape contagion. 

Medical Police, — What is called general prophylaxis, or preven¬ 
tion, or medical police., is not a subject of legislation in this country. 
The moral sense of the American people does not admit its necessity. 
In Europe, the authorities watch over prostitution. They even go so 
far as to regulate it. They appoint practitioners, whose duty it is to 
act as a sort of medical police, and particularly to visit houses of 
prostitution once or twice a week, and examine all the inmates. 
When a girl is found diseased, she is immediately removed to a hos¬ 
pital, and not permitted to return until she is well. 

Self “Pollution, — Masturbation. 

There is probably no vice to which so many boys and young men, 
and even girls and young women, are addicted, and from which so 
many constitutions break down, as self-pollution. Small boys and 
girls learn the vile practice of the larger ones at school, and generaiiy 
continue it up to maturity, without the least suspicion that they are 
inflicting upon themselves either a moral or a physical injury. 

This comes of the false modesty and bastard morality which with- 
holds from the young all knowledge of the proper functions of their 
sexual organs, and of the inconceivable mischief resulting from their 
abuse. A gentleman of distinction lately said to me: “I instruct my 
boys as faithfully on this subject as upon any other moral or physical 
question, and I tell my wife it is her duty to do the same with the 
girls.” This is wise. Yet, how few parents ever speak to their boys 
or girls on the subject, to give them the least reason to suppose there 
is any better rule for their conduct than their own desires! 

Symptoms.—These are very numerous. The principal are, head¬ 
ache, wakefulness, restless nights, indolence, indisposition to study, 
melancholy, despondency, forgetfulness, weakness in the back and 
private organs, a lack of confidence in one’s own abilities, cowardice, 
inability to look another full in the face, and, among females, hyster¬ 
ics, whites, and a desire for seclusion from society and solitude. 

I have already spoken of the receptacles of semen, lying on each 
side of the prostate gland. From the fore part of these receptacles, 
the semen passes through two ducts, about a finger's breadth in 


VENEREAL OR SEXUAL DISEASES. 


'411 


length, into the urethra or water-pipe, just in front of the prostate. 
From excessive self-pollution, these ducts become very irritable, and 
also debilitated and relaxed,—so much so that they will not retain 
the semen; and during lascivious dreams, it flows off. These semi¬ 
nal losses are called “nocturnal emissions.” So constant is the drain 
they keep up upon many young men who have abused themselves 
excessively, that the whole man, mentally, morally, and physically, 
becomes a wreck. There are few objects more pitiable to behold 
than a young man in this condition, — his nervous system feeble, 
tremulous, and broken; his memory weakened and fading out; his 
eye unsteady and incapable of looking a friend in the face; his loins 
and back weakened, giving him the feeble gait of old age; his once 
erect form cowed and bent; his high sense of manliness all oozed out 
of him; his mind taking up and dropping the simplest threads of 
thought, losing its way in the plainest paths of reflection, and often 
starting back affrighted at the glimpse of chaotic insanity opening 
before him,—turning here and there for relief, but finding little hope 
of recovery, except in marriage, and yet knowing himself unfitted to 
be the husband of an intelligent woman! 

Treatment.—Every kind of treatment, no matter how judicious or 
well applied, will be unsuccessful, unless the vice which has produced 
the disease be absolutely and entirely abandoned. This is the first 
thing to be secured. It may be extremely difficult for the patient to 
do this, with his mental and moral nature all broken and in ruins,— 
with no heart to feel, nor will to execute; and yet it must be done, 
or a cure cannot be effected. 

To bring this about, everything must be done by the physician to 
strengthen the moral nature of the patient, and to raise his self-respect 
and hope. The most careful directions must be given for restraining 
the imagination. The patient must be directed and encouraged to 
drive out from the mind, instantly, and upon all occasions, every 
lascivious thought; to cultivate the society of the most intellect¬ 
ual and virtuous females; to make himself husy with useful and, if 
possible, agreeable employment; to avoid solitude; and to sleep with 
some friend. He should sleep on a mattress, and never on feathers; 
always on the side, never on the back. 

Where there is considerable debility, tonics will be required, as the 
mineral acids (GO), (62), (78), and bitters (77), (67), (66), (59), 
and strychnine (83), (95), (85), and iron (80), (93), (72^- (73), 
(71). In addition to some of the above preparations, the ^^/'rup of 
the hypophosphites should be taken for some time. 

The food should be nutritious and easy of digestion, ano. the cold 
alkaline sponge-bath should be taken once a day, with brisk rubbing; 
and the private parts should be washed daily with cold water, espe¬ 
cially just before retiring. 

In conclusion, I say emphatically to parents, do not let your sons 
and daughters remain ignorant on this subject. It is plainly your 


412 


VENEREAL OR SEXUAL DISEASES. 


duty to enlighten and to warn them. It is a matter in which young 
persons are generally disposed to do right, if rightly instructed. 
Avail yourself of your right to give counsel, and, if need be, to use 
authority. 

Says Ware: “The deleterious, the sometimes appalling conse¬ 
quences of this vice, upon the health, the constitution, the mind itself, 
are some of the common matters of medical observation. The vic¬ 
tims of it should know what these consequences are; for, to be ac¬ 
quainted with the tremendous evils it entails, may assist them in the 
work of resistance. 

“ To you, parents, on whose shoulders is carried the weighty re¬ 
sponsibility of rearing your children in a pure atmosphere, let me say 
that to shut your eyes against the probabilities of youth is an error 
and a sin. Let the mother learn to know the restlessness and ac¬ 
tivity of youth; let the father recall his early ambitions, his longing 
for excitement, and his reaching out after life and activity in various 
ways. Do not repress these natural instincts, but learn to guide them 
into proper channels. Keep at home the attractions of public places; 
have music and games, mirth and gayety; invent amusement and 
mirth, and banish dullness and apathy. Do not argue that your boy 
is better than other boys and your daughter superior to your neigh¬ 
bor’s frivolous girls. The boys and girls guilty of this vice are 
somebody’s children, and these somebody’s children are nine to one 
your children. See that your children lead an active, physical life, 
that out-door games and gymnasium exercises enter largely into their 
lives; keep them busy, give them something to do to occupy their 
attention beside their studies; let them study with a will when they 
study, and play equally hard when they play. Do not be afraid to 
talk on these matters with your children, and explain in a rational 
way what passion is, and how it is to be governed and how used. 
If you have that unfortunate amount of prudery and false shame 
so common to many people, and feel you cannot talk with your chil¬ 
dren about such matters, send them to your family physician and let 
him have a plain honest talk with the children. ‘Well stated in¬ 
formation never yet contributed to human inflammation.’ Read 
them Storer, Ware and Wilder on ‘What Young People should 
Know,’ and make them realize that a ‘healthy knowledge is the 
best preventive against an unhealthy ignorance.’ Do not wait till 
the young have already grown up in the vice, — your admonitions may 
then be too late, — nor fancy your children have not been thrown in 
with influences which corrupt, and that by broaching the subject to 
them you are informing them of a subject they may never otherwise 
have heard of. Remember the statement: ‘ whether or not we 
ought to hide this subject from the young, if we could, the truth is, 
we cannot if we would.’ ” 

To you, young men, in particular, let me warn you against a seem¬ 
ing propriety on your part to keep your silence. If you are given 


VENEREAL OR SEXUAL DISEASES 


413 


to the habit, however slightly, go to your father, your mother, your 
family doctor. Confession will strengthen your will and purpose to 
overcome the temptation. Do not lie to the family physician in his 
inquiries: he is your friend and wishes you only success; he is ac¬ 
quainted with these ailments and knows your temptations; he ap¬ 
preciates and respects your noble desire to rid yourself of the evil. 

Do not, above all else, read the numerous pamphlets on Sexual 
Debility, Lost Manhood, etc., or be duped into answering advertise¬ 
ments in the public prints offering to send you literature on the sub¬ 
ject. No man can afford to send you free publications and postage- 
stamps unless he sees as an outcome a fee at the end of the book in 
the shape of medicines and other promised help. Steer religiously 
clear of these smoothly written books and these specialists in the art 
of restoring lost manhood. Your experience with them will be 
much like the countryman with bunco-steerers. 

Make every honest endeavor to conquer an unruly passion while 
it is young, and the more readily conquerable, but never despair of 
being helped by suitable aid, however long the passion may have been 
victorious over you. Do not ascribe your weakness in fighting temp¬ 
tation to the Almighty, the sins of your parents, or the example of 
your elders or associates, but go at the demon with a will and the 
fight is yours. Having conquered the enemy, the results of the past 
can be overcome by a pure life and the dictates of your physician; 
nay, I may even add. Nature restores herself if only she can be as¬ 
sisted. In fact there is no specific for the troubles that arise from 
this vice. The only cure is to absolutely stop the habit and imme¬ 
diately thrust out all lascivious thoughts as soon as they enter the 
mind. Build up the strength and in time nature and marriage will 
do the rest. 


FEMALE DISEASES 


Givingf a full and detailed account of female complaints and 
diseases — their cures and home administration of 
medicine. Every woman should become 
thoroughly conversant with 
these chapters. 




PEHAIE DISEASES. 


In addition to the diseases common to both sexes, women are 
subject to a class of distressing complaints peculiar to themselves, 
and denominated, in general terms, female diseases. Involving con¬ 
siderations of a delicate nature, these complaints have too generally 
and too long been shut out from works intended for popular distribu¬ 
tion. Hence there is a general ignorance of a class of diseases which 
are fast unfitting woman for the high duty of continuing the race; 
and the subjects of these maladies are generally themselves so unin¬ 
formed of the true nature of their sufferings, that they are neither 
prepared to seek relief in the proper direction, nor to submit to the 
remedy if it chance to be proposed. 

It is intended here to speak of these disorders, as I have done of all 
others, in a plain and simple way, to describe them, so far as the 
present state of medicine permits, just as they are, and to make 
known the modes of treatment which have been found available for 
their cure. The sufferings of woman require this; the interests of 
humanity require it; and the writer is impelled to it, as he thinks, 
by a just sense of responsibility. 

Physicians, in my judgment, are chargeable with a great wrong in 
concealing within their own breasts information upon what are called 
delicate subjects, — information which the good of the world requires 
should be divulged, and which they ought to pour into the public 
mind, and make common, and which they would thus popularize, but 
for their stiff pride and conservatism. 

The idea that our knowledge cannot be imparted to the world 
without injuring the public morals, is simply absurd. We are more 
afraid of bringing the common people too near to us, of letting down 
our dignity, and of opening our profound secrets to popular eyes. 
The result is as it should be, that unsophisticated people are apt to 
give physicians a wide berth, and to have nothing to do with them 
unless necessity compels. Let doctors strip off their reserve, and 
while they remain gentlemen, become likewise companions, impart¬ 
ing their knowledge freely and familiarly to all, and the public con¬ 
fidence, now considerably shaken, will be frankly restored to the pro¬ 
fession. 

It should be the object of a good physician to know aU he can, and 

415 



416 


FEMALE DISEASES. 


to impart his knowledge to as many as possible. Knowledge is not 
merely power: it is happiness, it is wisdom, it is health, it is virtue ; 
yes, it is always virtue, except in some rare instances, where the worst 
natures pervert it. No physicians are so much loved as those who 
are frank, and have no concealments. The day for mysterious nods 
of the head, and rollings of the eyes, and shrugs of the shoulder, has 
gone by. Men, and women too (or those of them who are wise), 
wish to know distinctly what their diseases are, and what is neces¬ 
sary, not to palliate and prolong, but to cure them. 

Time when Female Diseases Begin. — Female complaints begin 
to make their appearance at the period of life called puberty, — the 
time when the girl passes from childhood to womanhood. This is the 
period when menstruation is established, which consists of a discharge 
from the genital organs, composed of blood and mucus, and which 
occurs, when regular, every four weeks. Up to this period, the system 
of reproduction has remained dormant. By the intervention of this 
mysterious function, the young female becomes a new being. The 
heart unfolds itself to new emotions; the mind assumes a solidity 
before unknown, and even' the body acquires beauty from a sudden 
rotundity of form. 

This is the period when the great question of female health is very 
apt to be settled once for all, and for life. The girl who is well 
trained at this time, generally has a foundation laid for health and 
character, which is worth more to her than riches. At no time does 
the mother need so much wisdom and knowledge as now. To es¬ 
tablish the health and develop the affections of the daughter at this 
critical period, is a sacred trust which she can devolve upon no other 
being; nor can she meet her responsibilities at this time, unless better 
informed than most mothers are. The general apathy in regard to 
this maternal duty is deplorable. 

False Delicacy-The refined delicacy which withdraws these 

subjects from the public gaze is commendable, for it casts a beauti¬ 
ful charm over society; but when carried so far as to cast a veil even 
over the eyes of mothers, it is quite unnatural, and leads to the worst 
results; for in the bad management of girls at this critical period is 
laid the foundation of so many of the diseases which shatter the con¬ 
stitution of so many women. For this bad management, it is not 
mothers alone who are to be blamed. The neglect of the medical 
profession to furnish the necessary information should come in for its 
full share of reproach. 

The Establishment of the Menses.— Nature always comes slowly 
and by degrees to the inauguration or establishment of any of her 
great functions. It is so in regard to menstruation, or, as it is va¬ 
riously called, “ the menses,” “ the courses,” “ the change,” etc. For 
some time before the fiow begins, there are certain symptoms, or pre¬ 
monitions, which to the eye of the physician plainly enough foretell 


FEMALE DISEASES. 


417 


the impending change. To the mother these signs would be equal¬ 
ly intelligible, were she as well informed as she should be. It is 
plainly her duty to be intelligent enough to assist nature in the es¬ 
tablishment of this important function. But how often, either from 
ignorance or from false ideas of delicacy, does she fail to interfere, 
and allow the daughter to be taken by surprise, and perhaos fright¬ 
ened and thrown into convulsions! 

From inquiries made of about one thousand women, a distin¬ 
guished English physician found that about one-quarter were unpre¬ 
pared for the appearance of the menses. Some of the girls were 
frightened and went into hysterical fits; others thought they were 
wounded, and washed with cold water. The flow was stopped in 
several cases, and in some never restored; while the health of all 
in whom it was interrupted was seriously impaired. 

Symptoms of the First Menstruation. — A variety of symptoms 
precede and foretell the first menstruation. Headache, dizziness, 
sluggishness of thought, and disposition to sleep ; these occurring in 
a girl, may be taken as hints that the “ change ” is at hand. If tc 
these be added pains in the back and lower limbs, the intimations 
will be still more significant. 

At this time a girl loses a relish for the society of children; she is 
apt to acquire a taste for solitude ; her temper becomes wayward and 
fretful; her eyes acquire a peculiar lustre; she becomes a sort of 
mystery to her friends and herself; not her physical frame only, her 
whole character is changed. She is about stepping into a new life. 
Her emotions, thoughts, anticipations, retrospections, are all new to 
her, and her outward manifestations are new to her friends. An in¬ 
telligent mother will not fail now to prepare her mind for the impor¬ 
tant event close at hand. 

The age when this change takes place depends very much upon 
a variety of circumstances. It occurs much earlier in warm than in 
cold climates. It is hastened by high living; by the whirl and bustle 
and excitement of city life ; by reading novels which are full of love- 
incidents ; by attending balls, theatres, and parties; and by mingling 
much in the society of gentlemen. 

Early Menstruation not Desirable.— It is a law, both in animal 
and vegetable life, that the later the period at which maturity is 
reached, the greater the solidity of the body, and the longer it lives. 
Girls who menstruate early do so because the body is weakened by 
climate or luxury, and the nervous system unduly developed by ex¬ 
citement; while those who come late to womanhood have firmer 
constitutions, enjoy better health, and live longer. Those mothers, 
therefore, commit great errors, who are anxious and administer 
“ forcing medicines,” because their daughters do not menstruate at 
fourteen or fifteen. If girls are suffering from no special ill-health, 
no anxiety need be felt if “ the custom of women ” do not come to 


418 


FEMALE DISEASES. 


them till the age of eighteen, or even twenty. The delay should 
excite thankfulness rather than regret. It shows that the constitu¬ 
tion has not in it the seeds of early dissolution ; that it is fortifying 
itself against future disease. 

Girls who come thus tardily to maturity are much more “ regular” 
in after life. They hear children with fewer accidents, and are af¬ 
flicted much less with female diseases. The duty of mothers is plain; 
it is to bring their daughters forward as late as possible, by refusing 
their early admission to society, by withdrawing from them all excit¬ 
ing reading, by prohibiting their early attendance at parties and 
theatrical entertainments, by prescribing for them the most unstimu¬ 
lating diet, and by requiring a large amount of exercise in the open 
air. 

A wide investigation has shown that the first menstruation occurs, 
in hot climates, at the average age of thirteen years and nineteen 
hundredths; in temperate regions, at fourteen years and seventy-four 
hundredths ; in cold latitudes, at sixteen years and fiftyrthree hun¬ 
dredths. Under the hot-house culture of modern society, and espe¬ 
cially among the wealthy classes, where indolence, luxury, and excite¬ 
ment unite to weaken the constitution, this change is constantly oc¬ 
curring at a more tender age. 

How Female Diseases are Induced_All living things have 

their origin in germs. The germ from which the higher animals 
spring, man included, is an ovum or egg. Every animal and every 
vegetable is provided with an organ for the production of germs. In 
woman, this organ is called an ovary. There are two ovaries, about 
half an inch in length, one lying on each side of the womb, to which 
they are attached by ligaments or cords. The ovarian bodies con¬ 
tain vast numbers of vesicles, or cells, or eggs, which are the true 
germs of human life, and the only sources from which it can spring. 

Between the ages of fourteen and forty-five (speaking in general 
terms), every healthy woman matures and deposits an ovum once in 
twenty-eight days. This vesicle, some time before the monthly floAv, 
begins to germinate and swell, and after a time, like a grain of wheat 
in the earth, it bursts its covering and springs forth. It then passes 
through what is called the Fallopian tube into the womb, whence it is 
cast off. 

During the swelling and bursting of this vesicle or germ, the ves¬ 
sels of the ovaries and womb, and particularly of the membrane 
lining the womb and its neck, are so crowded with blood as to pro¬ 
duce in the parts a state of congestion. If the parts be examined 
with a speculum at this time, they will be found red, sensitive, and 
almost inflamed. So great is this congestion, that the woman often 
complains of pain in the ovaries and the womb, and a general 
sense of heat, aching, and dragging down in the lower part of the 
bowels. The pain often extends to the back, the groins, and the 
thighs. 


FEMALE DISEASES. 


419 


This Condition Repeated Every Month-When we considei 

that this state of things. is repeated every four weeks, and that the 
congested or crowded state of the vessels begins some days before 
the monthly flow, and lasts, in all, some ten days, making about one- 
third part of every month, we need not wonder that inflammation so 
often supervenes, with all its attendant ill-health a^nd suffering. 

Increased by Various Causes-If we reflect, further, that this 

congestion is increased, among the wealthy, by high living, and 
among all classes, by over-stimulation of the nervous system, and by 
the lascivious morals of the age, we see stronger reasons for expect¬ 
ing — what is really occurring — a continually increasing amount of 
suffering from female diseases. 

And when we know, still further, that American females are care¬ 
less of their health; that they often attend balls and theatres at the 
very time of suffering from this monthly visitation; that they fre¬ 
quently wet their feet, and otherwise expose themselves to colds, we 
cannot feel surprise, even when we learn that from one-half to three- 
fourths of all women in cities, and quite a large proportion of them 
in the country, have inflammation of the ovaries, or of the womb, or 
if the neck of the womb, or suffer some of the forms of displace¬ 
ment of this latter organ. 

Child=Bearing. —The inflammatory state of the uterine organs is 
often induced by injuries received in child-bearing, and by excessive 
indulgence in sexual pleasures. 

Weakness of the Sexual System-The womb, moreover, like 

any other organ, may be naturally frail, and easily affected by dis¬ 
ease. This weakness of the sexual system is indicated by the diffi¬ 
culty with which menstruation is established, and the presence of the 
whites, both before and after each monthly flow. Women in whom 
the generative organs are weak, are much more liable to inflamma¬ 
tion of the womb, and to all complaints peculiar to the sex. 

Description of the Sexual Organs_Before describing the par¬ 

ticular diseases to which the female generative organs are liable, it 
is proper to give the reader a brief description of the chief of these 
organs. 

The Womb itself, in its healthy, natural state, is about two inches 
^ong, and one inch broad — weiglflng a little more than an ounce, 
and is in shape like a pear. It is lined with a mere rudimentary 
mucous membrane. 

The Neck of the Womb has a cavity distinct from that of the 
body of the organ, and is lined with a mucous membrane well sup' 
plied with follicles or glands. 

The Fallopian Tubes open, one from each side of the base, or 
largest end of the womb, and extend outward to the ovaries. 


420 


FEMALE DISEASES. 


The Ovaries are glandular bodies lying one on each side of the 
base of the womb. They are more particularly explained else¬ 
where. 

Fig. 136 gives some idea of these organs. A, is the body of the 
womb; B, the neck of the womb; C, C, the vagina; D, one of the 



FIO. 136. 


ovaries; F, F, the Fallopian tubes; E, E, the fimbriated extreme 
ties; G, the small ligament attaching the fimbriated extremity to the 
ovary. 

Inflammation of the Neck of the Womb-Infiammation of the 

body of the womb is a comparatively rare disease, but inflammation 
of the neck of this organ is so common that in nearly nineteen out 
of twenty cases, when females seek relief for whites, for painful men¬ 
struation, for stoppage of the menses, or even for what they suppose 
to be a falling of the womb, a careful examination will show that 
this pendant portion of the womb is in a state of marked inflamma¬ 
tion, or of absolute ulceration. The whites, if they continue with¬ 
out intermission from one menstrual flow to another, are almost al¬ 
ways the result of one of these conditions of the uterine neck. 

It would surprise most persons out of the medical profession, and 
many physicians, to know how large a proportion of the more grave 
diseases which inflict such terrible suffering upon woman, and so 
completely shatter her constitution, are dependent for their exist¬ 
ence upon a simple local inflammation, either in the neck of the 
uterus, or in one or both of the ovaries. Many a female has for 
years suffered agonies, greater than those of death itself, arising, as 
she supposed, from a complication of ills which invade every part of 
the system, while the whole of her troubles arose, in fact, from an in¬ 
flammation of the neck of the womb merely. 

Difficulties of Studying Uterine Diseases-The social rela¬ 

tions of the sexes, and the great delicacy of the matters to be inves¬ 
tigated, for a long time prevented direct examination and investiga¬ 
tion, so that little knowledge was gained, and as little benefit con¬ 
ferred. 








.i 






FEMALE DISEASES. 


421 


Woman, always distinguished for her modesty, could not be ex* 
pected to invite investigations which were not proffered, whatever the 
extremity of her sufferings ; and man, scrupulously sensitive lest he 
should make himself an intruder by stepping within delicate enclos¬ 
ures, have both, in times past, mistaken their duty by misinterpreting 
the demands of the highest delicacy. 

Needful Examination not Indelicate_Rightly viewed, no in¬ 

quiries or examinations are indelicate which are necessary to a full 
understanding of the nature of disease, and which are made with the 
sole purpose of rendering its cure possible. I agree with Dr. Meigs, 
the elder, that the delicacy or indelicacy of examining the persons of 
females for the purpose of exploring disease, depends on the motive 
with which it is done. To pure-minded persons, it is never, I think, 
a source of impurity. On the*contrary, the self-restraint, the honor¬ 
able feeling, and the nice sense of delicacy which it calls into exercise, 
often heighten the tone of a man’s virtue, and certainly increase a true 
woman’s respect for it. Unfortunately, there is now and then a gross- 
minded man in the profession, who, in these investigations, will vio¬ 
late the most sacred of all trusts committed to his hands; but such 
monsters — few in number — soon find their level, and are shunned 
as the most vile of the race. 

It is now so well understood that these investigations do not lead 
to immoralities, that the most highly educated, intelligent, refined, 
and virtuous females almost invariably raise the fewest objections to 
such examinations as a physician of character may propose. 

Methods of Investigating Female Diseases. — The symptoms of 
these complaints will be spoken of in their proper place, as the 
several diseases come under a brief review. I merely wish to allude 
here to the methods of physical exploration which modern practice 
has called to its aid. 

The Touch. — These methods consist, first, of what is called the 
touchy which is made either externally upon the bowels, or internally, 
with the index finger, through the vagina, or passage, from the external 
genital organs to the neck of the womb. 

The Speculum. — In the 

second place, of ocular in¬ 
spection of the vagina and 
neck of the uterus, through 
an instrument called the spec¬ 
ulum. By this instrument, 
the eye, as well as the finger, 
is made to assist in learning 
the real condition of the parts. 

The finger informs us 
whether there is any devia- 




422 


FEMALE DISEASES. 



tion from nature in tlie bulk, the firmness, the smoothness, or the 
sensibility of the parts; while the sights through the speculum, affords 
absolute certainty as to 
whether the parts are suf¬ 
fering from inflammation, 
ulceration, abrasion, or 
eruption. 

There are a variety of 
specula in use by modern 
physicians, but all are es¬ 
sentially of two kinds; first, a so-called Sims’ 

Speculum (Fig. 137), the end of which, when 
inserted into the vagina and pulled upon, allows 
the air to enter and balloons out the vagina so 
that the parts can be readily seen. This specu¬ 
lum necessitates what is known as Sims’ posi¬ 
tion, i. e. the woman’s hips resting on the edge 
of the bed or table, knees flexed, and chest rest¬ 
ing on bed with left arm out from behind her. 

The second. variety of speculum is what is 
known as the duck-bill pattern (Fig. 138). By 
a separation of the two blades, the neck of the womb slips in between 
them. The speculum is then fastened with a thumb-screw, leaving 
the hands of the physician free. This speculum is used with the 
woman on her back, and feet resting on the bed or table, with knees 
flexed. 

We also give an illustration of an older kind, which is still used 
to some extent. The end is so shaped as to catch the neck of the 


Fig. 138. 

Duck-bill Speculum. 



Fig. 139. 


womb, and then by drawing the instrument forward slightly, the 
diseased surface is presented for as perfect inspection as if located 
externally (Fig. 139). 

Inflammation, Ulceration, and Enlargement of the 
Neck of the Womb. 

Inflammation of the neck of the uterus is very common; ulcera¬ 
tion and permanent enlargement (technically called hypertrophy), are 
its results, when it is not arrested in due time. These affections, in 
fact, and the same troubles as they affect the ovaries, make up the 




FEMALE DISEASES. 


423 


bulk of female diseases, — being the real causes of the most of those 
symptoms which have passed under the name of whites, suppression, 
painful menstruation, sterility, general debility, etc. 

The neck of the womb, when healthy, is soft and smooth. No 
hardness or condensation of tissue can be felt by the finger on press¬ 
ing over it. It is elastic, too, and feels unctuous to the touch. This 
latter sensation is communicated by the layer of mucus which covers 
it. Pressure upon it produces no pain. 

Inflammation, when found in this part, may begin in the mucous 
membrane which covers the neck, or in that which lines its cavity, or 
in the small glands in the oody of the organ. 

Symptoms.—Inflammation of the mucous membrane covering 
the neck of the uterus destroys the unctuous feel which it has in 
health. It also causes the neck to swell, its vessels being crowded 
full of blood. If the body of the organ, as well as the surface, be 
reached by the inflammation, it will be hardened and enlarged; and 
in consequence of its increased weight, it is apt to drop down some¬ 
what into the cavity of the vagina. In married ladies, it is often, by 
physical pressure, pushed a little backward, or retroverted. Exami¬ 
nation with the speculum shows the inflamed neck to be of a vivid 
red, instead of a pale rose-color. It may be covered with red or 
white pimples, which are glands enlarged with muco-pus. 

In the healthy state, the mouth of the womb is so much closed as 
to be just perceptible when the finger passes over it. Inflammation 
causes it to be more or less open, and its lips to be parted. 

Inflammation followed by Ulceration. — In a majority of cases, 
inflammation of the neck of the womb and of its cavity is soon 
followed by ulceration, which generally appears first around the 
mouth, and just within the cavity of the neck. From thence it 
spreads both inward and outward. 

Various Degrees of Ulceration, etc. —Of course, these inflamma¬ 
tions and ulcerations mix and run into each other in all possible 
forms, — presenting excoriations, or raw places; granulations, or 
pimply surfaces; and indurations, or hardened parts. Sometimes 
these pimply patches will be red and hard, and again the whole sur¬ 
face will be spongy, and will bleed upon the slightest touch. 

In many cases, these ulcerations make wretched work with the 
mouth of the womb, eating deeply into the cavity, and giving it a 
ragged and unsightly appearance. 

Velvety Feel from Ulceration. — Ulceration generally gives to the 
surface on which it exists, a soft, velvety feel, which the finger gener¬ 
ally recognizes. This velvety sensation, with the open state of the 
mouth, are the most important evidences we can derive from the 
touch, of this form of disease. 

The Discharge from these Ulcers is always Pus, or, in common 


424 


FEMALE DISEASES. 


language, matter. It is sometimes poured out scantily, at other times 
very freely. It may be thick and yellow, or thin, and of a lighter 
color. 

The inflammatory and ulcerated condition of the neck of the 
womb often gives rise to pain; and when the seat of the disease has 
not been examined, as it should be, this pain has frequently been 
called neuralgia. In this way, ignorance has compelled neuralgia to 
stand sponsor for a great many pains with which it has had nothing 
to do. 

These Ulcers Disturb Menstruation.—Menstruation is generally 
changed more or less in its character by the presence of inflamma¬ 
tion or ulceration in the neck of the womb. It usually becomes more 
fainful. In some cases it is made more profuse., in others more scanty. 
It may come on more frequently, or it may be postponed, protracted, 
or abridged in its continuance. There is generally pain of a dull, 
aching kind, low down in the back. There is often a feeling of full¬ 
ness, pain, and a sense of bearing down in the lower part of the 
bowels; sometimes the pain extends to the groins and thighs. 

Extensive Disturbances from these Inflammations, etc. — The 

nerves with which the womb is liberally supplied belong to those of 
the sympathetic system. Hence, the condition of the uterus influ¬ 
ences a wide circle of sympathies. By these nerves this organ is 
brought into close relationship with the organs of animal life. If the 
former suffer, the latter suffers also. The stomach, being intimately 
connected with the womb, physically, feels keenly these inflammations 
and ulcerations of the uterine neck. At times, the pain, debility, 
general disturbance, and dyspeptic state of the stomach are such as 
to cheat both the doctor and the patient into the belief that this organ 
is the seat of the disease. But in such cases, the symptoms of stom¬ 
ach disease will all disappear the moment the local affection is re¬ 
moved from the neck of the womb. 

The liver, too, often participates in these troubles, and becomes 
sadly deranged. It is sometimes even greatly enlarged and congested, 
and patients frequently have the various symptoms of what are called 
liver complaints. 

Severe pains are sometimes felt under the breast-bone, and over 
the chest generally, making the patient apprehensive of disease of 
the lungs; and indeed consumption is not a very infrequent result 
of uterine diseases. 

Pains are often felt in the region of the heart, which organ is often 
harassed with palpitations. 

The flesh is apt to waste under the symptoms excited by these in¬ 
flammatory and ulcerative processes in the uterine neck; and even 
the brain, though lying in some measure beyond the circle of influ¬ 
ences set in motion by the organic nerves, suffers disturbance and 
pain. 


FEMALE DISEASES. 


425 


Even tlie special senses of sight and hearing may be drawn into 
this general vortex, and both be much impaired. And to crown this 
catalogue of ills, it may be mentioned that those distressing things 
called hysterical fits proceed from the same local disorders. 

In brief, there is scarcely a point in the human body to which these 
inflammatory and ulcerative conditions of the uterine neck may not 
send their sympathetic pains and aches, and where they may not in 
time induce real disease. This is the reason why so many women 
suffering from these local complaints, tell the physician, when con¬ 
sulting him, that they are “ diseased all over^ If asked where the 
complaint is located, they will answer, “ It is everywhere.^'* In the 
most earnest manner the assurance will be given, Doctor., there isn*t 
any well part about me.” 

Treatment. — It is just as unreasonable'and useless to treat these 
inflammations and ulcerations through the stomach, as it is an in¬ 
flamed or ulcerated throat. They are local diseases., affecting a par^ 
ticular part., and the remedy must he local. 

Like all other affections, these can only be managed intelligently 
after their nature is well understood. Nothing can really be done to¬ 
wards a cure until it is known what the matter is; and no competent 
physician will move a single step in the treatment of one of these 
cases until he has made a thorough examination. He owes this to 
himself and to his patient, the more so as the neck of the womb 
may be as easily examined as the upper part of the throat, and the 
local remedy may be almost as readily applied in the former case as 
in the latter. 

If, upon the introduction of the speculum, the uterine neck be 
found simply inflamed and enlarged, the application of ichthyol and 
glycerin to the canal will reduce the swelling and inflammation; 
while a tampon of wool soaked in the same and placed behind the 
womb will reduce the entire swelling of the womb by the watery 
discharges which are produced. The patient must learn to lie down 
most of the time. If this should not succeed (though it will in most 
cases) then introduce a speculum, and when the neck of the womb 
is fairly lodged in its extremity, drop in two or three leeches and al¬ 
low them to fill. 

One who is not accustomed to treat these affections in this simple 
way, will at flrst be surprised at the rapidity with which the local 
trouble will disappear, and with it the thousand and one aches and 
pains which torment the whole body. As the terrible pains in the 
whole face and head which are produced by a single tooth all in¬ 
stantly come to an end when the tooth is extracted, so do the bad 
feelings all over the body subside as fast as the local ailments of the 
uterine neck are cured. There is no exception to this rule, except 
where the sympathetic affection has become fixed by long neglect 
of the primary uterine disease. It is, therefore, surprising that so 
many excellent women, whose lives are of the greatest value to them- 


426 


FEMALE DISEASES. 


selves and friends, should be permitted to perish of these ailments, 
when the cure is so simple, and many times so entirely within the 
reach of the most ordinary skill. It is a reproach to the profession 
wdiich should be wiped away. 

If there are a hundred motives for gaining the mastery over other 
diseases, there are a thousand for learning to control these. More 
than any other disease, or all others, they make the homes of men 
desolate, by robbing them of women, their ornament and solace. The 
physician who neglects to make himself acquainted with all there is 
to be known of these complaints, shows himself not only unfit for his 
profession, but deficient in some of the prime elements which combine 
to make a true man. 

Hardening of the Uterine Neck. —In many cases the uterine neck 
is not only inflamed and enlarged, it is indurated and hardened. At 
times it is enlarged and hardened on one side, and not much on the 
other. In still other cases, there are enlarged spots, or nodes, giving 
the whole neck a knotty feel under the finger. 

These hardened conditions of the uterine neck proceed from vari¬ 
ous causes, and are more difficult to cure than the ordinary inflam¬ 
mation, or even ulceration. They sometimes indicate cancerous dis¬ 
ease, and then, of course, involve the most serious considerations. 
The glycerin tampon and the hot vaginal douche will do more for 
this hardening than all else combined. 

Uterine Syringe.—For applying the several remedies to the inter¬ 
nal cavity of the uterine neck, I have contrived a silver syringe, which 
is bent a little at the extremity, and pierced with fine holes all round. 
With this instrument, the remedy is carried directly to the diseased 
part, and applied instantaneously to every side of the cavity. 

Besides these local applications, it is frequently necessary to resort 
to soothing or astringent injections into the vagina, hip-baths, and 
injections into the bowels, some mild physic, and rest in a horizontal 
position. These matters will all be judiciously regulated by the at¬ 
tending physician, if he is master of his business. 

Inflammation, etc., of the Ovaries.— 

The inflamed condition of the ovaries is indicated by increased 
heat, and pain upon pressure. The pain in the ovarian region is 
sometimes intermittent, sometimes constant, and occasionally passes 
down to the loins and thighs. 

There are acute and chronic inflammations of the organs; but it 
will be sufficiently accurate, in a work of this kind, to treat of them 
as essentially one. 

The effects of inflammation upon the ovaries, as upon other bodies, 
are various, sometimes enlarging and hardening, at other times col¬ 
lapsing and blasting them. This last effect, it is hardly necessary to 
say, cuts off all hope of bearing children. 


FEMALE DISEASES. 


427 


The Causes of ovarian inflammation are numerous. One of the 
most important causes has already been noticed, namely, the conges¬ 
tion of the parts, for several days, at every menstrual period. This, 
amounting as it does almost to inflammation, is often intensified by 
other causes, such as wetting the feet, taking sudden colds, excessive 
fatigue from dancing, and exciting drinks. 

Sexual indulgence often proves a cause of inflammation in these 
bodies. It is particulary apt to have this effect in the newly-married 
female, with whom it is a novel stimulus, and often applied with im¬ 
moderate excess. In late marriages, when the stimulus to the ovaries 
has long been denied, its sudden presentation is liable to make an in¬ 
flammatory impression. Its entire absence, too, in persons of strong 
passions, may result in ovarian disease. ; 

This inflammation may be produced by the new state of things 
existing at the critical period called the turn of life, when it reacts on 
the womb, producing the floodings which often bring menstruation 
to a close. The congestion, too, which has been present every month 
for many years, does not immediately cease at this change; and not 
finding relief by the accustomed flow, the ovarian bodies are exposed 
to inflammation. 

In all large cities, the pest-houses of civilization, where the women 
are more numerous than the men, there are many females whose vir¬ 
ginity is a burden, and numerous others who give themselves up to 
sexual excesses; to both these classes, the turn of life is very liable 
to promote these ovarian disorders. 

There is another class of causes, which, though not so easily re 
cognized, are equally cogent in exciting this form of disease. I mean 
all those excitements which arise from unbridled thoughts, from 
books of questionable character, from music, social intercourse, and 
stimulating food and drinks,—all which promote and intensify burn¬ 
ing desires, which, though natural and proper in themselves, cannot 
lawfully be gratified in a community where the female sex greatly 
preponderates, numerically, over the male. When we consider how 
powerful within a woman’s breast the conflict often is between the 
impulse of passion and the dictates of duty, and how strongly this 
conflict must react upon the sexual organs, and especially upon the 
ovaries, the centre of the sexual system, we can easily see in how 
many cases they may become inflamed. 

Another cause of this disease is suppression of the menses. The 
engorged and crowded state of the vessels of the womb, of the ute¬ 
rine neck, and ot the ovaries, not finding vent in the accustomed flow 
inflammation in any one of these organs is a very natural result. 

The inflammation of these ovarian bodies is a frequent result, too, 
of a similar condition, previously existing in the neck of the womb. 
In passing from the uterine neck to the ovarian bodies, the inflamma¬ 
tory condition often fastens itself upon the broad ligament, the fallo¬ 
pian tubes, and their fimbriated extremities. The whole, it will be 


428 


FEMALE DISEASES. 


seen, presents an amount of disease which it is painful to contem¬ 
plate. 

The womb being turned over, and pressing against one of the 
ovaries, may cause it to inflame by mechanical irritation. Pessaries, 
injudiciously used, may do the same thing. 

Symptoms. — The first and most obvious symptom is a pain a little 
to the right or left of the womb. This pain is almost always increased 
by walking, riding, or by external pressure. It is especially aug¬ 
mented by straightening the thigh, by which the parts over the in¬ 
flammation are put upon the stretch. When standing up, ladies 
suffering from tliis disease are generally compelled to rest the foot 
on a stool, so as to bend the thigh, and relax the muscles. The pains 
radiate from the ovaries, and go down to the loins and thighs, and 
sometimes to the fundament. They are of a dull, dragging, heavy 
nature. 

Sometimes the ovarian bodies become very much enlarged, and 
dropping down somewhat, press upon the lower bowel, causing con¬ 
stipation, or upon the neck of the bladder, creating a frequent desire 
to urinate, and an inability to pass the water freely. 

Treatment. — As inflammation of the ovaries is always increased 
during the menstrual flow, it is not proper to meddle with it at these 
monthly periods, lest the trouble be aggravated. Immediately after 
one of the turns has passed, from six to eight leeches should be ap¬ 
plied over the diseased ovary. When the bites are healed, a blister 
may be used in the same place. The scarf-skin should not be re¬ 
moved, and the irritated surface must be healed as soon as possible. 
The blister should be camphorated to prevent strangulation. The 
part should next be rubbed for a few minutes, night and morning, 
with an alterative and anodyne ointment fl69). 

It is in many cases more desirable to insert a speculum and paint 
the roof and sides nearest the tender spot with tincture of iodine. 
There is a strong preparation called Churchill’s iodine which is the 
tincture of iodine to which iodide of potash has been added, and 
though some greater care must be used when applying it, the results 
will be more rapid and beneficial. This treatment should be always 
used instead of the leeches if the patient loses too much blood at 
the periods. 

After the next menstruation, the same things should be repeated, 
and again after the next, and so on, for five or six months, or even 
longer, if need be. The already bloodless condition of the patient 
may require, however, that the leeches should not be applied more 
than once, or, at most, twice. 

The bowels should occasionally be opened by some simple cathartic, 
for the purpose of removing all hard substances which may press 
against and fret the inflamed ovaries. The purgatives employed 
should be of the most cooling kind, such as salts or oil; while aloes, 
and all haish cathartics must be avoided. 


fp:male diseases. 


429 


Injections of tincture of belladonna and hyoscyarnus are useful for 
quieting neighboring parts, and warding off external disturbances. 
Tliey act like soft substances thrown upon the pavement in front of a 
sick man’s liouse. A piece of flannel soaked in hot laudanum, laid 
over the ovary and covered with dry flannel, will give great relief and 
enable the patient to sleep. 

The patient should be kept, as much as possible, in the recumbent 
position, lying upon the bed or the lounge, and should only bo per¬ 
mitted to move about to such extent as will not imtate the inflamed 
parts. 

Whites. — Leucorrhaia. — Fluor Alhus, 

Lkucokrjkjoa is from two greek words, hx'xog and andfluor 
alhuH from two Latin words, alhus and fluo, having i)recisely the 
same meaning as the (I reek, namely, a white discharge, I fence, in 
poj)ular language, the disease is called the “ whites it is also called 
female weakness^ 

4'bese hjrms are well enough, perhaps, if we have in mind that 
they convey to us only the idea of a symptom of disease. Th(;y all 
mean, with the exception of the last, a white discharge from the 
female genital organs, diiey are slightly inaccurate, as the discharge 
is sometimes yellow, or green, or otherwise variant from white. Any 
discharge from the female genital organs which is not hloody^ comes 
under the term “ whites.” 

A Symptom Only. — As the name of a disease, the term whites has 
no specific meaning. It docs not designate any particular complaint. 
It is a symptom, just as the matter expectorated and raised in lung 
diseases is a symptom; and as such only should it be regarded. 
When persons cough and raise a great deal, they do not, on consult¬ 
ing a physician, say they have got the expectoration; but they say 
they fear they liave some disease of the lungs, because they expecto¬ 
rate. d'hey look upon the expectoration as the siyn or symptom of 
disease. 

So females, and physicians too, must learn to look upon the whites^ 
not as a disease, })ut as the siyn or symptom of disease, which sign 
they should become skilled in interpreting. 

Th(ire is no reason why the discharge from the genital organs 
should not be as well interpreted as the expectoration or discharge 
from the throat. The parts from which it comes may be about as 
easily and as well inspected. 

No Female Ailments so Common. — There are no female troubles 
to which the attention of the physician is so often called as these 
annoying and debilitating symptoms called whites; and there is no 
department of medical practice in which the really able as well as 
conscientious and painstaking physician is so well tested. If, re¬ 
garding these discliarges as they are, simply as siyns^ he searches 


430 ' 


FEMALE DISEASES. 


faithfully for their cause, he will be led to a treatment which in a 
great majority of cases will he successful. And surely no success in 
life can be more prized by a right-minded physician. It procures 
health, the highest earthly boon, for suffering woman, and gratitude, 
the most prized of all rewards, for himself. 

There are Four Kinds of Discharges from the female genital Or¬ 
gans,—mucus, pus, mucus and pus combined, and the watery. The 
first, mucus, does not in itself imply disease; but when pus is dis¬ 
charged, we know that inflammation exists, because such a cause 
alone can produce it. 

Seat of the Disease.—The cause which produces the whites may 
have its seat either in the vagina, or in the neck of the womb ; and 
in practice it is of course quite important to know where its location 
is. The character of the discharge generally settles this point, if it 
be thin and watery, or thick and cream-like, it is from-the vagina or 
passage which leads to the womb; if ropy, gluey or albuminous, like 
white of egg, it is from the cavity of the uterine neck. 

Treatment. — Some physicians always prescribe the same remedy 
for the whites. They might as well have but one prescription for 
expectoration. The remedy must have reference to the cause of the 
discharge; until the cause be searched out, every prescription is a 
mere trial at guessing, — a sort of practice well enough adapted to 
quacks, but not becoming scientific men. 

When a case of whites is brought before a physician who under¬ 
stands his business, he makes no prescription until he has discovered 
what the disease is. Having determined this point, his remedies have 
an intelligent bearing upon the case. 

If the discharge be of a ropy, tenacious character, one of the best 
remedies is a strong solution of nitrate of silver, used as an injection 
with a female syringe, once a day (254). Of this, not more than two 
teaspoonfuls should be used at a time; and great care should be ob¬ 
served not to stain the underclothes with it. When the discharge is 
either yellow and thick, or lighter colored and watery, some one of 
the following: (200), (202), (203), (207), (209), (220), (230), 
(232), (243), (244), may be used with advantage as an injection, 
twice a day. 

Some one of the above remedies will generally afford some relief; 
but if whites exist in a somewhat aggravated form, they furnish evi¬ 
dence of some serious disease in the vagina or neck of the womb, 
and the case ought to be submitted to a competent physician. 

Absence of the Menses. — Amenorrhoea, 

The absence of the menses is divided into two kinds, — retention 
and suppression. It is retention when the monthly flow has never 
appeared; suppression, when, having been established, it is, by one 
cause or another, stopped. 


FEMALE DISEASES. 


431 


Retention Explained. — The ovaries, as we have before said, are 
the centre of the female sexual system. It is the swelling or ripening 
of an ovum or egg, every four weeks, which causes the large flow of 
blood to the parts, and the consequent menstrual discharge. 

But it sometimes happens that the ovaries are not developed at the 
usual time of life. The monthly evacuation does not then appear. 
There is retention. There may be retention, too, from other causes, 
after the ovaries are matured. Costiveness may sometimes occasion 
it; so may a degenerated and low state of the blood. 

There may be mechanical causes of retention. The mouth of the 
womb may be entirely closed, or the neck may be so constricted as 
to close the passage through it, leaving no outlet for the monthly ac¬ 
cumulation. The hymen, also, may have no opening through it. 
When these mechanical obstructions exist, there are sometimes large 
collections of fluid in the womb, which cause enlargement of the body, 
and in some instances, painful suspicions that the sufferer has com¬ 
mitted imprudences, and is in the family way. Physicians should be 
on their guard against falling into such errors, and leading the sanc¬ 
tion of their name to these blasting mistakes. 

Suppression Explained. — Suppression — a stoppage after flow 
has been once established — may be caused by inflammation of the 
ovaries, the blood, in this diseased condition, being drawn so entirely 
to these swelling and germinating bodies, that the accustomed flow 
from the womb does not take place. 

Inflammation in the neck of the womb may also cause a stoppage. 
So may a fright, as from a fire occurring in the neighborhood, or a 
cold taken by being caught in a shower. Girls sometimes, in their 
utter thoughtlessness or ignorance, dip their feet in cold water, when 
their courses are upon them, and bring on a suppression of a most 
dangerous character. The most lovely and innocent girls have done 
this for the purpose of attending a party; and, in some instances, the 
stoppage induced has ended in death within a few hours. The pro¬ 
found ignorance of their own mechanism, and of the laws which gov¬ 
ern it, in which girls are kept-who are just budding into life, is a 
serious reproach both to parents and physicians. 

Suppression may be induced by whatever reduces the quantity or 
quality of the blood, as consumption, or by great depression of spirits. 
With some rare exceptions, women have not their turns while in the 
family way. 

Treatment. — Before anything can be done in the way of treat¬ 
ment, the case must be thoroughly investigated, and the specific cause 
of the disease searched out. 

If it prove to be retention^ and arises from a bloodless condition 
and an undeveloped state of the ovaries, iron is the proper remedy 
(61), (73), (74), (75), with a generous diet and exercise out of 
doors. If caused by an inflammatory state of the uterine neck or ova- 


FEMALE DISEASES. 


432 

ries, the proper treatment has been already indicated. If from cos¬ 
tiveness, relief may generally be found from prescriptions (5), (9). 
The mechanical causes alluded to above, when found to exist, must 
be removed by gently dilating the mouth of the womb or the uterine 
neck, with bougies, beginning with the smallest, and increasing the 
size, or by puncturing the hymen, as the case may require. Per¬ 
manganate of potash, in capsules of 2 grains each, after meals, is 
one of the best remedies. 

In Treating Suppression* it should be borne in mind that at a cer¬ 
tain time each month nature makes an attempt to restore the lost 
function. Even when she is not successful, probably an ovum is ma¬ 
tured and in some way disposed of. The intelligent physician will of 
course avail himself of this favorable moment to try his skill in bring¬ 
ing about the desired regularity. When this time arrives, he should 
order three or four leeches applied to each groin at night. The next 
night, he should direct the use of a pungent foot-bath (242); also 
(16) as a cathartic. 

For the relief of the terrible cramp-like pains that accompany this 
trouble teaspoonful doses of compound elixir of viburnum given in 
one-fourth glass of hot sweetened water and repeated every hour 
until relief, may be given. 

When suppression exists, it is not always proper to try in this 
direct way to bring on the turns. There may be no blood to spare ; 
and this may be the sole reason why the courses do not appear. 
When this is the case, nothing is to be done but to build up the 
health as rapidly as possible, and when this is sufficiently established, 
the courses will be all right. 

Profuse Menstruation. — Menorrhagia. 

Menstruation may continue too long^ or occur too often^ or he too 
profuse while it lasts; or all these irregularities may be experienced 
by the same person. Any one of them will prove a serious irritation, 
and a drain upon the constitution ; the whole together, if not arrested, 
will undermine and destroy it. 

The Cause of this, like the source of all other female diseases, is, 
in a great majority of cases, overlooked. 

It is not to be attributed, as so many suppose, to a congested state 
of the womb; but is rather the result, in a great many instances, of 
the inflammatory or ulcerated condition of the uterine neck. 

In still another large number of cases, it arises from a succession 
of ovarian abortions. When the blood has run low, and nutrition is 
defective, as in the consumptive habit, the ovarian vesicles fail to 
reach maturity. Like other products of the economy, they become 
blighted, and abort. And as these blights occur often, nature is busy 
every two or three weeks casting them off. Hence, the menses 
appear often. They come and go without order, because they spring 
from a process which is a contra version of nature’s laws. 


FEMALE DISEASES. 


433 


Profuse menstruation, like scanty menstruation, is a symptom of 
a variety of diseases. The quantity may be increased only on one or 
more days, or be so great as to cause death from hemorrhage. At all 
events, the amount of blood lost is often so great as to cause aneemia 
and impaired health for a long time. This is, however, usually the 
result of continued free bleeding extending through a number of 
months. 

The local causes of uterine hemorrhage are fibroid tumor of the 
^vomb; inflammation of the womb, or metritis; inflammation of the 
lining membrane, or endometritis; uterine congestions from any 
source; cancer of the womb in its early stages; retroversion, or tip¬ 
ping over backward of the womb onto the rectum; polypus; enlarge¬ 
ment of the womb following labor or abortion; the retention of pla¬ 
cental tissue, etc., etc. These also are among the local causes of hem¬ 
orrhage. But not infrequently the excess of flow is due to impaired 
general health. Wasting diseases like phthisis or consumption cause 
the blood to be so thin as to render it unable to form a clot, thus 
facilitating the easy or profuse hemorrhage often seen in young girls 
in the earlier stages of consumption; later, amenorrhoea ensues from 
utter lack of blood. This flowing often attends acute fevers, pur¬ 
pura, Bright’s disease, jaundice, heart-disease and debility. This 
last cause is often seen in the case of young girls who have grown 
rapidly since puberty and pursued a vigorous course of study with 
little or no out-door exercise. The strain on the nervous system in 
these girls is kept up constantly by sharp competition, and no heed 
is paid to nature’s demand for rest and relaxation at the menstrual 
time. The claims of society on the young girl add no small share in 
the production of this evil. 

Explanation. — It is not easy to explain how inflammation and 
ulceration of the uterine neck should in one case produce suppression, 
and in another profuse menstruation. Yet it is a settled truth that 
such opposite results do come from one and the same apparent cause. 
Probably the explanation is to be found in the different degrees of 
inflammatory action, in the varieties of 
constitution, and in the variant degrees 
of tenacity with which the vessels hold 
the blood. 

Bleeding from the female genital or¬ 
gans may be produced by a variety of 
causes which have nothing to do with 
menstruation. Such bleedings are prop¬ 
erly uterine or vaginal hemorrhages^ and 
not profuse menstruation. They are the 
result of inflammations, or tumors within 
the uterine neck (Fig. 140), or weak¬ 
ness. The womb may bleed for days, or even montlis, from pure 
debility. 




434 


FEMALE DISEASES. 


Treatment.—As profuse menstruation and uterine hemorrhage 
spring from a variety of causes, so the remedies are various. Here 
again we are confronted with the same absolute necessity to invest!' 
gate accurately the true nature of the complaint before we venture 
a single prescription. All the cases present one general feature. 
There is too great a loss of blood; and the first thought is that 
astringent medicines are necessary to arrest it. But if the bleeding 
be occasioned by a polypus, or by inflammatory ulceration, astringents 
would not arrest it, and might do great mischief. 

When the immoderate flowing is caused by a general breakdown 
of the nutritive powers, and by ovarian abortions, the great aim must 
be to rally the vital powers by iron, quinine, porter, wine, a generous 
diet, exercise on horseback and on foot, and warm and cold bathing. 
When produced by local diseases of the ovaries and neck of the 
womb, the treatment is to be local, — such as has been described. If 
a polypus or other tumor be the cause, the remedy must be sought 
for under the appropriate head. If the womb has become relaxed, 
and bleeds from pure debility, — as it may, — something must be 
found, if possible, which will condense its substance, making it 
harder, smaller, and more solid. For this purpose, cold bathing, as¬ 
tringent injections into the front passage, and acid drinks are useful. 
But one of the best remedies is the wine of spurred rye (267). One 
teaspoon ful should be taken three times a day. This article, by 
causing the womb to contract, solidifies and condenses it, thus arrest¬ 
ing the blood which oozes from its relaxed tissues. Of course, the 
object of all treatment is twofold: the one to stop the hemorrhage 
for the time being, the other to remove the cause. The physician 
may have to be called, and resort had to tampons in the vagina; the 
uterus itself might have to be packed with gauze; hot douches of 
115° to 120° F. will frequently quiet a stubborn hemorrhage, espe. 
daily if rest in bed with the hips elevated be strictly enjoined. The 
hot douche should be repeated every three hours. Besides the gi ving 
of ergot, hydrastis, hamamelis and atropia are also quite useful, as, 
for instance: Fluid extract ergot, fluid extract hydiastis, fluid extract 
hamamelis, of each twenty drops, in water every three hours, with 
the addition of grain of atropia at the same time. 

Sedatives, like the bromide of soda, in ten-grain doses every hour 
or two, will be of service if the hemorrhage be caused by fright, grief, 
or injury. The treatment of the intervals must depend on the cause, 
but generally some systemic tonics like iron or quinine are of great 
service ; rest in bed is, par excellence, the treatment in most cases at 
some stage of the flowing, generally during the flow itself; but rest 
from excitement and freedom from overwork are equally important 
when the hemorrhage is due to this cause. Out-door exercise, fresh 
air and good food are none the less important for weary brains and 
tired nerves. 


FEMALE DISEASES. 


435 


Hemorrhage between the periods, or menorrhagia.—When hem¬ 
orrhage from the womb occurs between the periods, it is called meTV- 
orrhagia^ and is more apt to occur in women past thirty years of age, 
or, at all events, in married women. It is of more significance usually 
than profuse menstruation, and almost always proceeds from the womb 
itself. This bleeding comes on often after the menopause^ or “ change 
of life.” The causes are quite similar to those just considered, but 
local causes are oftener found. Some sloughing surface, as from 
cancer, fibroid, erosion of the lining membrane, exists in half the cases. 
Abortion, and the retention of small pieces of afterbirth, are frequent 
causes of this kind of flowing. 

This trouble demands the immediate attention of the family phy¬ 
sician or the specialist, who will examine the uterus and ascertain the 
cause ; and, as not infrequently, the cause consists in something to be 
removed, a brief mention of the methods employed will not be out of 
place. 

The size, shape, position and firmness of the uterus and ovaries are 
made out by the examining fingers of the left hand being pressed 
into the abdominal walls above the bladder, while the fingers of the 
right hand, with the knees drawn well up, are introduced into the 
vagina and pressed against the neck of the womb. An endeavor is 
then made to bring the womb between the two sets of fingers, which 
maps out its locality, position, etc. The ovaries and ligaments are 
likewise located. Any erosion of the mouth of the w-omb, foreign 
growth there, malposition, excessive size, etc., can thus be readily 
detected. To explore the inside, one of the various specula before 
described are used, and the uterus dilated either with tents, so-called, 
or more commonly with a steel dilator. If, then, there is found 
aught to be removed, a sharp, spoon-like instrument, called a curette^ 
is used to scrape away all diseased tissue or foreign growth, and the 
womb then washed out with some antiseptic solution. The womb is 
then often packed with gauze to still further disinfect its interior and 
afford a means of draining aw^ay all oozing blood or forming mucus. 

This operation called curetting now frequently done as a regular 
means of treatment to do away with the causes of hemorrhage and to ; 
restore the normal bulk and ch^iracter of the womb, instead of resort¬ 
ing to the slow, tedious, and less successful methods of former times. 
It is, to be sure, a regular operation; but when done under so-called 
aseptic methods, to be described later, is a perfectly safe and trust¬ 
worthy treatment, far in advance of old-fashioned methods, which 
seem less heroic. 

It necessitates rest in bed, numing, and the disadvantages of sick¬ 
ness; but on the other hand, it saves lives, stops disease, and renders 
useful what otherwise might become useless and dangerous to life and 
health. 

Painful Menstruation.— Dysmenorrhosa. 

Dysmenokrhcea is from three Greek words Sv?, and pew which 



430 


F2MALK DISEASES. 


mean, literally, a difficult montfdy flow. These words do not pre¬ 
cisely describe the complaint; for it consists not so much in a difll- 
cult., as in a painful flow. 

Symptoms. —This affection is always marked by more or less pain 
while the courses are on, — especially during the first day or two. 
The pain sometimes begins two or three days in advance of the evac¬ 
uation. It extends over the whole lower part of the belly, running 
down, at times, to the thighs, and causing great distress in the back. 
It is frequently so violent as to resemble the pains of labor, compel¬ 
ling the sufferer to take the bed, and drawing from her tears and 
groans, and occasionally throwing her into 8i>asms most painful to 
witness. So terrible are the monthly suff’erings which some women 
experience from this cause, that the anticipation of it destroys much 
of their peace, even during the intervals of respite. 

The Causes of this complaint are very numerous. There is, 
doubtless, such a tiling as pain in the womb from rheumatism, and 
especially from neuralgia, though these are much rarer forms of the 
complaint than many suppose. 

Pains at the monthly periods arc often induced by a disj)lacement 
of the womb. If the organ fall over backward or forward, its nerves 
are pressed upon in an unnatural way, and when the parts are crowded 
with blood, it is very natural for painful sensations to be excited. 
In these cases, the neck of the organ is bent at right angles, and the 
canal which passes through it is, of course, strietured., so that the 
evacuations are necessarily made with difficulty. 

And this leads mo to remark, that the passage througli the uterine 
neck becomes, occasionally, from inflammation or other cause, almost 
closed. The result is, much difficulty and great pain in passing the 
monthly secretion. 

There are no causes which excite painful menstruation more often 
tlian inflammation in the uterine neck and the ovaries. An increased 
flow of blood to an inflamed part always causes pain. An inflamed 
foot or leg has to be laid up in a chair, because it aches when put 
down. The reason is, that when hanging down it is more full of 
blood, and the sensitive nerves are painfully compressed. When the 
finger is hot wit h inflammation, we assuage the pain hij holding it up 
for the blood to run down. For the same reason, the inflamc^d ovaries 
and uterine neck ache when the blood flows to them in large quanti¬ 
ties, at the menstrual period. 

Congestion of the lining membrane of the womb itself is a frequent 
cause of painful menses. It is a condition of the membrane of the 
womb similar to that of the larynx in membranous croup. There is the 
same pouring out of what jfliysicians call coagulable lymph, which 
forms itself into a membrane. This membrane the womb strives by 
strenuous contractions to thiow off, and finally succeeds in expelling 
it, not whole and entire, but in shreds and patches. These shreds, 
which women sometimes call skinny substances., are cliaracteristic of 


FEMALE LISKASE8-, 437 

the disease. The efforts to expel tliem cause pains very much like 
those of natural labor, and sometimes almost as severe. 

Treatment. — Painful menstruation, excited by the fallinpf over of 
the womb, backward or forward, is cured, of course, l)y putting the 
organ back into its proper position. 

Pains caused by stricture of the canal through the uterine neck, 
are cured only by enlarging the passage. This is effected by intro¬ 
ducing at first a very small bougie, and then a larger and a larger, 
until tlie passage is of the usual size. It is a delicate operation, 
quite successful in careful and skillful hands, but liable to produce 
mischief when improperly conducted. 

In all the forms of this disease, the treatment should aim, not 
merely at palliation, but at a cure. And generally, I am happy to 
say, a cure is attainable. Yet how many women suffer for years 
until health has fled, and life has become a burden, receiving from 
their medical attendant the assurance that palliation only is possible ! 

It is necessary at each monthly turn to do something, in these 
cases, to quiet tlie j)ain. For this purpose, twenty drops of spirits 
ether in a wineglass of tepid water, thrown into tlie l^owcl, will be 
highly serviceable. For a like purpose, one pill (lit)) may be taken 
twice a day, beginning one day before the menstrual flow. A belhi- 
donna ointment (170) maybe rubbed upon the neck of the womb 
with great advantage, and a teaspoonful of viburnum compound taken 
each hour. 

In the congestive form of this disease,— that in which the membrane 
is formed on the'internal surface of the womb^ and thrown off in frag¬ 
ments^ — the liquid acetate of ammonia, or spirits of Miiidererus, is 
a very valuable remedy taken in two-teaspoonful doses, in a table¬ 
spoonful of cold water, three or four times a day, while the pain lasts. 

IMedicincs almost innumerable have been put on the market for 
this complaint, of which Hayden’s viburnum, liquor sedans, diovi- 
burnum, and a host of others, are examples. Tlujse are usually 
harmless, and may bo used. Gin, in goodly doses, is often service¬ 
able by stimulating the circulation. Turpentine cloths, the hot-watcr 
bottle, rest in bed, etc., also help amazingly. But whatever remedy 
may be used at the time, even though the pain be severe enough to 
require an anodyne, the cause must be sought and treated. 


Chlorosis, — Green SicknesSo 

Before the age of puberty, the girl is only a child. She has 
within her only the elements of a woman. The chamje to which she 
is destined brings with it a wonderful development bf)th of body 
and mind. 

To effect this development, and bring out the new Ixdng in the 
perfection designed by the (h’eator, a large amount of hidden nervo- 
power is required. She requires to have been born with a well-vital 


438 


FEMALE DISEASES- 


ized constitution, and to have been physically trained in a way to 
harden and energize it. Without these antecedents, her development 
at puberty will be feebly and imperfectly made. Her development 
and evolution of germs will be so defective as to cause her menstrua¬ 
tion to be only partially established, or to fail altogether. 

Symptoms. — Where the inherent powers of the system are just 
sufficient to bring about a first menstruation, it often happens that 
they seem to be spent by the effort, and that the evacuation fails to 
appear again for several months. Indeed, the whole organization 
may break down at this point, and become blasted, as it were, like a 
blade of wheat which has grown well for a time, but which fails to 
develop the kernel. 

The blood at this period may become impoverished, and fail to 
distribute adequate nourishment and development to the various 
tissues. When this occurs, it loses a part of its red globules, and 
increases its watery portion. As a result, the skin becomes pale, and 
sometimes of a yellowish hue ? the bowels become torpid and con¬ 
fined; the nervous system sensitive and weak; the digestion is 
impaired; the appetite is either lost, or perverted, — longing for un¬ 
natural food; the tongue is white ; the heart palpitates; the spirits 
are depressed; the temples and ears throb; the head occasionally 
aches and whirls with dizziness; the sleep is disturbed and abbrevi¬ 
ated, and hysterics are now and then superadded to close the cata¬ 
logue of ills. 

This is Chlorosis^ briefly depicted in its origin and its symptoms. 
The word is from the Greek which means *green and pale. 

By nurses it is called the “ green sickness.” 

Its Causes are quite numerous, among which may be reckoned 
impoverished diet, damp atmosphere, sedentary habits, long confine¬ 
ment indoors, overworking the mind in childhood, constipation of the 
bowels, and an inherited feeble constitution. This disease is very 
frequently met with in domestics emigrating to this country from 
Ireland, Sweden, and the Provinces, and depends on the failure of 
^Nature to accustom herself to the new climate. These cases, how¬ 
ever, all respond well to treatment, but when left alone, lapse into 
consumption, Bright’s and similar diseases. 

Treatment.—Chlorosis, as a general thing, is connected either 
with retention or suppression of the menses; and in treating it, 
physicians are too much in the habit of resorting indiscriminately to 
forcing-medicines, called emmenagogues. From such practice great 
injury often results. 

It is not always sufficiently considered that a woman fails to men¬ 
struate, or ceases to do so, because she is sick ; and if we would cause 
her courses to return, we must restore her health. To do this, should 
generally be the great object of treatment. Let the health be restored, 
and the menses will come back. The only philosophical treatment is 
that which will invigorate the system. 


FEMALE DISEASES. 


439 


In chlorosis, the vital powers are in a state of dilapidation. How 
can they be roused? By exercise on horseback and on foot; by 
wearing clothing enough to keep warm; by a tepid bath two or 
three times a week, and brisk rubbing with a coarse towel; and by 
a generous diet, composed of tender meats, animal broths, etc. 

This treatment, however, should be preceded by unloading the 
bowels with prescription (35) or (40), according to choice. One 
pill should be taken at night. When the liver is considerably de¬ 
ranged, prescription (40) will be particularly serviceable. Half a 
pint of tepid water thrown into the bowel, night and morning, will 
help relieve costiveness. 

The bowels having been well opened, give a tablespoonful of pre¬ 
scription (59), two or three times a day; or of prescription (60), a 
teaspoonful, the same number of times each day. 

In the treatment of this disease, iron, in some form, is almost 
always needed. Prescriptions (61), (71), (73), (74), (75), (80) 
and (316), are suitable preparations. Among the more recent 
remedies for building up the blood in chlorosis, perhaps none is more 
successful than the combined pill of iron and manganese, called 
Bland’s modified pill, or, if preferred in liquid form, the same remedy 
may be obtained in still milder and more physiological form in the 
preparation known as Gude’s Peptomangan. The peptonate of iron 
is also one of the best modern remedies. 

A girl suffering from this disease should always be taken out of 
school. The mind should be divided between rest and recreation. 

Cessation of the Menses. — Turn of Life. 

There is probably no period in woman’s earthly existence which 
she approaches with so much anxiety as that which she is in the 
habit of calling “ the turn of life.” The anxiety is not without some 
reasonable ground for its existence. She has been accustomed, for 
thirty years or more, to lose, every four weeks, a certain amount of 
blood. When this evacuation stops, disturbances of the system may 
well be expected. So well is this understood, that this climacteric 
has come by general consent, to be called the “ critical period ” in 
female life. 

If it be well and safely passed, the health is generally better than 
before, and a “ green old age ” is likely to follow. But if the seeds 
of disease are in the system, — if there be a tendency to cancer or 
ether malignant disease, which has been held in check by the monthly 
flow, it now takes up its destructive work, and shows itself; or, if 
there be a predisposition to apoplexy or congestion of any organ, it 
is more likely to become active, now that the accustomed waste-gate 
is closed. A distinguished writer has said that about half the deaths 
among women, about the age of forty-four, are from cancer. 


440 


FEMALE DISEASES. 


Nervous Complications. — It is the duty of the physician to loot 
carefully after those females who come under his care at this critical 
time. For, in addition to the organic and malignant diseases which 
attack her at this time, she is exposed to a host of nervous irritations, 
which, if neglected or badly managed, make her life a cross and a 
burden. The symptoms of these irritations are in number, legion. 

Age at which the turn of life comes. — As a general rule, the 
turn of life conies between the ages of forty and fifty; but occasion¬ 
ally occurs at other periods, varying from thirty to seventy. If the 
menses appear early in life, they terminate early. 

Symptoms. — When there is a tendency to corpulency at this 
period, the symptoms are headache, dizziness, and a sense of suffoca¬ 
tion. It is common, when the period of cessation approaches, for 
deviations from regularity to occur. At one time the menstrual dis¬ 
charge will be profuse; at another, scanty. It will now disappear 
for a time, and be replaced by the whites. Then it will appear for a 
few times witli considerable regularity. Next will come a suspension 
for several months, to be followed by a flow of such profusion as to 
amount almost to flooding. 

Mixed up with these irregularities will be palpitations of the 
heart, constipation of the bowels, a variable appetite, and broken 
sleep, weakness and inquietude, timidity, a dread of impending evil, 
irritability of temper, hysterical attacks, bad feelings in the head, 
with sounds in the ears, as of the rolling of carriages, sparks before 
the eyes, and an unsteady gait. 

Treatment. — If there be, at this period, fulness of habit, with 
dizziness, headache, sparks before the eyes, a sense of suffocation, 
etc., there is a plain indication that the brain is oppressed with too 
much blood. I am not much in favor of bleeding, but this is a case 
in which from a gill to a half-pint of blood may, if ever, be drawn 
from the arm with positive advantage. Cups applied to tlie back of 
the neck will also be useful. Give at night, also, three of the com¬ 
pound cathartic pills, and then keep the bowels regular with pre¬ 
scription (18), —a wineglassful to be taken occasionally. The diet 
should be spare, and strictly vegetable: to which should be added 
much daily exercise. 

For the flushes and sweats to which women are subject at this 
time of life, ergot often answers admirably, in teaspoonful doses 
every few hours. Atropia in -j^grain doses not infrequently helps 
the sweating. 

Purging should not, in any case, be carried too far. If nervous 
affections show themselves, with disturbance of the digestion, and 
general debility, even leeches would be improper, and physic shoiild 
be swallowed very sparingly. 

When serious organic disease is suspected, as cancer, it is the duty 
of the physician to investigate the case very thoroughly, and to give 


FEMALE DISEASES. 


441 


the patient the advantage of the most prompt and decided treatment 
That treatment is spoken of in the proper place. 

Hysterics. — Hysteria. 

The name of this complaint is from a Greek word signifying the 
womb. It took this name from the belief that this organ is the seat 
of the irritation which produces the hysteric disturbance. 

This belief is correct, if we include with the womb the ovaries 
and the other sexual organs. The sexual system is doubtless the 
centre of the reflex nervous derangement called hysteria. 

It has been sufficiently demonstrated that hysterics are dependent 
for their existence either upon organic disease, or upon simple irrita¬ 
tion of the sexual organs. Sir Benjamin Brodie mentions cases of 
the hysteric paroxysm, produced by pressing upon an inflamed and 
tender ovary. 

Symptoms. — An attack of hysterics is generally preceded by de¬ 
pression of spirits, restlessness, and a frequent desire to pass water. 
It is sometimes marked by convulsions, or fits; at other times, it is 
not. At times, the attacks are local, and are manifested by spasms 
of the throat at the top of the windpipe, or in the bronchial tubes ; 
the patient feels a hall rise up in her throat (globus hystericus), her 
heart beats violently, and she laughs and cries by turns. 

When the disease is more general, the muscles of the limbs are 
thrown into spasms; the patient struggles violently ; rising up in a 
sitting posture, and then throwing herself back; twisting the body 
from side to side, clenching the hands, and throwing the arms about, 
so that she is with difficulty held by persons much stronger than 
herself. Soon after these paroxysms, the patient generally passes a 
large quantity of very pale urine. 

The Causes of this complaint are as numerous as the causes of 
female diseases, for in truth there is no female complaint which may 
not produce it. Whatever develops and excites the sexual system, 
and at the same time weakens the constitution, lays the foundation 
of this malady. Nervous women are much inclined to it. In large 
cities there is more of it than in the country, because there is more 
excitement and luxury, and more of their consequences, — nervous 
and female diseases. 

Treatment. — To treat this complaint successfully, it is necessary 
to search out its cause, and remove that. Like the whites, it is not 
so much a disease in itself as a symptom. 

The first inquiry to be made should have reference to the real 
origin of the complaint. Is it dependent upon inflammation of the 
ovaries or the womb, or to displacement of this latter organ ? or does 
it arise from the low state of the blood, and the weakened condition 
of the nerves, acted upon by some irritation or heightened sensibility 
of the sexual organs ? 


442 


FEMALE DISEASES. 


If dependent upon inflammatory disease, that is to be treated ac¬ 
cording to directions elsewhere; if upon falling of the womb, no 
remedies will avail until that is put in its proper place. If diluted, 
blood and weakened nerves be the cause, iron and quinine are the 
remedies. When the complaint arises from deficient menstruation, 
iron and aloes (47) will be serviceable. The nervous spasm can 
sometimes be broken up by pouring cold water upon the head, or 
face, or limbs of the patient. 

The Hygienic and Moral Treatment are of great consequence. 
The complaint is very much under the control of the will. Whatever 
tones the moral nature and strengthens the will, tends to subject this 
disorder to the control of the patient. Plain, wholesome diet, exer¬ 
cise, bathing, and the enforcing, as far as possible, of a rugged, self- 
reliant habit, generally go far towards breaking its force. 

Polypus of the Womb. 

This is simply a foreign body, or tumor, growing either within the 
womb, or in the vagina, and attached to the uterine neck. It is 
rather a serious affection. 

These tumors vary in weight from half an ounce and less to many 
pounds. They are, in color, whitish, red, brown, and even black. 
They have almost every consistence, — being soft, spongy, gristly, 
and hard. 

The Symptoms of pol 3 q)us are various, resembling those of almost 
every other womb-complaint. It is often mistaken for displacement 
of the womb, for dropsy of this organ, and for pregnancy. 

These tumors are apt to give rise to dangerous bleeding from the 
womb, and other discharges which greatly weaken and derange the 
system. They are liable to terminate in cancer. In pregnancy, they 
may produce miscarriage. When they are suspected, therefore, the 
utmost scrutiny should be employed to search them out. This is 
especially desirable, since the fallen or inverted womb may carelessly 
be taken for a polypus, and be operated on as such. 

Treatment. —This is of two kinds, medical and surgical. The 
first consists in means of supporting the strength of the patient, and 
checking the discharges by means of injections, rest, etc., and in en¬ 
deavoring to cause the removal of the tumor by absorption. 

This last object is sometimes effected by an unstimulating di-et; 
and by the use of iodine (101) for some time. This treatment does 
not often succeed, however, and cannot be relied upon. 

If the polypus be within the womb, of course it cannot be reached. 
The only thing to be done, in such case, is to cause its expulsion. 
This is sometimes effected by causing the womb to contract by the 
use of spurred rye (267), or by the use of the electro-magnetic 
machine. This latter remedy can do no harm, and had better be 
tried first. 











FEMALE DISEASES. 


443 


When the polypus is outside the womb, the methods of removing 
it are various. It is sometimes done by cauterization, or burning it 
off by hot iron or caustic. This is a harsh method, and not resorted 
to by skillful surgeons. Another method is that of crushing the tumor 
with an instrument. Another still is that of torsion, or twisting it 
off. And still another, that of applying a ligature, or tying a string 
around the neck of the tumor, and strangling it by preventing the 
blood from going to it. By this means it falls off in a few days. 
There is one other method, that of cutting the tumor away with a 
knife, or with a pair of curved scissors. These three last methods 
are the chief ones now used by skillful surgeons. 

Uterine Hydatids. 

This name is given to a bladder-like substance, occasionally found 
growing in the womb. It is filled with a white or yellowish fluid. 
Sometimes a bundle of them grow together, like a bunch of grapes. 
Some are elongated, like a bean, and have a sort of claw, by which 
they are attached; others are shaped like an egg. 

Those with a claw are generally supposed to be living beings, like 
worms in the bowels. When expelled from the womb, they move 
about if placed in warm water. 

The Causes which produce these singular growths are obscure. 
Probably whatever improperly excites or irritates the uterine organs 
may produce these vesicular bodies. 

The Symptoms may be easily mistaken for those either of preg¬ 
nancy, or of water or inflammation in the womb. 

From the growth of these bodies, the bowels may enlarge, the 
breasts swell, and the menses stop. If to these symptoms be added 
sickness at the stomach, the woman, if married, feels confident she is 
in the family way. There is no certain method of correcting this 
mistake, until the collection of bladder-like bodies is expelled from 
the womb. 

It is rare that these bodies appear in the virgin woman. They are 
supposed to be connected, in some way, with imperfect conception. 

Treatment. — We can seldom say absolutely that hydatids exist, 
until we see them expelled. Whatever will produce contractions of 
the womb, will cause their expulsion; but it will not do to give these 
remedies indiscreetly, lest the cause be one of real pregnancy instead 
of hydatids. When once reasonably assured that hydatids do exist, 
the only logical treatment consists in their removal. This is best 
effected by the dilatation of the womb and a thorough curetting or 
scraping as described under hemorrhages. Ergot often causes suffi¬ 
cient contraction of the womb to drive out these masses, and may be 
judiciously tried before resorting to the curette. It should be given 
in teaspoonful doses every four hours till pains ensue. 


444 


FEMALE DISEASES. 


Inflammation of the Womb. — Metritis. 

This disease very often follows delivery, and is connected with 
child-bed fever. 

Various Causes also produce it in the unimpregnated state. In¬ 
flammation of the ovaries, or of the uterine neck, may extend to the 
womb. Falling of the womb may cause it to be irritated by being 
placed in a new position, and thus bring on inflammation. In some 
temperaments, marriage may produce this disease ; in others, single¬ 
ness. It may also be brought on by painful menstruation, by forcing 
medicines, by constipation, by tight corsets, by solitary vices, and by 
excited sexual feeling. 

This is the most common variety of inflammation found in the 
pelvis. It is often limited to the neck of the womb, and is then called 
endocervicitis; it may be limited to the lining membrane of the womb, 
and is then called endometritis^ but practically it is all one and the same 
disease, and sooner or later involves not only the mucous membrane 
of the interior, but also the muscular structure of the womb itself. 
It is now considered a germ-disease and rarely results in spontaneous 
cure. It proceeds from the entrance of germs into the uterus either 
at the time of labor or miscarriage, or from the entrance of the germ 
of gonorrhoea ; germs, however, from the vagina, which are normal to 
that region, may often be carried into the cervix and there set up a 
trouble. 

Symptoms: —Pain in the back, nape of the neck, the right or left 
iliac region; leucorrhoea; painful menses; hemorrhage from the 
womb; symptoms from neighboring organs (bladder, rectum); and 
symptoms from distant organs, as stomach, heart, nerves, etc. 

No disease gives rise to so many and so complex symptoms. Nau¬ 
sea and vomiting, flatulence, constipation, palpitation, headaches, 
cough, nervousness, loss of appetite, etc., are frequent symptoms of 
the various forms of metritis. On examination a hard, congested 
womb is felt, with perhaps enlargement either of the neck or the en¬ 
tire organ, erosions, ulcerations, eversion of the lips from a tear may 
be found, while issuing from the mouth of the womb is seen a plug of 
mucus which is either white,** translucent and ropy, or yellow and 
more pus-like. The womb is tender to touch, and this tenderness 
may be transmitted to the appendages (tubes and ovaries). 

Treatment. —This varies with the variety and the length of time 
the disease has existed. If there is inside the uterus any retained 
product of conception, placental tissue, or granulating surfaces, they 
must be curetted out as described in a previous article. This process 
is practically an opei'ation and must be done thoroughly and under 
ether. If there is active inflammation going on in the tubes or ova¬ 
ries, this procedure must be postponed and milder measures used for 


FEMALE DISEASES. 


445 


the time being, such as painting the vagina and neck of the womb with 
iodine and similar remedies. 

Tampons of wool wet with glycerine are frequently used to de¬ 
plete the engorgod womb, applications of creosote and iodine will 
often heal over simple erosions, while hard cicatricial masses are often 
absorbed by applications of iron. Tampons are to be worn from 
twelve to forty-eight hours, but should be removed whenever pain is 
produced.^ Leeches applied to the neck of the womb often relieve a 
congested state. The womb is to be thoroughly scraped and washed 
out, and a good drainage kept for the escape of forming secretions 
whenever there is severe inflammation of the body of the organ. 
Lacerations of the neck, when extensive, are to be sewn up, but when 
only moderate may be successfully treated with strong styptic iron. 
Hot douches not only serve a good purpose in reducing congestion 
and inflammation, but are often very soothing. They are to be taken 
in the recumhent position; the water to be hot as can be borne — 
110° to 112° F. — and as much as six quarts are to be used. One 
should purchase for this purpose a large fountain syringe, or a tin pail, 
and hang it two feet above the head; it is to be used twice daily, and 
may be used every three or four hours. Patients suffering with this 
and similar diseases must not dance or take long walks, nor should 
they use the sewing-machine; neither should they stand long at a 
time, but should have light exercise in the open air and general sys¬ 
temic medicine ; they should lie down every day from two to four 
hours, and in severe cases must retain the recumbent position. The 
bowels must be kept relaxed with cascara-sagrada or some morning 
saline; a teaspoonful of the aromatic cascara at night, or a half-glass 
of Hunyadi Janos water on rising, are excellent for this purpose. 
If the woman is pale, a prescription of some iron tonic will be useful, 
such as the four chlorides or AikerCs tonic pill. 

Falling of the Womb. — Prolapsus Uteri. 

The womb is often found out of its natural and proper place. 
There are certain ligaments and muscles intended to act as stays, 
and hold it up in its position. These, from various causes, become 
relaxed. It then, losing its support, drops dowii into the vagina, be¬ 
tween the bladder in front and the large bowel called the rectum, 
behind. It is then said to be fallen or prolapsed. 

The womb of a married woman is more apt to become prolapsed 
than that of the unmarried, because it is more liable to have its weight 
increased by congestions, enlargement, torn perineum, etc. 

The Symptoms are dull pain in the small of the back, a dragging 
sensation in the groin, and a feeling of fullness around the funda¬ 
ment; dragging pain in the nape of the neck; headache, constipation, 
etc. 

Treatment. — The complaint is easily cured if the remedies be 


446 


FEMALE DISEASES. 


applied early. If the prolapse be due to relaxed, weakened supports, 
tonic constitutional remedies must be employed. The diet must be 
full and easy of assimilation, exercise taken in the open air, proper rest 
secured, and electricity be used. 

If the womb be tipped over, some support must for a while be used 
in the shape of pessaries. If by reason of its increased size and weight 
the womb hang too low down in the pelvic cavity, then it must be 
made smaller and lighter by treating the coexisting inflammation and 
subinvolution. If the floor of the vagina has been torn during labor, 
thus allowing the womb to sag, this must be sewn up and a new floor 
formed. 

In complete prolapse of the aged, the uterus often protrudes from 
the vagina. This condition in the middle-aged is best met by ampu¬ 
tation ; while in the very aged a support may be adjusted after hav¬ 
ing replaced the organ. 

Falling Over of the Womb. 

Anteversion. — The womb sometimes falls oyqv forward upon the 
bladder, towards the pubes. This is called anteversion. The top is 
turned forward to the bladder; the mouth, back towards the large 
bowel. (Fig, 141, 5.) 

a be 



d 

Fig. 141. 


Retroversion. — Wlien the womb falls over backward., between the 
rectum and the vagina, it is said to be retroverted (d). This is just 
the opposite of being anteverted. In this displacement, the mouth is 
turned forward, the top backward. 

This displacement may occur suddenly or gradually. If the former, 
there is generally great distress, and the organ should be immediately 
put back in its place; if the latter, the pain will be less intense, and 
the replacement must be effected by pessaries,—particularly with the 
ring pessary, made of India rubber. 


FEMALE DISEASES. 


447 


Anteflexion and Retroflexion. — When these occur, the womb is 
doubled upon itself^ the mouth of the organ not being tilted up before 
or behind, but retaining its natural position. These flexions are rep¬ 
resented by a, c, and e. 

Besides these more common displacements of the womb, there are 
several slighter deviations which it is scarcely necessary to describe. 
There is the obliquity of the womb, which is simply a leaning of the 
organ backward or forward, or to one side. 

There are still other more serious troubles, which are so very rare 
as not to require me to dwell upon them, such as the inversion of 
the womb, or turning it wrong side out, like the finger of a glove; 
and the hernia of the womb (hysterocele), which is like that of the 
bowel. 

Pessaries. — Much might be said about pessaries: they are at 
times of the greatest assistance in keeping a badly-placed uterus in 
its proper position ; on the other hand, they are serious hindrances 
to health. By their pressure they often cause inflammation of the 
ovaries and tubes and light up afresh old, quiescent chronic inflam¬ 
mations. They often stretch unduly the uterine ligaments and 
make a relaxed vagina. But it must be said that often, too, they 
keep in place a simply misplaced womb with no trouble and little 
expense to the wearer, thus avoiding long treatment and perhaps an 
operation. They should always fit accurately and nicely and should 
never cause pain or make the wearer conscious that she wears such a 
thing. The soft rubber variety, or at least those made of wire and 
covered with rubber, are the least likely to cause trouble; but they 
need, on the other hand, more frequent inspection and cleansing. 
The hard rubber are more easily kept clean, but are more dangerous. 
Whenever a pessary is worn, it should be under the surveillance of 
the family doctor, lest ulceration of the vagina and undue pressure 
on the internal parts ensue. Pessaries no doubt are very use¬ 
ful in keeping in place a womb that has been replaced and in 
warding off an operation otherwise indicated. They are of all 
shapes and designs, so that a description of them seems superfluous 
here. 

Displacements. — The various displacements of the womb are 
such common occurrences among womankind that they have always 
received considerable attention by the gynaecologist. They result 
from falls in young girls, from enlargement of the organ, from weak 
uterine supports and poor health, from torn muscles of the vagina 
during labor, and from new growths in the womb. 

The symptoms of a misplaced womb are from nothing to an amaz¬ 
ing amount of trouble. Many a woman goes through life with a 
badly torn vaginal floor and retroflexed womb without the slightest 
ill-effect, while her neighbor suffers intensely from a much less de 
gree of displacement. 


448 


FEMALE DISEASES. 


Operative Treatment. —When for any reason a pessary cannot 
or ought not to be worn, and there is much inconvenience from the 
misplacement, resort must be had to packing the vagina and reducing 
the size of the womb, and allaying inflammation and pain before again 
trying a pessary, or else some of the several operations must be per¬ 
formed. Of these latter there are at the present day three principal 
methods in vogue, viz.: — 

Alexander's operation consists in cutting down on the little holes 
in the lower abdomen, near the pubic bones, called the hernial rings, 
through which in the male the cord and vessels of the testes run, 
where hernia or rupture occurs, and through which in the female the 
the round ligament of the womb runs. This ligament is a small 
round cord attached to the anterior and top part of the uterus, acting 
as a stay. This ligament is dissected out and pulled up taut on 
either side (there are two, one on each side of the womb) till the 
womb is brought up into its normal position and there fastened. 
This operation is a very ingenious one, and answers Avell in simple 
uncomplicated cases. 

Ventral Fixation is a second method of fastening the womb in 
place, and consists in opening the abdomen, lifting up the womb and 
fastening it to the under side of the abdominal wall. This method 
is tolerably free from danger, like the preceding, but has the advan¬ 
tage of parting adhesions which may bind down the uterus and pre¬ 
vent its rising, and of permitting the operator to see and correct any 
existing disease of the tubes and ovaries which so commonly accom¬ 
pany bad cases. 

Vaginal Fixation is a third method, whereby the uterus is likewise 
fixed, but this time to the vagina in front of the bladder. Tliis last 
method is at present receiving considerable attention; but it may be 
said that no one method is the best for all cases, the surgeon being 
the best judge of the situation. These operations are safe and effi¬ 
cient, and forever do away with pessaries and the existing disease. 
Women go on to term in labor quite generally after these operations. 

Tumors of the Womb. 

The womb is especially prone to be the location of foreign growths. 
These occur mostly in middle life, and are commonly either of a 
fibroid or cancerous nature. 

The fibroid is a firm, hard mass of fibrous tissue, growing either on 
the inside wall and suspended like a polypus, or developing in the 
uterine muscle itself, or on the outside of the womb in the abdominal 
cavity. They attain oftentimes huge proportions and weigh many 
pounds. They are not necessarily fatal to life or detrimental to 
health, but usually give rise to a train of symptoms which may be 
annoying and fatal. Hemorrhage and profuse menstruation to such 
an extent that the patient is rendered pale and almost blanched are 


FEMALE DISEASES. 


449 


not infrequent. Pressure on the bladder and surrounding organs 
often causes serious disturbance to urination and defecation; di¬ 
gestion is interfered with, and pain is frequently present. When 
these tumors, which are of slow growth, are small, painless and free 
from trouble, they may be let alone; but when large, bleeding freely, 
and causing symptoms of pressure,* they must be dealt with. Many 
gynaecologists of the present day claim that every fibroid should be 
removed; but as this means the enucleation of the womb and ovaries 
(hysterectomy), — a very severe operation,—we cannot endorse this 
view, especially as hundreds of women go through life unscathed 
even with large tumors. 

The menopause^ or “ change of life,” has a twofold effect on them: 
some begin to atrophy and grow small after the blood ceases to come 
to these parts in regular monthly congestion, and they may even dis¬ 
appear entirely; others are increased in size and even change their 
structure into malignant growths. Hence it will be seen that these 
tumors require the supervision of the family doctor or specialist, that 
their growth may be watched. It remains to be added that many 
advocate the use of strong galvanic currents, applied according to 
the method of Apostoli, a noted French savant, to diminish the size 
of these tumors. Many cures are claimed, and at one time it seemed 
as though this method was destined to supersede all others; but now, 
after a few years’ trial all over the world, it is generelly conceded 
that only certain varieties are amenable to this treatment, and that 
the tumor does not entirely disappear. This method, however, ob¬ 
viates the necessity for operating, and is in many cases an admirable 
way of reducing and keeping in check what otherwise might threaten 
life. It is still a much used, though often abused, method of treating 
them, and appeals to the timid and obdurate. 

Cancer of the Womb. 

This is another but more dangerous growth of the womb, and oc¬ 
curs mostly in women near middle life, especially in cases which have 
a family predisposition to cancer, and when the neck of the womb 
has been badly lacerated from labor or miscarriage. It usually be¬ 
gins in the neck of the womb like a little bunch, which bleeds easily 
on touch, and extends rapidly into the neck and finally up into the 
body of the uterus. Its entire life-duration may not exceed one or 
two years before death claims the sufferer. Hemorrhage and foul 
leucorrhoea are often the only signs which attract the patient’s notice. 
Pain finally sets in, with breaking down of the cancerous tissue, and 
then a very foul and peculiar odor commences. This odor is very 
penetrating and is characteristic of the disease. Emaciation, loss of 
appetite and strength, painful days and nights supervene, and finally 
death comes to relieve the sufferer of one of the worst diseases to 
which womankind is liable. 


450 


FEMALE DISEASES. 


Treatment. — The only treatment consists in the early detection 
of the disease and the enucleation of the entire uterus by the vagina. 
If it has been discovered early, before the cancer-cells have got out¬ 
side of the womb, it may be successfully treated at least for a num¬ 
ber of years. I can not better advise women than by warning them 
to consult a physician at once on the occurrence of any unusual 
hemorrhage near the change of life. So many ascribe these slight 
hemorrhages and aches to this broad mantle of ignorance, that pre¬ 
cious time has been wasted and the golden opportunity passed for 
curing the dread disease. Do not waste time and money, either on 
nostrums or other quackish methods, nor listen to what Mrs. So-and- 
So did, but proceed at once to the best authority you have at your 
disposal. So much is being successfully done now for the relief 
and cure of these growths, women owe it to themselves and their 
families to take advantage of modern skill and knowledge. The 
microscope will detect it earlier than the eye or finger, and thus a 
suspicion may be corroborated or a fear dispelled by timely advice. 

Of palliative treatment, the application of styptics and the curette 
cause a delay of the growth and a cessation of hemorrhage; while 
anodynes like morphine or opium in some of its forms will allay pain 
and anguish. 

Ovarian Tumors. 

Ovarian tumors are rather frequent growths, occurring for tlie 
most part as cysts and attaining a huge size; not infrequently they 
grow to such an extent that their weight far exceeds that of the en¬ 
tire body. They are filled with a clear light-yellow fluid. Their 
treatment consists in their removal through the abdomen (ovari¬ 
otomy), and should be operated upon as soon as detected. The rate 
of mortality following these growths is not large. It was this oper¬ 
ation, began in America in the forties, that was the beginning of a 
new era for surgery of the abdomen. Only when neglected does one 
now-a-days meet with these enormous growths. 

When for any reason an operation is inadvisable, they may be 
tapped and comfort received for a long time. 

The ovary is likewise the seat of other growths both benign and 
malignant. 

Inflammation of the Fallopian Tubes. 

To speak of this disease means to review the growth of gynsecolo- 
gical science within the last fifteen years. 

The operation of laparotomy, or opening the abdomen, is now per¬ 
formed so successfully by almost every surgeon, that it has taken its 
place among the every-day measures for relief, and frequent oppor¬ 
tunities have of course been presented to the profession, of corrobo¬ 
rating or refuting some old-time theories. Many a notion of inflam¬ 
mation of the bowels, or peritonitis, has become a thing of the past; 


FEMALE DISEASES. 


451 


many an unexplained death has been made clear, and many, many 
lives have been saved by a timely recognition of the true state of 
affairs within the pelvis. 

Many cases of what formerly was regarded as peritonitis are now 
known to have been either salpingitis, ovarian' abscess, appendicitis, 
etc. Of these diseases the most prolific of trouble, as well as the 
most common, is salpingitis, or inflammation of the tubes which con¬ 
duct the ovum to the interior of the womb, where it is fructified by 
the male germ. 

These tubes are lined with a mucous membrane like that of the 
interior of the womb, and continuous with it, so that whenever in¬ 
flammation from whatever source is present in the cavity of the 
womb, it is extremely liable to travel up the tubes, even to the ova¬ 
ries and peritoneum. This inflammation may be merely catarrhal, 
and only become bothersome by its chronicity, or'it may become 
purulent and suddenly cause violent illness. 

The catarrhal form begins very slowly and gradually from some 
old neglected uterine disorder, or it may follow a labor where there 
was some septicaemia or blood-poisoning; it may spring from venereal 
disease, either contracted by the woman illicitly or given her by her 
husband; and it may come in several ways not of general interest to 
the reader. At all events, it is essentially a germ-disease, and when 
anyways severe has a tendency to spread and become worse. 

Symptoms. — These little tubes, which are normally about the 
size of a slate-pencil, become swollen, and very painful and tender, 
causing inability on the woman’s part to do a full day’s work, and 
even confining her to bed. The temperature is raised, tjie belly 
bloated, the urine often being frequently passed; the bowels are 
constipated, appetite poor, and digestion bad; sleep is disturbed and 
the neryes weakened. 

On examination, the trained finger in the vagina feels a large, 
swollen, tender tube on the affected side, and often a bulging of the 
roof of the vagina. 

Treatment. — Rest in bed, hot douches, painting the side with 
tincture of iodine, and the using in the vagina, every night and 
morning, of a suppository of five grains of ichthyol, with laxatives 
and nerve sedatives, will do much toward reducing a slight and even 
moderate attack. The disease, however, does not usually exist alone, 
and therefore much time is generally necessary in eradicating it. 

When the catarrhal form, however, gets worse, and pus forms, we 
then have the so-called purulent salpingitis, or pus-tuhe. Pus gathers 
here as elsewhere, stretching the tube more and more; finally the 
pus-germs work through the tube and out of the end, where they set 
up an active inflammation, and new tissue forms about the tube, 
shutting it off from the general cavity. Everything in the neigh¬ 
borhood becomes glued together, fixing the womb in an immovable 


452 


FEMALE DISEASES. 


position. The tube goes on stretcliing more and more, till finally it 
becomes one large abscess-cavity. It may then, at times, be punc¬ 
tured through the vagina and thus drained; but generally an opera¬ 
tion is required, either to remove the womb and its appendages 
through the vagina, or else to open the abdomen and take away the 
large mass of exudation, in the centre of which is the pus-cavity. 
When matters have reached this stage, the patient is of course in a 
very grave condition. There is a high fever, with sweats and perhaps 
chills, loss of appetite, pallor, pain, and all the evidences of being 
extremely sick. The patient either dies shortly or becomes bed-rid¬ 
den, unless an operation can relieve her. This latter variety of the 
disease is calle pyosalpinx. 

Acute Salpingitis is best treated by rest in bed, douches, saline 
purgatives, and a liquid diet. It gradually subsides without serious 
results. 

Chronic Salpinitgis is the more common variety, is very protracted 
in its course, and rarely ends in spontaneous recovery. It requires 
great patience on the part of both physician and patient, and often 
can only be cured by the removal of the offending organ by lapar¬ 
otomy. 

It must be remembered that all these various forms of tubal dis¬ 
ease are produced by one form or another of bacteria or disease-germs, 
and that in their treatment strict cleansing of the vagina by antisep¬ 
tics is necessary. 

Salpingitis is always preceded by some form of metritis or endo¬ 
metritis, as, for instance, the gonorrhoeal metritis, that caused by 
septicsemia or blood-poisoning, the metritis following labor, etc. 

Inflammation of the Vagina. 

This may be produced by many of the same causes which induce 
inflammation of the uterine neck. It may follow tedious child-bear¬ 
ing, especially if instruments have been used. Marriage is not an 
infrequent cause of it, — so may a pessary be, if an improper one. 

The Symptoms are pain in the groins, a feeling of heat and tight¬ 
ness in the passage, and a difficulty in passing water. In a few days 
a discharge, like gum-water, begins to flow, which gradually becomes 
thicker, like cream, and is green or yellow. Sometimes the disease 
gets well in a few days; at other times it degenerates into the chronic 
forms, and lasts a long time. It should be cured as soon as possible, 
lest the inflammation cause the walls of the passage to grow together, 
and make a stricture, as in Fig. 142. 

In this Figure, b represents the mouth of the womb; a is the 
lower entrance to a narrow passage in the vagina, called a stricture. 
It is caused by inflammation, which so thickens the walls of the 
vagina as to bring their inner surfaces near together. In examining 
a case of this sort, a practitioner needs to be on his guard lest he 


FEMALE DISEASES. 


453 


mistake the entrance to tlie stricture, a, for the mouth of the womb, 
—a mistake which might lead to evil consequences as well as seri¬ 
ously damage his professional character. 



Treatment. — The diet should he light and unirritating. The 
bowels should be kept open. A cooling wash (207), (218), should 
be used several times a day, until the discharge becomes thick; then 
employ injections (232), (202), (244), (243), of a more astringent 
nature. Let the marriage-bed be abandoned till the recovery is com¬ 
plete. 

When the discharge arises from small granular elevations upon 
the inner surface of the vagina, the whole diseased surface should 
be painted over with a solution of nitrate of silver, twenty grains to 
the ounce of water, — the disease being brought to view by the use 
of a speculum. This may be done every other day. 

Itching of the External Parts. —Prurigo of the Vulva. 

This complaint is apt to attack females about the cessation of the 
menses, though they are liable to it at other periods. It is a most 
annoying and distressing affection. So terrible and tormenting at 
times is the itching of the external genitals, that the woman is una¬ 
ble to avoid rubbing and scratching, and she is occasionally compelled 
to absent herself from all society. She feels, as she says, as though 
she could tear herself to pieces. 

Sometimes this irritation of the sexual organs excites venereal 
thoughts so dominant and controlling as to constitute a real mania, 
called nymphomania^ from the name of a part involved. 

This complaint generally indicates some disease of the womb, or 
its appendages, or of the bladder. When this is the case, of course 
it cannot be cured without seeking out and removing the disease of 
which it is a symptom. 

Treatment. — To alleviate the local suffering, the lotion (223), 
or the ointment (171), may be applied to the parts several times a 
day. I prefer the lotion. A weak solution of nitrate of silver (211) 




454 


FEMALE DISEASES. 


will sometimes do well. A four per-cent solution of cocaine is the 
best application. 

When the disease is brought on by masturbation, as it sometimes 
is, this habit must, of course, be broken off before a cure can be 
effected. In this case, also, moderately cold water must be applied 
to the parts several times a day; some of the preparations of iron 
should be taken, and some active employment be engaged in, which 
will absorb the energies of mind and body. 

Tubal Pregnancy. 

Tubal or ectopic pregnancy is mentioned here in connection with 
womb diseases, because it assumes the symptoms of certain uterine 
affections, and must be so treated. 

When, for any reason, the ovum cannot pass through the Fallo¬ 
pian tube into the womb, where it is normally impregnated by the 
male germ, but is arrested in the tube, it not infrequently happens 
that the spermatozoon of the male travels upward through the womb 
into the Fallopian tube, and there meets the impeded ovum. Fecun¬ 
dation takes place, the ovum swells and grows, the tube stretches 
more and more till it bursts, and then a hemorrhage occurs into the 
abdominal cavity, from the leaking tube. A large clot of blood is 
formed, which generally arrests further hemorrhage and causes the 
death of the embryo, but not necessarily; after a time, another 
hemorrhage occurs, with pain, fainting, and even collapse, depend¬ 
ing on the severity of the hemorrhage. If allowed to follow its 
natural course, the hemorrhage finally causes the patient’s death. 
She dies suddenly, as if she were bleeding from a ruptured artery. 
The cause of all this mischief lies in the diseased tube in which the 
obstruction occurred. The Fallopian tubes are lined with a beauti¬ 
fully constructed mucous membrane: on the ends of the cells are 
small rod-like processes, which look (under the microscope) like a 
field of grain swaying with the wind; they move in one direction, 
from an erect position toward the uterus, and then relax and straighten 
up again to repeat the process ; thus the ovum which has been grasped 
by the fimbriated ends of the tube from off the outside of the ovary 
(see Fig. 136) is carried down into the interior of the womb, where 
nature meant it should be impregnated. Now, when these tubes be¬ 
come diseased by catarrhal, and especially by purulent inflammation 
(see Salpingitis), the little rod-like extremities of the cells are de¬ 
stroyed, and the ovum finds no ready way of getting into the womb. 
An unusually active spermatazoon climbs up into the tube, because 
it has the power of motion so long as it lives; and thus the trouble 
begins. 

Symptoms. — A woman misses her menstruation, and goes on a 
month ; possibly missing a second or even a third menstruation, 
without many of the usual accompanying symptoms, till suddenly 


FEMALE DISEASES. 


455 


she is seized with cramp-like pains in the lower bowel, and takes her 
bed; she may get up from this first shock of pain (due to hemorr¬ 
hage), till a second, or even a third still severer attack ensues, when 
the doctor is called. If he is thoughtful, he at once examines and 
finds a bunch in the pelvis, on the side of the pain. This bunch is 
the clot, and the contained sac with the foetus. Not every case is 
taken alike, but many are crippled at the first onset of pain and 
hemorrhage; inflammation ensues, and sickness in bed attracts the 
attention. Usually, there is some slight hemorrhage of blood 
escaping through the tube into the womb and out into the vagina. 

Treatment. — This disease, like appendicitis, belongs to modern 
surgery, as only recently has it been recognized, and treatment on 
a sound basis been formulated. Death is sure, unless surgical .aid 
comes to the rescue. Laparotomy, or opening of the abdomen, must 
be performed at once, the clots washed out of the abdomen, of which, 
usually, there are a quart or more, the sac containing the embryo 
removed, and the tube tied off. The successes are brilliant, and 
lives are daily saved. The operation is a grave one, but not as much 
so as many others performed on the abdomen. 

Sterility or Barrenness. 

It has doubtless occurred to every person who has thought upon 
the subject, that there must be some special reasons why so many 
women do not and cannot bear children. These reasons I propose 
now to explain as simply and as plainly as the nature of the subject 
admits. To this explanation I shall add some remarks upon treat¬ 
ment ; for, in nine cases out of ten, barrenness is completely curable. 

Reproduction. — Throughout nature, life is perpetuated by repro¬ 
duction. The vegetable and the animal die; but before death comes, 
they reproduce the germ of a new thing, or being, which lives after 
them. The law of reproduction, throughout the realm of nature, is 
one, and but one. All living things have male and female structures. 
Every new being is evolved from an egg, the product of an antece¬ 
dent parent. 

Reproduction consists in the growth of an egg, or germ, in con¬ 
nection with some living part, until it is capable of independent exist¬ 
ence. This germ or egg is the product of the female parent, and will 
abort or perish unless brought into connection with a fructifying ele¬ 
ment from the male. Thus, two palm-trees, growing about forty miles 
from each other, the one with stamens (the male organs), the other 
with pistils (the female organs), bore no seed for many 5 ^ears; but 
when they had risen in height above all intervening and obstructing 
objects, the winds bore the pollen from the stamens of one to the 
pistillate flowers of the other, which immediately began to produce 
fruit. A knowledge of this great law, as applicable to all living 


456 


FEMALE DISEASES. 


things, enables horticulturists to raise such varieties of fruit as they 
wish, by shaking the blooming male btanch, which has stamens, over 
the female flowers, supplied with pistils. Sometimes the male and 
female flowers are upon the same plant, at other times, upon differ¬ 
ent ones. The strawberry is of the latter kind, — the pollen being 
found only on the plants which have the largest flowers, — the pistil¬ 
late flowers being only on the smaller plants. The pollen, or dust, 
is carried from the male to the female plant, on the feet of honey¬ 
bees, as they fly from flower to flower. It has been discovered that 
the reason why many beds are unfruitful (strawberry beds, I mean), 
is that the large male-plants are allowed to monopolize the beds to the 
exclusion of the smaller female plants. The plants with large flowers 
should be thinned out, leaving only a few to furnish pollen for the 
females, which are the real bearers. 

A New Branch of Industry.-—It is only comparatively recently 
that this law has been understood in its wide applicability. How 
wise and merciful an arrangement of Providence that an unseen 
hand should turn for man the mystic leaves of knowledge at the very 
time when he is most in need of the instruction imparted! At this 
very moment, the more complete knowledge of this great law is open¬ 
ing a new branch of industry, and a new supply of food, and is thus 
helping the solution of the great problem of how the increasing in¬ 
habitants of civilized countries are to be worked and fed. I refer to 
the propagation and culture of fish. 

A committee appointed by the legislature of Massachusetts, re¬ 
ported very ably upon tiiis subject. The eggs of the fish may be 
fecundated almost as easily as the pistillate flowers of the plant. It 
is only necessary, when the eggs of the female are mature, to hold 
her over a basin of water, and make gentle pressure upon the belly, 
when the eggs will pass freely into the water; then to pass the milt 
of the male into the same water, and shake them thoroughly together. 
By this means, the eggs are impregnated, and fish may be raised to 
any extent. 

The egg of the higher animals is more difficult to fecundate, and 
that of the human female most difficult of all; for in nature, as in 
art, the more perfect structures are begun and reared with less ease. 

Propriety of Imparting this Knowledge. — Men are naturally 
curious, and love to understand the mystery of their own origin; 
and yet there is scarcely any subject upon which they have so little 
reliable information. It has been held that this is a kind of informa¬ 
tion which it is not proper to impart to the multitude; that the curi¬ 
osity which seeks this knowledge is based upon improper feelings ; and 
that to gratify it by imparting what is sought, would lead to immor¬ 
ality. 

I do not believe it. Such ideas are based upon a shallow philoso¬ 
phy. They overlook the fact that nothing excites the imagination 


FEMALE DISEASES. 


457 


like that which is covered with mystery. It is because the immensely 
important subject of the procreation of the race is so carefully hidden 
from the public eye; because it is purposely buried so deep in obscu- 
rity, that any allusion to it excites improper thoughts. If the subject 
be properly viewed, it is no more indelicate to explain the mode of 
reproducing a human being than to explain that of propagating a 
plant or a fish. Both are effected in the same way, under precisely 
the same natural law. 

True, the propagation of the human being involves moral laws 
likewise; but these relate only to the social relations in which it may 
take place, and do not affect in any way the propriety of making it 
understood by the people. 

The Germ Furnished only at Certain Periods. —These general 
remarks bring me to the immediate subject in h^nd. Throughout 
animated nature, the female furnishes the mature germ or egg only 
at certain periods. The healthy 
human female, — as I have al¬ 
ready explained, — matures a 
germ once in four weeks. These 
germs or eggs are constantly 
advancing, in succession, from 
the rudest beginning to a state 
of ripeness or maturity. Every 
person must have seen the eggs 
taken from a hen when killed 
in the laying season. Fig. 143 
furnishes a good illustration. 

They are in all stages of progress, 
from the invisible germ up to 
the nearly mature egg. 

Such is the progress of the 
human egg, — only that it does 
not attain to any such size. So 
far as the maturing is concerned, 
it occurs in the same gradual way. 

Conception or Impregnation can take place only when a germ or 
egg is ripe; and as an egg ripens, bursts, and passes into the Fallopian 
tubes and thence to the womb only at the time of menstruation, it is 
plain that conception must happen somewhere in the neighborhood 
of tliis period. Intercourse with the male may take place at interme¬ 
diate times; but, except in some rare instances, conception will not 
occur, because there is no mature egg to be impregnated. 

Now, as every healthy woman brings to maturity a germ or egg at 
the time of every monthly flow, and as every ripened egg is capable, 
under favorable circumstances, of being fecundated, it follows that 
every woman who menstruates, and is well, can, under certain cir- 



458 


FEMALE DISEASES. 


cumstances, be impregnated. To effect it, it is only necessary that 
the vivifying portion of the male semen, called spermatozoa, come 
into union with the ripened egg. 

This union (for, that men and women may have a chance to know 
as much about themselves as they do about fishes and plants, I pro¬ 
pose to make the whole subject plain) takes place in the following 
way. In the act of copulation, the male organ penetrates the vagina, 
and deposits the sperm, spermatic fluid, semen, or, as the scriptures 
call it, the “ seed,” directly at the mouth of the uterine neck. Some 
suppose that when the sensation of the female is at its height, the 
womb opens to receive the injected semen. But this is uncertain. 

This spermatic fluid is composed, in large part, of mucus. A 
smaller portion of it is secreted by the testi¬ 
cles, and is the true semen, or life-giving prin¬ 
ciple. This last portion is composed, almost 
entirely, of fertilizing filaments or vesicles, 
which look like small animals (Fig. 144), and 
for a long time were supposed to be animal¬ 
cules. They are generally called spermatozoa. 
By some mysterious law of their nature, they 
are endowed with the power of motion; and 
when deposited near the mouth of the womb, 
they immediately begin to move, as if by in¬ 
stinct, in search of a ripened egg. 

Passing through the uterine neck, they 
enter the womb. If an egg be found, 
in its ripened condition, they imme¬ 
diately embrace it, and, in some mys¬ 
terious way, mingling their own con¬ 
tents with the contents of the egg, 
they impregnate or fertilize it. Fig. 

145 shows the womb divided length¬ 
wise. A, is the internal mouth (os in¬ 
ternum), or point where the canal 
through the uterine neck enters the 
body of the womb; B, is the external 
mouth (os ex,ternum) ; the space be¬ 
tween A and B, the passage through 
the neck; and C, C, the points where 
the Fallopian tubes begin. By looking 
back now, and examining Fig. 136, the 
whole thing will be understood. 

This is a very brief and simple ac¬ 
count of impregnation. It is supposed 
to be capable of taking place either a 
little before or a little after the monthly 
flow, and not at intermediate times, for the reason already stated. 



Fig. 145. 
































FEMALE DISEASES. 


459 


There are some reasons for believing that the same egg or germ, if 
fertilized just before the courses, will grow to be a male, while, if 
fecundated after the turns, it will be a female. One reason for this 
supposition is, that plants may be made to bear male or female 
flowers by simply subjecting them to different degrees of heat. If 
there be more heat than light, male flowers are produced; if more 
light than heat, female flowers are the result. The heat of the female 
generative organs is raised to its highest degree about the time the 
egg bursts its covering, which is just before the beginning of the flow. 

It has been thought that the right ovary produces males, and the 
left ovary females; but this theory is not supported by any facts, and 
is probably not true. 

Causes of Sterility. — From what has been said, it would appear 
that to ensure child-bearing it is only necessary that semen or seed, 
containing spermatozoa, come in contact with a germ-vesicle or egg, 
at the right time; that there be no hindering disease; and that the 
parties cohabiting be adapted to each other. 

It is evident enough that a want of adaptation between the parties, 
physical or moral, or both, is often an absolute bar to conception. 
A lack of moral adaptation was probably the obstacle in the case of 
Napoleon and Josephine, — her marriage with a previous husband, 
and his with a subsequent wife having both been fruitful. 

It is certain that indifference on the part of the wife towards the 
husband, and especially repugnance, may prove an obstacle. A mere 
lack of sexual feeling does not necessarily prove a bar, though it 
probably lessens the chances of a fruitful union. 

Conception may fail to take place from the diminutiveness of the 
male organ, — the semen not being deposited in the right place; or, 
from its excessive largeness,— penetration of the vagina being impos¬ 
sible. In some rare cases, the womb is absent. The inflammation 
of the ovaries often prevents the ripening of eggs. The Fallopian 
tubes occasionally get diseased and plugged up, so that no egg can 
pass to the womb. Inflammation in the cavity of the uterine neck 
is probably the most frequent of all the causes of sterility. The 
viscid, gluey matter which is secreted in inflammatory conditions of 
this part, plugs up the passage, so that no spermatozoa can pass up 
in search of the egg. The acrid discharges in most of the cases of 
whites destroy the fertilizing spermatozoa, and render conception im¬ 
possible. All the displacements of the womb may act as bars to 
impregnation. If it fall over backward or forward, the mouth is 
tilted up before, or down behind, and is not in the right position to 
receive the semen. One of the most general causes is trying to avoid 
pregnancy in early years of married life. 

Treatment. — Judicious treatment will, in most cases, remove 
sterility, and open that “well-spring of pleasure,” which the poet 
has so felicitously described as — “a baby in the house.” 


460 


FEMALE DISEASES. 


The obstacles to conception, stated above, are chiefly those diseases 
which have been previously described. To cure those diseases is to 
remove the obstacles. When it is dependent on the causes wliich 
produce painful menstruation, or profuse menstruation, or a suppres¬ 
sion of menstruation, the remedies are the same as are pointed out 
for those complaints. If inflammation of the ovaries be the cause, a 
cure may be effected, provided the inflamed condition be removed 
before the'bundle of eggs be destroyed. If inflammation or ulcera¬ 
tion of the neck of the womb be the obstacle, the remedy may be 
found in the treatment recommended for those affections. 

Sterility depending on the causes just mentioned, I have had the 
pleasure of curing riiany times. When dependent on a lack of phys¬ 
ical or moral adaptation between the parties, it does not, of course, 
admit of relief. It is a misfortune to be borne in silence. It has 
happened, perhaps, through a lack of judgment or care in selecting 
a partner, and is one of the mistakes of a lifetime which a lifetime 
cannot repair. When this want of adaptation is not complete, a rem¬ 
edy may frequently be found. 

Unfortunately, many females do not regard sterility as an evil to 
be deplored, but rather as a blessing to be desired. Life, to them, 
has no high aims or duties, — it is a round of fashion and pleasure. 
To bear and rear children interrupts their frivolities, and they seek to 
escape such abridgement of their pleasures. This is wrong. Life is 
a great theatre, in which all should strive to act some worthy part, 
and feel that, upon retiring, it would be wrong to leave their garments 
upon the vacant stage, with none to put them on, and continue the 
drama. 


Midwifery, 

A STOPPAGE of her courses is most commonly the first notice a 
woman has of her being in the family way. This is perceived about 
three weeks after conception, when she begins to experience other 
feelings peculiar to the situation. These feelings are nausea and vom¬ 
iting^ or a decided languor, in the morning; swelled and sometimes 
painful breasts; the areolae, or colored rings around the nipples, darker 
than usual; pain in the lower part of the back; and, occasionally, a 
good deal of spitting of a frothy, cotton-like substance. 

These symptoms are more or less severe in difl^erent cases, and 
under different circumstances, according to the state of the patient’s 
bowels and her habits of exercise. Ordinarily, she suffers most dur¬ 
ing the second and third months, on account of 

Sinking Down of the Womb, which, from soon after the period of 
conception, is gradually increasing in size and weight. As it grows 
larger and heavier, it sinks lower in the cavity of the pelvis, until 
about the fourth month, when, becoming so large that it cannot longer 
be accommodated within the narrow limits of this unyielding box of 


FEMALE DISEASES. 


461 


hones, it is obliged to mount higher to find room in the ampler and 
more distensible belly. This low position of the womb in the early 
months of pregnancy occasions many disagreeble sensations, — as 
pain in the lower part of the back and sickness at the stomach. 

The Costiveness, too, from which women suffer so much at this 
time, is often caused, in part at least, by the pressure of the enlarged 
womb upon the lower bowel. Costiveness, thus induced, at length 
becomes itself a cause of serious mischief. The lower bowel, filled 
and enlarged with its hardened contents, reacts upon the womb, 
crowding it still lower in its narrow quarters, and greatly increasing 
its excitability. The enlarged bowel and womb combined make 
constant pressure, sometimes upon the urethra, or water-pipe, causing 
pain and difficulty in making water, and always upon the ascending 
veins, checking the return of blood, and producing congestion in the 
lower bowel, manifested by troublesome ^iles. 

Treatment of Pregnancy. — When the pregnant woman first rec¬ 
ognizes her situation, she should determine to “ observe moderation 
in all things.” Let her avoid violent and sudden exertion, and move 
about more calmly and evenly than usual. By tliis is not meant that 
she should give up her customary occupation; but that she should 
pursue it with becoming carefulness, resolved in no case to hazard 
over-exertion, and rather leaning to the side of indolence. This 
would not be real indolence, for she is doing a great work internally, 
and should not unduly withdraw her energies to external affairs. 

Let her not be too much in the erect position. If of delicate 
constitution, and not in vigorous health, she should make it a point 
to lie down several times during the day. The standing position, 
continued for a long time, especially if it be under circumstances 
to induce fatigue, greatly favors the descent of the womb, — while 
a frequent rest in a horizontal position may enable it to keep its 
place. 

An Objection.—It may be objected by some, that a large majority 
of the mothers in the world are working women, and obliged to con¬ 
tribute by their industry to the support of their families; and that 
they cannot afford, therefore, to lie still, and mind directions. 

To this it may be answered, that it is a great advantage to under¬ 
stand the best way, so as to have the privilege of at least aiming a(3 
it. Much is accomplished, in all circumstances, by aiming at doing 
the best thing; and few women are so situated that they could not 
so favor themselves as to obey the laws of health a little more per¬ 
fectly, if they thoroughly understood them. All can better afford to 
avoid sickness, than to be sick. Many occupations, also, unless 
money tempt to excessive application, become, when steadily fol¬ 
lowed, comparatively easy and unexciting. Thus, most people can 
go through their usual round of duties, because they have got used 
to it. Indeed, there is nothing but indolence itself, to which we may 


462 


FEMALE DISEASES. 


not become accustomed. The difference between the laboring and 
the privileged classes is more imaginary than real. All must work. 
None can escape the primeval decree — “ In the sweat of thy face 
shalt thou eat bread.” 

Many women, when they find themselves in the family way, will 
observe no caution, but work all the harder, and even use other 
means for the purpose of bringing on abortion, and preventing an 
increase of children. This unnatural and wicked, but too prevalent, 
disposition, results sometimes from a fear of the pains of cliild-birth, 
sometimes from a desire to avoid the necessary care and confinement 
connected with raising children, but most often from a wish to escape 
the expenses which the prevailing fashions and customs of society 
connect with a large family. The cost of a shattered nervous sys¬ 
tem, and of a body weakened and poisoned by powerful drugs, is not 
considered, because not understood! Hence the success of those 
quack advertisements, impudently professing to cure female diseases, 
but whose chief object is disclosed by the insertion of the hypocritical 
caution—“ Be careful not to take this medicine during pregnancy, as 
it will he sure to produce abortion^ 

It seems as if the world would never learn that God loves children, 
although since Abraham’s day he has said so much about them in 
his Word, although His Son, sent into the world on purpose to 
show the disposition of the Father, took them up in his arms, and 
blessed them, and although He has implanted a most wonderful 
love of them in the soul of man. 

Costiveness and Piles. — Let the pregnant woman use all proper 
means to keep her bowels in order. She will tLus greatly diminish 
the distressing nausea, and may entirely prevent the accession of 
piles. To accomplish this object, the saline aperients (7), (5), or, oc¬ 
casionally, other mild cathartics (10), (12), (14), maybe used. But 
more important than either or all of these is the frequent use of a 
good self-injecting family syringe. An injection of half a pint of 
cold water every morning will do much towards regulating the 
bowels, and preventing or curing piles. 

Nausea. — If, as Sometimes happens, there should be persistent 
nausea after the first three months, it will need to be combated by 
mild tonics and stimulants, as chamomile tea, or clove tea (58), 
(114), and by seeking a kind of diet which will be agreeable both to 
the palate and the stomach. Ten grains of ingluvin after each meal, 
and on arising, oftentimes prevent vomiting. Stretching the neck 
of the womb moderately, and replacing a retroverted womb, are fore¬ 
most in importance of treatment when structural causes demand such 
interference. 

A tablet containing 2 grains of oxalate of cerium, 2 grains of sub¬ 
nitrate of bismuth, and 1-12 of a grain of cocaine is very useful if 
taken three or four times a day. These tablets may be bought under 
the title of nausea tablets if made by a reliable chemist. 


FEMALE DISEASES. 


463 


The Nipples. — During the last month, particular attention should 
be paid to the nipples. Untold misery often results to the young 
mother from 8ore nipples; and it is well worth her while to use every 
precaution against them. The nipples are, of course, in an excitable 
state during the whole period of gestation, and at length frequently 
become irritable and tender. Let them be daily bathed, for three or 
four weeks before confinement, with some astringent and cooling 
lotion, as oak-bark decoction, borax water, alum-water, or a solution 
of tannin (200), (201), (202), (203). 

Nothing is better than the daily application of weak alcohol and 
water. 

The object of treatment, in this case, is to toughen them and ren¬ 
der them less susceptible, so that they may not be made tender by the 
subsequent application of the child’s lips. 

When a woman is peculiarly liable to this trouble, the further pre¬ 
caution of having them gently drawn by some friend, every day, 
during this last month, would be of great service. 

At all events, let no pains be spared to guard against this evil; for 
sore nipples make sore breasts, and sore breasts make broken breasts; 
and broken breasts are terrible things. They make the mother sick; 
and if the mother is sick, the child is sure to be sick; and all hands 
soon get sick and worried, and the whole business of having children, 
and taking care of them, is deprived of its peculiar joys and consola¬ 
tions, and brought into undeserved disrepute. Whereas, under wise 
and prudent management, there is something delightful to the young 
mother in yielding sustenance to her dependent offspring. For, when 
her nipples and breasts are in a healthy state, she can say with the 
poet, as 

“ The starting beverage meets its thirsty lip, 

’Tis joy to yield it, as ’t is joy to sip.’’ 

Swathing. — In advanced pregnancy, much assistance in supporting 
the burden is sometimes derived from swathing the bowels. Healthy 
and vigorous women, however, need no such assistance; it is chiefly 
applicable to cases of debility, either constitutional, or resulting from 
neglect, or from over-exertion during former pregnancies. 

Cramp in the Stomach is sometimes very severe, and if allowed to 
continue, may kill the child. The best remedies are warm carmina¬ 
tives (114), (115), or anodynes, etc. (121), (122), or antispasmodics 
(90), (94). 

Headaches. — These maybe relieved by antispasmodics, etc. (90), 
(94), or anodynes (121). 

Palpitation of the Heart may prove very distressing to delicate 
women. The remedies are the antispasmodics, with rest. Some¬ 
times tonics are useful, such as the muriated tincture of iron (73). 
The bowels should be carefully regulated. 


464 


FEMALE DISEASES. 


Fainting, which occurs before or at the time of quickening, is some¬ 
times very troublesome. The proper treatment is the avoidance of 
fatigue, and, during the fainting fit, the recumbent posture, cool air, 
application of cold water to the face, and ammonia to the nose. 

Cough is sometimes present. It is caused by the upward pressure 
of the diaphragm against the lungs, by which they are irritated and 
convulsed. The remedies may be selected from the cough prepara¬ 
tions among the prescriptions. 

Heartburn may be relieved by 10 gr. doses of bicarbonate of soda 
taken in water after meals. Ten grains will be equal in amount to 
that quantity which may be scooped up on a five-cent piece. 

Varicose Veins. — These cannot be removed during pregnancy; 
but they may be relieved by great care of the bowels, and by wearing 
tight bandages, or elastic stockings. 

Swelling of Lower Limbs is caused by pressure of the enlarged 
womb upon the veins; and may be relieved by care of the bowels, 
and diuretics (130). 

Itching of the Gentials may be much relieved by borax, camphor, 
etc. A four-per-cent solution of cocaine, painted on, gives most 
relief, and is most curative. 

Miscarriage. — Abortion. 

When a woman in the family way throws off the contents of her 
womb, or loses her child, during the first six months, the accident is 
a miscarriage, or abortion; when the same thing happens during the 
last three months of her term, it is a premature labor. 

Symptoms. — If abortion occur during the first month after con¬ 
ception, the symptoms may not attract much attention or, may be 
regarded only as an irregularity of menstruation. Occurring at later 
periods, it is frequently indicated by some feverishness, coldness of 
the feet and legs, a puffed-up condition of the eye-lids with purplish 
discolorations, shooting pains in the breasts, which become soft, pains 
in the back, bearing-down pains in the lower part of the bowels, 
which come and go, and at length take the character of real labor 
pains. As these pains increase, blood begins to appear, and, sooner 
or later, the bag of water breaks, and the foetus is thrown off. 

Causes. — These are very numerous. Some of the principal are, 
displacement of the womb; ulceration of its neck ; syphilitic disease 
of the foetus received from the parent; too much exercise; heavy 
lifting; falls, particularly when the woman comes down upon the 
feet, and is heavily jarred; emetics; powerful purges; and too much 
nuptial indulgence. 


FEMALE DISEASES. 


465 


Treatment. —Where the symptoms are but slight, nothing may 
be required more than a little caution for a few days, and rest in the 
horizontal posture. 

Neither very hot nor cold drinks should be used, the bowels should 
be made quiet, liquid diet should be given, and if restless or in much 
pain, 8 to 10 drops of laudanum in water may be given every two or 
three hours for five or six doses, care being taken that at the first 
onset of sleepiness the medicine is stopped. Should pain persist and 
flowing accompany it, the chances of preventing the abortion are poor, 
in which case take either linen or absorbent cotton or a strip of gauze, 
(any of them must be sterilized) and introduce into the vagina 
with as much pressure as can be used. This will usually stop the 
flow, though in many cases it will not prevent the abortion but will 
allow time to call a physician who will be needed in such cases. As 
blood-poisoning causes such a large per cent, of deaths all precautions 
as advised under the chapter on antiseptic surgery should be followed. 

If the abortion cannot be prevented, — especially in the latter 
months of gestation,— then the case is to be permitted to go on, 
and to be treated the same as a natural labor. 

Abortion ( Criminal), 

Many married people who consider the bearing of children a bur¬ 
den, and those who suffer from a lapse of virtue, are tempted to 
commit abortion. 

I wish it were possible for me to express to them the sin and folly 
of such a course. The sufferings and evils that almost always follow 
are far worse than any care or shame which come from letting nature 
take its course. Any crime against nature is sure to be punished. 
In this case, consumption, nervous prostration, and various womb 
complaints are the usual accompaniments, ruining the future life or 
usefulness of the woman, until finally life becomes a burden to her¬ 
self and friends; it usually being impossible to obtain a cure, though 
she seek it carefully and with tears. No conscientious physician will 
commit abortion. She will be obliged to trust herself in the hands 
of quacks and rascals, who commit the crime either with medicine 
or instruments, in one case ruining the digestion, in the other the 
womb. Nature has not provided any way in which it can be done 
with safety, and it is justifiable in no case except when it will save 
the life of the mother. 

Prevention of Pregnancy. 

There are many cases in which, on account of some contagious 
or hereditary disease, it is not advisable for the wife to become preg¬ 
nant. It is not always advisable for a wife to have children too fast, 
the constitution not being strong enough to stand the strain of bear¬ 
ing children, or the care of bringing them up. In such cases, while 


466 


FEMALE DISEASES. 


it would be wrong to commit abortion, it would be desirable to avoid 
pregnancy. I do not agree with many of the fashionable women of 
this age who consider the bearing of children a burden, and who do 
not know the joy of a baby in the house. How little they realize 
that the happiness and pleasure of a family of children is far greater 
than the care. That love makes labor light. It is hard for the 
young to realize the lonesomeness of childless old age. 

While it may not be best to have children too fast when young, 
they must realize that if protective measures are carried on too long 
it will be impossible for the woman to become pregnant. Nature 
has provided a reasonable way; if there is no coition for ten days 
after the courses, or three days before, the chances of pregnancy are 
much diminished. Douching with warm or tepid water (never on any 
condition use cold water), immediately after coition, is perhaps the most 
commonly used method to prevent conception. The addition of 
carbolic acid (one teaspoonful to the pint of water) is an extra safe¬ 
guard. Two quarts of water is none too much to use, although a 
pint might be sufficient. The safest, least harmful method to the 
woman with which I am acquainted, consists in the insertion into the 
vagina, as high as possible, of a tampon of wool. This piece of wool 
must first be moistened with glycerine and water, or vaseline, and 
bound by a small string to its centre. It should be about two inches 
square, possibly a bit smaller for some women. It is most easily 
inserted by the woman when lying on her back. After coition, this 
wool is withdrawn by means of the string, and a warm douche taken. 
This procedure is not only certain to prevent conception, but is abso¬ 
lutely devoid of danger. 

There are condoms made of fine rubber, which can be bought of 
druggists, which are absolutely safe; before use they should be v^et 
with soap-suds or vaseline. This is not a healthy habit, and I would 
not advise its use, except where there is danger of a contagious dis¬ 
ease, or where it would endanger the life of the woman by becoming 
pregnant. 

In conclusion, I would say, the nearer a couple live to nature, the 
better and happier they will be. 

Labor. — Delivery. 

The expulsion, at full term, of the child, the after-birth, the mem¬ 
branes, and the fluids, constitutes labor, or delivery. It is supposed 
to occur about two hundred and eighty days after the last menstrua¬ 
tion; but authors reckon it differently ; in truth, it is not possible to 
fix it exactly, for it evidently varies in different cases. 

When the time of her lying-in arrives, let every woman meet it 
with calmness and undoubting confidence. There is every reason to 
encourage this state of mind. Think of the vast multitudes of peo¬ 
ple in the world. Each once existed in the womb of a mother, and 


FEMALE DISEASES. 


467 


had to pass through its narrow portals to be admitted to the light. 
Successful delivery is the rule^ the world over; and it should be the 
rule to confidently expect it. 

In the midst of the pains of labor, nothing does more to bring to 
favorable result than courage and patience. Patience is able calmly 
to survey all the difficulties before her, because she never attempts to 
encounter but one at a time. There is much philosophy in the story 
of the discontented pendulum'^ which got discouraged, one morning, 
from refiecting how many millions of times it would have to swing 
during succeeding years, but became reassured upon considering that 
a single stroke cost but a very trifling effort, and that it really had 
to make hut one at a time. So it is with labor; its pains, which are 
really severe and agonizing, will become comparatively tolerable, if 
the whole attention of the woman be confined to present suffering, 
and her whole stock of courage and patience be brought to bear upon 
one pang at a time. 

Let her resist the temptation to a feeling of haste. Nature will 
often proceed more evenly and more speedily if allowed to take her 
own time. A hurry to get through is a great obstacle to successful 
delivery; it always puts things back. 

Symptoms: — One of the first indications that labor is about to 
begin is, that the woman finds herself smaller,, — the child having 
sunk down lower in the abdomen, and she accordingly breathes 
easier. The genital organs become relaxed and moist, and mucus 
escapes, which is called “ the shows.” The woman finds herself dis¬ 
posed to be nervous and fidgety, and perhaps a little depressed in 
spirits. 

When labor has fully set in, it is marked by lowness of spirits, 
flashes of heat and cold, a great desire to empty the bowels and to 
make water, and grinding, cutting pains, which grow stronger and 
more continuous, with intervals of ten or fifteen minutes’ ease be¬ 
tween. Vomiting in the early stages of labor often occurs, and may 
be regarded as favorable,— indicating the softening and opening of 
the mouth of the womb. 

Treatment of Labor. —When labor begins, the attention should 
be directed to the state of the bowels and bladder. The child’s head 
begins early to press upon the bladder and lower bowel, causing the 
desire to make water, etc.; and these should be immediately emptied 
to make room for the head to pass more easily. The bowel may be 
freed by a dose of castor-oil (10), if there is time for it to operate, — 
but more surely, and more satisfactorily, by an injection. Relief in 
the bladder may, perhaps, be obtained by a different position of the 
woman in the act of making water. It is the pressure of the child’s 
head upon the water-pipe which causes the trouble; and to relieve it, 
the woman should get upon her hands and knees, with her shoulders 
lower than the hips, so as to throw the child upward and forward 
towards the cavity of the abdomen. Thus situated, she may often 


468 


FEMALE DISEASES. 


find it easy to make water, when in the ordinary position it would be 
impossible. If, however, this manoeuvre does not succeed, and the 
bladder becomes greatly distended, the catheter must be used. 

The Bed and Habiliments. —In the next place, fix the bed and 
the patient’s habiliments. Reject feather beds; use the mattress. 
Cover this with a rubber cloth, if convenient, and then with folded 
sheets to absorb the discharges, and protect the bed. Let the woman 
be arrayed in the same garments she expects to wear after the com¬ 
pletion of the labor, and let these be well tucked up under her arms, 
and let the lower portion of her body, from the waist downwards, be 
enveloped in a sheet. This sheet can be easily removed, and the 
clean clothes pulled down without greatly disturbing the patient when 
in the exhausted state which follows labor, and when it would subject 
her to great fatigue to be obliged to sit up in bed to have her clothes 
changed. Let her lie upon her left side, with her body shortened by 
bending forward, so that the muscles may be relaxed; let her head 
be placed in the middle of the bed, and her feet press against the 
right foot-post. Around this post a shawl or towel may be fastened, 
upon which she may be allowed to pull during the pains. 


Antiseptic Dressings. 

In one essential particular, the case of the modern woman differs 
widely from that of our grandmothers. Childbed-fever, blood-poison¬ 
ing, and other similar germ-diseases, have been from time immemo¬ 
rial the hite noire of the lying-in chamber, and the odium of the 
medical profession. Since the discovery by Sir Joseph Lister, of 
England, that these diseases were caused by the introduction of 
germ bacilli into the living tissue, and that to prevent them it is 
only necessary to kill these germs on all things which in any way 
come in contact with the mother’s private parts, these diseases have 
become very much less frequent in occurrence, and much less fatal. 
We know now that the skin and vagina even normally contain living 
germs which act as scavengers of dirt, and exert a beneficial influence 
on health, so long as they remain in their natural abodes; let them, 
however, be introduced into the system through raw surfaces, tears 
and excoriations consequent on labor, and the group of symptoms 
generated by this poison is truly frightful to think of. 

To avert such catastrophes, it must be the aim of the physician 
and nurse, and even the patient, to use scrupulous care in keeping 
away from the patient anything which has not first been rendered 
absolutely clean or germ-free. 

It thus becomes evident that, first of all, as soon as labor sets in, 
the thighs and privates should be thoroughly washed with soap and 
some antiseptic, as, for instance, a five per-cent solution of carbolic- 
acid, or better, sulpho-naphthol solution, which may be made by adding 
one-half teaspoonful of sulpho-naphthol, or “ oil of milk,” to a quart of 


FEMALE DISEASES. 


469 


water; better still is a solution of corrosive sublimate of the strength 
of one part in two or three thousand parts of water. This poison¬ 
ous drug is best bought in tablet form, so that by adding one tablet 
to two quarts of water, we have the required solution. During labor, 
and even after, all napkins and cloths used to protect or wipe the 
woman, must be wet in one of these solutions, or otherwise disin¬ 
fected. Every examination by the physician or nurse must be made 
only after thorough scrubbing of the hands with soap and some dis¬ 
infectant. The napkins used may either be wrung out of these solu¬ 
tions, or steamed an hour before using. 

By such precautions we may expect to avoid blood-poisoning. The 
nurse must always wash and disinfect her hands before giving a 
douche or handling the patient’s private parts. The douche is always 
a source of vexation to nurses, and the matter may here be thus 
stated: unless there has been given an order by the physician to the 
contrary, never use a douche after the baby is born. 

Remember the principle of always keeping surgically clean, i. e. 
germ-free^ all objects which come in contact with the lying-in woman. 

The Presentation. — An examination with the finger is to be made 
to learn the presentation,—that is, to learn which part of the child 
comes first into the mouth of the womb. 

Head Presentation. —If the head present, the labor will probably 
go on without the need of medical aid. But in all labors there is a 
liability to dangers from unforseen accidents, which renders the at¬ 
tendance of an intelligent physician highly prudential. 

Breech or Feet Presentation. — If the feet or breech present, it is 
desirable to have the first part of the labor proceed slowly, so that 
the passage may become well dilated, and prepared for a more rapid 
delivery of the head. If the breech present, do not pull down the 
feet; let the child come double; it will make more room for the head. 
If the feet present, let there be no pulling upon them to hasten the 
birth of the breech. 

After the feet and breech have fully cleared the external orifice, 
the delivery may be judiciously hastened for the purpose of prevent¬ 
ing the death of the child from pressure on the umbilical cord, before 
its head is brought to the air, and the act of breathing thus permitted. 
For after the pulsations of the cord cease, the child must either 
breathe or die. 

In this kind of presentation, therefore, the child’s life is in great 
danger. After the birth of the lower half of the body, the cord ex¬ 
periences severe pressure, suificient to interrupt if not wholly prevent 
its pulsations. It then becomes necessary to hasten the birth of the 
upper extremities and head by all prudent means. Violence is never 
in order in midwifery; but considerable force, skillfully directed, may 
sometimes be safely used. After the shoulders are delivered, the pas¬ 
sage of the head may be facilitated by carefully pulling down the 


470 


FEMALE DISEASES. 


arms. Then, as soon as possible, introduce the finger into the mouth 
of the child. This will serve the double purpose, perhaps, of per* 
mitting a little air to make its way into the child’s lungs, and of fur¬ 
nishing a hold by which its head may be gently drawn along into the 
world. 

If there is much delay at this juncture, perhaps in some cases the 
child’s life may be preserved by inserting into its mouth one end of a 
male catheter, — thus furnishing an open tube for the passage of air, 
until more vigorous pains shall introduce it into the full liberty of the 
atmosphere. While the head is yet undelivered, great care should be 
used to keep the child’s body warm by covering it with flannel, and 
also to keep it in a correct relative position with the head. If the 
body be incautiously turned round, of course the neck will be twisted; 
and the child’s subsequent delivery with a broken neck will be the 
miserable result, bringing confusion to the medical attendant, and 
unhappiness to all concerned. 

Arm or Shoulder Presentation. — If the arm or shoulder present, 
the child will probably have to be turned. In case this cannot be 
effected, its chest must be opened and emptied of its contents, that 
there may be room to bring down the head. It is barely possible to 
avoid a resort to art in this presentation. 

Flooding or Hemorrhage, occurring to an alarming extent, is hap¬ 
pily one of the rare incidents or consequences of labor. But when it 
does occur, it demands the most serious and prompt attention. 

Profuse bleeding from the womb is most commonly owing to a 
partial separation of the placenta, or afterbirth, from its attachment 
to the internal cavity; and it has been observed that the flow 
proceeds more rapidly from the detached portion of the afterbirth 
than from the corresponding exposed surface of the womb. A knowl¬ 
edge of this fact has an important practical bearing; for if, in severe 
cases of flooding, the partially detached afterbirth can be entirely 
separated, the bleeding will often be speedily arrested. 

The most dangerous floodings occur in cases of placenta previa, 
when the afterbirth is over the mouth of the womb. In such cases, 
when the labor commences, and the womb begins to open itself, the 
afterbirth of course must be partially separated. These cases, unless 
promptly relieved by art, may prove fatal in a few minutes. Yet 
.there is ordinarily sufficient time, if it be improved, calmly to choose 
and pursue the proper treatment. If the flooding be immediately 
dangerous to life, the child must be turned and delivered, or the 
tampon or plug be applied, as directed under the head of abortion. 
This expedient is used when, through rigidity of the mouth of the 
womb, the delivery is inadmissible. 

Before Delivery. — In all cases of flooding, we prescribe quiet, the 
recumbent posture, cold applications to the abdomen and the external 
genitals, and the internal administration of astringents and anodynes 
( 151 ). 


FEMALE DISEASES. 


471 


After Delivery, our object is to promote contraction of the womb 
by cold applications and frictions externally, or, if necessary, by the 
introduction of the hand into the womb, for the purpose of removing 
the afterbirth, clearing out clots, or stimulating it to shut itself up for 
the expulsion of the offending substance. Until this contraction is 
secured, the plug should not be used, lest internal bleeding into the 
enlarged and expanded womb should be profuse, and fatally exhaust 
the patient. 

After the Child is Born, our first duty is, if possible, to see that it 
breathes. In the vast majority of cases, the well-known cry which 
salutes the ear gives proof that the duty is unnecessary. But some¬ 
times we do not hear the welcome sound. The umbilical cord may 
be once or repeatedly wound around the child’s neck, and must be 
immediately removed to prevent strangulation; or, the child’s mouth 
may be filled with phlegm, or some sticky mucus, which must be 
poked out with the finger, and its exit favored by turning the face 
downward; or, after tedious labors, the child may be born in a very 
feeble state, and may need the stimulus of cold water thrown sud¬ 
denly, in small quantities, upon its chest and body, with considerable 
rubbing, and perhaps the inflation of its lungs with air blown intodts 
mouth. 

Tying the Cord-When breathing is established, a piece of narrow 

tape or common twine is to be tied tight around the navel-string, 
about two inches from the child’s navel, and the cord is then to be 
cut off, with a pair of sharp scissors, from half to three quarters of 
an inch outside the place where it is tied. The child is then to be 
delivered to the nurse. 

The cord should be tied twice; the first about two inches from the 
child’s body and again an inch and a half farther away. The cord is 
then cut between the two places. The object of the first tie is, of 
course, to prevent the child bleeding to death. The second is to 
prevent the blood from the after-birth or placenta soiling everything 
about the bed. 

Washing the Child.—The child is now, while the physician is at¬ 
tending to the mother, to be washed and dressed by the nurse. Its 
skin is at this time covered with a suet-like substance, called the 
vernix caseosa. To remove this, a coat of warm sweet oil or lard may 
be lightly rubbed and mixed with this substance and then washed off 
with warm water and castile soap. It is not material that this coat¬ 
ing should be absolutely all removed at the first washing; but the 
soap and water should be again gently applied in eight or ten hours 
from their first use. It is improper to use spirits for this cleansing. 
All rough rubbing must be avoided as injurious to the delicate skin 
of so tender an infant. Washing with cold water would lower the 
temperature to a dangerous degree, and should in no case be allowed. 

Removal of the After-Birth. — The woman having rested fifteen 
or twenty minutes, a little gentle soliciting or pressure on the womb 


472 


FEMALE DISEASES. 


will generally bring away the after-birth. If, however, any serious 
obstacle prevent its expulsion, it may be slowly and cautiously taken 
away by the hand introduced. 

Cleansing the Bed, and Applying the Swathe. —Upon the re¬ 
moval of the afterbirth, a disinfected napkin is immediately applied 
to the external organs, a drink of water or tea administered, and 
another rest of an hour or more allowed. The swathe may consist 
of a towel pinned snugly around the body, or of a cloth, cut and 
fitted exactly for the purpose. Its object is to afford a firm and 
steady support to the contracting womb. 

The Dressings for the Child’s Navel should be so fixed that the 
navel-string or cord will not be left in contact with the healthy skin. 
To effect this, make a hole large enough to admit the cord in the 
centre of a piece of linen cloth four inches square; pull the cord 
through this hole, leaving the cloth lying flat upon the child’s belly; 
then, having bandaged the cord down to the belly, fold the cloth over 
it, and apply the belly-band. The interposition of these dressings 
will thus keep the cord, which is dead and in process of decomposi¬ 
tion, from irritating, and perhaps excoriating the living flesh, with 
which it must otherwise be in close contact. To wrap the stump of 
the cord in fresh absorbent cotton is another neat, dry, and practical 
method of treating it. 

Never try to hasten the dropping of the cord if it occurs within a 
reasonable time, and from four to ten days may be expected to elapse 
before this event takes place. If pus appears, it shows that infec¬ 
tive germs have gained entrance since the birth of the child, and a 
mild antiseptic dressing must be kept on or inflammation may strike 
in and the child die of blood-poison. 

Nourishment of the Child, etc. — After being dressed, the child 
should be kept next the body of the mother or nurse, that it may 
receive the natural warmth thus to be derived. Its nourishment 
should be obtained exclusively from the mother’s breast. If it is 
hungry, be sure and keep it so. There is nothing more appropriate 
than a hungry child all ready to take hold and exhaust the full and 
almost bursting breast on the third day, when the milk has come. 
Alas ! How many children have been fed on sweetened water, and 
on milk and water, till they have lost all instinctive idea of, and all 
appetite for, nursing! and how many bowel complaints and broken 
breasts have been the miserable consequence I But meddlesome 
friends are afraid the “ little dears will starve ; and therefore they 
must first be made sick by unnatural diet, and then for their cure be 
treated to that filthy, harsh, and indecent substitute for medicine, 
cha/mher-lye and molasses ! 

But it maybe asked, ‘‘must not the child be fed at all, if it is hun¬ 
gry, and cries a great deal, and there is nothing in the mother’s breast 
for it ? ” Such cases will be exceedingly rare, if the breasts have 


FEMALE DISEASES. 


473 


been properly solicited from the first by a hungry child. When they 
do occur, being themselves exceptions, their treatment must be ex¬ 
ceptional; but, even then, only so far as is absolutely necessary. If 
fed at all, the child should not be fed to satiety, but as little as the 
circumstances will possibly permit. The great rule remains: keep 
tlie child as hungry as possible till the milk comes. When it has to 
be fed, imitate the mother’s milk as nearly as possible in the prepa¬ 
ration of the artificial diet. A little sweet cream, warm water and 
sugar, should be so mingled, that in warmth, richness, and sweetness, 
the mixture may closely resemble human milk. (See page 447.) 

Diet of the Mother.—For the first few days after confinement, the 
most appropriate diet for the mother is gruel, cocoa, rice-water, crust 
coffee, or some similar liquid nourishment. Different constitutions, 
however, need somewhat different management. 

A woman naturally robust, and of full habit, should confine herself 
more strictly, and for a longer time, to this light diet, than one who 
is more slender and feeble. In some cases, weakly women require 
the juice of meat, and even wine or ale, as early as the second or third 
day. If she be subject to canker, or nursing-sore mouth, a generous 
diet is particularly serviceable. After the first week, she may gradu¬ 
ally return to her customary diet. 

Costiveness may be treated with the usual remedies. It was an 
old rule to give a dose of castor-oil on the third day, when there is a 
little increase of excitement in the system, from the filling of the 
breasts. This is not always necessary, and in most cases an injection 
would be far better. The mother should stay in bed from three to 
four weeks, according to the state of her general health. A little 
time now is a great gain later. 

The Perpendicular Position. — During the first month, let the 
woman avoid being often or long on her feet. This is a very essential 
caution to avoid prolapsus, or falling of the womb, with all its atten¬ 
dant weaknesses and pains, and to ensure a good “ getting up,” with 
a sound womb, in the right place, and subsequent months of health 
and enjoyment. 

Milk Leg. —Phlegmasia Dolens. — Crural Phlebitis. 

The popular idea is, that in this disease the woman’s milk has 
fallen into her leg, which has inflamed. This is of course absurd. 
As to the real nature of the complaint, there are various opinions, — 
some holding it to consist in inflammation along the sciatic, crural, 
and pubic nerves ; others, that it is an inflammation of the lympha¬ 
tics of the groin which causes it; others, that it is an inflammation 
of the crural veins. The fact of the matter is that this disease is one 
of the many evidences of septic matter entering the circulation and 
setting up local trouble where it is deposited. It is, in other words, 
a mild form of pre-existing blood-poisoning. 


474 


FEMALE DISEASES. 


Symptoms. —The disease begins in from two to seven weeks after 
delivery, with pain in the lower bowel, groin, or thigh. The pain is 
more violent when the thigh is extended. In a day or two, the pain 
diminishes, and the limb begins to swell, frequently in the calf of the 
leg first, thence extending upward; but generally in the groin, and 
extending gradually down. The skin becomes entirely white, smooth, 
and glossy, does not pit when pressed, is painful to the touch, and is 
hotter than the skin upon the other limb. In connection with this 
local disease, there is general fever, with small and rapid pulse, thirst, 
etc. 

Treatment. —The patient must lie flat upon her back, with the 
swelled limb placed upon pillows, or a bolster, raised so that the foot 
shall be a little higher than the hip, and then charged not to put her 
foot down upon the floor until she is very nearly well. 

Take a large piece of flannel,—Dr. Meigs says an old flannel 
petticoat, with the hem and the gathers cut off—and dip it in 
vinegar and hot water, equal parts; wring it out, and cover the 
whole limb with it. Put a piece of blanket or oiled silk over it to 
keep it from wetting the bed. Repeat this and keep it up for six 
hours. When it becomes tedious to the patient, remove it, and bathe 
the limb with warm sweet-oil, two parts, and laudanum, one part, and 
cover it with flannel. In two or three hours, return to the first appli¬ 
cation of hot water and vinegar. Continue this for five or six hours, 
and then take warm sweet-oil and laudanum; and thus pass from 
one to the other until the inflammation is subdued, or, as Dr. Meigs 
says, till the calf of the leg can be shaken. 

If the bowels are confined, let them be gently moved by some 
mild physic (13), (14), (18), (25), (27), (41). 

In many cases, diuretics and cathartics combined will be proper 
(302), or diuretics only (128), (130). 

While the inflammation lasts, and there is fever, the tincture of 
veratrum viride must not be forgotten. 

If recovery does not take place after the active inflammation has 
subsided, the limb should be bandaged from the toes to the groin. 

Wrap up the leg in wet flannels, covered air-tight with rubber 
cloth, and great quantities of water will exude from the leg. 

Chi Id-Bed Fever. — Puerperal Fever, — Septiccemia, — 
Blood-Poisoning, 

Few complaints more justly excite the dread of the practitioner 
than this. It cuts down woman at a time when she can least of all 
be spared by her young offspring, and at a moment when she most 
excites the love and sympathy of her whole family. It is a terrible 
disease. 

Until after the discovery of the germ character of many diseases, 
this fearful scourge was only suspected by medical men to be con- 


FEMALE DISEASES. 


475 


tagious. It has, however, long since been found to be highly conta¬ 
gious and propagated by the ordinary routes of travel by physician, 
nurse, friend, etc., who come in contact with women about to be 
confined or with people who have open wounds. 

We know that when a woman is confined the germs which natur¬ 
ally belong on the skin and in the vagina, if introduced into the 
little lacerations and wounds which are liable to ensue during labor, 
set up a violent form of blood-poisoning, which, for its severity, 
rapidity of development, and direful consequences, surpasses all other 
infectious diseases. Child-bed fever is purely and simply a germ- 
disease, caused by unclean hands, unclean instruments, unclean nap¬ 
kins, or, in fact, anything which contains germs, being brought in 
contact with the mother. For a further understanding of this cau¬ 
sation, see articles on Asepsis, Antisepsis, etc. 

It becomes quite necessary for a woman to regard herself as about 
to undergo a surgical operation when she is to be confined, for the 
simple reason that she should be prepared for the labor just as the 
patient is for the operation, that she may have all the advantages of 
skilled nursing and the many little antiseptic precautions which ren¬ 
der not only operations but labor itself safe. 

Symptoms.— The train of symptoms belonging to this dreadful 
malady are too well known to many to repeat them in much detail. 
The first that one carefully observant of the sick one notices, is a 
slight rise of temperature, then perhaps follows a chill, sweating and 
headache; discharges begin to smell badly, the bowels enlarge from 
the formation of gas ; the stomach is upset, and finally, if the disease 
is not checked, the infection spreads to the tubes and ovaries and 
into the general abdominal cavity, when death soon steps in to end 
the frightful scene. 

Treatment.— The nurse should always be on the alert to discover 
the least rise in temperature or any beginning odor; it is just here 
that valuable time is often lost. The womb has become infected, 
but as yet the septic inflammation is only on the inside of the organ. 
At this point vigorous measures must be at once inaugurated and 
the womb thoroughly irrigated with some disinfectant solution, like 
the corrofive sublimate solution, with carbolic acid solution or sul- 
pho-naphthol solution. If this measure, repeated every eight to tv elve 
hours, does not speedily correct the odor, lower the temperature and 
improve affairs at once, a thorough curetting of the entire lining of 
the womb must be made, as described under womb-diseases (page 
399) and the organ daily irrigated or packed with iodoform gauze. 

In many cases the womb and its belongings may have to be re¬ 
moved entirely. Blood tonics must be employed from the first, and 
the infection thoroughly removed lest subsequent womb troubles 
ensue. 

It is a well known medical fact that in blood-poisoning the use of 
alcohol may be pushed to a degree that would be thought unwise in 


KKMALK LilBEABKtt. 


470 

iro\i})lnH. J<"nough wliinkoy or brandy fihould be given to a 
|«iti(;ni to keep him Htirriulaie.d until Huch time aH the temperature 
and the pulw; an^ in normal eondition. 

riie chief pnjventive of thi»diHca»e is extreme cleanliness and care 
ill warding off its causes. 

Puerperal Convulsions. — Eclampsia. 

During the latter i)art of pregnancy, and oven during the lying-in 
period, a j)regnant woman may be suddenly seized with a convulsion 
from which she may never recover consciousness. "Idieso fits gener¬ 
ally last a few minutes, and complete consciousness follows with a 
terrific headache; from one to a hundred more attacks may ensue. 
The urine usually is found heavily loaded with albumen, and contains 
all the evidences of serious kidney disease. 

Causes. — These disorders are supjiosed to be due to the pressure 
on tlio kidneys and its vessels by the increasing growth of the child. 
Home cases, however, remain still unsatisfactorily explained. 

'J'o avoid any such sudden surprises women should have their 
urine examined every week or two in the latter part of pregnancy. 

Symptoms. — The disease is usually ushered in by some slight 
frontal h(;adache, by swelling of the feet, ankles and eyelids; these 
are symptoms of imi)ending trouble, and precautions should at once 
}>e taken to ward off the conse(pient disease. "J'he urine becomes 
scanty, thick and smoky; the fa(;e or eyelids twitch, and soon the 
fit comes on, siqxninduced by the large amount of urea retained in 
the blood in consecpience of the crippled condition of the kidiKjys, 
which normally throw off these poisonous products. 

Treatment. — In most cases the womb must bo immediately 
emptied of the child and pressure thus moved from the kidneys, 
which lire stimulated to secrete freely. 'J'he fits are for the time 
being c-ontrolled by the inhalation of other or chloroform, llleeding, 
the free use of veratrum virido, and the use of chloral or even mor¬ 
phine will materially aid the case toward recovery. 

Swciatihg the patient will many times turn the tide in favor of 
recovery. Dovering the body with hot wet sheets and over these 
s(;v(U’al dry blankcits may be placed. It is advisable to k( 5 ep the 
lu^ad cool by means of cold cloths or an ice bag. A subcutaneous 
injection of apomorphinc given in 1-10 gr. dose will start the per- 
siiiration. The hot air bath by iikmuis of a keroseme or alcohol lamf) 
und(n* a stovepipe funnel bent at a right angle over the foot of tlie 
IxmI is another valuable means to a(;comf)lish the same n^sult. The 
tempiTature of the heated air should be 110° to 11.5° and the patient 
gradually cooled off after twenty to thirty minutes perspiration. 

It is a very fatal disorder if left to itself, the patient not infre- 
(picntly dying in the first convulsion, after prolonged unconsciousness. 


FEMALE DISEASES. 477 

Here again the early discovery of the disease will often bo suflioiont 
to turn the tide in a favorable direction. 


Flooding and Hemorrhage.— Placenta Praevia. 

Sometimes during the latter months of pregnancy quite a little 
hemorrhage starts up from the fact that the afterbirth, which normally 
is attached to the side of the womb, becomes engrafted into the lower 
segment so as to cover the opening into the womb. This latter is 
often separated from its moorings and considerable hemorrhage en¬ 
sues, which may vary from a small to an extremely large and fatal 
amount. The physician should bo summoned immediately and labor 
ijiduced at once, if this condition is really found to exist. 

Flooding after labor is duo to a relaxed womb or some open Idood- 
vessel. The womb is to bo seized and squeezed together into a small 
mass, driving out clots; one teaspoonful of ergot in a little hot water 
is to be taken, and the foot of the bod elevated till the arrival of the 
doctor. 

Nursing Sore Mouth. 

Nursing women sometimes suffer terribly with this complaint. It 
begins with a scalding sensation upon the tongue, a pink color in the 
roof of the mouth, and a hot, watery discharge from the mouth. 
After a few days, small ulcers appear on the tongue, and in the 
throat. Costiveness is generally present; but when the ulceration 
extends to the bowels, diarrhoea occurs. It comes to an end upon 
weaning the child. 

Treatment. — To relieve costiveness, give some gentle cathartic 
(12), (15), (25), (34), (36). 

Iron in some of its forms and combinations is highly necessary 
(61), (71), (73), (349). 

Gargles will frequently do much good (227), (229), (230), (235), 
(243), (244), (347), (350). 

The diet must be simple, nourishing, and digestible, consisting of 
stale bread, tender beefsteak, broths, etc. 


Inflammation of the Breast. — Broken Breast.— 

Mammary Abscess. 

The mammary gland, or gland which secretes milk in the human 
breast, consists of a number of ducts, passing inward from their ter¬ 
mination in the nipple, and then spreading around 
like the roots of a tree, and terminating in minute 
glands. The mammillary tubes are straight ducts, 
ten or twelve in number, having their mouths at 
the centre of the nipple, dilating at its base into 
larger reservoirs, which extend some distance into 
the gland. (Fig. 146.) 

When milk is first formed, after confinement, 
these tubes and reservoirs sometimes get so full 
and hard that they crowd and compress each other, 
making it difficult to remove the milk, and under 
these circumstances, the breast will inflame. fio. i«. 




w 



478 


FEMALE DISEASES. 


Symptoms. —The inflammation generally begins with a chill, fol¬ 
lowed by fever, and pain of a shooting kind, which is much increased 
by pressure. An examination will generally reveal a circumscribed, 
hard, and painful tumor, even before there is any redness on the sur¬ 
face. After a time, the swelling spreads, the skin becomes of a dusky 
red, is hot and shining, will frequently pit a little on pressure, and 
soon gives a sense of fluctuation. Upon the formation of matter, the 
breast is enlargsd, and there is local tenderness and throbbing pain. 

This complaint may be caused by taking cold, irregularities in 
diet, or by mental emotion; but more commonly it is caused by ac¬ 
cumulation of milk within the ducts ; still more commonly by septic 
matter from the uterus entering the circulation and causing a local¬ 
ized blood-poisoning. 

Treatment. — These afflictions may generally be prevented by 
keeping the breasts well drawn. It is the duty of a nurse to look 
well after this matter, and see that the breasts do not get hard and 
distended with milk. 

But when the inflammation has fairly set in, the first aim should 
be to prevent, if possible, the formation of matter. 

Active purging should be resorted to at once (29), (32). Sweating 
should be encouraged by the tincture of veratrum viride. If the ob¬ 
ject be to prevent the formation of matter, cold lotions, or cold water 
compresses should be used freely; but if two or three days have passed 
before active treatment, the suppuration will go on, and it is better to 
use warm applications. Dewees says warm vinegar is the most bene¬ 
ficial as well as the most comforting. Poultices and warm fomenta¬ 
tions are much used. Some apply stimulating liniments, made of 
essential oils, etc. (195), (198). Leeches are often used with advan¬ 
tage. They should be applied, not upon the breast, but just below it. 

During the progress of the disease, especially after the abscess is 
opened, the breast should be supported, and prevented from hanging 
down, by long strips of adhesive plaster carried below and around it. 
By this means a gentle pressure is kept up by which the matter is 
more easily evacuated. 

The breast should be opened with a lancet as soon as the abscess 
points, or fluctuation is discovered. Should the ulcer not heal, an 
astringent wash, such as a weak solution of nitrate of silver (211), 
may be applied to it once or twice a day. 

During the discharge of matter, the system of the patient should 
be supported by a nourishing diet, wine, tonics, etc. To lift up the 
breasts, and at the same time gently compress them with a gauze or 
thin flannel bandage, is one of the best methods of treatment. 

Sore Nipples, 

Women suffering from excoriated nipples are apt to keep the infant 
chiefly to the healthy breast, and only to apply it to the tender side 
for the purpose of obtaining present ease from the pain of over-dis- 


FEMALE DISEASES. 


479 


tension. In this way the ducts remain always full, and are apt to 
get inflamed. Sore nipples, therefore, are to be attended to as much 
on account of the evils to which they lead, as of the suffering they 
directly occasion. 

The excoriation of the nipples hegines as a chap. This shows no 
tendency to heal; and the child’s mouth being often applied, rubs 
off the skin around the crack, and this naked surface soon becomes 
an ulcer. These ulcers are sometimes only on the surface; at other 
times they are profound, going deep into the substance of the nipple. 

Treatment. — These excoriations and ulcers might be easily healed, 
were it not that the newly-formed skin is apt to be continually rubbed 
off by the child’s mouth in the act of nursing. Two things are there¬ 
fore to be done, — to favor the healing, and to protect the tender part 
from renewed injury. 

For the first object, a strong infusion of green tea or port wine may 
answer very well in ordinary cases. A little alum or borax, dissolved 
in rosewater, or water (201), (202), is often used. A weak solution 
of sulphate of zinc, or sulphate of copper, or nitrate of silver (209), 
(211). But one of the very best articles is composed of glycerine 
and tannin (306). 

To protect the nipple from injury in the act of sucking, use a shield 
made of India-rubber. When the infant is not at the breast, the 
nipple should be covered by a shield. 


MAEEIED LADIES’ PEEPETUAL CALENDAE 


The utility of these tables, serving as a faithful and confidential friend in 
matters of urgent interest, cannot fail of being perceived. The young and 
newly-married might be spared an unpleasant amount of embarrassment by 
consulting the Calendar as to the time of confinement, which, in reckoning 
the full period of gestation 280 days from conception, may be very nearly ap¬ 
proximated; or, in the event of the time of conception being uncertain, from 
the period of quickening, which she can usually note, she may reckon 140 
days. It will be perceived that the Calendar has three columns of figures, de¬ 
noting the days of the months noted at the head of each. The first column 
gives the date of conception; the second, that of the period of quickening; 
and the third, that of delivery. Thus, if a lady dates the period of conception 
January 1, the quickening will occur May 20, and confinement about the 8th 
of October following; or, if she is ignorant of the time of conception, by con¬ 
sulting the middle column as to the time of quickening, if it occurs May 20, 
she may expect her confinement to occur about the 8tli of October following, 
or 140 days after the period of quickening. The date in the first column is 
that of conception; the corresponding date in the second column is that of 
quickening; and the corresponding date in the third column that of confine¬ 
ment. 


January. 

February. 

March. 

April. 

Concep- 

Quick- 

Deliv- 

Concep- 

Quick- 

Deliv- 

Concep- 

Quick- 

Deliv- 

Concep- 

Quick- 

Deliv- 

tion. 

ening. 

ery. 

tion. 

ening. 

ery. 

tion. 

ening. 

ery. 

tion. 

ening. 

ery. 

Jan. 

May 

Oct. 

Feb. 

June 

Nov. 

March 

July 

Dec. 

April 

Aug. 

Jan. 

1 

20 

8 

1 

20 

8 

1 

18 

6 

1 

18 

6 

2 

21 

9 

2 

21 

9 

2 

19 

7 

2 

19 

7 

3 

22 

10 

3 

22 

10 

3 

20 

8 

5 

20 

8 

4 

23 

11 

4 

23 

11 

4 

21 

9 

4 

21 

9 

5 

24 

12 

5 

24 

12 

5 

22 

10 

5 

22 

10 

6 

25 

13 

6 

25 

13 

6 

23 

11 

6 

23 

11 

7 

26 

14 

7 

26 

14 

7 

24 

12 

7 

24 

12 

8 

27 

15 

8 

27 

15 

8 

25 

13 

8 

25 

13 

9 

28 

16 

9 

28 

16 

9 

26 

14 

9 

26 

14 

10 

29 

17 

10 

29 

17 

10 

27 

15 

10 

27 

15 

11 

30 

18 

11 

30 

18 

11 

28 

16 

11 

28 

16 

12 

31 

19 


July 


12 

29 

17 

12 

29 

17 


June 


12 

1 

19 

13 

30 

18 

13 

30 

18 

13 

1 

20 

13 

2 

20 

14 

31 

19 

14 

31 

19 

14 

2 

21 

14 

3 

21 


Aug. 



Sept. 


15 

3 

22 

15 

4 

22 

15 

1 

20 

15 

1 

20 

16 

4 

23 

16 

5 

23 

16 

2 

21 

16 

2 

21 

17 

5 

24 

17 

6 

24 

17 

3 

22 

17 

3 

22 

18 

6 

25 

18 

7 

25 

18 

4 

23 

18 

4 

23 

19 

7 

26 

19 

8 

26 

19 

5 

24 

19 

5 

24 

20 

8 

27 

20 

9 

27 

20 

6 

25 

20 

6 

25 

21 

9 

28 

21 

10 

28 

21 

7 

26 

21 

7 

26 

22 

10 

29 

22 

11 

29 

22 

8 

27 

22 

8 

27 

23 

11 

30 

23 

12 

30 

23 

9 

28 

23 

9 

28 

24 

12 

31 



Dec. 

24 

10 

29 

24 

10 

29 



Nov. 

24 

13 

1 

25 

11 

30 

25 

11 

30 

25 

13 

1 

25 

14 

2 

26 

12 

31 

26 

12 

31 

26 

14 

2 

26 

15 

3 



Jan. 



Feb. 

27 

15 

3 

27 

16 

4 

27 

13 

1 

27 

13 

1 

28 

16 

4 

28 

17 

5 

28 

14 

2 

28 

14 

2 

29 

17 

5 




29 

16 

3 

29 

15 

3 

30 

18 

6 




30 

16 

4 

30 

16 

4 

31 

19 

7 




31 

17 

5 





480 














MARRIED ladies’ PERPETUAL CALENDAR. 


481 


May. 

June. 

July. 

August. 

Conctp- 

Quick- 

Deliv- 

Con cep- 

Quick- 

Deliv- 

Concep- 

Quick- 

Deliv- 

Concep- 

Quick- 

Deliv- 

tion 

ening. 

ery. 

tion. 

ening. 

ery. 

tion. 

ening. 

ery. 

tion. 

ening. 

ery. 

May 

Sept. 

Feb. 

June 

Oct. 

March 

July 

Nov. 

April 

Aug. 

Dec. 

May 

1 

17 

5 

1 

18 

8 

1 

17 

7 

1 

18 

8 

2 

18 

6 

2 

19 

9 

2 

18 

8 

2 

19 

9 

3 

19 

7 

3 

20 

10 

3 

19 

9 

3 

20 

10 

4 

20 

8 

4 

21 

11 

4 

20 

10 

4 

21 

11 

6 

21 

9 

5 

22 

12 

5 

21 

11 

5 

22 

12 

6 

22 

10 

6 

23 

13 

6 

22 

12 

6 

23 

13 

7 

23 

11 

7 

24 

14 

7 

23 

13 

7 

24 

14 

8 

24 

12 

8 

25 

15 

8 

24 

14 

8 

25 

15 

9 

25 

13 

9 

26 

16 

9 

25 

15 

9 

26 

16 

10 

26 

14 

10 

27 

17 

10 

26 

16 

10 

27 

17 

11 

27 

15 

11 

28 

18 

11 

27 

17 

11 

28 

18 

12 

28 

16 

12 

29 

19 

12 

28 

18 

12 

29 

19 

13 

29 

17 

13 

30 

20 

13 

29 

19 

13 

30 

20 

14 

30 

18 

14 

31 

21 

14 

30 

20 

14 

31 

21 


Oct. 



Nov. 



Dec. 



Jan. 


15 

1 

19 

15 

1 

22 

15 

1 

21 . 

15 

1 

22 

16 

2 

20 • 

16 

2 

23 

16 

2 

22 

16 

2 

23 

17 

3 

21 

17 

3 

24 

17 

3 

23 

17 

3 

24 

18 

4 

22 

18 

4 

25 

18 

4 

24 

18 

4 

25 

19 

5 

23 

19 

5 

26 

19 

5 

25 

19 

5 

26 

20 

6 

24 

20 

6 

27 

20 

6 

26 

20 

6 

27 

21 

7 

25 

21 

7 

28 

21 

7 

27 

21 

7 

28 

22 

8 

26 

22 

8 

29 

22 

8 

28 

22 

8 

29 

23 

9 

27 

23 

9 

30 

23 

9 

29 

23 

9 

30 

24 

10 

28 

24 

10 

31 

24 

10 

30 

24 

10 

31 



March 



April 



May 



Juno 

25 

11 

1 

25 

11 

1 

25 

11 

1 

25 

11 

1 

26 

12 

2 

26 

12 

2 

26 

12 

2 

26 

12 

2 

27 

13 

3 

27 

13 

3 

27 

13 

3 

27 

13 

3 

28 

14 

4 

28 

14 

4 

28 

14 

4 

28 

14 

4 

29 

15 

5 

29 

15 

5 

29 

15 

5 

29 

15 

5 

30 

16 

6 

30 

16 

6 

30 

16 

6 

30 

16 

6 

31 

17 

7 




31 

17 

7 

31 

17 

7 

September. 

October. 

November. 

December. 

Con cep- 

Quick- 

Deliv- 

Concep- 

Quick- 

Deliv- 

Concep- 

Quick- 

Deliv- 

Concep- 

Quick- 

Deliv- 

tion. 

ning. 

ery. 

tion. 

ening. 

ery. 

tion. 

ening. 

ery. 

tion. 

ening. 

try. 

Sept. 

Jan. 

June 

Oct. 

Feb. 

July 

Nov. 

March 

Aug. 

Dec. 

April 

Sept. 

1 

18 

8 

1 

17 

8 

1 

20 

8 

1 

19 

7 

2 

19 

9 

2 

18 

9 

2 

21 

9 

2 

20 

8 

3 

20 

10 

3 

19 

10 

3 

22 

10 

3 

21 

9 

4 

21 

11 

4 

20 

11 

4 

23 

11 

4 

22 

10 

5 

22 

12 

5 

21 

12 

5 

24 

12 

5 

23 

11 

6 

23 

13 

6 

22 

13 

6 

25 

13 

6 

24 

12 

7 

24 

14 

7 

23 

14 

7 

26 

14 

7 

25 

13 

8 

25 

15 

8 

24 

15 

8 

27 

15 

8 

26 

14 

9 

26 

16 

9 

25 

16 

9 

28 

16 

9 

27 

15 

10 

27 

17 

10 

26 

17 

10 

29 

17 

10 

28 

16 

11 

28 

18 

11 

27 

18 

11 

30 

18 

11 

29 

17 

12 

29 

19 

12 

28 

19 

12 

31 

19 

12 

30 

18 

13 

30 

20 


March 



April 



May 


14 

31 

21 

13 

1 

20 

13 

1 

20 

13 

1 

19 


Feb. 


14 

2 

21 

14 

2 

21 

14 

2 

20 

15 

1 

22 

15 

3 

22 

15 

3 

22 

15 

3 

21 

16 

2 

23 

16 

4 

23 

16 

4 

23 

16 

4 

22 

17 

3 

24 

17 

5 

24 

17 

5 

24 

17 

5 

23 

18 

4 

25 

18 

6 

25 

18 

6 

25 

18 

6 

24 

19 

5 

26 

19 

7 

26 

19 

7 

26 

19 

7 

25 

20 

6 

27 

20 

8 

27 

20 

8 

27 

20 

8 

26 

21 

7 

28 

21 

9 

28 

21 

9 

28 

21 

9 

27 

22 

8 

29 

22 

10 

29 

22 

10 

29 

22 

10 

28 

23 

9 

30 

23 

11 

30 

23 

11 

30 

23 

11 

29 



July 

24 

12 

31 

24 

12 

31 

24 

12 

30 

24 

10 

1 



Aug. 



Sept. 



Oct. 

25 

11 

2 

25 

13 

1 

25 

13 

1 

25 

13 

1 

26 

12 

3 

26 

14 

2 

26 

14 

2 

26 

14 

2 ■ 

27 

13 

4 

27 

15 

3 

27 

15 

3 

27 

15 

3 

28 

14 

5 

28 

16 

4 

28 

16 

4 

28 

16 

4 

29 

15 

6 

29 

17 

5 

29 

17 

5 

29 

17 

5 

X 

16 

7 

30 

18 

6 

30 

18 

6 

30 

18 

6 




31 

19 

7 




31 

19 

7 






















CARE OF CHILDREN 

AND THEIR DISEASES 


A thofougfh an^ concise discotirse on the care and rearmgf of 
children; the prevention and cure of all the 
complaints and diseases they 
are subject to. 




CARE OF CHILDREN AND THEIR 
DISEASES. 


Pure Air. —The first want of a child is a plenty of fresh air; and 
this want never ceases to the end of life. Impure air kills thousands 
of infants. Out of 7,650 born in the lying-in hospital of Dublin, 
2,944 were destroyed by impure air within two weeks after birth. 

Children should be kept in the open air as much as possible, and 
in well-ventilated rooms when indoors. It is wrong, when infants are 
sleeping, to cover their faces with bed-clothes, or draw curtains around 
their cots, or to envelop their heads in blankets and shawls when 
carried in the open air. 

The Skin. — The health of infants requires that their skin should 
be kept clean. Unless this is done they are liable to suffer much 
from cutaneous and other diseases. The skin of a new-born child 
is covered with a white, unctuous matter, called the vernix caseosa. 
It is injurious to let this remain for any length of time after birth. 
To remove this. Dr. Dewees recommends that the child be smeared 
with hog’s lard or sweet oil, and then washed with soap and water. 
Dr. Eberle says, smear with yolk of egg, and then wash with simple 
warm water. 

The young child should be washed every day with warm water, — 
then, after a time, with tepid water, then with temperate, and finally, 
after it is some months old, with cold water. This, if persevered in 
through childhood and youth, will ward off a thousand ills and sick¬ 
nesses to which the yo^ng are liable. 

The Clothing of Children should be so adjusted as to give their 
limbs ample play, and should be thick enough to keep them warm. 
They ought to have flannel next the skin in winter, and cotton in 
summer. At the risk of wounding some nice people’s feelings, I 
must add that the fashion of a child’s clothes is not important. 

The Food. —The natural and proper food of a young child is its 
mother’s milk. To this it should be confined, unless prohibited by 
imperative circumstances, until a portion of the teeth are cut. When 
the mother cannot nurse her child, the breast of a suitable nurse 
should, if possible, be supplied. If the infant need any more food 

483 



484 


CARE OF CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 


than is supplied by the breast, give cow’s milk and water, sweeteneo 
with a little loaf sugar. The nursing bottle, if used, must never be 
permitted to get sour. 

Health of a Nursing Woman. — During nursing the greatest at¬ 
tention to health is required by the mother or the nurse. A woman 
of a consumptive constitution should never nurse an infant. Nour¬ 
ished at the breast of such a mother, the child, who has inherited her 
constitution, will be the more likely to fall a victim to her disease. 

Passions of a Nursing Woman. — Let the woman who nurses a 
young child be careful of her passions. An irritable disposition, giv¬ 
ing rise to gusts of violent passion, may so alter the character of the 
milk as to throw the child into convulsions. Grief, envy, hatred, fear, 
jealousy, and peevishness, unfit the milk for nourishing the child, and 
often cause the child’s stomach to be much disordered. 

The Diet of the Nurse should receive strict attention. It should 
be plain and wholesome, and the amount should never be excessive. 
Her drink should be simply water and non-stimulating and nourish¬ 
ing drinks such as the various preparations of cocoa, etc. She should 
take gentle daily exercise in the open air. 

Wet Nurses. — If for any reason it should be necessary to wean 
the baby, or the mother cannot nurse the child, then we must select 
a food the most like that of the mother. 

Wet-nurses formerly were quite popular among the well-to-do to 
supply this food; but as in her selection there are so many exacting 
requirements, she is fast becoming obsolete. There are three requi 
sites for a good wet-nurse: she must be of good health, of good moral 
character, and be able to supply plenty of good healthy milk. 

If she has any tubercular, scrofulous, syphilitic, insane or osseous 
history; if she is menstruating, or pregnant, or is in anywise below par 
in health, she is necessarily disqualified as a nurse for any child; 
only your physician may be able to detect these evidences and per¬ 
haps not even he. If, on the other hand, she is occasionally given 
to blues, has a violent temper, is jealous, or fretful, or worries about 
her own child, or goes into dangerous company when away from the 
house, then you have added a second disqualification. Again, her 
supply of milk must be good as shown by an analysis and the health 
and growth of her own child. A nurse may pass muster to-day in 
reference to this third requisite, but perhaps not in a week from to- 
day. 

Seeing that the average wet-nurse comes from a lower stratum of 
society, even if not from the criminal class, that she is in consequence 
more liable to acquired disease and contagion, that she is more than 
likely to bring trouble into the household rather than to relieve the 
household of it, it will be extremely difficult for you to find such a 
person as can furnish all the required conditions of a safe wet-nurse. 



Hold the baby this way. 


Not this way. 



To quiet the baby. 


Hold the baby this way when feeding. 


















486 


CARE OF CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASBS. 


It has been found, therefore, that artificial feeding gives better satis- 
faction and is quite as safe. 

Nursing Bottles. — There are nursing bottles innumerable, few of 
which are of practical value. A simple bottle with plain black nip¬ 
ple is all that is requisite for successful feeding at the hands of a 
careful and cleanly mother or nurse. There should be several bottles 
and several nipples, the latter to be kept in soda water or other sim¬ 
ple alkaline solution when not in use. A pinch of soda to a cup of 
water is of sufficient strength. After a bottle has been used it should 
be thoroughly scalded with hot water and soda and finally set away 
filled to the brim with this same solution, till later in the day. 
Meanwhile, a fresh bottle and a fresh nipple is used, they having 
first been cleansed with the above solution. The best bottle, how¬ 
ever, for nursing in those cases, where for want of time and means 
the bottle cannot be held by mother or nurse, is one called ‘‘ The 
Best.” See Figs. 147 and 148, This bottle, like many others, al- 



FiG. 147. 


lows of its resting on the bed, but, unlike many others, it is very 
readily cleansed, is of easy suction and has a nipple which does not 
collapse. The accompanying cuts and description are worthy of at¬ 
tention. The peculiar feature of the bottle is a valve or air-inlet 
in the end admitting air back of the food, thus rendering suction 
easy. This valve does not leak and cannot be pulled off by the baby, 
but is easily cleansed and adjusted. Whatever else you may do with 
the bottle, above all things keep it clean, not only to outward ap¬ 
pearances, but by actually scalding and soaking in soda solution up 
to the very time of its use. 

Food for Infants. — It has been found that mother’s milk, whicli 
of course is the best food for babies, is composed on the average of 
the following ingredients: water 87, fat, 4, casein 1, sugar 7, ash 1, 
and slightly alkaline in reaction. 

Now, ordinary cow’s milk has the following composition: water 
87, fat 3.7, casein 2.9, sugar 4.9, ash .4; it is slightly acid. 





CARE OF CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 


487 


W 0 can therefore see that if we take cow’s milk and dilute it with 
water sufficiently, we diminish the amount of casein to that of 
mother’s milk, and by the addition of cream, milk, sugar and lime- 
water, we raise these constituents to the standard found in human 
milk. This mixture, known among medical men as the “ Meigs’ 
Cream Mixture,” is the basis of all modern compounds for artificial 
feeding. 

Milk, as ordinarily received from the milkman, swarms with bac¬ 
teria and germ-life which, under favorable conditions, quickly changes 
the milk and renders it unfit for easy and proper digestion. Milk 
from the mother is devoid of these germs, or, as medical men say, 
it is sterile. This attribute then is in reality quite as important as 
the proper constituency of milk. The process of making cow’s milk 
sterile is called sterilization^ of which we will speak shortly. 

Temperature of Milk. — Mother’s milk is of the same heat as the 
body, or nearly so; hence common sense dictates that the artificial 
food must be of that degree of heat, or, about 98° Farenheit. 

Quantity and Interval of Feedings. — The capacity of a baby^ 
stomach and the length of time food remains in it are matters of ex¬ 
perience. Herewith is appended a table covering the general rules 
of feeding infants and especially adapted to milk and cream mixture 
of which we will now speak. 

GENERAL RULES FOR FEEDING. 


A-OE. 

Interval. 

Hours. 

Feedings in 

24 Hours. 

Amount at 
each Feeding. 
Ounces. 

Amount in 

24 Hours. 
Ounces. 

1st week. 

2 

10 

1 

10 

1st to 6th week .... 

21- 

8 

1^ to 2 

12 to 16 

6th week to 6th month . . 

3 

6 

3 to 4 

18 to 24 

At 6 months. 

3 

6 

6 

36 

At 10 months. 

3 

5 

8 

40 


— Dr. F. M. Rotch, Keating’s Cyc. Dis. Children. 


Based on the average analysis of mother’s milk, i. e., 7 parts 
sugar, 4 of fat, and 1 of albuminoids, we must take : cream IJ ounces, 
milk 1 ounce, water 5 ounces, lime-water ^ ounce, sugar of milk 3 
to 31 drachms. 

The milk-sugar is to be obtained at the druggist’s. This gives an 
eight-ounce mixture, so that for a baby four weeks old (see table) 
Ave need to take about one-half or three-fourths more of this mixture; 
for a baby six months three times this amount, and so on. For a 
child newly born, after the first few days, when only a little should 
be given, only slightly more of these ingredients should be used than 
in above formula. 

The prescriptions which could be used for the first week of nurs¬ 
ing would be much changed at the time of weaning, so that one 













CARE OF CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 


488 

formula is too arbitrary to be of general use. Therefore while the one 
given is useful at a certain period, it is best to have several formulse 
to work upon in order that should one prove too strong or too weak 
another one may be tried. Therefore, after the first week if the 
child is not thriving on the mother’s breast and it is necessary to 
feed it artificially we may take a mixture of 5 ounces of cream, 1 
ounce of lime water, 14 ounces of plain water sterilized to which 
we add 8 teaspoonfuls of sugar of milk. About three or four table¬ 
spoonfuls should be fed every two hours. For a child two to six 
months old, we take 16 ounces of cream, 5 ounces of milk, 2 ounces 
of lime water and 18 ounces of sterilized water to which we add a 
teaspoonful of sugar of milk. For a child ten months old we take 
16 ounces of cream, 15 ounces of milk, 2 ounces of lime water, seven 
ounces of ordinary water and a teaspoonful of milk sugar. The 
amount given at each feeding should be according to the table given. 
It will be noticed that the proportions of milk to water increase in 
favor of the milk as the age of the child increases, so that by weaning 
time the child is much better able to digest undiluted milk. Any 
formula may be modified in any of the proportions given to meet an 
individual case. The cream that is spoken of, means the top of a 
can of milk that has stood six or eight hours. It may be scooped 
off with a cup or removed by siphonage, the addition of lime water 
is always necessary as cow’s milk is usually acid and the child’s stomach 
is constructed to digest an alkaline food. 

When the back teeth, or molars, have come through, then, for the 
first time, bread, rice, and soft-boiled egg may be added. 

Oatmeal jelly may be prepared by boiling a quarter of a pound of 
oatmeal, in a quart of water, down to one pint. This mixture is then 
to be diluted with an equal quantity of boiled water and strained 
through a cloth. Should the oatmeal prove too laxative for the 
child, barley jelly may be made in the same way. 

Sterilization of Milk.—We have seen how much more important 
than the kind of nursing-bottle that may be selected is the kind and 
quality of food put into that bottle. To complete our consideration 
of the best artificial food, we must know how to render the milk free 
from bacterial life; this process is called sterilization, and may be 
accomplished in a simple way as follows: into as many bottles, which 
have been previously scalded and cleansed, as there are to be feed¬ 
ings in the twenty-four hours, pour that quantity of the milk mixture 
which is to be given at a feeding; place these bottles, with absorbent 
cotton in the mouths, into a kettle filled with water up to the level 
of the milk in the bottles, and allow the water to rise to 170° Faren- 
heit, when the kettle is removed to a warm part of the stove and 
covered for about half an hour. The bottles should then be kept in 
a cold place till used, when they are to be heated just sufficiently to 
correspond to the body heat. These bottles come ready made, 
also a rack in which to rest them in the kettle. They should be, in 


CARE OF CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 


489 


reality, specially made bottles, and are to be obtained at any drug¬ 
store. They are ready for the baby’s use after removing the cotton and 
attaching the nipple. One may, however, sterilize the entire feeding 
of the twenty-four hours, or for twelve hours, as thought best, in any 
clean, thin bottle or jar, and pour out the given amount required at 
each feeding; but there is some danger of spoiling the sterilization by 
so much handling. Should it be desirable to prepare milk to keep for a 
longer time, it will then be necessary to sterilize at a greater heat 
(212°), and to repeat the process two or three times. Such milk is 
supplied nowadays in the larger cities by companies who will express 
it daily to one’s address. 

With the appearance of greenish colored, foul smelling stools, we 
may assume that fermentation processes are taking place and very 
little can be accomplished in the way of relief until the trouble has 
been swept away. A sudden change of weather most likely to occur 
when a warm day suddenly changes to a cold one, milk that has not 
been properly sterilized or has been opened in places where it could 
absorb odors, in an ice chest or near vegetables, or again where it 
comes from cows more or less unhealthy, or kept in bad surroundings 
may cause this trouble even without the child having other sickness. 
Small doses of calomel best given in 1-10 grain doses every half hour 
until the bowels have moved two or three times or until 12 to 20 
doses have been given. Following the movement of the bowels 
when the calomel is to be stopped we give some simple astringent 
like bismuth subnitrate in 5 grain doses every two hours to coat the 
bowels and soothe inflammation. 

Weaning.—At the end of twelve months, the first set of teeth are 
generally so far cut that the child can manage most kinds of plain 
food; and it may now be taken from the breast. Should the teeth 
appear earlier, and the infant be healthy, it may be weaned even at 
the end of the tenth month. Never take the child from the breast in 
the midst of summer heat. A disordered state of the bowels, or 
cholera infantum, would be likely to be the result. The spring and 
the autumn are the proper periods for weaning. 

If for some months it has been accustomed to other food besides 
the milk of the mother, it may be taken suddenly from the breast. 
It must not have any amount of solid food it may crave immediately 
after weaning. It should still be kept, for some time, upon a simple, 
bland, half-fluid aliment, taken in moderate quantities, and at proper 
intervals. At first, the food should be bread and milk, boiled rice and 
milk, soft-boiled eggs, oatmeal gruel, plain rice-pudding, preparations 
of arrowroot, tapioca and sago, simple meat>-broths, mixed with 
crumbs of bread or grated cracl^ers, or in which rice or barley has been 
well boiled. From this it may pass gradually to a more solid diet; 
though, until the age of puberty, the principal part of the diet should 
be milk, the farinaceous articles, and vegetables. Sugar has been 
thought to be injurious to children. It is not so. If taken moder- 


490 


CARE OF CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 


ately, at meal-times, it is wholesome. Lately a new form of choco¬ 
late has come into use, called Kraft-chocolate^ made in Germany. It 
is prepared with cocoa-butter and comes in small cakes, is easily di¬ 
gested, nourishing, and supplies sweets in a very acceptable and 
strengthening form. 

Whatever be the food allowed to children, it should never be taken 
in excess; and to prevent this, they ought not to take their meals 
alone; for they have very keen appetites, and if permitted to do so, 
they will generally form habits of gluttony. Three or four light 
meals a day is enough. 

Their drink should be water simply, — nothing else. 

If parents would observe these rules, and enforce them strictly, they 
would confer blessings upon their children greater than riches. They 
would send them into the world with health and good constitutions, 
and would save them from untold misery and an early death. Such 
a course would evince more love for their children than those weak 
concessions which allow tea and coffee, and all sorts of food, in quan¬ 
tities to suit, which occasion early disorders of the stomach and 
bowels, and bring later derangements of the nervous system, with 
all its regrets and horrors. 

Sleep of Children. —During the first period of its existence, an 
infant sleeps a large portion of the time. This is a wise provision of 
nature. It withdraws the young child, for a time, from those outward 
exciting agents, which would too much disturb the nervous system 
of so tender a being. Whenever a young infant is restless or wakeful 
much of the time, we may feel sure it has had too much food, or is 
in some way disturbed by it, or by tight clothes, or that some other 
cause is giving it uneasy sensations. Do not make the mistake of 
thinking the child is hungry because it cries. 

Its sleep should be the promptings of nature, and should never, 
except in rare instances, be brought about by opiates. It is wrong 
and sinful for a mother or nurse to put an infant to sleep with an 
opiate, merely that she may gain time for pleasure, or even for other 
duties. 

The Infant should be kept Warm while Sleeping.— During the 
first few weeks it should sleep with its mother, especially if the 
weather be cold. After that, it may be in a cradle or cot. The 
covering should be warm, but lights so as not to press heavily upon 
its tender limbs. If laid upon its back, the fluid of its mouth and 
throat may get into the windpipe, and obstruct the breathing, or 
produce coughing. It is better, therefore, to lay the infant upon its 
side, — taking care not to produce distortion of the spine or limbs 
by always laying it upon the same side. 

Children should not be allowed to sleep either with the aged, or 
with sick persons. It is not healthful for them to breathe the exhala^ 
tions from the bodies of such. For a somewhat similar reason, some 


CARE OF CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 


491 


kinds of plants, and flowers generally, should be excluded from their 
sleeping-rooms. Their beds should be so placed as to turn their 
faces away both from the sunlight which comes in at the windows, 
and from the artificial light in the room. 

They should be taught to retire early at night, and to rise imme¬ 
diately after waking in the morning. This habit will be worth much 
to them through life. Do not form the habit of rocking the child to 
sleep. After the meconeum has passed, the bowels of an infant 
should be opened from two to four times in twenty-four hours. If 
the stools are less frequent than twice a day, or, if they are lumpy, 
some gentle cathartic is called for. From one-quarter to one-half 
teaspoonful of castoria, or a dessert-spoonful of mixture (24), an¬ 
swers a good purpose. During childhood^ the bowels should be 
moved once or twice a day. When a cathartic is required, a table¬ 
spoonful of mixture (25), or a teaspoonful of (17), will be found 
excellent. 

Exercise. — During the first few weeks of an infant’s life it requires 
but little exercise; indeed its organization is not sufficiently settled 
and compacted to permit much without injury. A little gentle rub¬ 
bing with the hand over the whole body is about all it needs or will 
bear. To dandle and toss it about, and especially to set it upright, 
is injurious and wrong. Its bones are all soft, and will not endure 
to be much twisted about, and its spine is not stiff enough to bear 
up the weight of its head. 

After a few months, riding in a carriage, by a careful and trusty 
nurse, is both a healthful and pleasurable exercise for children. 

Learning to Walk. — At the end of the ninth or tenth month, a 
child may begin to learn to walk. It is not safe to teach it this 
exercise much earlier than this, as the bones, being soft, may be 
bent by the weight of the body, and the limbs be permanently 
deformed. 

As soon as the child has learned to walk alone, it should be allowed 
perfect freedom of exercise. Thenceforward, the open air is its proper 
place during the day; and such an unrestrained use of its limbs as 
its own instincts may dictate, is its proper calling. For five years 
after it has learned to walk, it should do little else than to use its 
limbs out of doors, as it pleases. The books and the school-room 
will be in season after that. First compact the body, then bring out 
the mind. The mind is of no use without the body, — the body must 
be developed first, or never. 

Moral Treatment.—We charge upon nature many of the bad 
passions which we ourselves implant in children. The moral treat¬ 
ment of children is generally bad. We are apt to begin by either 
making them our masters or our slaves. Sometimes we do both, — 
allowing them to govern us for a time, and then, getting into a pas¬ 
sion, or a mood for playing the tyrant, we turn upon, and govern 
them as if we were autocrats. We submit to their whims until we 


492 


CARE OF CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 


grow irritable, and then, by way of retaliation, we compel them to 
submit to ours. 

This is all wrong. Children should be governed always^ but with 
an even, a gentle, and a loving hand. They should early be sub¬ 
jected to habits of self-control, and of regularity in eating and sleep¬ 
ing ; and should be taught absolute and continued obedience. All 
this can be brought about only by firmness, self-control, and great 
gentleness on the part of the parents. If they would make a child 
cheerful and happy in its disposition, they must themselves be cheer¬ 
ful, and never let it see anger, passion, and fretfulness, marring their 
conduct. Nothing is more injurious to the health of a child than a 
peevish, complaining, and soured disposition; and these vices are 
seldom acquired, unless seen in the lives of parents. 

How to Nurse Sick Children. 

As the education of the young, whether religious, moral, or intel¬ 
lectual, is more important than that of adults, so is the care of their 
physical life of more importance. Death aims to “ out-Herod Herod,” 
and seeks the life of all infants, male and female, and in fact destroys 
one-half of all below the age of five years. 

But few know how to train and take care of children. It is a still 
more rare gift to know how to nurse them when sick. No person 
can properly nurse sick children who is in feeble health, or has a 
fretful temper, or is low-spirited: for she can neither endure the 
fatigue, nor bear the trials, nor hear the prattle which such a respon¬ 
sibility would bring. Some will manage a well child very well, who 
are not fit to have the care of a sick one; for there is a great differ¬ 
ence between a child when well, and the same child when sick. 
When well, and full of fun and frolic and life, laughing and jump¬ 
ing and shouting aloud for very joy at being alive, it is an easy thing 
for a person of even a morose temper to attend upon them. But 
when sickness comes, and the child’s playfulness is all laid aside; 
when it becomes so fretful that nothing goes right with it; when it 
cries to be laid down, and then cries to be taken up; stretches out its 
hand for drink, and pushes away the cup when it is presented, — 
apparently made more angry by your attempts to serve it; —when 
these things are repeated day and night, until the nurse is weary and 
exhausted, and even a change of disease and amendment only brings 
a cross and fractious temper, it is only by possessing peculiar qualifica¬ 
tions that the nurse can maintain an even and unruffled disposition. 

While passing through such scenes, it is hard for the nurse to re¬ 
member that sickness does not destroy the little loving heart, but only 
hides its affection for a short time. 

Signs of Disease in Children. —It is important that the nurse of 
sick children should know what to observe, and the meaning of the 
signs of disease. A baby has only cries to express its sick feelings. 
To one person, these cries mean no more than that the baby has some 


CARE OF CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 


493 


sort of illness. To another, with more experience and better powers 
of observation, they point to the head, or chest, or stomach as the dis¬ 
order. A baby with the stomach-ache utters long^ loud^ and passion- 
ate cries^ and sheds tears plentifully. Suddenly it stops for a moment, 
and then begins again, drawing up its legs to the stomach, and as the 
pain passes off, stretching them out again, and with many sobs, pass¬ 
ing off into a gentle sleep. 

If there be inflammation in the chest, it neither cries loud^ nor sheds 
tears., but after every long breath or hacking cough, it utters a short 
cry., which is cut off before it is half finished., — apparently because 
crying is painful. 

If the disease be in the head, the cries will be sharp., piercing shriekst 
with low moans and wails between. Or, there will be quiet dozing, 
interrupted by startling pains. 

When a child is taken ill, whatever the disease which is impending, 
there is always a change of some sort, which soon attracts attention. 
It either loses its appetite, or is fretful, or soon tired, or sleepy, or 
restless, or thirsty, or has a hot skin, or, rather, has a number of these 
symptoms. It vomits, or is purged or bound in its bowels. It loses 
its merry laugh and cheerful look; it no longer watches its mother’s 
or its nurse’s eye, as before, but clings to her more closely, and will 
not be out of her arms a moment. If lulled to sleep in her arms, it 
wakes immediately on being placed in its cot. 

Such symptoms often continue a day or two before it can be de¬ 
termined what disease is impending. An intelligent nurse may do 
much towards solving the question. It is frequently proper at such 
times to place the child in a warm bath. When stripped for the 
bath, it should be carefully examined to see if there is any rash upon 
its body. If it be a rash from which it is about to suffer, the bath 
will help bring it out. The rash should be looked for at least every 
twelve hours, until the nature of the disease is determined. 

The Appearance of the Different Rashes may be distinguished 
with a little care and experience. Measles has a number of dark-red 
spots, in many places running into each other, and is generally seen 
first about the face and on the forehead, near the roots of the hair, 
and is preceded by running at the eyes and nose, and all the signs of 
a severe cold. Scarlet fever does not show separate spots, but pre¬ 
sents a general bright red color of the skin, much like a boiled lobster. 
At first there is more of it about the neck and chest than on the face, 
and it is preceded by a sore throat. Chicken-pox is attended by 
fever, but not so much running at the nose and eyes as in measles, 
nor is there so much cough. The spots, too, are smaller, and are not 
so much run together; and they come out more over the whole body. 
They appear a few hours earlier on the body than elsewhere ; and in 
a day or two they are found to be enlarged, and turn into little blad¬ 
ders of water as big as the head of a shawl-pin. (See table of com¬ 
parison of these diseases.) 


494 


CAKE OF CHILDRE]^ AND THEIR DISEASES, 


And now a few Words as to what should be Done in the sick- 
K)om of a child. The room should be kept cool^ and its temperature 
should be measured by a thermometer. This instrument, when hung 
away from tne fire, should show a temperature of about 60°. That 
is about the right degree of warmth. Sick-rooms are generally kept 
too hot. The room should be darkened; not made totally dark, but 
its light shaded down by closing the outside blinds, or by dropping 
the curtains, so as to give a kind of twilight; and the cot should 
always be so placed as to turn the little one’s face away from the 
light. The room should be kept quiet; and this requires attention 
in the whole house, as well as among the persons in the room. Those 
present should never whisper, but speak in low and gentle tones, — 
should not walk on tip-toe, but move about carefully. There is a 
fu%^y quietness which disturbs the sick far more than noise. The 
child must be spoken to, and roused from its slumbers, and turned 
from side to side, and raised for its food or medicine, with a soothing 
tenderness, and a delicacy which never forgets itself. 

In applying leeches or cold to a child, judgment is needed to suc¬ 
ceed well. The leeches should be put either beliind the ear or on top 
of the head, so that the child cannot see them. Cold is best applied 
by means of a couple of ice-bags, half filled with powdered ice, and 
wrapped in two large napkins; one of them should be placed under 
the child’s head, the corner of the napkin being pinned to the pillow¬ 
case to prevent its being disturbed, while the other is allowed to rest 
upon the head, with the corner of the napkin again pinned to the 
pillow, to take off the greater part of its weight. In this way the child 
will not be wetted, or irritated, as by the changing of wet cloths, 
nor will the cold applications get displaced by its movements. 

A word should be said respecting the nursing of children in cases 
of lung-inflammation, — an affection from which they often suffer. 
The lungs are much like two large sponges, and the air enters them 
through the windpipe ; and passing through smaller and yet smaller 
tubes, it comes at last into tiny cells, so small that they can only be 
seen by a magnifying glass. When the lungs are inflamed, some of 
the tubes become stopped up; and the very small cells are pressed 
on by the flow of more blood than natural to the part; and so the 
air enters less easily, and in smaller quantities, than it should. If 
now you let the child lie flat, it is not only less able to draw a deep 
breath, and fill the lungs, but the blood also flowing to the inflamed 
portion of the lung, returns less easily than if the child were propped 
up in bed. When a whitlow is on the finger, if the hand be hung 
down, the inflamed finger will become redder, and will beat and 
throb so as hardly to be endured, while, if the hand be raised, the 
pain will abate. The same increase of pain does not follow an accu¬ 
mulation of blood in an inflamed lung, because the lung is not as 
sensitive as the finger; but the consequences are very serious. The 
air-cells being more and more pressed upon, the admission of air is 


CARE OF CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 


495 


more and more difficult, until, at length, a large part of the lungs is 
rendered useless, and the child dies. 

In this disease, the temperature of the room needs attention. The 
air should not be quite so cool as in other diseases. From 60° to 65° 
is about right. 

Of course crying will irritate inflamed lungs, and it is all important 
that a child sick with this disease should be soothed and quieted as 
much as possible. Every good nurse knows how to do this better 
than any rules can teach her. 

Sometimes sickness and vomiting, from which a child may suffer, 
are increased by want of judgment in giving food and drink. When 
there is nausea, the stomach will bear only very small quantities of 
food at a time, while cold drinks are almost always borne much bet¬ 
ter than warm. When there is nausea, it is best, for an hour or two, 
not to attempt to give any food or drink. After the stomach has been 
thus completely rested, give a single teaspoonful of cold water. If 
this is not thrown up, it may be succeeded, in ten or fifteen minutes, 
by a second or a third. If this is borne, give a little water thickened 
with isinglass, or cold barley-water, or cold milk and water; and 
then, with the same precautions, and in very small quantities, beef 
tea, or chicken broth, or whatever else the doctor in attendance may 
direct. The smallness of quantity, the coldness of the articles, and 
the giving it without moving or disturbing the child, if possible, are 
the important points to be attended to. 

It is of great consequence that children suffering from diarrhoea 
should have their skin kept very clean. The pores should be kept 
well open, so that the fluid matter which is passing off by the bowels, 
and through the mucous membrane or inner skin, may be diverted to 
the outer skin. In this disease, the skin of children is apt to become 
irritable, or even sore. In these cases, soap and water are quite apt 
to increase the soreness, while a little starch, made as for use upon 
clean clothes, though much thinner, will, if used in place of soap, 
very much soothe the inflamed skin. 

A child much exhausted by diarrhoea, or other disease, should be 
moved or lifted out of its cot or cradle as little as possible. Sud¬ 
denly moving it when very weak may cause fainting, or even con¬ 
vulsions. Let it be sponged and cleaned by merely turning it, with 
great gentleness, from side to side. 

In such cases, too, the child should be supported with proper nour¬ 
ishment. When worn down by diarrhoea, its desire for food may be 
nearly lost. Though at one time it cried much, and seemed to suffer, 
it will, in this condition, grow quieter, and doze, and even sleep on 
for hours, appearing fretful only when roused. If, in such cases, the 
child be allowed to go without food because it does not seek it, or 
declines it when offered, it will sink into a deeper and deeper sleep, 
and finally into a stupor which will end in death. To give a little 
arrow-root, or broth, may now require trouble and perseverance; but 


496 


CARE OF CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 


it must be done, for upon it depends the child’s life. The effort to 
administer food must not be abandoned because once or twice, or 
several times unsuccessful, for the food which is refused one minute 
may be accepted five minutes after. 

In the various rashes from which children suffer, there is a very 
general fear of washing the surface lest the rash be driven in. There 
is no ground for this fear, unless it be in measles ; and even in this 
complaint there is no danger if lukewarm water be used. If only a 
small part of the body be sponged at a time, there is nothing to fear 
even from frequent washing; and the passing of a wet sponge fre¬ 
quently over the surface is a great comfort when the skin is burning 
with fever. The same remark applies to the changing of the linen. 
The same kind of objection, and with no better reason, is often urged 
against cold water in fevers, though it is most refreshing, and if 
taken in small quantities, and often, never does harm, but often much 
good. 

The Warm Bath. — The best method of giving a child a warm 
bath is a matter of importance. There should be as little parade 
about it as possible. If the child sees the bath prepared, is taken out 
of bed, undressed and put into it smoking before its eyes, it may be 
much alarmed, and cry so passionately as to be really injured by it. 
The bath should be prepared out of its sight, and brought to the bed¬ 
side with a blanket spread over it to hide the steam. The child 
should then be laid upon the blanket, and gently let down into the 
water, and then set to play with a couple of corks with feathers stuck 
in them. 


Inflammation of the Mouth. —Erythematic Stomatitis, 

This is a simple inflammation of the mucous membrane of the 
mouth, and is very common during infancy. It may be confined to 
the tongue, or spread over the whole mouth. It is sometimes very 
severe, going down into the gullet and stomach, and into the wind¬ 
pipe. It occasions redness and pain in the mouth and fretfulness of 
the infant, causing it to quit the nipple suddenly when nursing. A 
frequent result of this inflammation is the secretion and exudation 
upon the surface of a white, matter-like curd. It appears in small 
points and patches. This is the thrush^ or what nurses call childrerCs 
sore mouth. It is commonly confined to the period of suckling. 

Treatment.—The first treatment to be tried in this trouble as well 
as the next two diseases to be described should be a saturated solution 
of boracic acid. This is practically a four per cent, solution and it may 
be made by putting a tablespoonful or so of the powder into a tumbler 
of water stirred thoroughly and let stand a little while, then pour the 
upper fluid proportion off, leaving the sediment. This fluid will be of 
four per cent, strength and may be diluted one-half for use in young 


CARE OF CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 


497 


children. After washing your hands wrap a piece of soft linen about 
the little finger, and after immersing in the fluid gently swab out the 
mucous membrane of the mouth and cleanse out the upper and 
under side of the tongue. By following this treatment directly after 
each nursing the trouble will usually be cured and a recurrence will 
be prevented. A very good prescription is a teaspoonful of chlorate 
of potash dissolved in 2 ounces of distilled water. The dose for a 
child of one to two years would be 15 drops of this mixture diluted 
with a teaspoonful of water. Older children should have proportioned 
doses up to one teaspoonful. 

Follicular Inflammation of the Mouth. — Apthae. 

This disease attacks the little glands of the mouth, called follicles 
and appears about the time of cutting teeth. Small white specks, a 
little elevated, first show themselves on the lips, insides of the cheeks, 
and under side of the tongue, etc. The specks enlarge, a whitish, 
curdy matter flows out from their centre, and ulcers are formed, with 
elevated edges, surrounded by a red, inflamed circle. Sometimes, 
instead of curdy matter, a bloody exudation takes place, and dark- 
colored crusts are formed which are mistaken for mortification. In 
bad cases, there is great restlessness, with hot mouth, dry skin, thirst, 
and diarrhoea, with green stools, and sometimes salivation. 

Treatment. — The milder forms of this disease are treated like 
simple inflammation of the mouth. If there is thirst, give several 
times a day, a spoonful of cold water, with a little gum arabic dis¬ 
solved in it. If the child be weaned at this time, its food should be 
barley or rice-water, sweetened with white sugar. An occasional 
dose of magnesia, with or without a little rhubarb, will remove the 
acid which abounds in the bowels. After ulceration has taken place, 
borax (274) will do well. When watery discharges from the bowels 
and griping pains appear, preparation (28) should be used. If the 
strength be reduced, give (69). 

Inflammation of the Gums.— Gengimtis, 

During the cutting of teeth, the gums are apt to be inflamed, red 
or livid, swelled and painful. The child is languid, Avith a hot and 
dry skin, small and quick pulse, little appetite, much thirst, and a 
tongue covered with a thick, yellowish fur. When ulceration takes 
place, and is allowed to go on, the teeth become loose, black, and 
rotten, and often soft and pulpy; a flow of fetid spittle takes place, 
the breath of the child becomes offensive, and its countenance pale 
and sallow. The gums bleed under the least pressure, and a profuse 
diarrhoea fills up the list of ills. 

Treatment.—In the first stages, mild washes to the gums, such as 
(227), will do well. Clear out the bowels at once with magnesia and 
rhubarb (26). After ulceration has taken place, use oak-bark (232), 


498 


CAEE OF CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 


or chloride of lime (227), or diluted hydrochloric acid (233). A 
daily tepid bath. If the strength be reduced, use an infusion of 
Peruvian bark, or quinine (69). 

Gangrene of the Mouth. — Canker. — Cancrum Oris, 

This disease attacks weakly children, of a lymphatic temperament, 
and having inflamed gums. It often follows intermittent, remittent, 
or bilious fever, and is also frequently connected with disease of 
stomach and bowels. 

Symptoms.—It is attended with languor, listlessness, indisposition 
to play or move about, thirst, loss of appetite, peevishness, and ina¬ 
bility to sleep. The countenance is pale and sunken, and there is a 
peculiar puckering of the cheeks about the corners of the mouth. 
The breath is bad, the gums have the appearance of salivation, the 
teeth become loose and fall from their sockets, or, if they remain, they 
become covered with a thick coating of a dirty white or ash color. 
A few ash-colored water-pimples appear upon the gums, which en¬ 
large, run together, and finally break,—presenting a black appearance 
of mortification. The gangrene, sooner or later, goes to the lips and 
cheeks. 

Treatment.—When bowel complaints exist, they are to be treated 
with the usual remedies, such as (70) or (156). If there be active 
inflammation of the gums, at first, leeches may be applied, after 
which, the inflammation being subdued, a wash of oak-bark (232) 
will be in place, with quinine given internally (69) to ward off the 
mortification. As a wash, too, a strong solution of sulphate of cop¬ 
per (234) is excellent; so is white vitriol (235), and nitrate of sil¬ 
ver (219), and creosote (236). 

The diet should be beef-tea, plain beef or mutton broth, with rice, 
milk and rice, tapioca, sago, and the like. 


Difficult Teeth-Cutting. 

Teeth-cuttikg generally begins between the ages of five and 
seven months. It is indicated by redness, heat, and tenderness of 
the gums, an increase of saliva, and, occasionally, redness of the 
cheeks, watering of the eyes, thirst and fever, with fretfulness, dis¬ 
turbed sleep, and more frequent motions of the bowels, a little more 
fluid than usual, and sometimes of a greenish hue. As the tooth 
comes near the surface, the child holds its fingers in its mouth and 
presses the gums harder upon the nipple when nursing. Beside 
these milder symptoms, there are sometimes ulceration of the mouth, 
gangrene, extensive and long-continued diseases of the bowels, and 
even disorders of the brain, convulsions, and palsy. 

Treatment. —Watch the gums, and the moment they are swollen 


Growth of the Teeth. 



































500 


CARE OF CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 


by the teeth pushing them up, lance them at the elevated points, cut¬ 
ting entirely down to the advancing teeth, — so that no tough mem¬ 
brane shall cause pain by impeding their growth. These incisions 
often prevent fatal disease of the brain, and sometimes almost in¬ 
stantly relieve the most threatening symptoms. Before the teeth 
are far enough advanced for lancing, some soothing wash may be 
applied to the gums, or a leech or two to the angle of the jaw. For 
obstinate diarrhoea, with watery stools and griping, use prescription 
(157). If the child be drowsy and starts from sleep, and has heat 
and redness, with enlargement of the blood-vessels about the head, 
put three or four leeches behind the ears, and make cold applications 
to thb head. At the same time, open the bowels with castor-oil (17). 
When there is difficulty of passing the water, give flax-seed tea; and 
if the pain be considerable, a sedative (351); one half teaspoonful 
in as much water, every hour till quiet. 


Croup, 

This is one of the scourges of childhood. Croup is an inflamma¬ 
tion of the mucous membrane of the larynx and windpipe. It causes 
a peculiar fluid to flow out upon the surface of the membrane, which 
stiffens into a membrane, or skin-like substance and adheres to the 
inner surface of the windpipe, and sometimes extends through the 
whole of the bronchial tubes. This is membranous croup, —the worst 
and most fatal form of the disease. The ordinary form of croup con¬ 
sists in a congestion of the vocal chords with oedema and swelling, so 
that the voice is very husky and the cough very much like a hoarse, 
tight bark. This form is the result of cold, and is usually quickly 
amenable to treatment, although it is really quite frightful for 
parents to hear. 

The Symptoms of croup are, difficulty of breathing, hoarseness, 
and a peculiarly loud and ringing cough, with fever. In the mem¬ 
branous and worst form of the disease, the breathing is not, at first, 
so laborious, and the symptoms generally not so violent and alarm¬ 
ing as in the less fatal but more inflammatory type. This latter kind, 
though generally causing great alarm, like a highway robber, by the 
sudden fierceness with which they seize the throat, are yet much 
less fatal, and of course less to be feared, than the membranous form. 
The disease is pretty much confined to children between the ages of 
one and eight years. 

Treatment. —The mild and ordinary form of croup, so frequently 
experienced by young children at night time, is usually much allevi¬ 
ated by small, oft-repeated doses either of the syrup or of the wine 
of ipecac, say five drops (for a child two years old), every fifteen 
minutes, till nausea, and even vomiting ensue, then much less often. 
The inhalation of steam, and of many of the medicated vapors, is an 


CAKE OF CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 501 

excellent method of treatment for the older children. One tea¬ 
spoonful of the compound tincture of benzoin in a bowl of boiling 
water inhaled through a tin funnel is a very simple thing and a very 
efficacious one; this is to be repeated every twenty minutes. ^In 
cases which do not yield to this treatment at once, the employment 
of turpeth mineral, in one-half to one-grain doses every half-hour till 
the child vomits, will clear up almost any severe case. The accom¬ 
panying bronchitis which often follows is to be treated as laid down 
for that disease. Membranous croup is in reality diphtheria, and is 
to be so treated, the exudation being in the windpipe rather than in 
the throat. As soon as the case is diagnosed, the child is to be quar¬ 
antined in a room by itself, and all the precautions taken against 
spreading the disease that would be employed in diphtheria proper. 
The newly-discovered antitoxin, with which the world has now been 
blessed for a year or two, has already saved hundreds and thousands 
of lives by its timely use. Nothing is simpler, nothing more effica¬ 
cious, and nothing less deleterious. (See Diphtheria, page 485.) 

The inhalation of the vapor of water-slacked lime softens the 
membrane and causes the little one to breathe with more ease. 
Place a bucket under a tent made with a sheet spread over the crib, 
into tills bucket put a piece of lime the size of a turnip, and gradu¬ 
ally add a little water. The fumes produced are not hard to bear, 
but an adult should also get under the tent, so that the little one 
will not be frightened. Keep the room warm, with plenty of moisture 
in the air. Liquid diet which is very concentrated, like beef-extracts, 
milk and egg, etc., with stimulants, should be given every two hours. 
Support the strength and heart by simple tonics like quinine, one- 
half grain in powdered sugar, or in a tiny pill, every two hours. 

Spasm of the Qlottis. — Laryngismus Stridulus. 

This disease consists in a sudden shutting up of the glottis, or 
passage to the windpipe, which creates a feeling of strangulation, 
and a difficulty of breathing so great that the drawing in of the 
breath causes a peculiar crowing sound. There is no fever. The 
child, upon taking food or drink, or upon being irritated or teased, is 
taken suddenly with an impossibility of drawing in its breath. After 
struggling convulsively for a time, its head thrown back, its nostrils 
dilated, its mouth open, its eyes rolled up, its face pale, its legs and 
arms stiff, it begins to breathe with a shrill crowing sound. The 
disease is sometimes mistaken for croup, and for hooping-cough. It 
is strictly spasmodic in its nature. 

Treatment. — During the paroxysm, set the child in an upright 
posture, with the head leaning forward, exposed to a full draft of 
cool, fresh air, and sprinkle cool water upon the face. Let nothing 
be tight about the neck. Slap the child slightly on the back, and 
apply friction along the spine. If these means do not succeed, place 


502 


CARE OF CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 


it in a warm bath; while in the bath, sprinkle cold water on the face. 

When the fit is over, examine the gums. If they are swollen, lance 
them down to the coming teeth. The bowels should be moved daily 
with some gentle physic, but not irritated by severe purging. If the 
stools are light-colored, use the following prescription: Podophyllin, 
one-half grain, alcohol, one ounce, elixir, one ounce, and take a tea¬ 
spoonful in a teaspoonful of water, three times daily. 

Whooping Cough.— Purtussis. 

This is a contagious disease, peculiar to childhood, and occurring 
but once in the same individual. It is characterized by a convulsive, 
paroxysmal cough, which is attended by long-continued hissing, con¬ 
vulsive breathing, with rattling in the windpipe, which is succeeded 
by several short efforts to expel the breath, following each other in 
quick succession. The long, convulsive breathing, attended by the 
whooping sound, is immediately repeated; and these paroxysms con¬ 
tinue until a quantity of thick, slimy, ropy mucous is thrown up, by 
expectoration or vomiting, when the breathing is again free. These 
paroxysms have all the appearance of impending suffocation, redness 
of the face, shedding of tears, sweating about the head and forehead, 
and such agitation of the whole body that the child lays hold of 
something for support. Blood sometimes starts from the nostrils, 
and the child involuntarily passes water or evacuates the bowels. In 
spring and autumn the disease most prevails. It is not generally 
dangerous. 

Treatment. — First give an emetic, — say, two drams of wine of 
ipecac. Afterwards, give small doses of ipecac and sulphur (277). 
From six to fifteen grains of sulphur alone, three times a day, is an 
excellent remedy. A liniment of olive oil, oil of amber, etc. (193), 
applied to the spine, is useful. Belladonna (278) is a good remedy. 
Prussic acid (96) is strongly recommended by many, and is worthy 
of a trial. Lobelia (106) is a valuable remedy. Alum (279) is well 
recommended. Sulphuric ether, a little being spilled in the nurse’s 
hand and held to the child’s nose, generally shortens the paroxysm, 
and frequently abridges the disease. A solution of nitric acid in 
water, as strong as lemon-juice, and sweetened, is a very valuable 
remedy, breaking up the disease in two or three weeks. The 
child may drink it freely, a little further reduced with water. In¬ 
halations of cresoline are the most useful to abridge and soften the 
paroxysms. 

There are remedies by the legion that have from time to time been 
used against whooping cough, but few of them have survived their 
infancy. Among the more modern drugs bromoform still holds a 
prominent place. Given in one to six-drop doses in a tablespoonful 
of water, three times a day, and gradually increased to five and ten 
drops, respectively, the drug exerts a marked impression on the 


CARE OF CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 


503 


duration and severity of the disease. Antipyrin, in five- to ten-grain 
doses, according to age of child, given three or four times daily, 
mitigates the paroxysm and shortens the disease. The burning of 
, cresoline, a coal-tar product obtainable at all drug-stores, is a most 
valuable means of cutting short the disease. This liquid should be 
put in a tin box-cover and set over a lamp with very small blaze, — 
just sufficient, in fact, to evaporate the cresoline. A lamp for the 
purpose comes with the cresoline, but any ordinary lamp with ser¬ 
rated lamp-chimney may just as conveniently be used. The odor 
is strongly tarry. The vapor should be confined in the sleeping 
chamber at night, but may also be burned both night and day. 

Looseness of the Bowels.— Diarrhoea. 

Infants and children are more liable to diarrhoea than adults, and 
this is the reason for speaking of the disease here as well as else¬ 
where. It may be caused by inflammation of the stomach and 
bowels, by irritation produced by too much or improper food, by cold 
and damp weather, or by teething. The discharges from the bowels 
may be more or less thin, of a dirty white color, of a curdled appear¬ 
ance and acid smell, or they may be watery, yellow or green in color, 
and often mixed with blood. Sometimes they are mixed with por¬ 
tions of undigested food, are very acid, and when the looseness has 
been caused by unripe vegetables and fruit, in a state of fermentation, 
like yeast. At other times, especially while teething, they are a kind 
of thick mucus, like jelly. 

If pressure on the bowels causes pain, the diarrhoea is the result of 
inflammation. When the disease has become chronic, the skin is dry, 
harsh, and discolored, the face wrinkled, looking yellowish, dirty, 
and old. 

Treatment. —First, regulate the diet. This is very important. 
In the case of older children, take away every kind of solid food, as 
well as pastry, confectionery, sweetmeats, and fresh vegetables. Give 
plain boiled rice and milk, — sometimes boiled milk,—water gruel, 
crackers and milk, tapioca, etc. At the beginning of the attack, give 
some mild physic, as castor oil, or syrup of rhubarb. A warm bath 
at this period is excellent. If the discharges are very sour, dissolve 
a teaspoonful of bicarbonate of soda in half a tumbler of water, and 
give a teaspoonful every hour, or the same amount of lime-water, 
mixed with an equal quantity of new milk, or prepared chalk and 
ipecac (158), some slight astringent being used also (159). 

After cleaning out the bowels in the way recommended above give 
a one-fourth teaspoonful for a child five years old of a mixture which 
may be obtained at the druggist containing 2 drachms of the sub- 
gallate of bismuth, 20 grains of salol in 2 ounces of compound chalk 
mixture. 


504 


CARE OF CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 


The Summer Complaint of Infants. — Cholera Infantum. 

This is confined to the North American continent. It occurs in 
large cities during the hot season. Its subjects are infants between 
the ages of four and twenty months, — occurring most frequently 
about the time of cutting the first teeth. It is one of the most fatal 
diseases of infants. 

Symptoms. — It begins with a profuse diarrhoea,—the stools being 
green or yellow, or more often light colored, and very thin. The 
stomach soon becomes very irritable, — rejecting everything with 
violence. In some cases, vomiting and purging set in, — the dis¬ 
charges from the bowels being without color or .smell. The infant 
rapidly loses flesh, and is soon reduced to great languor and prostra¬ 
tion. The pulse in the beginning is quick, small, and often tense. 
The tongue is covered with a white, slimy mucus. The skin is dry 
and harsh. The head and belly are hot. The feet and hands are 
either of the natural temperature, or cold. There is great thirst, and 
towards evening, fever. The belly is often a little swollen, and 
tender to the touch. Occasionally there is delirium, as indicated by 
wild and bloodshot eyes, violent tossing of the head, and attempts to 
bite and scratch the nurse. 

Treatment. — If possible, remove the child at once from the im¬ 
pure and heated air of the city to the cooler and purer air of the 
country. Or better, take it to the seashore or a short trip on the salt 
water. This will often give immediate relief. Be careful the child 
does not take cold. If this cannot be done, keep it in as large and 
dry a room as can be had, and take it often into the open air in clear 
weather. Confine the infant entirely to the breast, or, if weaned, let 
its food be tapioca, pure arrow-root, rice flour and milk, and put it 
daily in a warm or tepid bath, according as the skin is hot or cold. 
Give it gum-water, or rennet whey, with a little gum-arabic added 
to it. 

These measures, if used early, will often cure the disease, without 
medicine. If the vomiting be obstinate, camphor and sulphuric 
ether (280) will generally give relief. The prescription for diarrhoea 
will be valuable in this disease and in addition some stimulant like 
whiskey in doses of 5 drops to 30 drops according to age, had better 
be given every 3 or 4 hours. When the vomiting is stopped, the 
most prompt remedy for the disordered bowels is the compound 
syrup of rhubarb and potassa. When the disease has become 
chronic, treat it the same as children’s diarrhoea. But if the 
discharges are sour, offensive and dark colored, pulverized charcoal 
(42), with tartrate of iron (71), will be suitable remedies. Rhubarb, 
leptandrin, etc. (28), will often answer a good purpose. 

Colic. 

Infants are very much subject to colic, from over-feeding and 


CARE OF CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 


505 


consequent acidity of the stomach, from giving them solid food at 
too tender an age, and from some improper thing eaten or drunk by 
the mother or nurse. They often suffer intensely from these pains, 
tossing their legs up and down, and screaming vehemently. When 
it arises from costiveness, the bowels are often hard and swollen. 

Treatment. — When it arises from costiveness, give an injection 
of a tablespoonful of castor-oil, and a half-ounce of warm infusion of 
peppermint or spearmint. At the same time, administer internally 
an infusion of one of the same herbs, with a small portion of bicar¬ 
bonate of soda dissolved in it, and sweetened with loaf sugar. Or, 
if the bowels need to be acted upon, the syrup of rhubarb, or the 
sweet tincture of rhubarb, with a little soda in it, will do well. Para- 
goric generally brings relief, but should not be used, if simple car¬ 
minatives will answer the purpose. Children are often relieved by 
covering them with a hot flannel, laying them upon the belly on the 
knee, and trotting them, at the same time tapping them gently upon 
the back. This should be done cautiously; for if unsuccessful, it 
might increase the suffering; and the infant has no language but 
screams to tell its distress. Five drops of aromatic spirits of ammo¬ 
nia, with same amount of spirits of lavender, in warm water, relieve, 
if often repeated, most cases. 

Failing of the Bowel. — Prolapsis Ani, 

In cases of long-continued looseness, the lower bowel of children 
sometimes gets so weakened that it drops down, and projects through 
the fundament. Occasionally, only the mucous membrane which 
lines it comes down, in the shape of a small tumor, causing-a sense 
of bearing down and smarting. These fallings-down occur when the 
child goes to stool. Whether it be the bowel or the lining membrane 
which has come down, if it be allowed to remain long down, inflam¬ 
mation will take place, and to return it will then be very difficult. 

Treatment -Place the child upon his back, and, having smeared 

the thumbs, or forefingers, with lard or sweet oil, press them gently 
upon the tumor in such direction as shall tend to return it within the 
body. If tliis does not succeed, push the forefinger into the gut, so 
as to relax the circular muscle which contracts upon and holds it. If 
the falling is caused by straining at stool, made necessary by costive¬ 
ness, some ripe fruit stewed in molasses, or rye hasty-pudding and 
molasses, should be given to the child daily, and it should be caused 
to empty the bowels while standing up. To strengthen the bowel, 
few things are better than cold water, applied to the fundament 
several times a day. An astringent wash of oak-bark (232) is also 
valuable. Should the bowel become so much relaxed that these 
means fail, a tight bandage must be applied to support the funda¬ 
ment. Be careful that some ignorant pretender does not—as has 
happened — apply the ligature or the knife, and cut off the tumor. 


506 


CAKE OE CHILDKEN AND THEIK DISEASES. 


instead of returning it into the body. Feed upon the simplest of 
liquid food. 

Gastric Fever of Infancy. 

The inflammatory affections of the bowels, which happen after 
teeth-cutting, are frequently accompanied by remittent fever, —- the 
fever showing itself very distinctly towards evening, and subsiding, 
or nearly disappearing, in the morning. It is a sympathetic fever, 
and is generally the result of a reaction produced by inflammation of 
the stomach, or ileum, or colon. The attack is sometimes sudden, 
though generally gradual. 

Symptoms. —For several days, the child will be languid and 
fretful, with loss of appetite, increased thirst, and some heat of skin. 
Towards night these symptoms are more intense; the skin is more 
hot, the thirst and restlessness are greater, the pulse more rapid. In 
the morning, the skin is more moist and cool, and the child falls into 
a short, disturbed sleep. Early in the attack, the bowels are consti¬ 
pated, — though there is sometimes diarrhoea, or a frequent desire to 
go to stool without much being passed. The evacuations are always 
unnatural and very offensive. They are dark-colored, or clay-like, or 
of the consistency of tar, — sometimes mixed with mucus, and occa¬ 
sionally with blood. There is tenderness of the belly, and pressure 
upon it causes pain. It is also hot to the touch, while the feet are 
cold. The face is flushed, and the breath has a decidedly sickly 
smell. The stomach is irritable, and vomiting is frequent. The 
tongue, after a time, becomes coated, dry, and pointed. 

In the chronic form of the disease, there is, frequently, diarrhoea, 
the passages being unhealthy and fetid; the tongue is covered with 
a brownish-yellow mucus, the gums with sores; the lips are parched 
and cracked; the urine is scanty and high-colored, with a white sedi¬ 
ment; the skin, dry, harsh, and dirty-looking; the countenance con¬ 
tracted and wrinkled; and there is, frequently, a dry, hacking cough. 

Treatment. — Regulate the diet. This is important. In recent 
and acute cases, withhold all food, except some cold mucilaginous 
fluid to drink, as rice-water, gum-water, infusion of slippery-elm bark, 
or milk diluted with barley-water. Give a warm or tepid bath daily. 
Purgatives should be used sparingly. The bowels, when costive, had 
better, generally, be opened by injections of tepid water, or thin 
gruel. If any laxative be used, let it be the compound rhubarb 
powder, or either of the following (28), (281). When the discharges 
have become healthy, and the tongue clean and moist, some light 
bitter, as the infusion of Peruvian bark, or calumba, in combination 
with diluted sulphuric or hydrochloric acid, may be given. These, 
carefully given, with the daily tepid bath, and exercise in the open 
air will soon restore the strength. 


CAKE OF CHILDREN AND THEIR DISEASES. 


507 


Mesenteric Disease. 

This attacks scrofulous children between the ages of three and 
ten years. Its symptoms are a prominent belly and loss of flesh, — 
particularly upon the arms and legs. To be able to feel the enlarged 
and hardened glands through the walls of the belly is the surest 
sign of this disease. When the complaint is long-continued, the 
child loses all its flesh, and dies in almost a complete skeleton state. 

Treatment. —If there is inflammation or other disorder in the 
stomach or bowels, attend to this first. Then put the patient on a 
generous diet,.such as meat-broths, etc. Give bicarbonate of potassa, 
dissolved in the infusion of calumba or quassia, and when there is 
costiveness, add rhubarb to the preparation. For the enlargement 
of the glands, apply, externally, an ointment (184) of the iodide of 
lead, or of the iodide of potassium (185). Give an ioduretted bath, 
daily, which is formed by adding one grain of iodine and two grains 
of iodide of potassium to each gallon of warm water. 

The syrup of iodide of iron, three to five drops, should be given inter¬ 
nally three times a day, in a little water, or the iodide of potassium, 
five grains, and compound infusion of gentian one-half teaspoonfuL 
Daily sponging the body in salt and water, and exercise in the open 
air, are important. 


Rickets. 

This is also a disease of scrofulous children. By some defective 
process of nutrition in such children, there does not enter into the 
bones enough phosphate of lime to harden them, and the weight of 
the body, or the pulling of the muscles, or the pressure of the 
clothing, bends and distorts them in all manner of ways. The heads 
of the thigh-bones are pushed nearer together, making the lower belly 
narrow; the backbone is so curved as to lessen the height; the 
shoulder-blades stand up like wings when flying is contemplated; 
and the shoulders are so lifted up that the head seems only a little 
higher than the elevations on each side. 

Treatment. — A good, generous, wholesome diet, properly regu¬ 
lated ; out-door exercise; the tepid or cold salt-water sponge-bath, 
with friction, and but little medicine. The hypophosphite of lime, 
in two-grain doses, given in a little sweetened water, three times a 
day, or the syrup of the hypophosphites, in half-teaspoonful doses, 
three times a day, may be given with advantage. The pyrophosphate 
of iron, combined with the lime, makes a good tonic for scrofulous 
children. 

The Blue Disease.— Cyanosis. 

This disease is known by a blue, purple, -or leaden tinge over the 


508 


CAKE OF CHILDREN AND THEIK DISEASES. 


whole body. The warmth of the body is reduced, there is difficult 
breathing, which is increased by quick motion or by crying. The 
disease is generally fatal. The blueness is occasioned either by the 
passage between the right and left side of the heart remaining open 
after birth, so as to let the blue, venous blood run through and mix 
with the red arterial blood, thus making the whole blue, or by the 
obstruction of the pulmonary artery, which withholds the blood from 
the lungs, and does not allow it to be arterialized and reddened. This 
latter opinion is the more general one now. 

Treatment. — Keep the patient, as much as possible, in a state of 
rest, so that the circulation may not be hurried. Allow pure, fresh 
air, easily-digested food, and protect the body from cold and damp¬ 
ness. Hold the infant near the fire, and apply gentle friction over 
the head and body with a warm, soft cloth. 

Fits. 

Most persons have seen a baby in fits; and it is a sad sight,^its 
little face all distorted and livid, its eyes rolling and squinting fright¬ 
fully ; its hands clenched, arms bent, legs drawn up, body arched 
backward, and limbs twitching violently, — itself insensible and un¬ 
able to see or swallow or move. After a time, the fit ceases, some¬ 
times by degrees, at other times suddenly, the child fetching a deep 
sigh, and then lying quiet and pale, as if it had fainted. From this 
state it passes into a sleep, and, on waking, some hours after, seems 
quite well. 

Fits may attack a child which is apparently well, occurring daily, 
or even several times a day, and it may linger on for weeks. A 
child may have fits from a great variety of causes; they therefore, 
have a different meaning in different cases. But they always show 
that the brain has in some way been disturbed. 

Treatment. —As fits are not a disease in themselves, but only a 
symptom of some disease, the treatment must have reference to the 
cause. Sometimes, while the fit lasts, it is wise to do nothing. But, 
if a fit come suddenly, in the case of a child previously healthy, it is 
generally safe to place it in a hot bath, and at the same time to dash 
cold water on its face, or to pour cold water on its head, or hold on 
it a large sponge dipped in cold water. The hot bath will draw the 
blood to the skin, and away from the overloaded brain. It will quiet 
the disturbance of the system, and if scarlet-fever or measles are 
about to appear, it will bring them out. 


DISEASES of the GENERAL SYSTEM 


AND 


MISCELLANEOUS DISEASES 


DISEASES OP THE GENERAL SYSTEM 

AND MISCELLANEOFS DISEASES. 


Having now treated of those disorders which affect the skin, the 
brain and nerves, the throat, the lungs and their appendages, the 
heart and its covering, the abdominal cavity and its lining membrane, 
the sexual organs, and those complaints peculiar to females and chil¬ 
dren, it remains to speak of those others — fewer in number—which 
are not specially developed in any particular part, but disturb the 
whole system. 

Blood. 

Composition of the Blood.—^The weight of the blood of the body 
being 1-13 of the total weight, its examination must necessarily be of 
considerable importance in the study of disease, and as the examination 
of the blood in a scientific way is the result of the later year’s investiga¬ 
tion a short description of the methods employed is here inserted. 
Though some finer sub-divisions may be made, it is sufficient for our 
purposes to consider the two kinds of corpuscles which constitute the 
solid portion and the fibrin and plasma which make up the fluid portion 
of the blood. The corpuscles are divided into red and white 
corpuscles, the red being in much greater number, give the color to 
the blood, their proportion being five million in one cubic millimetre 
of blood, a c. m. being the standard of measure and is equal to a 
Very small drop. The white corpuscles in healthy blood number 
about 5,000 to a c. m. Roughly speaking, the human body contains 
about five to seven quarts of blood in the vessels and the tissues. 
On making an examination of the red blood corpuscles they are 
found to vary in disease from one million or even less, to the normal 
number or slightly in excess of five million. This diminution is 
found in the so-called ansemias. There are simple and pernicious 
anaemia and a third blood disease is chlorosis or yellow sickness, in 
which the corpuscles may not be greatly diminished in number but 
the coloring matter has disappeared. This coloring matter which is 
known as haemoglobin is determined by extracting a small drop of 
blood from the body, diluting with a mild acid which destroys cor¬ 
puscles and the resulting shade of color is compared with coloring 
plates of standard strength. The white corpuscles are divided into 
three or four important groups, of which the leukocytes are about 
sixty per cent. 


510 



DISEASES OF THE GENERAL SYSTEM. 


511 


Ansemia, 

Causes.—Simple anaemia may occur from a variety of causes and is 
a very common disease after hemorrhage from the body, as the result 
of injury, losing an ear, arm or leg, or even wounds that allow the 
escape^ of considerable blood before the flow of blood is stopped will 
result in an anaemic condition of the patient. A serious disturbance 
of nutrition either from starvation or because the food that is taken 
into the body does not nourish. The occupation of the patient which 
may be unhealthy such as working in paint shops or sewers or chemi¬ 
cal works or exposure to disease such as malaria. 

Symptoms.—Headache, dizziness, ringing in the ear with blurred 
vision, liability of palpitation, especially under nervous disturban¬ 
ces, general sickness of the body with backache, diminished or entire 
lack of appetite, gas in the stomach, pain after eating, disturbances 
of the bowels, usually constipation, pallor of the lips, cheeks, finger¬ 
nails, and loss of flesh and strength. 

Treatment.—If the cause can be found the treatment will be 
rewarded by a great improvement with its removal and the use of 
proper blood tonics. Iron and arsenic are the remedies employed to 
compensate for the loss of coloring matter. 

Unnatural articles of diet, if used in excess, often cause a condition 
of the stomach which will result, if not checked, in chlorosis or 
green sickness. 

Chlorosis. 

Symptoms.—^The symptoms are practically those of the other 
anaemias. Heart trouble, such as palpitation, irregular beat of the 
heart, ringing in the ears are possibly more common than in simple 
anaemia and the color changes in appearance to a greenish yellow; 
the patient may seem more stout owing to the swelling of the legs, 
enclosing a vein when the disease has lasted some time. 

Treatment.—If the disease has not been present over too long a 
time the treatment recommended for simple anaemia will usually be 
sufficient to obtain a cure. Great care must be given to see that the 
person has an abundance of easily digested and nourishing food, that 
they have plenty of air, large amount of rest, and on no account 
must exercise be carried to the point of fatigue. The preparations 
of cod liver oil in emulsion if not offensive to the person, and all the 
fat that can be taken in the form of butter, cream, and milk should 
be given to those who are thin. Strychnine in 1-60 grain dose three 
times a day after meals, quinine in moderate doses of one grain after 
meals and the care of the person, if a young girl, at the monthly period, 
to prevent cold being taken will all be of value. 


512 


DISEASES OF THE GENERAL SYSTEM. 


Pernicious Ansemia. 

Pernicious ansemia is the name given to the third and fatal variety 
of blood diseases, because no cure has yet been found to limit its 
onward march. The symptoms are similar to those described under 
simple ansemia and chlorosis, but no cause can usually be found for 
them and no cure likewise. Happily the disease is not common and 
is exceedingly rare in childhood. 

Leucocytosis. 

This is a name given to a condition of the blood where the white 
corpuscles are increased in amount. In certain blood diseases, of 
which leuksemia is the best example, the increase is enormous at 
times, even reaching to 80,000 and 100,000 corpuscles in the same 
amount of blood that should have only five to six thousand. 

The symptoms of this disease are very similar to the ansemias 
and the diagnosis of the disease could only be made out by a scientific 
examination of the blood. It is accompanied by swelling of the 
glands, but as this also occurs in other diseases, their value is not of 
great importance, but a small increase of the white corpuscles is found 
in such a great number of more common disease that an examination 
of the blood is made as a routine measure. In many cases, for in¬ 
stance, in appendicitis the white corpuscles increase to fifteen to 
twenty thousand per cubic millimeter; in pneumonia they also in¬ 
crease sometimes to forty per cubic millimeter. 

In other more common diseases as tonsilitis or sore throat, erysipelas, 
in small pox, inflammatory diseases such as felon, boils, bone diseases 
and lung troubles a greater or less increase is always found. In other 
diseases absence of an increase often enables the right diagnosis to 
be made out, for in typhoid fever which might in the early stages be 
mistaken for appendicitis there would be no increase in the formation 
of the disease but it would probably be marked in the latter stages. 
In malaria there is no increase but an examination of the individual 
cells of the blood under a microscope of fair power would discover 
the organism of malaria which is the cause of the disease. 

Bacteriology. 

It is now well understood that every specific disease, every com¬ 
municable disease is due to^he introduction into the body of a specific 
cause of that disease which is called a germ. For example, one 
variety, a microscopical form of animal life the so-called plasmodium 
of Laveran, the discoverer, is the cause of malaria. An example of 
another variety is one of vegetable life in its lower form and the 
germ of the disease the bacillus of tuberculosis. During the life 
processes of these germs a poison is formed called a toxin which has a 
marked influence in the course which the disease runs and in many 


DISEASES OF THE GENERAL SYSTEM, 


513 


instances it is the toxin manufactured rather than the primary onset 
of the disease which makes the trouble greater or less. The mem¬ 
brane of diphtheria in many instances is not great enough to cause 
the severe results obtained in this disease and persons die from an 
attack with relatively little membrane present in the throat. This 
is the result of the toxin, or poison generated by the germ, and during 
its circulation through the body causes the fatal result by several 
paths, one being the paralysis of the nerves so that swallowing is 
impossible or the heart is not controlled by the nerves that usually 
act upon it with a control similar to a safety valve. The toxin of 
tuberculosis is tuberculin. Pneumonia is due to the pneumococcus. 

Typhoid fever is due to the bacillus of Eberth, the discoverer. 
The disease of plague is due to the bacillus of Yersin discovered in 
1894. Even now, many diseases, some of the oldest have escaped 
giving up the secret of their communicability to investigators. It 
seems strange too, for many of them have been accepted as conta¬ 
gious from earliest times. Take leprosy as an example of a disease 
known since the world began and yet while we are sure it is due to 
a specific germ, yet the identical one has never been insolated. 

It is necessary to understand methods of prevention of disease as 
well as the causes and the treatment of them. Only the ignorant, or 
worse still, those unwilling to believe facts can refuse to accept the 
record compiled each year of the great decrease in the mortality 
rate of disease. This it is our duty to prevent transmission of, and 
that it is due to this prevention in many cases, may- well be verified 
by further reports. For example, the death rate of typhoid is not 
much diminished in general practice from that of ten or twenty 
years ago but the per cent, of cases reported annually is much dimin¬ 
ished. Of course by newer treatment and quicker methods of diag¬ 
nosis the comfort of the patient is increased and complications averted, 
and in that way the patient is carried through the illness with less 
loss of strength, but it is much better not to have been sick, and since 
we now understand about the transmission of disease through drink¬ 
ing water, milk, and from foul matter, disease is prevented or stopped 
after our investigation determines its source. Malaria was formerly 
very prevalent in Michigan but in ten years the percentage of cases 
is less than one-fourth. This benefit was due to better draining of 
swamps, marshes, and stagnant pools, employment of mosquito 
nettings, and improvement of drinking water service. 

Yellow fever is transmitted by the mosquito in a manner identical 
with malaria. 

There has been a great amount of labor expended by our govern¬ 
ment as well as the medical profession determining how far the 
cause of malaria is due to infection of mosquitoes. By injecting 
the organism of malaria in the saliva of the mosquito after a bite 
of a person by a mosquito, it has been possible to cause that 
patient to have a true attack of chills and fever, also germs have been 


514 


DISEASES OF THE GENERAL SYSTEM. 


found in the deposit of eggs by a mosquito upon the surface of pools 
of stagnant water, as shallow wells, ponds without an outlet, etc. 
The germs are liberated and drinkers of such water acquire the disease. 

An example of an entirely different nature in regard to action, but 
similar in result, is a disease best known of all from the standpoint of 
its fearful results, and that is tuberculosis or consumption, sometimes 
spoken of as phthisis. 

Let me quote the statistics of a city like Brooklyn, N. Y. Her 
population in 1891 was 910,000 and the deaths from consumption 
was 2,117. Ten years later, in 1901, the population was 1,209,064, 
a gain of 300,000, yet the deaths from consumption was 2,474, or a 
gain of 350 deaths against 300,000 living. Boston had a death rate 
in 1853 of 48 people in each 10,000 inhabitants; last year only 23 
in 10,000 died. Now this disease is spread mostly through atmos¬ 
pheric dust which is also true of most of the communicable diseases as 
diphtheria, pneumonia, influenza, scarlet fever, measles, whooping 
cough and smallpox, and not only are they contracted through the 
nose and throat, but are most often spread from the nose and throat. 
It must be explained that the germs of many diseases which are preva¬ 
lent in the air are often distributed upon mucous membranes of per¬ 
sons not ill with the disease. The more numerous the germs the 
greater the danger that they will land upon some abrasion of the mem¬ 
brane, or the vitality of the person will be lowered to a degree of so- 
called susceptibility, which is the term used for the condition when a 
person is especially liable to contract that disease. 

Expectoration is, of course, the great carrier of germs, but coughing, 
sneezing and sometimes in speaking, little drops of saliva or a fine, 
moist spray are thrown out which contain germs. 

Plague is the disease where the infection by this manner causes 
the glands of the body to be swollen sometimes to a very large size, 
and until the antidote was discovered there was no cure known after 
a person had once become afflicted by this disease. 

Another method of transference is by rats, either by biting or from 
fleas which have infested the rats, also flies, conveying by means of 
their feet germs from sputa, excreta, sores, etc. Probably typhoid 
has been transferred in this way many times. Tuberculosis of the 
bowels results from swallowing of saliva or sputum of a patient whose 
lungs are already infected or from milk or water. Should the milk 
or water have been boiled, this danger would have been done away 
with. 

Having considered at some length how bacteria obtain an entrance 
into the body our common sense shows us the way to a prevention 
of the disease in many of the cases. Stings of mosquito and bites 
of animals can be guarded against in many instances and when con¬ 
tagious disease is about us we may with more safety keep people 
from that ; but we have got to breathe and our object must be to 
make the air as pure as possible either by cleansing the air or by 


DISEASES OF THE GENERAL SYSTEM. 


515 


ventilation, changing the contaminated air for pure air, which is the 
far better way. 

And the method of cure as well as prevention is instanced by our 
efforts in paying attention to the person of the patient as well as the 
disease. As good soil is necessary for the growth of germs, so we 
make the soil as poor as possible by building up the patient and 
assist the tissues to fight the disease as well as to destroy the organ¬ 
isms themselves. So tonics, and general tissue builders, with a few 
symptomatic remedies tp control cough, produce sleep, etc., enable 
us to obtain the trinity of pure air, good food, necessary rest. 

Now a few words on the counteraction of the poisons or toxins by 
antitoxin either by nature or by man. The help we hoped to obtain 
when it was thought an antitoxin of consumption had been discov¬ 
ered has not been realized, for it has proved to be more or less of a 
poison and its results have proved of little value except as a method 
of diagnosing the disease. 

The antitoxine of diphtheria, of tetanus which is lockjaw, that 
of bubonic plague, and that of septicaemia or blood poisoning have 
all been proved of great service. 

The word antitoxin explains itself, meaning against poisons. When 
the germs obtain a foothold in the system they occur both as the local 
manifestation, such as the membrane in diphtheria, and the destruc¬ 
tion of the lung in tuberculosis and the general manifestation such 
as the poison I have described. Nature herself attempts to counter¬ 
act this poison by an antitoxin of her own, but in many cases the 
amount of antitoxin manufactured is in too great a quantity and the 
time limited too short for nature to do satisfactory work before the 
patient would be dead. 

So we reinforce nature with antitoxin manufactured by man. With 
antitoxin of diphtheria as an example I will explain briefly how it is 
accomplished. The primary object is to inject toxin in quantity 
sufficient to cause nature to manufacture her own yet by gauging the 
quantity and increasing the amount gradually until at last a dose 
can be injected which would have caused death if given in the first 
place. If no reaction of temperature and no sickness occurs after 
these large doses, then the animal is said to be immune and the serum 
of the blood drawn from such an animal is the antitoxin we use. 

Malaria being caused by a form of animal life does not require an 
antitoxin as quinine has been found to be a sufficient drug to cause 
the destruction of the cause. 

Of course smallpox is caused by a specific germ and yet no specific 
treatment is at present known. Vaccination as you know is a pre¬ 
ventive and not a cure. Immunization has been known since 1798 
when the first published reports from .Tenner to whom we owe the 
discovery, appeared. 

He had noticed that the dairy maids were practically free from 
smallpox. Then sores were noticed on their fingers which resembled 


516 


DISEASES OF THE GENERAL SYSTEM. 


the sores on the cows. It has not even )^et been settled that cow 
pox is or is not similar to smallpox but with its virulence modified. 
As a matter of fact smallpox has been given to a cow, but the further 
fact remains that cow pox does prevent in the human system the 
disease of smallpox. Formerly vaccination took place through 
human beings after originally being taken from the cow, but it was 
discovered that the protective power diminished by repeated trans¬ 
missions through the human system so that virus obtained from the 
cow is ^now used almost exclusively. Formerly the death rate of 
persons exposed was 50 per cent, of those who took the disease, and 
about that rate remains today but it will be shown how much less 
the danger is when vaccination is enforced. 

Notwithstanding the fact that it has been accepted by some since 
1798 that an immunity has been offered from the disease, yet even 
today many of the, if I may use the terms, ugliest opponents are 
intelligent medical men. 

Germany made the first laws and in fact she stands alone in enforc¬ 
ing vaccination. In 1871 a smallpox epidemic broke out, and out 
of a population of 50,000,000 she had 143,000 deaths. In 1874 she 
made her famous laws of compulsory vaccination and last year with 
a much increased population she had 100 deaths and these occurred 
on the towns of the frontier. Another instance was the Franco- 
German war when Germany with her army vaccinated, lost only 278 
by death from smallpox, while France without any vaccination laws 
lost 23,000 men. In those whom the attack was from one to five 
years old one might contract the disease with chances against it, and 
if contracted, only in a light, form. If unvaccinated and you get the 
disease, you stand just an even chance of recovery or death. 

Fever. 

Fever is a disease which affects the system generally, and is char¬ 
acterized by more or less excitement of the circulation, increased 
heat, diminished strength, and, oftentimes, unnatural thirst. The de¬ 
gree of excitement is measured by the state of the pulse. Of this 
state, there are two characteristic indications: namely^ frequency and 
hardness, A pulse is frequent when its rapidity exceeds that of 
health; it is hard when its stroke resists the pressure of the finger 
with unusual force. 

In health, the pulse of an adult beats from sixty to eighty times in 
a minute; that of children is more frequent. The pulsations of the 
heart of the unborn infant, as heard through the body of the mother, 
are one hundred and fifty in a minute. After birth, the pulse varies 
from one hundred and forty down to the standard of adult age. To 
appreciate hardness of pulse, experience is absolutely necessary. 

The great activity of the circulation, in fever, is intimately con¬ 
nected with the heat and thirst, and tends directly to waste the ener¬ 
gies and consume the strength of the patient. The heat of fever 


DISEASES OF THE GENERAL SYSTEM. 


517 


lessens or dries np the secretions, or different fluids of the body, 
which, in a state of health, are separated from tlie blood for various 
purposes. This is the cause of the dry skin, scanty urine, etc. 

A crisis of fever is that period in its course when unfavorable 
symptoms give place to those of returning health. 

A course of fever^ or, in common language, a run of fever, is dis¬ 
tinguished by a great variety of symptoms, which will be more par¬ 
ticularly spoken of in the pages which follow. 


Typhoid Fever. 

Of the different kinds of fever, this is one of the most common 
and widely prevalent. The name typhoid is from two Greek words 
which mean like typhus, or similar to typhus. The word typhus, from 
a Greek word signifying stupor, means stupid, dull or low ; and, when 
applied to a fever, implies that is low, or characterized by great nerv¬ 
ous depression. 

Typhus and typhoid fevers, if not identical, are so similar in his¬ 
tory and treatment as to make unnecessary their consideration under 
separate heads. The following is one of the differences claimed to 
exist between the two: namely, in typhus fever, the belly is flat; 
there is no marked disease of the bowels, and generally no diarrhoea 
until the second or third week. In typhoid fever, on the contrary, 
some small glands, called Beyer’s glands, situated in the lower part 
of the small intestines, are always inflamed, and sometimes ulcer¬ 
ated ; and consequently, among the symptoms most frequently no¬ 
ticed, are diarrhoea, and drum-like swelling of the belly, called tym¬ 
panites. 

Symptoms. — The disease often has precursory symptoms. For 
several days before its actual beginning, the patient droops. He may 
attend to his various duties, but does not seem well; he is low-spir¬ 
ited and languid; is indisposed to any exertion of body or mind ; has 
pains in the head, back, and extremities; loses his appetite ; and 
although dull and perhaps drowsy in the daytime, his sleep is inter¬ 
rupted and unrefreshing at night. The immediate harbinger of the 
fever is a chill, often so marked as to cause violent shivering. 

The history of the first week shows increased heat of the surface • 
frequent pulse ranging from eighty to one hundred and twenty, 
furred tongue; restlessness and sleeplessness ; headache and pain in 
the back; sometimes diarrhoea and swelling of the belly; and some¬ 
times nausea and vomiting. 

The second ^veek is frequently distinguished by an eruption of 
small, rose-colored spots upon the belly, and by a crop of little watery 
pimples upon the neck and chest, having the appearance of minute 
drops of sweat standing on the skin, and hence called sudamina, or 
sweat-drops ; the tongue is dry and black, or red and sore, the teeth 
are foul; there may be delirium and dullness of hearing; and the 


518 


DISEASES OF THE GENERAL SYSTEM. 


symptoms generally are more serious than during the first week. 
Occasionally, at this period, the bowels are perforated or eaten 
through by ulceration, and the patient suddenly sinks. 

If the disease proceeds unfavorably into the third week, there is 
low muttering and delirium; great exhaustion; sliding down of the 
patient towards the foot of the bed ; twitching of the muscles ; bleed¬ 
ing from the bowels; and red or purple spots upon the skin. 

If, on the other hand, recovery takes place, the countenance bright- 
ens; the pulse moderates; the tongue cleans, and the discharges 
assume the appearance they have in health. 

Prevention of Typhoid. 

It is a duty that we owe to friends as well as ourselves to use all 
possible protection that the disease will not be spread, as the cause of 
the disease has been found in every case of death. It is necessary 
that we destroy all germs without the body and those possible for 
us within the body, which may be sources of contagion. While heat 
would probably be the best and easiest method used and the tem¬ 
perature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit, of course this method would be 
impractical. The discharges from the bowels are in 90 per cent, or 
more of the cases the danger carriers, and when the germs dry and 
get blown about in the air, their danger of mischief is increasing. 
Should discharges be allowed to contaminate drinking water the danger 
is almost unlimited, as in the linen of typhoid patients and the hands 
of those that care for them. The following illustrates the desirability 
of leaving nothing undone when caring for the discharges from a 
typhoid patient. The town of Plymouth in Pennsylvania had a popu¬ 
lation a few years ago of 80,000 people. During January, and Febru¬ 
ary of that year a case of typhoid ran its course and the discharges, 
without any attempt at disinfection, were carried out and thrown 
upon the snow at some distance from the house but on a slope in¬ 
clining toward a mountain brook, which later became a part of the 
water supply of the town. After the thaw in March the brook was 
allowed to empty into the reservoir, and fifteen days later an epidemic 
of typhoid began which ended with a report of 1,200 out of the pop¬ 
ulation of 80,000 becoming sick with the disease and the death of a 
great many of them. Water boiled and then cooled is much safer 
than trusting to the many patent filters on the market, and milk, if 
suspected, should be treated likewise, though a pure supply should 
be obtained. 

Disinfection.—Carbolic acid after prolonged action is probably 
sufficient to remove the danger, but a quicker method is desirable. 
Corrosive sublimate, 1 to 1,000 strength, is excellent. It attacks 
metal piping and therefore makes the repairs too costly. 

Lime is the most efficient and being easily obtained is safe and 
cheap. Any solution of lime which is strong enough to be markedly 


DISEASES OF THE GENERAL SYSTEM. 


519 


alkaline can be tested by touching a small piece of litmus paper to 
the solution, when, if alkaline, it will turn blue. If the discharges 
are thoroughly stirred in a solution of about the consistency of white¬ 
wash and then turned down the closets, the danger will be reduced to 
the minimum, and by paying strict attention to the hands and wrists 
with soap and water and scrubbing-brush, the danger to yourself will 
be prevented. The sick room should be large, airy, well ventilated 
and without unnecessary furniture. The bed should be where the 
light may come to it from the side rather than having the direct rays 
of light coming over the foot of the bed and shining in the patient’s 
eyes; all unnecessary heat should be excluded, as the fever of the 
patient would only be increased and the temperature of the room 
had better be kept at 65 degrees. Open fires are greatly to be pre¬ 
ferred for the much better ventilation afforded, with the additional 
advantage that they do not dry the room as rapidly as hot air furnaces. 

Treatment. — Give the patient good air, and frequent spongings 
with water, cold or tepid, as shall be most agreeable to his feelings. 
Keep the bowels in order; by which is meant, be more afraid of 
diarrhoea than of costiveness. Diarrhoea should be restrained by a 
little brandy. As the sensations of a typhoid patient are blunted 
and many times their own fancies are mixed up, their time will be 
well taken in thinking them over, so that attempts in entertaining 
the patient by reading or conversation are unwise. It is even an 
exertion for them to fix their attention sufficiently to carry on a con¬ 
versation. Within the last ten years the great increase in comfort 
lessened the severity of the disease and effecting recovery of the 
patient by the use of cold water bathing has caused this method to be 
almost universally used. With a patient whose temperature is 102° or 
over, we give baths with water at a temperature of 70 or 75° F. every 
three or four hours. Sponging the patient off for twenty minutes at 
a time; keep the head cool in the meantime by means of cool water 
or ice applications to the head or rub the patient gently to cause the 
blood to circulate better and stopping bath if the patient shows signs 
of poor reaction or too much discomfort. The feeding of the patient 
should consist entirely of milk and broths, that is, a liquid diet until 
the fever has abated and the temperature has been normal a week. 
They should have some nourishment every two or three hours even 
if they do not ask for it; and should the milk cause much distress, 
lime water in the proportion of a tablespoonful to a glass full of milk 
should be given. Sometimes milk is not well borne by the patient 
and if the amounts show the presence of undigested curds, milk should 
be omitted from the diet, and the place taken by predigested food, as 
peptonoids or milk which has been digested by the addition of the 
peptonizing powders, which may be obtained at the drug store. 
Plenty of water should be given. The amount of fluid during the 
day should be between two and three quarts, or more if the pa¬ 
tient desires it. Cathartics after the first days of the disease are 


520 


DISEASES OF THE GENEKAL SYSTEM. 


not given, but the bowels, if constipated, are to be moved by injection 
of warm water or warm soap suds given daily or every other day. No 
drug is absolutely necessary until there is some indication for its use. 
In diarrhoea we may give 10 to 20 grains of bismuth every two or 
three hours or in other cases a pill containing I of a grain of acetate 
of lead and one grain of powdered opium. For headache we may use 
phenacetin in 5 grain dose once every three or four hours. For ex¬ 
treme cases of gas in the bowels we may apply cloths wrung out in hol- 
water to which spirits of turpentine has been added, one tablespoon¬ 
ful to a quart, and these cloths wrung often enough to keep them hot. 
If hemorrhage from the bowels occurs, which is possible during the 
second and third weeks, small doses of laudanum or morphine may 
be given to quiet the movement of the bowels, and ice may be applied 
to the lower abdomen, and the foot of the bed raised. The disease 
will probably last for from four to eight weeks. The convalescence is 
tedious, the strength returns very slowly and the possibility of re¬ 
lapse must always be thought of until three weeks have passed from 
the time the patient’s temperature reaches normal. 

Bilious Remittent Fever. 

There are three principal varieties of periodical fever^ which, 
though varying considerably from each other in several particulars, 
are yet essentially, in their substance, but one disease. These are 
Bilious Remittent Fever., Pernicious Intermittent or Congestive Fever., 
and Intermittent Fever or Fever and Ague. According to the custom 
of most writers, I shall treat them separately, beginning with Bilious 
Remittent Fever. 

Symptoms. — The attack is generally sudden and well marked. 
Some writers say it has no premonitory symptoms ; others that it 
has. The more general understanding is, that for a day or two, or 
even longer, before the onset, there is a sense of languor and debility, 
slight headache, lack of appetite, furred tongue, bitter taste in the 
mouth in the morning, pains in the joints, and general uneasiness. 

The formal onset is nearly always marked by a distinct chill or 
rigor, — sometimes slight and brief; at other times severe and pro¬ 
longed. The chill may begin at the feet, or about the shoulder- 
blades, or in the back, and thence run like small streams of cold 
water poured in every direction through the whole body. There is 
generally but one well-marked chill, the returns of the paroxysms of 
fever being seldom, after the first, preceded by the cold stage. 

At certain periods of the day there is an increased intensity in the 
symptoms of the disease, occasionally preceded, though generally 
not, by the chill. Between this period of severity in the feverish 
symptoms, and a similar period which follows it, there is generally a 
decrease in the violence of the symptoms, during which the fever 
moderates, but does not, as in fever and ague, entirely go off; has 
distinct remissions^ but not complete intermissions. 


DISEASES OF THE GENERAL SYSTEM. 


521 


During the hot stage, the pulse is up to one hundred and twenty, 
or one hundred and thirty. There are pains in the head, back, and 
limbs, of a most distressing kind. 

The tongue is generally covered with a yellowish or a dirty-white 
fur; and in bad cases in the advanced stage is frequently parched, 
brown or nearly black in the centre, and red at the edges. There is 
no appetite for food, and generally nausea and vomiting; and usu¬ 
ally there is pain and tenderness in the epigastrium. The bowels are 
at first costive, but afterwards become loose, and there are frequent 
evacuations of dark, offensive matter. 

Causes. — This disease is produced by malarial exhalations from 
the decomposition of vegetable matter. It is most prevalent in hot 
climates, and in the summer and autumn. 

Treatment. — If the fever be in the formative stage, and have not 
fully developed itself, give an emetic (1), (2), and follow it with a 
mild cathartic (7), (13). 

If the disease be already developed, sponge the body all over sev¬ 
eral times a day, with cold or tepid water, according to the feelings 
of the patient, and give cooling drinks (132), (133), (298), (299). 
To moderate the fever, give three- to ten-drop doses of tincture, or 
fluid extract of veratrum viride. The compound powder of ipecac and 
opium is a valuable preparation for the same purpose. Give cold 
water as drink if desired by the patient, or let him eat ice. 

When the headache is very severe, let wet cups be applied upon 
the temples or behind the ears ; and the same remedy to the pit of 
the stomach, when there is great tenderness, is often desirable ; though 
a mustard poultice will sometimes do better. 

During the remissions of the fever, quinine and other tonics are to 
be given, as in fever and ague. Quinine, in large doses, acts almost 
as a specific for these diseases. 


Malarial or Congestive Fever. 

This is the pernicious or malignant form of malarial fever. It is 
marked, either in the earlier or later stage, by a rush of blood towards 
one or more organs, by which they are crowded full and congested ^— 
hence its title of congestive fever. 

Symptoms. — It may be intermittent or remittent^ — more com¬ 
monly, it is the former. It may assume any of the types of period¬ 
ical fever, but it is most frequently quotidian or tertian. 

The first attack does not differ very materially from a common 
attack of simple intermittent. The first paroxysm is simple, exciting 
but little attention. The second is always severe, producing great 
coldness, and a death-like hue of the face and extremities. The ad¬ 
vancement of the disease brings dry, husky, parched, and pungently 


522 


DISEASES OF THE GENERAL SYSTEM. 


hot skin, followed, after a time, by a cold clammy sensation. The 
eyes are dull, watery and sometimes glassy; the countenance dull, 
sleepy, distressed; the tongue, at first white, changes to brown or 
black, and is usually tremulous; the breathing is hurried and diffi¬ 
cult. Pressure over the liver, stomach or bowels produces pain. 
The mind is often disturbed, and falls into lethargy and stupor, or is 
delirious. 

Treatment. — This should be very much like the treatment of the 
bilious remittent fever. 

While getting up from the fever, the diet must be light and nutrh 
tious at first, but may be increased in quantity as the strength re¬ 
turns. Exercise out of doors must not be omitted. If recovery be 
slow, some mild tonic, or a little wine, or ale, or brandy may be taken 
two or three times a day. Ten grains of quinine, taken four hours 
before the expected chill, will put a stop to these attacks like magic. 
After a day or two the dose may be diminished. 

Fever and Ague.— Intermittent Fever. 

This is a kind of fever in which there is a succession of attacks 
with equal intervals and intermissions that are complete but unequal, 
on account of the uncertain duration of each fit. 

An interval is the period of time between the beginning of one fit 
and the beginning of the next. 

An intermission is the period of time between the close of one fit 
and the beginning of the next. 

The different varieties of ague take their designation from the 
length of the interval in each case. 

The interval of a quotidian^ or daily ague, is twenty-four hours. 

The interval of a tertian^ or third-day ague, is forty-eight hours. 

The interval of a quartan^ or fourth-day ague, is seventy-two hours. 

Symptoms. — The disease first develops itself by an ague-fit. This 
has three stages, the cold, the hot, and the sweating. The cold 
stage is very marked; The patient has a sense of debility, yawns, 
stretches, has no appetite, and does not wish to move. The face and 
extremities become pale, the skin shrinks, causing universal horripi¬ 
lation., or goose-flesh ; the patient shakes, and his teeth chatter. 

After a time, these symptoms decline, and the hot stage comes on, 
which is characterized by high fever, with its various uncomfortable 
sensations. 

When this fever passes off, it is followed by the sweating stage, 
during which a moisture breaks out, which increases, frequently, to a 
profuse sweat; the body returns to its natural temperature, the pains 
and aches disappear, and a feeling of health comes back. 

During the cold stage, the blood is driven inward from the sur¬ 
face, and particularly oppresses the spleen, which, in cases of long 


DISEASES OF THE GENERAL SYSTEM. 


523 


standing, becomes swelled and permanently enlarged. This swelling 
may be plainly felt, and is often quite perceptible to the eye. It is 
called ague-cake. 

Ague-fits begin at different hours of the day, and generally termi¬ 
nate in the evening. 

A quotidian usually begins in the morning; a tertian at noon; and 
a quartan in the afternoon. 

The cold stage is shortest in the quotidian, and longest in the 
quartan. 

Thus the longest fit has the shortest interval, and the shortest cold 
stage ; while the shortest fit has the longest interval, and the longest 
cold stage. 

There are also double tertians and double quartans, wherein the 
fits repeat themselves, — sometimes the same day, at other times on 
alternate days. 

To these varieties, the terms postponing and anticipating are ap¬ 
plied, according as the intervals are growing longer or shorter. 
When a person is recovering from ague, the interval may gradually 
grow longer, the attack being put off, or postponed. But if the dis¬ 
ease be increasing in severity, the attack may anticipate its usual pe¬ 
riod, making the interval shorter. 

Tertians are more common than either quotidians or quartans. 

Agues are more prevalent in spring and autumn. Fall agues are 
most severe and dangerous. 

Causes. — Exhalations from the soil, called malaria, arising from 
decomposition of vegetable matter in new countries, or from low and 
marshy districts in which the land is alternately covered with water, 
and again left dry and exposed to the sun. 

In districts where it prevails, high hills are exempt, and even the 
upper stories of houses are more healthy than the lower. 

Treatment.—First clear the bowels with the fluid extract of 
senna (15), or the preparation (21). Then, in the cold stage, give 
hot, and in some cases, stimulating drinks. Administer hot foot¬ 
baths, and putting the patient in bed, apply bottles filled with hot 
water to the feet, sides, and back, and in every way try to excite 
warmth and comfort. 

In the hot stage, give cooling drinks, and camphor (117), (118) 
in decided doses; or, what is better, quinine (67) in two-teaspoon- 
ful doses every half hour, at the same time giving five-drop doses of 
tincture or fluid extract of veratrum viride every hour. 

During the sweating stage, stop the veratrum, and rub the patient 
with dry towels. 

In the intermission, give quinine (62), in three-grain doses once in 
three or four hours, and continue it, gradually decreasing the dose, a 
fortnight after the cessation of the attacks. The following is a good 
preparation: quinine, one scruple; elixir of vitriol, one dram, dis- 


524 


DISEASES OF THE GENERAL SYSTEM. 


solve the quinine in the elixir, and add tincture of black cohosh, 
fourteen drams. Twenty drops are to be given, in a little water, once 
an hour. 

Quinine is the one medicine which surely relieves and cures this 
disease. 

It is important, in fever and ague districts, to avoid the hot sun, 
and the damp evening and morning air. 

Yellow Fever. 

This disease belongs to warm climates, being most prevalent in 
Southern cities. It makes its appearance chiefly in the latter part of 
summer, and disappears upon the approach of frosty weather. 

Symptoms. — The complaint begins, generally, with a chill, which 
is sometimes severe, though commonly moderate, of short duration, 
and rarely repeated. 

Following this chill, there is moderate fever and a little heat of 
surface; but this rarely rises to any considerable height, and only 
continues to the second or third day, when, in fatal cases, it gives 
place to coldness of surface, etc. In many cases there is sweating. 

The pulse is peculiar, — not easily described, — generally not rising 
above one hundred in a minute, — a kind of huhhle under the finger, 
which breaks and vanishes before it can be fairly felt. 

The tongue is moist and white in the first and second days, but 
red, smooth, shining, and dry, as the disease advances towards the 
close, having a dry, black streak in the middle. 

The most striking symptoms are nausea and vomiting. The 
vomiting, in fatal cases, is generall}' very persistent, and towards the 
termination, the yellowish or greenish matters thrown up give place to 
a thin and black fluid, having a sediment looking like coffee-grounds. 
This is called the black vomit. 

The bowels are generally costive, with frequent epigastric tender¬ 
ness and distress. There is generally severe headache, and a peculiar 
expression of countenance, in which the lips smile, but the rest of the 
face is fixed and sad, sometimes wild. The patient continues wake¬ 
ful night and day. There are discharges of blood, often, from the 
nose, the gums, the ears, the stomach, the bowels, and the urinary 
passages. 

The mortality varies according to location, as well as during differ¬ 
ent epidemics; three out of four die during some epidemics, while in 
others only about one in five. 

Treatment —The bowels should be moved, if required, by means of 
calomel which may be followed by epsom salts or oil; this should be 
continued in order that the waste products may be thrown from the 
system as fast as they form. Large injections of hot water to which 
has been added salt in the proportion of a teaspoonful to a quart of 
water. For the excessive vomiting, which usually is present, carbolic 


DISEASES OF THE GENERAL SYSTEM. 


525 


acid and creosote in 1-drop doses, well diluted, or cocaine, J grain 
may be used. The latter will probably also help the hiccough if 
present, or the compound spirit of ether known as Hoffman’s anodine 
in 10 to 20-drop doses may be given. For the support of the heart digi¬ 
talis, 5 to 15 drops of the tincture; strychnia, 1-30 of a grain, co¬ 
caine in i grain, or strophanthus in 10-drop doses of the tincture may 
be given. The kidneys must be kept in an active state of secretion 
and assisted in their work by requiring the patient to drink a large 
amount of water and some stimulant to the kidneys such as the citrate 
of acetate of potassium in 10 to 15-grain doses four or five times a 
day. The diet should be that which has been recommended in the 
other fevers, and tonic containing iron, quinine and the bitters must 
be given for some time. 


Rheumatism. 

This is an inflammation of a peculiar character, being caused by 
acid or poisonous matter in the blood, and having for its seat the 
fibrous tissue^ or that thready texture which enters largely into the 
composition of the cords and muscles of the human body. The 
synovial^ or lining membrane of joints, is also peculiarly subject 
to rheumatic inflammation. Hence the terms, muscular rheumatism^ 
and synovial rheumatism. There are also acute and chronic rheu¬ 
matism. 


Acute Rheumatism 

Is a very painful affection. It is most frequently brought on by 
exposure to wet and cold after violent and fatiguing exercise of the 
muscles. 

Symptoms. — Its principal characteristics are, high fever, with a 
full, bounding pulse; furred tongue; profuse sweat, which has a 
sour smell, and seems to increase the weakness without relieving the 
pain; scanty and high-colored urine, with brick-dust settlino^s; and 
swelling of the joints, with slight redness, great tenderness, and 
severe pain, which is particularly agonizing when the patient attempts 
to move. 

This affection often changes suddenly from one part of the body to 
another, or from one set of joints to another. This sudden shifting, 
termed metastasis., is peculiarly dangerous ; for sometimes the inflam¬ 
mation, seeming to regard the constantly moving heart as a large 
central point, suddenly seizes upon its lining membrane and occasion¬ 
ally proves speedily fatal. 

Treatment. 

For articular rheumatism, some form of the salicylates must be 
used and continued till all pain and soreness have entirely ceased for 
several days. Omit all sweets, condiments, and much meat from the 
diet. 


526 


DISEASES OF THE GENERAL SYSTEM 


For relief of a pain locally in the joints a mixture of wintergreen 
oil, known in the drug store as gaultheria, and laudanum, two parts 
of the oil and one of laudanum, may be spread on ordinary cotton 
batting and wrapped around the joints, and a teaspoonful of this 
mixture which has been warmed in an iron spoon and then placed on 
the joints with the cotton batting will soothe the joint from two 
causes, the quieting effect of the opium preparation and the absorp¬ 
tion of the wintergreen oil will produce the same effect as the salicil- 
ates which are of the same family and which it is recommended to 
take internally. This preparation is deadly poison and must be kept 
from the reach of children. 

Salicylic acid and its salts, or salicin, the active principle of the 
willow bark, when given at the commencement of an attack, often¬ 
times arrests the course of the malady as effectually as quinine 
arrests the intermittent fever, or as opium and ipecacuanha arrest 
dysentery. It exerts such a beneficial influence that it is recognized 
by the profession as a specific. From ten to fifteen grains of salicylic 
acid, or the salicylate of soda should be given every two hours until 
relief is obtained. This usually takes place in from twelve to thirty- 
six hours. In most cases the fever and swelling will abate within 
the above time. If not entirely arrested, the disease is very much 
shortened. 

When the specific effect is produced on the system, it causes vertigo, 
headache, ringing in the ears. These symptoms indicate that the 
medicine should be reduced in amount. 

Chronic Rheumatism. 

The chronic form of rheumatism may follow the acute as its con¬ 
sequence, but is more often an independent disease. It is seldom 
attended by fever, and in this differs from the acute rheumatism. 
It often lasts a long time, and causes much suffering. 

Symptoms. — These are various, but are generally understood, 
even by the common people, to consist of pain, lameness, stiffness, 
etc., in the joints and other parts. The joints are often swollen, but 
not as much as in the acute disease. It is peculiar to this form of 
the complaint, that when the patient remains at rest for a time, he 
will have pain and stiffness in the affected part on beginning to move, 
but as he grows warm both will disappear. 

Treatment. — This complaint is often palliated, and sometimes 
cured, by passing a current of electro-magnetism through the affected 
part. The diet is all-important; no sweets nor fats should be allowed, 
nor spices and other rich condiments are to be taken; meat is to be 
eaten but once a day, 

The tincture or the fluid extract of black cohosh, taken in full 
doses, is one of the best remedies. It may be taken alone or mixed 


DISEASES OE THE GENERAL SYSTEM. 


527 


with the tincture of poke-berries, and a tincture of prickly-ash bark, 
if convenient. 

Opium and nitre (127) form a valuable remedy. Colchicum is 
much used, and has a deservedly high reputation (292), (301) . 

Liniments often have a good effect (190), (195), (196), 198). It 
is well to wear a piece of oiled silk over the affected part. It keeps 
up a gentle perspiration from the rheumatic surface, and materially 
hastens a cure. Iodide of potash in ten- to thirty-grain doses, with 
one-third glass of water, after food, three times daily, is an old but 
very efficacious remedy. The salicylates in this form are not without 
their special value, but are not so useful as in the acute form. The 
“Wonderful Wintergreen,” lodia, Tongalin, are a few of the well- 
known reliable preparations that may be found on the market, each 
of which well deserve a trial in chronic rheumatism. 

To bathe the affected joint at bed-time with hot sweet oil, and 
then envelop it in cotton batting, to be kept on through the night, 
will often give much relief. Oil of cajeput relieves a large propor¬ 
tion of cases. 

The bowels must be kept regular, and all exposure to wet feet or 
clothes, and to currents of cool air when sweating, must be carefully 
shunned. 


Gout 

Gout is rheumatism’s cousin; the parentage of both belong to the 
brotherhood of the acids. 

A very acid state of the blood, or a state favorable to the forma¬ 
tion of acid, is supposed to be the cause of the inflammation peculiar 
to both these disorders. In rheumatism, an acid which exists in sour 
milk, and in cider, called lactic acid, is thought to be the disturbing 
element. In gout, lithic or uric acid is known to be uncommonly 
abundant, and to form a principal ingredient of those concretions 
found in gouty joints and familiarly called chalk-stones. 

The larger joints are most often affected by rheumatism; while 
gout prefers the smaller ones. In rheumatism, the pain is excvvr 
ciating; in gout, it is intolerable. There is truth in the humorous 
Frenchman’s description of the pains of these two complaints, which 
is, in substance, as follows; Place your joint in a vice; turn the 
screw till you can bear it no longer; that gives you an idea of rheu¬ 
matism ; now give the instrument one more turn, and you have gout. 

Symptoms. — A fit of the gout, as it is called, generally makes its 
attack in the night. Its unsuspecting victim is first awakened, per¬ 
haps an hour or two after midnight, by an intensely burning, wrench¬ 
ing pain in the ball of the great toe, or some other small joint. This 
pain, with its accompanying symptoms of fever, continues with little 
abatement for twenty-four hours. There is then a distinct remission, 
when the sufferer may get some sleep. He has a similar experience 


528 


DISEASES OF THE GENERAL SYSTEM. 


during several succeeding days and nights, when the disease, which 
has been growing milder, leaves him. 

After a considerable interval, there is likely to be another similar 
visitation. The length of this interval is inversely as the number of 
attacks, — that is, it diminishes in length as the attacks increase in 
number; in yet plainer and more homely terms, the attacks come 
“ thicker and faster ” ; the space between them gradually shrinking 
from three or four years to one or two months. 

Recovery from the first attack maybe complete,—the skin peeling 
off from the red and swollen joint, and leaving it strong and supple 
as ever. But, after several repetitions of the in¬ 
flammation, the joint becomes stiff, its motions 
being obstructed by the deposit of lithic acid con¬ 
cretions, or chalk-stones, the limbs are sometimes 
actually frosted over with crystals of urate of soda 
(Fig. 149). This form of urate of soda crystals 
differs very materially from Fig. 124. When these 
crystals appear upon the surface, and deposits are 
made in the joints, uric acid is not Secreted as 
usual by the kidneys, but accumulates in the blood. 

But gout is a disease by no means entirely local in its character. 
It vitiates the blood, affects the system generally, and is often be^ 
trayed by general symptoms long before the local mischief is indi¬ 
cated by one of the attacks. Irritability of temper, unpleasant 
sensations in the stomach and head, and various uncomfortable feel¬ 
ings of body and mind, have been considered as premonitory of this 
disorder. Many other organs also, besides joints, are subject to the 
gouty inflammation. The stomach, heart, lungs, head, and even the 
eyes, are known to have been thus affected. 

Causes. —Luxury and indolence — particularly the former — are 
regarded as the principal causes of gout. But poverty and activity 
will not always keep the disease away. Probably an improper diet 
has more to do with the creation of gout than all else. Starchy food, 
sweets, etc., which cause an acid fermentation, are most likely to set 
up the trouble. 

Treatment. — Colchicum is the remedy for gout. It removes the 
disease by exciting the kidneys to action, so that the poison is con¬ 
veyed away in the urine. Perhaps it acts in some other unexplained 
way as an antidote to the disease. One teaspoonful of the wine of 
colchicum may be taken two or three times a day, until relief is ex¬ 
perienced. It should then be continued, in ten-drop doses, for a few 
days longer, to prevent a relapse. The colchicum may be taken in 
the form of prescription (301). 

Coffee, drunk freely every day, is said to be a sovereign remedy 
for gout. 

The bowels must be kept in order, but not actually purged (34), 
(40). The diet must be simple and unstimulating. 



DISEASES OF THE GENERAL SYSTEM. 


529 


Let the inflamed joint be bathed often in a saturated solution of 
bicarbonate of soda in soft, warm water. Cold applications should 
not be made, as there is danger of provoking a sudden change of the 
inflammation to some internal organ. 

A regulation of the diet and open air exercise are the best meth¬ 
ods of fighting the disease. 

Scrofula, or King's Evil. 

The word scrofula is derived from the word scrofa, meaning swine, 
and was used in this connection by early students of medicine because 
people affected with this trouble resembled hogs. The swelling is due 
to a greater or less enlargement of the glands in that region which 
are very numerous. It has been said to be caused by many diseases, 
but since the discovery of Professor Koch it is well known that the 
disease is identical with tuberculosis, or consumption, but in this 
trouble the disease is in a very mild form and if the germ does not 
break into the air passages and infect the lungs or throat and other 
parts of the body, the danger is very small. The action of the glands 
in the throat and throughout the body is probably to take from the 
circulation all poisons that it is possible to remove. This action is 
similar to the action of the kidneys which remove the poisons from 
the blood and glands in the intestines which remove the valuable 
elements from the food which has been taken into the body. Other 
glands beside these, which are known as cervical glands, are the glands 
in the region between the heart and lung, known as the mediastinal, 
those of the mesentery or fatapron which are in the abdomen to pro¬ 
tect the bowels, and those back of the lining of the bowels known as 
the retroperitoneal. These glands can be affected through the ton¬ 
sils, as in sore throat, bad teeth or ulcerated gums or other infec¬ 
tions, by the lung in consumption, of the pleura of the heart and even 
through the bowels. 

Symptoms.—^Their presence can be known by the presence of 
kernels just beneath the skin at the angle of the jaw and in the region 
of the windpipe and in the other regions that could only be suspected 
or found after careful examination. The patients are usually thin, pale, 
with prominent veins, small bones, large and staring eyes and hectic 
flush on the cheeks. They are especially liable to be feverish at night. 
Their circulation is poor, as shown by cold feet and hands, and very 
likely have some skin trouble almost all of the time, such as a rash or 
many pimples about the scalp, face and ears. The eyes may become 
affected, the hairs of the lash drop out and discharge be present. 

Treatment.—The treatment of the gland itself should be surgical 
if the presence of pus is shown by sudden tenderness appearing over 
it. Under perfect aseptic conditions, which is described under sur¬ 
gery, the gland should be opened, the pus allowed to drain out, the 


DISEASES OF THE GENERAL SYSTEM. 


530 

inside scraped and an antiseptic dressing continually kept on until 
the matter has all drained away. 

The constitutional treatment is of great importance, as in many cases 
the glands can be prevented from breaking down and in others can be 
made smaller. Iodine in the form of the tincture may be painted 
on with a camel’s hair brush, or better still, in the form of iodine vaso- 
gen, which is a preparation of iodine and an easily absorbed ointment, 
or petrogen, very similar to the latter may be rubbed into the glands 
in small amounts twice a day. Some preparation of iodine internally 
is also indicated. Iodide of potash in 5-grain doses well diluted 
three times a day, or a preparation called soluble iodine in 2 to 5-drop 
doses three times a day, or the syrup of iodide of iron in 5-drop doses 
given in milk. Great attention should be paid to the improvement 
of the general health. The diet must be nourishing, large in amount, 
and forced on the patient. There cannot be too much milk, cream, 
eggs, meats, potatoes and easily digested vegetables given; hygienic 
precaution must be taken, baths, exercise, sleep, place of rest, good 
sanitation and pure air must all be taken into account. Cod liver oil, 
either as the pure oil or as some of the various emulsions, tasteless, 
if the stomach repels, or the stronger preparation may be given. 

Scurvy, — Scorbutus, 

Owing to a better knowledge of this disease, and of its proper 
treatment, it is much less common than in former years. It chiefly 
affects seamen who make long voyages; but is not entirely unknown 
on land. 

Symptoms. — Languor, loss of strength, and great depression of 
mind, are among the first signs of scurvy. To one about being at¬ 
tacked, work and play are alike burdensome. There is no heart even 
to move. The face and the whole skin look pale and bloated, and 
the breath has a fetid smell. The gums are swelled, soft, red, and 
spongy; and they bleed upon the slightest touch, — sometimes the 
blood oozes from them spontaneously. The teeth get loose, and 
often fall out. The skin becomes covered with bluish or purple 
spots, — looking precisely like bruises. These spread and run into 
each other, forming large patches of discoloration. 

These spots appear to be formed by the bursting of the small capil¬ 
laries of the veins and arteries, which have grown too weak and rot¬ 
ten to hold their contents, and the infiltration of dissolved blood into 
the cellular substance under the skin. 

Ulcerous sores break out in various parts of the body, which smell 
badly, and discharge a thin matter. These ulcers are covered with a 
crust. Various parts of the body, the bones included, are twinged 
with pains. The pulse is weak and soft. All the secretions, includ¬ 
ing the urine, have an offensive smell, — as though the whole body 
were approaching putridity. In truth, the whole man seems to be 


DISEASES OF THE GENERAL SYSTEM. 


531 


disintegrating, decaying; the flesh becomes soft, and dwindles ; and 
the bones break easily, — being afflicted with a decay approaching to 
rottenness. 

In bad cases, blood is discharged from the bladder, bowels, womb, 
nose, and mouth; and the smallest exertion is followed by fainting, 
and in many cases, by sudden death. 

Causes. — The disease is owing to the use of food and drink begin¬ 
ning to be decomposed, and to living long at sea without vegetables 
containing certain acids. Its attacks are likewise encouraged by 
whatever weakens and depresses the nervous system, as long expos¬ 
ure to a moist, damp air, particularly when this is connected with 
confinement on board a ship, unclean linens, occasional loss of the 
usual rest, and great fatigue, as in storms. The force of these causes 
is increased by the loneliness, the sadness, and the despondency of 
the sailor’s life. 

Treatment. — Sailors are very much protected from the disease 
now, by frequent returns to land, during long voyages, to procure 
fresh meats, vegetables, and water. This practice is very generally 
adopted, particularly by whale-ships, which make long voyages; 
and the result is, very little scurvy, and general nealth among 
the men. 

One of the best medicines for the disease is quinine; it may be 
given in from one to two-grain doses twice or three times a day. 
Gentian and quassia are also suitable remedies; so is the muriatic 
tincture of iron (73). 

But the best of all remedies are fresh and succulent vegetables, and 
also fruits. Spinach, lettuce, dandelion, sorrel, cresses, and the like, 
are among the very best things when they can be had. Lemon or 
lime-juice produces the happiest effects. Potatoes are among the 
very best remedies, — particularly if scraped and eaten raw. They are 
also valuable when cooked. Spruce beer is a good antidote; and 
may be made at sea from the essence. Many kinds of beer may be 
brewed at sea, which are valuable. 

When the bowels are costive, cream of tartar, dissolved in water, 
and drunk freely, will be found the best remedy. If there be loose¬ 
ness of the bowels, morphine, laudanum, a tea made of logwood, or 
geranium, or the tincture of catechu, will be suitable. 

For the spongy gums, a solution of alum applied to them will be 
proper, or a mixture of equal parts of tincture of myrrh, catechu, 
and Peruvian bark ; and ulcers may be washed with the same. 

Vinegar, which is an excellent preventive in this disease, may be 
made at sea from molasses and water exposed to the sun. Two 
ounces of nitre dissolved in a quart of vinegar, and given in table¬ 
spoonful doses, three times a day, is said to be an excellent remedy. 

Every ship, on going to sea, should be supplied with dried fruit, as 
raisins, currants, whortleberries, prunes, etc.; and should have peas. 


532 


DISEASES OF THE GENERAL SYSTEM. 


beans, rice, flour, sugar and molasses. Beside these, ships should 
have essence of spruce and lemon, and dried balm, sage, pennyroyal, 
and other herbs. 

Seamen, when down with this disease, should be moved with care, 
as the spark of life may be easily extinguished. 

Purple Disease. —Purpura Hemorrhagica, 

This has been sometimes ranked as an affection of the skin; but 
it is not such; it is rather a disease of the general system. 

Symptoms. — The complaint is known by the appearance upon the 
skin of two kinds of spots ; the one kind are small, round, bright-red 
points even with the surface, and changing in a day or two to a pur¬ 
ple or livid color, which are yellowish brown when about to disap¬ 
pear. This variety of the purples is quite simple, attacking, gener¬ 
ally, young persons, and in warm weather. It is sometimes tedious in 
its course, but never dangerous. It requires little treatment—rpure 
air, wholesome diet, with quinia and the mineral acids, make up the 
chief part of it. It may be known by the spots not disappearing 
when pressed upon by the finger. 

The other and more dangerous variety of the disease is attended, 
generally, by faintness, wandering pains, great debility, and the ap¬ 
pearance upon the legs, arms, and body, of dark-red spots, and irreg¬ 
ular, livid patches, looking just like the marks of recent bruises. 
These marks are caused by the effusion of blood in patches under the 
skin; and in this respect they are just like bruises, only they are 
produced by different causes. 

In the rapid progress of the disease, dark venous blood frequently 
oozes from the tongue, mucous membrane of the mouth, nose, 
breathing tubes, ears, vagina, womb, stomach, etc. The other symp¬ 
toms vary in different cases very much, but generally indicate great 
disturbance of the system. 

It often runs a very rapid course, but sometimes remains for 
months. The disease, as seen in this country, is oftentimes associ¬ 
ated with rheumatism, it not infrequently being the forerunner of a 
long and tedious rheumatic outbreak. 

Treatment. — The bowels are to be kept regular by gentle physic 
(26), (21), (12), (15). 

Iron is a valuable remedy (73). 

Astringents generally have a good effect (156), (159), (279), 
(365). The best astringent in this complaint is gallic acid, taken 
in five-grain doses every three or four hours. 

The sponge bath, twice a day, with tepid or cool water, and fol¬ 
lowed with gentle rubbing with a coarse towel, will do much to 
restore and equalize the circulation in the skin. 

During the active stage of the disease, the diet should be very 


DISEASES OF THE GENERAL SYSTEM. 


533 


light, — simple toast-water, rice and arrow-root gruel, and either alum 
or wine whey. 

While getting well, the patient may have a more nourishing diet, 
consisting of tender fresh meat, broths, etc.; and must take gentle 
exercise in the the open air. 

When associated with rheumatism, the latter disease should be 
treated on the same lines laid down elsewhere for rheumatism. 

Iron usually is the mainstay for building up the blood, and should 
be given in some mild, unstimulating form, such as Bland’s pills, or 
pepto-mangan, peptonate or albuminate of iron, etc. 

Diphtheria. 

Diphtheria is an acute, contagious and infectious disease, whose 
characteristic feature is the formation of a pseudo-membrane upon 
a mucous surface. It is a comparatively recent disease in this 
country, and only lately well understood as to its origin and pathol- 
og}^ The excessive mortality of this disease within the last fifty 
years has been so great as to justly frighten all parents at its ap¬ 
proach, and lead them to regard it as the most terrible of all modern 
scourges. In New York city alone, over fifty thousand deaths have 
occurred in twenty-five years. It is one of the most fatal, as well as 
one of the commonest of children’s diseases. It is impossible to say 
at the outset whether the type will prove to be a mild or severe 
one. A case commencing with sudden, severe constitutional symp¬ 
toms and high fever may go on to recovery; while one with slow, 
gradual development, and little systemic disturbance, may progress 
gradually and end in death. Nor is the amount of membrane present 
in any case a guide as to the final outcome of the case. Many very 
mild cases may not at first be recognized as diphtheria until later, 
when some post-diphtheritic paralysis or other complication ensues. 
These mild cases are equally contagious, and often the origin of a 
severe and most malignant epidemic. 

Cause. — True diphtheria is caused by a germ known as the 
Klebs-Loeffler bacillus, either alone or in company with other germs; 
it is originally a local disease, becoming general as the poisons ema¬ 
nating from these germs are absorbed into the system. 

This bacillus is always present in diphtheria, and found only at the 
site of the local infection, and when injected into animals produces 
all the characteristic symptoms of the disease. 

In doubtful cases, recourse is now had to the finding of these germs 
by cultures made from little particles taken from the suspected mem¬ 
brane. 

There is, besides the true diphtheria, a pseudo-membranous inflam¬ 
mation which runs a mild course, but which cannot be distinguished 
clinically from the real disease, except by making these cultures in 
the laboratory; in the latter disease, the Klebs-Loeffler bacillus is 


534 


DISEASES OF THE GENERAL SYSTEM. 


always absent. On the other hand, there are often seen cases of true 
diphtheria so mild in character, and showing so little membrane, as to 
pass unnoticed, but which on bacteriological examination prove to 
be the dreaded disease; hence in all doubtful cases arises the neces¬ 
sity, in these modern times of refinement in diagnosis and treatment 
of disease, of having an examination made that the exact disease may 
be properly diagnosed, and the appropriate treatment be speedily in¬ 
stituted. The development of bacteriological science within the last 
few years renders this a very practical and sure test of the presence 
of the disease. Accepting the proven origin of the disease to be 
microbic, still there ^re many circumstances influencing the develop¬ 
ment or arrest of the germs when once introduced into the throat, 
since it is one of the most variable and uncertain of the contagious 
diseases. It is said that a normal throat will not be attacked by the 
bacillus, while one with some slight abrasion, inflammation, or other 
lesion, certainly offers a fertile field for its development. It is essen¬ 
tially a disease of childhood, although it occurs at all ages. Cold 
and dampness, and all unsanitary conditions, are known to favor the 
germ development. 

It occurs mostly in cold weather, as at this time catarrhal con¬ 
ditions are present, favoring the rooting of the germ. 

Propagation. — The germs are introduced for the most part by 
the air, although food may contain these bacilli. Domestic animals 
have been known to frequently convey the poison. All articles of 
furniture, clothing, the hands of attendants, etc., are common carriers 
of the diphtheritic germ, which is very tenacious of life, unless pre¬ 
viously disinfected, hence the absolute necessity of the greatest care 
in thoroughly cleansing everything which has come in contact with 
a diphtheritic patient. The writer once had the disease. The mat¬ 
tress on which he slept was put away, after a simple cleaning, in the 
attic for two years, and when later on it was brought down to accom¬ 
modate his two little brothers on one occasion, the disease was com¬ 
municated to them and they both died. 

Incubation Period. -—This is quite uncertain in the ordinary case 
of air inoculation, depending on the condition of the throat, but 
probably it varies from one to twenty days. In the case of inocula¬ 
tion of the bacil lus into the tissues of animals the period is only from 
one to three days. 

Location of Disease. — The tonsils, uvula, pharynx, nasal pas¬ 
sages and the larynx are the ordinary locations where the membrane 
is formed, but it may be found less commonly on the conjunctivae, 
border of the anus, vr^gina, and respiratory tract. 

All the internal organs may eventually become involved through 
the absorption of the germ poisons, and at the autopsy show marked 
hemorrhages, inflammations, congestions or fatty degeneration of their 
tissues. 


DISEASES OF THE GENERAL SYSTEM. 


535 


Symptoms and Diagnosis. — The characteristic feature is the 
membrane, which is apt to be of a dull gray color, firmly adherent to 
the tonsil or throat, spreading gradually and becoming thicker. To 
distinguish it from simple follicular tonsilitis, which is so common, 
is often difficult and frequently impossible without a bacteriological 
examination. The membrane of simple tonsilitis is white, begin¬ 
ning as little white specks like the curd of milk, and is usually easily 
removed without bleeding. The membrane of diphtheria spreads and 
attacks the uvula and back of the throat, the adjacent tissues become 
swollen, the neck increases in size, breathing becomes more difficult, 
the pulse more rapid and smaller, and prostration with drowsiness, as 
a rule, more and more marked. 

In simple cases, there is usually not much fever, but in severe 
cases the temperature may run high, with great prostration and 
languor; delirium and restlessness accompany the severe cases of 
great absorption of poison. The heart usually is rapid, with feeble 
pulse, but many severe cases have a very slow pulse, which ordinarily 
is a bad symptom. The heart in diphtheria is always the uncertain 
element, many cases dying suddenly and unexpectedly from heart 
paralysis. Albumen often appears in the urine, and is usually an 
evidence of the involvement of the kidneys; this nephritis may 
become chronic and persist long after the convalescence from the 
original disease, and may even prove fatal. When the membrane is 
deposited in the nares, the breathing is more labored, and bloody 
mucus may be seen in the nostrils, which hardens, forming crusts, 
or may run down on to the lip and cause sore places. As the tonsils 
grow larger and the nose becomes plugged, sleep is more and more 
disturbed by snoring and inability to properly inspire the air, so that 
the child tosses from one side of the bed to the other every few 
minutes. Add to this an encroachment by the membrane on the 
vocal chords or the larynx, and one sees a truly terrible malady, dis¬ 
tressing in the extreme. The encroachment into the larynx is 
suspected when the voice becomes husky and hoarse; it finally may 
be reduced to a whisper. The membrane may be limited to the larynx 
alone, as in the so-called membranous croup^ which is no more or less 
than diphtheria of this region. The symptoms of this affection are at 
first local, and as the disease progresses, become more and more 
marked and distressing till death ensues from suffocation. The face 
becomes blue, the chest heaves with the deep, labored respirations, 
the nostrils dilate, and the little spaces below the collar-bones_ more 
and more depressed and drawn in. 

The severity of the case depends much on the amount of absorp¬ 
tion from the throat, nose, or pharynx, of the toxines produced by the 
growth of the germs on the one hand, and the ability of nature on 
the other hand to resist the invasion. 

The odor of the breath in diphtheria is characteristic, and when 
once experienced is never forgotten. 


536 


DISEASES OF THE GENERAL SYSTEM. 


Sequelae. — Besides the chronic catarrh which is left at the origi¬ 
nal site of the membrane, and the anaemia (or paleness consequent 
on the impoverished blood), the most frequent, and the most charac¬ 
teristic* sequel of diphtheria is paralysis, which comes on in from one 
to five weeks after convalescence. This paralysis lasts from two to 
six weeks, though it may last for months, and even for a lifetime. 
It is in no wise, apparently, proportionate to the severity of the dis¬ 
ease. It is seen in all parts of the body, particularly the throat and 
nose, causing a nasal twang to the voice, and the regurgitation of 
food through the nose. It may affect the muscles of deglutition and 
speech, may attack the legs, arms, diaphragm, and the sphincter 
muscles of the bladder and rectum. 

Prognosis. — The prognosis varies according to the age and 
health of the patient, the severity of the symptoms, place of attack, 
and the character of the epidemic prevailing; nasal and laryngeal 
complications, as well as the large area of mucous membrane in¬ 
volved, increase the risks of the patient. The mildest cases may termi¬ 
nate fatally from relapse. The heart may give out at any time, and 
death may bje close at hand when apparently all is going well. Un¬ 
favorable symptoms are pallor, prostration, vomiting, and inability to 
take much nourishment, weakness of pulse with great rapidity or 
slowness, hemorrhages into the skin, restlessness and delirium. 

Prophylaxis. — The complete isolation of the patient in a room of 
the top story, supplied with as little furniture as possible, is requisite. 
All utensils and dishes should be thoroughly disinfected before taken 
out of the room. All discharges received into a vessel containing 
corrosive sublimate. All clothing should be boiled when possible. 

During the disease, some volatile oil, like eucalyptus, turpentine, 
carbolic acid, etc., should be vaporized through the room. The 
nurse in charge should not be in communication with other members 
of the household, nor children of the family allowed to play with 
others in the neighborhood, although they should be kept out of 
doors liberally, but carefully fed and in every way protected from 
catarrhal disorders. The patient after convalescence should be 
thoroughly bathed with soap and water, and finally with corrosive 
sublimate solution, including the hair. As much as possible of the 
furniture and other equipments that cannot be thoroughly cleansed 
by boiling water, steam or corrosive sublimate, should be destroyed; 
finally the room and, its contents should be fumigated with sulphur 
fumes by burning three pounds of sulphur to every thousand cubic 
feet of air space. 

Members of the family should be kept from school and church and 
other public places, and their mouths and nostrils daily washed with 
some disinfectant like carbolic-acid gargle. Only thin, washable 
clothing should be worn in the sick room. 


DISEASES OF THE GENEKAL SYSTEM. 


537 


Treatment. —From the first the treatment should be supportive, 
tonic, and stimulating. The temperature of the room should be kept 
at about seventy degrees, and plenty of fresh air and sunlight ad¬ 
mitted. The clothing and bedding should be changed frequently, 
and the recumbent position without exertion be insisted on. The 
diet should be liquid, and given every two to four hours, in definite 
quantity, not exceeding what the child can easily digest. Beef-tea, 
milk and lime-water, egg and milk. Bo vox or Bovinine in milk or 
water, are samples of the' class of foods to be administered. Alcohol 
in the form of brandy, whiskey, champagne, etc., should be given 
freely; there is more danger of giving too little than too much. The 
more septic or poisoned the patient, the more the alcohol will be 
tolerated and required. Very large amounts are taken in this dis¬ 
ease, as well as in all severely septic diseases. A five-year-old child 
will easily take from two to fifteen ounces of whiskey a day. Other 
valuable stimulants are strychnine, digitalis, ammonia, camphor, etc. 

Fever when high should be allayed by cold sponging or the cool 
bath. All hemorrhages, diarrhoea, or other exhausting complications 
must be stopped. Of internal treatment, perhaps none has stood the 
test of time better than that recommended years ago by Dr. Jacobi 
of New T oi^k, of which the following is an illustration: — 

Corrosive sublimate, one-half grain; wine of pepsin, four ounces. 
Teaspoonful every two hours, for a child five years old. This is an 
antiseptic to the intestinal tract, and helps disinfect the system. 
Locally^ the throat is to be sprayed with a solution of peroxide of 
hydrogen. If this smarts or excoriates the mouth, it may be diluted 
even to equal parts with lime water. This solution may be injected 
through the nose. It must be used freely and often. 

To destroy the bacilli, a one part to one thousand solution of 
corrosive sublimate in the form of spray may be used after the 
cleansing with the peroxide of oxygen solution, or what has recently 
been introduced as the Loeffler diphtheria spray, which consists of 
several antiseptics. 

The use of papoid, papayotin and other solvents of membranes, is 
frequently very beneficial: they may be sprayed or swabbed on to the 
throat. The sequelae are to be treated on general tonic principles; 
the catarrh is to be treated by the application of mild nitrate of silver 
solutions, and the paralysis by strychnia, massage, electricity, and 
general tonics. 

These measures constitute the main essential points in treatment 
in those cases which for any reason do not receive the modern 
antitoxin treatment. 

Since the better understanding of the Klebs-Loeffler bacillus, at¬ 
tempts have constantly been made to produce an antidote to the 
diphtheria poison, and it would now seem as if bacteriology had at 
last revolutionized the entire treatment of diphtheria, for of late a 
remedy called antitoxin has been found and successfully tested. The 


538 


DISEASES OF THE GENERAL SYSTEM. 


death-rate of diphtheria has been reduced nearly one half; apparently, 
one of the greatest boons ever sent to humanity has been realized in 
antitoxin. 

For some time it has been known that the serum of animals immune 
from diphtheria, when injected into susceptible animals, would prevent 
the infection of cultures made from the Klebs-Loeffler bacillus; and at 
last the essential elements, or the antitoxin, has been isolated. 

Not only has it been found that the injection of a given amount of 
antitoxin into the human subject would kill out the diphtheria, but 
also that, when injected into children not yet taken down with the 
disease, but who have been subjected to it, this antitoxin would 
actually prevent the occurrence of the disease in them, or, technically 
speaking, render them immune. 

For over a year now this modern blessing has been enjoyed by 
thousands of people all over the world. Reports are everywhere 
published by public institutions and private practitioners, speaking 
in figures more convincing than any statement could be, of the 
greatest advance in medicine that the last half century has witnessed 
It is to diphtheria what Listerism was to surgery. 

The essential features of this treatment consist in the injection into 
some convenient part of the body, like the back, loins, or thigh, of a 
certain amount of this liquid proportionate to the age of the patient, 
the severity of the disease, and the time elapsed since the outset of 
the symptoms. 

The dosage varies with all these conditions, and the particular 
variety of antitoxin employed. The repetition of the dose depends on 
the amount of improvement in the membrane. At first a reddening 
about the diphtheritic patch is seen, then a thinning out of the mem¬ 
brane and a general amelioration of the symptoms. To prevent the 
occurrence of the disease, only quite a small amount is required, and 
it needs to be injected but once. The great advantage of this treat¬ 
ment, outside of its favorable statistics, is the comfort derived by the 
patient in not being so frequently disturbed by other auxiliary 
treatment, as nothing else is required to be done when the case is 
seen early. As a matter of fact, cases are often seen so late, and the 
poison has so successfully invaded the system as to render the anti¬ 
toxin treatment less potent, that medical men employ local measures 
to help out the antitoxin. The earlier the treatment is begun, the 
less antitoxin will be required, and the surer the successful issue. 

Like all great advances in medicine and surgery, this method is 
not without its enemies, who will tell of the ill effects to the blood 
experienced later in life. The only ill effects are certain rashes 
resembling hives, or urticaria, situated generally near the site of the 
punctures and due to local irritation. These all pass off in a few 
days, and are only annoying at the very worst. Should abscesses 
occur they may be put down as the result of an unclean syringe, or 
ascribed to the neglect of proper aseptic precautions on the part of 
the physician. 


DISEASES OF THE GENERAL SYSTEM. 


539 


This antitoxin serum, taken from horses after repeated inoculation, 
may now be obtained from local boards of health, and other similar 
authorities, thus enabling the poor to be able to procure free of cost 
this antidote against the most ravenous of diseases. 


Canker. — Aptha Communis, 

Vert few, if any, standard medical writers have treated of canker. 
In truth, it is only a symptom of various complaints, and not itself a 
disease. It has accordingly been shut out from medical books. It 
afflicts — yes, sorely afflicts^ numerous persons, who, though doubt¬ 
less affected by some constitutional disturbance as its cause, are not 
conscious of any complaint except this single manifestation — canker. 
You find not only the disease, therefore, but complaints respecting it, 
in almost everybody’s mouth: “What shall I do for the canker?” 
meets us at almost every turn. “ I am sorely afflicted with the 
canker,” says one. “ I am literally sick with the canker,” says 
another. And a third says, “I can neither eat, nor converse, nor 
take rest, I am in such pain from canker in my mouth.” And these 
complaints are not unnatural, for the sufferings occasioned by this 
affection are indeed terrible. 

Canker begins in the form of small blisters, generally upon the 
tongue, or inside of the cheeks or lips, or stomach, whichj' after a 
time, break and form little ulcers, which are oftentimes very sore 
and painful. These ulcers will, at times, not only multiply, but 
spread themselves to large dimensions, going deep into the fiesh, and 
becoming painful almost beyond endurance. In many cases,, the 
parts swell, and become so sensitive and tender that it is almost im¬ 
possible to swallow the blandest food. The mouth will frequently 
become filled with saliva, which runs involuntarily out, to the great 
annoyance of the patient. 

Treatment. — Canker is frequently dependent on a deranged state 
of the stomach and bowels. When this is the case the treatment 
may begin with a dose of gentle physic (12), (15), (19), (26). If 
the stomach be quite permanently deranged, let this be followed with 
a somewhat prolonged use of prescription (28) or (37), or of the 
neutralizing cordial. If the mouth be very sore, use a tea of slippery 
elm bark, or flax-seed, or a solution of gum-arabic; and as the in¬ 
flammation subsides, touch the ulcerated patches with the stick 
nitrate of silver (lunar caustic); or use gargle (201), (202), (203), 
(205), (208), (209), (232), (243), (244), or sulphate of copper, 
eight grains dissolved in two ounces of water. A tea made of rasp¬ 
berry leaves, or blackberry roots, may be freely used as a drink. 

One of the best remedies is hamamelis. Of this a dessert-spoon¬ 
ful may be held for a few moments in the mouth and then spit out. 
A teaspoonful may be taken internally, once an hour until relieved. 
Receipe 205 is not only useful as a gargle, but may be reduced by 


540 


DISEASES OF THE GENERAL SYSTEM. 


adding one pint of water, and may then be swallowed four or five 
times a day, in doses of two tablespoonfuls at a time. 

The diet should always be carefully regulated, and only the more 
simple food taken, and at regular meals. 

To rapidly heal a canker spot, touch it with a wooden tooth-pick 
which has been dipped in a strong solution of carbolic acid. The 
ulcer turns white, and in a few days is completely healed. 


DISEASES PECULIAR 

TO 


MODERN TIMES, 


i 


DISEASES PECULIAR TO MODERN 
TIMES. 


In so short a space as we have at our command the mere outlining 
of this chapter is all that can be expected; whole volumes might be 
written, and that, too, much to the reader’s profit and interest. 

Within the last fifty years diseases have assumed different aspects, 
while many actually new or heretofore unrecognized diseases swell 
the list of ailments. The “diathesis ” of disease is the type of con¬ 
stitution inherited from the parents. From time immemorial, almost, 
there have been recognized five such types: the strumous, the ner¬ 
vous, the bilious, the lymphatic, and the gouty. Diseases of modern 
times tend greatly to the nervous type ; not only this, but individual 
characteristics are at times so pronounced as to form what are pro¬ 
fessionally known as “ idiosyncrasies.” These idiosyncrasies con¬ 
tinually increase, — so much so that what may be “food for one is 
poison to another.” The causes of this change of tendency in disease 
are most numerous and especially noticeable in young countries. 

Born of busy, hard-working parents, whose lot in life has been to 
struggle hard in new lands, or cast among neighbors whose life has 
been one of hurry and excitement, the child receives a nervous im¬ 
petus at an early age, and his precociousness is considered to be due 
to an inheritance of unusual mental strength rather than to an over¬ 
strained nervous system of the parents and a consequent nerve-debility 
of the child. The child’s early training is a rapid one, and at the 
early age of five or six the youth begins a course of school instruc¬ 
tion calculated to make a man or woman within a given time. The 
already frail nervous system is overtaxed; when he branches out into 
business life, he already shows signs of mental feebleness, which 
should be the concomitant of long years of hard labor only. Society, 
too, claims so much of young people as unfits them for anything else 
but its own exactions. Too long waking hours and too short sleep¬ 
ing hours waste the surplus energy and call on the nervous system to 
whip up the tired body. The wear and tear of business life, with its 
constantly increasing complications and confinement to indoor work, 
only add to the strain induced at dentition and puberty. In modern 
times, when every business in rapidly growing towns and cities is 
being more and more “ cut up,” and when, consequently, greater 

542 



DISEASES PECULIAR TO MODERN TIMES. 


543 


struggling for existence occurs, greater speed and anxiety, and more 
frequent disappointments are necessarily incurred. We rush through 
life nowadays. Advancing civilization is the cause of much of this 
extra speed. The press, telegraph, telephone, and steam appliances 
enable us to live faster, know and see more in a given time than ever 
before. The temptation is too great, and we rush on, regardless of 
tired bodies and exhausted brains, of overtaxed stomachs and sleep¬ 
less nights, to keep up with the times. Climates which are dry, with 
extremes of heat and cold, also cause much waste of nerve-force. 
The upbuilding of a new country has much to do with our diseases. 
At present the West exhibits that feverish eagerness for success in 
life once exhibited in the East. Europe has passed that stage of 
barometrical change in disease, due to advancing civilization, while 
the United States is passing through it. The faults of Europe lie 
in the direction of pleasure-excesses; ours is an overworked nervous 
system. Our American liberty, and freedom of personal ambition to 
rise from the lowest station in life to the highest, from poverty to 
riches, and from ignorance to intelligence and honor, will always act 
as an excitant to the nervous system, and is the one cause of our 
excessive activity. We must hurry less; give more time for Dame 
Nature to repair the waste of the system and to store up potential 
energy. We must divide more evenly our periods of sleep, recrea¬ 
tion, and work, that our children may become the possessors of more 
vital energy. We neglect too much old-fashioned methods of strength¬ 
ening our bodies, as outdoor gymnastics and walks. Even our sports 
tinge too much of speed and undue excitement, and partake too much 
of “professional ” knowledge. Let us have fewer “ finely-cut ” men, 
and more robust ones. 

Thus it is we inherit a greater diathesis to nerve diseases. This 
diathesis means a greater susceptibility to stimulants and narcotics, 
social evils and greater risks. The changes peculiar to this diathesis, 
or those much increased by it, are the early and rapid decay of teeth, 
neuralgia, premature baldness, and hay fever; nervous dyspepsia, 
sick headaches, short-sightedness, St. Vitus’s dance, sleeplessness, 
hypochondria, hysteria; cerebral, spinal, digestive, and sexual ex¬ 
cesses ; inebriety, epilepsy and insanity. 

The first signs of ascension or declension in the health of a nation 
are seen in woman. The American woman of to-day offers a striking 
contrast to the original female inhabitant of this continent. The 
difference in the mental, moral, and social types may be well worth 
the cost, but we have sacrificed too much of the physical and nervous 
strength to have gained the most out of our three hundred years or so 
of existence. Womb troubles are almost the birthright of every 
woman, — so much so that necessity has developed in America a 
science for their relief, in a short space of time, as wonderful as the 
telegraph or telephone. The physician of to-day feels he must have 
at least a knowledge of gynaecology, whatever else he may or may 
not know. 


544 


DISEASES PECULIAR TO MODERN TIMES. 


The terms nervous exhaustion, nervous prostration, neurasthenia, 
etc., are of modem invention. Ancients knew little of the continual 
noises of factories and teams, electric and steam appliances; their 
wearied bodies were lulled to sleep by gentle sighing of the trees, 
and refreshed by sweet air. The evident cure for these increasing 
evils lies in a change in our national habits. We must cultivate the 
restful out-door recreation of the Indians; we must go through life 
more slowly, eat less rapidly, and sleep longer. Cultivate the desire 
to enjoy nature and art more. Do business only in business hours 
and on business days. Indulge more in cool baths, rides, walks, and 
natural sports^ Learn to do less in amount, but better in quality. 


OLD AGE and ITS DISEASES 


To preserve the health is wise. The gfreat advance in medicine 
dtirmgf the last decade, together with the better under¬ 
standing of sanitary laws, eliminates the 
dread of old age and renders 
it a joy and a 
blessing. 




OLD AGE AND ITS DISEASES. 


Life, like the natural day, has its morning, its noon, and its even¬ 
ing. Eacli period has its sunshine and* its clouds; its light and its 
darkness ; its fair weather and its storms; its joys and its sorrows. 
The old do not feel the exhilarating brightness of the morning of life, 
nor the fervid strength of its noon; but they often experience what 
is better: a calm, quiet stillness, and peaceful repose, in its evening. 

There is, perhaps, no one thing — certainly not many things — 
which impress the reflective mind and tender heart with more sadness, 
than to see an old man, bending low with years, with little oi no selC- 
restraint; the passions all untamed, except so far as age has quenched 
their lires; fretful, peevish, jealous, complaining; distrustful of the 
ways of Providence; doubting the integrity of any human being; 
surrounded by clouds and darkness ; and stepping down gradually 
and reluctantly, amid a cold, drizzly, sleety, moral rain, into a dark, 
uncheered, and unillumined grave. 

On the other hand, how unspeakably pleasant it is to see the silver- 
haired pilgrim, in the evening-time of life, cheerful, happy, trustful 
in God and hopeful of men; the winds and storms of life bringing 
little or no disturbance of his peace ; baring the head reverently and 
bowing it meekly in the presence of great afflictions, and lifting it 
up rejoicingly when blessings fall upon it; converting, by the soft, 
subdued, and beautiful sunshine which he spreads around him, the 
very unpromising elements of the latest autumn into the finest Indian 
summer of life ; and finally sinking down peacefully to his rest amid 
the golden evening sunlight, and leaving the sky, long after, tinted 
with colorings more beautiful than artists ever conceived. 

“Why weep ye, then, for him who, having won 
The bound of man’s appointed years, at last,.— 

Life’s blessings all enjoyed, life’s labors done,— 

Serenely to his final rest has passed : 

While the soft memory of his virtues yet 

Lingers like twilight hues when the bright sun is set ? ” 

Besides these general reflections, it is proper in this chapter to 
contemplate the old from several points of view. 

They are experienced persons, and we may learn much from them. 
To be sure, they have, in most cases, lost the acuteness of their 
senses. They do not hear, or see, or taste as sharply 'is the young, 

546 



OLD AGE AND ITS DISEASES. 


547 


or even always think as quickly; yet their judgments are founded 
on a large experience; their decisions, though not as prompt, or 
emphatic, or brilliant as those of younger persons, are more safe and 
reliable. They are worthy, therefore, of our respectful confidence. 
We may seek their counsel and advice, and in most cases follow it 
with safety. True, they are apt to be conservative, and to distrust 
new things and ideas; but these new things and ideas are matters in 
which they have had no experience — matters which belong to an 
age subsequent to their time — matters, therefore, which lie outside 
the sweep of their active life, and respecting which they should not 
be expected to judge. It is no disparagement to them to say that 
they are not fitted to judge of those new thoughts and discoveries 
which have swarmed upon the world since the sun of their life has 
been sinking low in the western sky. But in all those staple max¬ 
ims and ideas which underlie human duties, in all ages, the old may 
safely be taken as our counsellors. 

Depositories of Family History. — They are the frail depositories 
and keepers of a vast deal of valuable family history, anecdote, and 
reminiscences of events fast fading from human recollection. Few 
errors of my own early life have been so much regretted by me as the 
neglect to learn from my aged relatives, when I had the opportunity, 
some of the more important points in the history of my family. My 
grandfather. Col. Gideon Warren, — a first cousin of Gen. Joseph 
Warren, and a personal friend of Ethan Allen,— lived in some of the 
towns of southern Vermont, and finally spent his last days and died 
in Hampton, N.Y. There stands his tombstone to this day, with the 
following beautiful words from Young’s “ Night Thoughts ” engraved 
upon it; — 

“An angel’s arm can’t snatch me from the grave; 

Legions of angels can’t confine me there.” 

These few facts are about the substance of what I know of his his¬ 
tory. In what town his father settled, who was one of three brothers 
who emigrated to this country, or who were his brothers and sisters, 
or what became of them, I have not been informed, simply because I 
did not obtain the information, now so much desired by me, as I 
might easily have done, between thirty and forty years ago, while 
spending a year in Hampton fitting for college. An uncle of mine, 
Caleb Warren, was then living in Hampton, an old man. He had 
learned from my grandfather the full liistory of the family; and 
from him I might have derived knowledge which I should now value 
above price — knowledge which I intend yet to acquire, if the pres¬ 
sure of pi’ofessional business shall ever be so lifted from me that I 
can command time for the investigation. Bub I shall never cease to 
remember the fact, or to lament my misimprovement of it, that from 
this venerable relative I might hx\ e le irned facts and put tliem on 
record in one houi*, which it will cost me weeks and months of cor¬ 
respondence, travel, and the searvhmg of records to acquire. I say 


548 


OLD AGE AND ITS DISEASES. 


to all young persons, value very highly the knowledge of your family 
history, which you may easily learn from your parents, grandparents, 
uncles, aunts, etc., and esteem those very highly who are able to 
impart it to you. Soon these living records will be suddenly blotted 
by the hand of death; and then no regret for past negligence will 
enable you to repair your loss, if you have not improved your oppor¬ 
tunity. 

The Fathers of our Race and the Founders of our Institutions.— 

The aged people who yet linger among us are our fathers. We have 
our existence, through God, from them, and from others who have 
preceded them to the silent land. They educated the present race. 
All that is valuable in the moral principle and mental culture of the 
men and women of this generation, has been derived from them. 
Much of their lives was spent in training us, mentally and morally, 
and fitting us for usefulness. 

Not only the fine moral and intellectual characters which are found 
everywhere, acting like salt and leaven in human society, are the 
work of their hands; but society, and government itself, have been 
handed down to us by them, with much valuable instruction as to 
the means of their preservation. We can scarcely conceive the 
amount of obligation our fathers have laid upon us in giving us 
these vast blessings. The men who have been the means of bringing 
us into life ; who have educated and trained us; who have preserved 
our government and passed it into our hands unbroken; who have 
built and enlarged our colleges, established and improved our un¬ 
equalled common schools; have founded and endowed our charitable 
institutions, and thus made our land famous throughout the world, 
are certainly worthy — those of them who are yet among us — of our 
constant regard and veneration. 

Loneliness of the Aged-The old are left, in some sense, alone 

in the world. The age in which they have had their active being 
has gone by. The world has slid from under them ; and they stand 
far out, as it were, on a narrow neck of land between this world and 
the next, from which they hear strange sounds coming to them from 
the moving mass of beings of whom they are soon to take leave. 
Most of the companions with whom they started in the journey of 
life have, one by one, dropped away from their side, and the younger 
and stirring multitude who have come after them are moved by new, 
and to them strange thoughts and aspirations. The throng of younger 
men is driven forward by impulses which they never felt, and in paths 
which they never trod. Manners, speech, dress, modes of doing busi¬ 
ness— all have changed. The old-fashioned fire-place, the stage- 
coaeh, the boy’s bow and the girl’s courtesy to strangers in the street, 
these all — some of them useful and some of no further value — 
have disappeared, never more to be enjoyed by those who so much 
prized them in their day. 


OLD AGE AND ITS DISEASES. 


549 


What wonder if at times a sense of loneliness and desolation should 
steal into the minds of the aged ? It is not without cause that they 
often yield to melancholy reflections. The young have their com¬ 
panions and their sports. The companions of the old have mostly 
gone; and for sports they have no agility. Cut off from the present, 
they are thrown upon the past, and too often look gloomily to the 
future. They should he sympathized with and encouraged. We 
should sit by their side, and talk with them of the manners and 
events of other days. Their conversation is often instructive as well 
as amusing. Would we engage in it with right feelings towards the 
old, it would be to us a source both of profit and pleasure. To a 
right-minded person, few things are more pleasurable than to sit by 
intelligent aged persons, cozily seated in a large armed-chair, and 
listen to their tales of personal adventure and experience. They 
enter upon such narratives with so much animation, and live over 
the past with such evident satisfaction, that the benevolent person 
would find pleasure in engaging them in that conversation for this 
reason alone. 

Helpless Dependence of the Aged. —No one thing should tendmore 
to excite our pity, compassion, and kindly feelings for old people, than 
their helplessness and dependence. It is one of the best indications 
of humanity to deal gently with the weak. The old are in their 
second childhood. In their day, they have been strong and vigorous 
— laboring, many of them, in season and out of season, to support 
their families and gain a competence. They have felled the primitive 
forests, and brought the soil under the dominion of the plough and 
hoe; they have constructed turnpikes and built bridges; made ships 
and sailed them over stormy seas, whitened every harbor with the 
emblems of commerce; filled every city with the beautiful creations 
of art, and the useful productions of mechanical handicraft; created 
systems of education and philanthropy; framed strong governments 
and worked them, — in a word, have carried the world upon their 
shoulders, without bending or giving tokens of exhaustion. But a 
multitude of years have robbed them of the strength which did all 
these things. They now totter like a young child. The brain which 
conceived and the arm which executed are alike feeble. How proper 
that much which is kindly should now be done for those who have 
done so much for us and for the world! Oh, let the old have a 
warm place in the affections! Supply, as far as possible, all their 
wants. Go with them, in spirit, into the shadows of evening, within 
which they are retiring, and there hold them up. Be a staff to them 
in their weakness; and, if it be possible, when the shades deepen 
around them, lift the curtains of the future and let in upon them, 
though it be never so few, some rays of light from the heavenly world. 

From these general remarks, I pass to consider — 


550 


OLD AGE AND ITS DISEASES 


The Changes occurring in Advanced Life. 

Growth, maturity, and decline are the three periods which divide 
and measure human life. 

During growth, the deposit of new matter takes place more rap¬ 
idly than the decay or waste which is also going on. 

During healthy maturity, waste and increase are exactly equal, 
the one taking place just as rapidly as the other. 

The decline of old age reverses the order of growth, and waste 
outstrips addition. The newly deposited matter comes, but not so 
rapidly as the old is cast away. 

Declining Age may be said to extend from fifty to sixty. 

Incipient Old Age from sixty to seventy. 

Ripe Old Age from seventy to eighty. 

Decrepitude or Second Infancy from eighty to the e;id of life. 

During all these periods, particularly during the latter, important 
structural and other changes are occurring in the human system. 
Piles, apoplexy, paralysis, diseases of the liver, kidneys, and bladder, 
with organic changes of the heart, dropsy, chronic affections of the 
breathing organs, gout, etc., frequently appear. 

No fear of Death. —It is a wise and merciful provision of Provi¬ 
dence, that as old age advances, and the natural end of life draws 
near, the dread of death diminishes. As the aged gradually lose 
their hold upon life, they do so with less and less reluctance, until 
finally they let go willingly, and part from it even with joy. Persons 
passing from life at the age of eighty or upwards, generally look 
forward to death with more of pleasure than of fear. It is oiie good 
reason why it is desirable to live to great age, that life may come to 
a close without those harassing fears which ^o many dread. 

Preservation of Old People’s Health. 

It is proper here to speak of the hygiene of old age, or the means of 
preserving aged people’s health. 

It is natural to desire a continuance of life; and except in the case 
of the extremely old, there is a general wish for its prolongation. 
Those who are born of parents who have lived long, are more likely 
to attain length of days than those who have descended from short¬ 
lived ancestors; yet the influence of correct habits may add quite as 
many years to their lives. 

Regular Habits. — The old feel the evil influence of irregular 
habits much more than the young. It is seldom that any change of 
habit, long indulged, is well borne by the aged. So true is this, that 
the attempt to correct some habits of evil tendency is sometimes 


OLD AGE AND ITS DISEASES. 


551 


dangerous to the old, so much have they lost the power of adapting 
themselves to change. The discontinuance of the habitual use of 
spirit, or tobacco, or opium, by an old person, though the use of 
either is of acknowledged evil tendency, will frequently prove fatal. 
It is almost necessary that the habits of the aged should remain as 
they are. What an impressive lesson this fact gives the young on 
the necessity of forming good habits in early life ! 

Even the hours of taking meals should not be changed in the 
decline of life. Removing to new climates, and forming new social 
relations by those advanced in years, is not favorable to length of 
days. Old trees do not often take root and live long when trans¬ 
ferred to a new soil. 

Diet. — The food of old people should of course be easy of diges¬ 
tion. It is often the case that they bear made dishes such as “ hash,” 
so called, better than plain boiled or roasted meat. This can only be 
explained on the ground that the meat is chopped fine, and is more 
thoroughly cooked. 

node of Cooking fleats. — This leads me to speak of the best 
methods of cooking meats so that they may be tender. 

The flesh of all warm-blooded animals is identical in composition 
with that of human beings. That the flesh of animals used as food, 
therefore, may form flesh in the human body in the easiest manner, 
none of its essential constituents or parts should be taken from it 
during the process of cooking. If any one of its constituents is 
extracted, it will no longer be like human flesh; and that lost part 
will have to be resupplied before it can become a part of the frame 
of man. 

Flesh is composed of two parts—that which can be dissolved, and 
that which cannot. The separation between these two parts is more 
or less completely effected in boiling, according to the amount of 
water used and the length of time employed in the process. 

In making soup, we have no objection to a separation between the 
hard and juicy parts of the meat, because the latter passes into the 
water and helps form the soup. Hence the proper way is to put the 
meat into cold water when it is put over the fire, and let it come to 
the boiling point very gradually; during which time the juicy part 
has a chance to dissolve out, and, uniting with the water, make rich 
soup. 

But when the meat is to be boiled simply, and eaten as boiled meat, 
we should aim to retain the juice within it, that we may retain the 
whole of' it. To do this, we must put the meat into water which is 
briskly boiling over the fire. The juice of the meat contains a large 
quantity of albumen^ a substance just like the white of egg; and 
putting the meat suddenly into boiling water almost instantly hardens 
this albumen all around the surface, just as boiling water hardens 
white of egg, and this prevents all the juice of the inner portion of 


552 


OLD AGE AND ITS DISEASES. 


the meat from running out into the water and being lost. Keep the 
meat in the briskly-boiling water a few minutes, then pour in a little 
cold water to reduce the temperature slightly, and keep it in this 
somewhat reduced temperature until it is done through. 

Broiling and roasting are pretty generally understood, and are 
done well enough where persons are disposed to take pains. Frying 
is an abomination, and should be banished from all civilized house¬ 
holds. 

Milk is an excellent article of diet for old persons. Except in some 
few cases where it disagrees with the stomach, it is among the very 
best. Sometimes, when it disagrees with a weak stomach, a little 
lime-water added to it will make all right. Artificial ass’s milk, which 
will generally sit well on aged people’s stomachs, may be made by 
dissolving one ounce of pulverized sugar of milk in one pint of 
skimmed cow’s milk. 

Potatoes, beets, carrots, parsnips, and asparagus are healthful; 
peas, beans, cabbages, etc., had better not be largely indulged in. 

Ripe Fruits, taken in moderation, are useful; but should be eaten 
at meal-time, not between meals. Among these, ripe apples, pears, 
peaches, plums, strawberries, currants, and grapes are luxuries in 
which not even the oldest persons need fear to indulge to a reason¬ 
able extent. 

Plain Puddings and Pies are not entirely objectionable; but all 
rich and high-seasoned articles of pastry should be strictly rejected 
by the old, as they should, in fact, by all classes. 

Wine, etc. — If any persons in the world may indulge in a little 
wine for their stomach’s sake, it is the old. But even they, if they 
have not been accustomed to its use, often get along very well with¬ 
out it; and when they can do so it is better, for various reasons, 
especially that their example may have a good influence with others. 
When the feeble vitality of the aged seems to require it, especially if 
they have been in the habit of leaning upon it, they should be en¬ 
couraged to use it. And if they chance to be poor, and cannot pro¬ 
cure it themselves, for friends to withhold it from them on the ground 
of economy, or from the feeling of grudging stinginess, is nothing 
less than inhumanity and cruelty. 

To these remarks upon diet, I add: the old should never eat to 
excess or repletion. They should eat slowly, and chew their food 
very thoroughly. 

Susceptibility to Cold.—Aged people suffer very much from cold 
hands and feet, and, indeed, from languid circulation and low tem¬ 
perature generally. The heart, like all their other muscles, has 
become feeble, and sends the blood very lazily along the arteries. 
The clothing of the old should be thicker and warmer than that of 
younger people. We must prevent the escape of what little animal 


OLD AGE AND ITS DISEASES. 


553 


heat there is by flannel worn nex^t to the skin, and by woollen clothes 
generally — they being bad conductors of heat. Unless very fleshy, 
they seldom suffer from heat, even when their flannels are continued 
through the summer. 

It is during winter nights that the old are apt to suffer most from 
cold. On going to bed, therefore, they should be warm; and on very 
cold nights should have a hot-water bag at their feet. The commu¬ 
nication of animal heat, particularly from th^ young, is better even 
than this to support the vital energies of age; and some writers have 
recommended that the vital warmth of the old should be kept up by 
letting the young of our own species sleep with them. The human¬ 
ity of this suggestion is very questionable The aged would doubt¬ 
less be benefited by such a proceeding; but the young would be 
injured. Whatever vitality should be gained by one would be lost 
by the other. While a few might be added to the limited days of 
the aged, many would be quite as likely to be subtracted from those 
of the young. I would much sooner recommend that old people 
attach to themselves, and take to their bed, an affectionate, clean, and 
silken-haired English terrier dog. Such an animal, usually as clean 
as a child, would impart warmth and vitality at night, and be a true, 
affectionate, and amusing companion during many a lonely hour of 
the day. Whatever may be said against this recommendation, — and 
of course some over-nice people will object, — I insist that it is in 
every sense far more proper than the expedient adopted with King 
David, when he “was old and stricken in years,” and after “they 
covered him with clothes, but he gat no heat.” (1 Kings i, 1.) 

Mortality in Cold Weather. — Far more of the old people die in 
winter than in summer, or, indeed, in any other season. For this 
reason, old people should be very careful how they expose themselves 
during the coldest days of the winter. 

If there be any change which the old are likely to bear with im¬ 
punity or advantage, it is from a cold to a warm climate in their lat¬ 
ter years. The wealthy Romans, when they grew old, were taken 
to Naples. 

Care of the Skin.—Attention to the skin, always important to 
health, is very essentially so in the latter years of life. The scarf- 
skin of the old tends to become dry, and peel off. This may be pre¬ 
vented in a great measure by regular washing with tepid water, and 
rubbing. If the bath cannot be endured, not even the sponge-bath, 
let friction alone be employed. For friction, either the naked hand, 
a piece of flannel, or the flesh-brush may be used. In rubbing the 
belly, the hand should follow the course of the large bowel; that is, 
in the region of the stomach pass across from right to left, down on 
the left, across on the lower parts of the bowels, up on the right, etc. 
By this method, constipation and a windy condition of the stomach 
and bowels may frequently be removed, or rendered less distressing. 


554 


OLD AGE AND ITS DISEASES. 


Exercise. —Always important, in all periods of life, exercise does 
not lose its advantages in old age. But the aged should always exer¬ 
cise with moderation. The violence used in youth would break the 
bones, and do various kinds of mischief were it indulged by the old. 
Carriage exercise is very suitable for old people, but the more active 
exercise of horseback riding, walking, and even working in the gar¬ 
den, should not be omitted — bearing always in mind that great 
fatigue is injurious. 

Sleep. — Aged people should get about as much sleep as nature asks 
for. They should retire early, and not be in haste to rise with the 
dawn. They require more sleep than persons in middle life. Eight 
or ten hours in the twenty-four is not too much. 

Sleeplessness. — Though the old require a good deal of sleep, it is 
unfortunate that many of them can sleep but little. A large propor¬ 
tion of persons far advanced in life, complain of inability to sleep. 
Many old people deceive themselves, and really sleep much more 
than they are aware. Yet they often persist that they sleep none at 
all, night after night. Their case is illustrated by an old lady whose 
doctor entered her room and found her sleeping very soundly and 
comfortably. The noise of a person entering the room awoke her 
soon after, when, rubbing her eyes, she turned to the doctor, and said 
all she wanted was sleep, that she had slept none for a month; and 
unless he could give her something to bring sleep, she must die. 

Medical art, I am sorry to say, frequently fails to bring relief, when 
there is real want of sleep. Narcotics should always be avoided if 
possible. They do too much mischief; yet it is necessary, sometimes, 
to resort to them. Much may be done sometimes by taking an earlier 
or a lighter supper. Early rising, and exercise in the open air, will 
often bring sleep at night. Occasionally a glass of wine, or a little 
spirit of any kind, taken just before retiring, will bring the needed 
sleep. 

Electricity. — In connection with sleep, the disturbing and the 
tranquilizing influence of electricity and magnetism has received some 
attention within a few years. A German philosopher contends that 
terrestrial magnetism exerts on persons of a sensitive organization a 
very soothing influence, when placed in proper relations with its cur¬ 
rents, and a disturbing impression when otherwise situated. He 
cites cases to show that lying from east to west is so intolerable that 
persons of delicacy cannot endure it; while the horizontal position 
from north to south, with the head south, is more agreeable; and most 
agreeable and tranquilizing with the head to the north. A German 
surgeon is mentioned in Reichenback’s Memoirs, who always woke 
early in the morning, and turning his head where his feet had been, 
invariably fell into a sound slumber, which was more refreshing than 
that of the night. When he chanced to omit this, he felt ill all day. 
Observing that the head of his bed was directed to the south, Reich- 


OLD AGE AND ITS DISEASES. 


555 


enback persuaded liim to turn it to the north; and ever after he slept 
soundly till the proper time to rise in the morning. 

Without pronouncing upon the correctness of this theory, I will 
simply say that in my winter residence in town, the head of my bed 
is to the south. I sleep tolerably well; but not as well as at my 
summer residence a little out of town, where the head of my bed is 
towards the north. How much the stillness of the country and the 
greater purity of its atmosphere may contribute to this difference, I 
will not pretend to decide. 

Medical Treatment of the Old. 

In prescribing medicine for old people, we should bear in mind the 
difference between the sexes. Women in advanced life are less ex¬ 
citable, and enjoy better health, frequently, than in early life. Old 
men, on the contrary, are more nervous, in their latter years, and 
consequently more easily affected. 

The physician cannot rely on the reaction of the system in old age. 
He must do more by his remedies, and depend less upon nature to 
help him out of straits. 

The small power of rallying in the systems of the old, puts all 
bloo 1-letting, severe purging, etc., entirely out of the question. The 
man is near enough to insanity who, except in some very rare case, 
bleeds the young. He who takes a drop of blood from the old, should 
be put in a straight-jacket and sent to the insane hospital. 

Larger Doses. — The torpid condition of the system in old age 
frequently requires larger doses of medicine to make an impression. 

Fluid Medicines.— Pills and powders sometimes pass through the 
stomach and bowels in the same state in which they entered. Fluids 
are more readily appropriated — especially when the more active me¬ 
dicinal ingredient is mixed with wine, or some stimulating tincture, 
or aromatic water. These things rouse up the torpid stomach and 
bowels, and cause the medicine to take effect. 

Medicine by Rectum. —When the disease is situated in the imme¬ 
diate neighborhood of the lower bowel, as the bladder, etc., it is 
sometimes better to administer the medicine by injection into the 
rectum. 

Suitable Medicines for the Old. —The acids, the alkalies, and the 
neutral salts are unsuitable to be administered much to old people. 
All metallic medicines must be given sparingly, and with caution. 
Iodine and iodide of potassium are not very well borne. Narcotics 
must sometimes be used to some extent. Harsh and drastic purga¬ 
tives are out of the question, except in some few instances in which 
they may be given sparingly in connection with compound tincture 
of gentian, or some other stimulating tonic. Sulphur is a valuable 


556 


OLD AGE AND ITS DISEASES. 


remedy for aged people. So are the stimulant tonics, bitters, astrin¬ 
gents, gum-resins, balsams, etc., together with the various carmina¬ 
tives, as anise, coriander, fennel, cascarilla, ginger, etc. 

Surgical Operations. — Some of the smaller operations in surgery 
need not be forbidden in the case of the old; but great operations are 
not to be thought of. There is not recuperative power enough to 
bear them. 

Diseases of the Old. 

Most of the diseases which afflict aged people are of course much 
the same as those which come upon people at all periods of life. 
These having all been treated of in the previous pages of this book, 
do not require to be gone over particularly again. There are a few 
complaints, however, which are peculiar to the old, of which I must 
briefly speak. 

Bronchial Flux. — Bronchorrhoea. 

A MORE than usual amount of mucous expectoration, accompanied 
with cough, is very common with old people — so common that in 
many cases they think very little of it, even when the expectoration 
becomes very profuse. This discharge, however, from the mucous 
surface of the bronchial tubes, is very apt to be attended by shortness 
of breath on making even very slight exertion ; and the whole trouble 
is aggravated in damp weather, and by constipation, and the stoppage 
of leucorrhcea in females, or the interruption of insensible perspiration 
through the skin. 

Slow progress. — This complaint makes very slow progress, as a 
general rule, often continuing many years without doing any great 
mischief. It is apt, however, to degenerate into a mischievous con¬ 
dition in the end; and should, therefore, as a general thing, receive 
some attention. 

Treatment. —Attend carefully to the skin. Keep it in as healthy 
a condition as possible, by regular and faithful bathing and friction. 
This is of prime importance. 

Care niflst be had not to suppress the discharge too suddenly. It 
may be necessary, at times, to use some expectorant (see expectorants 
among the prescriptions) to make the raising easier. But when it is 
thoroughly loosened up, we should begin to suppress it by astringent 
inhalations. For this purpose Inhalant No. 4 is excellent. It might 
be well, however, to begin with the Inhalant No. 6, which is slightly 
styptic. 

If ulcers on the legs have recently healed, they should be opened, 
or blisters applied in their vicinity. 

Removal to a dry climate is a valuable remedy, provided the cli¬ 
mate is not too hot, and is healthful in every other respect. 


OLD AGE AND ITS DISEASES. 


557 


Other Diseases. — The other diseases with which old persons are 
afflicted are so common to all ages, that I do little more than name 
them, adding a few general remarks. 

Asthma. — The asthma, or intermittent difficulty of breathing of 
the old, is connected with various other troubles, as chronic inflamma¬ 
tion of the bronchial tubes, air in the lung-tissue, swelling of the 
lungs, enlargement and dilatation of the heart, and diseases of its 
valves, etc. It is also dependent on impurities of the blood, and is 
connected with torpid action of the kidneys. It is impossible, some¬ 
times, to say which of these conditions it is dependent upon. As far 
as may be, however, the cause must be searched out; and then, while 
the general remedies for asthma must be employed, the particular 
thing with which it is connected must also receive attention, especially 
if it be connected with derangement of the kidneys. 

Asthmatic old people are almost always dyspeptics. The stomach 
and bowels, therefore, require particular attention. The warm pur¬ 
gatives, combined with alkalies, are generally useful: as rhubarb and 
soda, equal parts, or Mettauer’s Aperient, with a little tincture of 
ginger or tincture of cayenne in it. A very valuable preparation is 
compound tincture of gentian and tincture of calumba, two ounces 
each, one-half ounce of tincture of ginger, and half an ounce of bi¬ 
carbonate of soda. Mix, and take a teaspoonful as occasion may 
require. 

Apoplexy and Paralysis. — The nervous system being weakened 
in aged people, the way is opened for greater frequency of attack 
from apoplexy and paralysis. The exciting cause may be hypersemia, 
too much blood; or anaemia, too little blood. It may be general 
debility, or gout, or a poisoned state of the blood. 

The treatment is to be conducted much on the same principles as 
when these diseases occur in younger subjects. 

I pass over numerous complaints which may be said to be somewhat 
more common in advanced life than at earlier periods. They are so 
fully treated in previous pages of this book, that it is deemed needless 
even to name them here. There is, however, one other class of dis¬ 
eases occurring so very often in old age, and in so many cases mak¬ 
ing advanced life a burden, that I cannot pass them wholly in silence. 
I refer to 

Diseases of the Urinary Organs. — These afflict the old, not only 
very commonly, but very severely. A man who reaches the age of 
seventy or eighty without experiencing some serious trouble from 
deranged kidneys, diseased bladder or prostate gland, or gall-stones, 
or gravel, or unhealthy urinary deposits of some sort, may think him¬ 
self greatly favored. 

Treatment. — It is not necessary here to go over the whole ground 
of treatment. That is done in other parts of the book. I will say, 


558 


OLD AGE AND ITS DISEASES. 


however, that a surgical operation for stone in the bladder is not often 
to be thought of in the case of old people. Other remedies must be 
sought. And among these, none hold out so good a chance of relief 
as the free drinking of the alkaline bicarbonates dissolved in water. 
This will frequently dissolve stones formed of uric acid, urate of 
ammonia, and triple phosphates. Poland water in large quantities 
is good. 


ACCIDENTS 


What to do and How to do it 




ACCIDENTS. 


Apparent Death from Noxious Vapors. 

When persons become insensible from breathing foul air in a deep 
well or other place where it collects, let them be immediately exposed 
to the open air, cold water be sprinkled upon the face and liead, 
and strong vinegar be rubbed about the nostrils. As soon as there is 
ability to swallow, give some drinks, as lemonade, or a few drops of 
aromatic sulphuric acid, dropped into a tumblerful of water, and 
slightly sweetened. A stimulating injection (246) may be given. 

Apparent Death from Burning Charcoal. 

Some persons very thoughtlessly attempt to warm their sleeping or 
sitting rooms with a portable furnace, or open pan filled with burning 
charcoal, or live coals from a wood fire. This is very wrong, as such 
coals while burning throw off large quantities of carbonic acid gas, a 
deadly poison. This being heavier than atmospheric air, falls to the 
bottom of the room, and for a time may do no damage ;'but, if there 
be no chimney*draught, or open door or window, it will rise above 
ihe heads of those in the room, and bring on asphyxia and death. 

Let such cases be treated the same as the preceding, with the ad- 
litional measure of attempting to excite breathing, as in the case of 
persons apparently dead from drowning. 

To Recover Persons Apparently Drowned. 

Of all the sad accidents that may often be avoided by a knowledge 
of their prevention, drowning seems the most lamentable. Its oc¬ 
currence, too, is the most frequent. A knowledge, then, of how to 
restore the drowning to life, and to renew the suspended animation, 
is equally important to people as a knowledge of how to swim. 

Drowning persons die by what is called asphyxia. The air being 
shut off from the lungs, breathing stops, and the immediate accumu¬ 
lation of carbonic acid in the blood paralyzes the nervous system, and 
insensibility immediately follows. The heart continues to beat, how¬ 
ever, from five to twenty minutes after the occurrence of insensibility 
and apparent death. 


660 



ACCIDENTS. 


561 


Recovery may take place at any time before the heart ceases to 
beat, and has been brought about in some cases even after this organ 
has become still. It has taken place, in some few instances, as late 
as an hour after being under water, but it can scarcely be expected, 
even under the best treatment, later than twenty minutes from the 
time of submersion; and even as late as this, the chances are much 
against restoration. 

Several main facts should never be lost sight of: remember, first, 
to empty the water out of the person’s stomach and lungs; second, 
to remove the patient as little away from the spot where rescued as 
possible; third, to go to work at once, unless the atmosphere of winter 
prevent; remember, finally, to keep at work long after hope seems 
gone, to many, of restoring the person to life. 



Fig. 150. 


Roll the patient over on to his stomach, with a parcel of clothing 
(see Fig. 150), a barrel or box under him, and press firmly on his 
back, while an assistant pulls forward the tongue and clears the 
mouth of mucus. Repeat the pressure once or twice, and then roll 
the patient on to his back (Fig. 151) with the clothes rolled up 
resting under his lowest ribs. Loosen all clothing about the neck, 
chest, and waist. 

Let the assistant extend the arms in the direction of the body 
above the head, bringing them as near together as possible, while 
you blow into the patient’s mouth. Now, straddling the body, re¬ 
place the arms and press firmly with your own weight upon the 
sides and front of the lower chest, as if to press out something from 










562 


ACCIDENTS. 


the lungs; suddenly let go. Repeat these motions of the arms and 
chest perseveringly, ten or fifteen times a minute. 

While thus engaged, assistants should remove the wet clothing, 
wipe the body dry, and, by vigorous friction of the skin, endeavor 
to restore warmth to the surface. Hot-water bottles, if they can be 
procured, are very serviceable in securing this result. Neither the 
weather nor place may allow of this warmth. When, however, the 
asphyxia has been relieved, warmth should be abundantly supplied 
and light stimulants given. Avoid the warm bath. Rubbing with 
coarse cloths answers well in the absence of hot-water bottles. 



As soon as the patient can swallow, give warm milk, beef tea, or 
coffee with a tablespoonful of some spirit. Volatile stimulants like 
ammonia, held before the nose, are very serviceable, even before the 
patient breathes. 

Sleep should now be encouraged, but a watch must be kept, in 
cases of prolonged asphyxia, lest a relapse occur. 

How long a person may be under water and yet recover, is not 
definitely known, although the duration depends on the amount of 
air confined in the chest just prior to the immersion. 

Unless you are well acquainted with heart or lung action, you 
may be deceived as to the existence of life ; persevere, therefore, in 
the worst cases, fully an hour, since the heart may beat so feebly as 
to escape your notice, and yet, finally, rally. 

It is doubtful if a heart that has actually stopped for five minutes 
can be resuscitated. 













ACCIDENTS. 


563 


Apparent Death from Lightning. 

A STEOKE of lightning will frequently produce asphyxia by par¬ 
alyzing the muscles of respiration. In such case, the same means 
for recovery should be used as in apparent death from drowning. Or, 
the apparently dead person may be placed in a current of fresh air, 
and cold water dashed upon the face, neck, and breast, and warm 
friction be applied if the body is cold. 

Apparent Death from Hanging. 

Peesons found hanging, who have committed suicide, are to be cut 
down instantly, and the same means employed to re-establisii breath¬ 
ing as in cases of drowning. It may help to restore the breathing, to 
bathe the forehead and face with vinegar, or tincture of camphor, and 
to pass hartshorn frequently under the nostrils. 

Clothes Catching Fire. 

It is perhaps unreasonable to look for presence of mind when this 
frightful accident occurs, yet it is never more needed than at such a 
time. 

The instant a lady perceives her clothes to be on fire, and in a hlaze^ 
she should seize the nearest large rug, cloak, blanket, coverlet, or any 
equivalent article, and, wrapping it tight around her, throw herself 
fiat upon the fioor, taking care to keep the protecting covering close 
to her until the fire is completely smothered. If she does this with 
energy, and effectually, she will put out the fire instantly. 

If she continue on her feet, the blaze will rapidly ascend, and burn 
her vital parts. If she run to seek relief from others not present, the 
motion of the air will fan the flame into a swifter work of destruc¬ 
tion. 

If it be a child that is on fire, let any person present treat it as 
above. If it be badly burned before the fire is extinguished, put it 
instantly into a tub of cold water, or dash cold water upon it, to 
prevent the burn from becoming deep. 

Accidents on the Water. 

If upset in a boat, or otherwise thrown into the water, and not 
able to swim, draw the breath in well, and keep the mouth shut tight. 
Do not struggle and throw the arms up; but yield quietly to the 
water, hold the head well up, and stretch out the hands only below 
the water. To throw the hands or the feet up^ will pitch the head 
down^ and cause the whole person to go immediately under water. 
Keep the head above^ and everything eise under water. 


564 


ACCIDENTS. 


Poisoning Accidents. —• Antidotes of Poisons. 

Accidents from poisons are of such common occurrence, that 
every person should know the proper remedies, and not be obliged to 
wait the arrival of a physician before the proper corrective is applied. 
The most common remedies, with the methods of applying them, 
will be given under the proper heads below. 

Poisons may be classified under two heads: viz., mineral and vege,- 
table. 

In the treatment, three objects are to be kept in view: first, to get 
rid of the poison; second, to stop its action; and third, to avert its 
tendency to death. 

The first indication is accomplished by the administration of eme¬ 
tics to cause vomiting, or by the use of a stomach pump. The 
simplest way to provoke vomiting is to give large draughts of luke¬ 
warm water, and to thrust a finger down the throat. 

The term stomach pump was formerly given to a rubber tube 
which had a bulb about two feet from the end that was passed through 
the mouth and down the esophagus into the stomach. This had a 
syringe-like action and by suction drew the poison of other material 
out of the stomach. The term is now used for any tube which answers 
the same purpose, and any rubber tube three or four feet long with a 
diameter of one-half inch may be used with good results. The ab¬ 
sence of the syringe bulb makes the use of a slightly long tube neces¬ 
sary, so that a siphon action can be attained by first closing one end 
of the tube and after filling with lukewarm water, the pointed end 
is passed into the stomach, usually requiring 18 inches of tube from 
the teeth. The longer end is then dropped toward the floor and the 
water will flow from the tube by a vacuum forming and removing the 
fluid from the stomach. 

A teaspoonful or two of mustard in warm water is oftentimes an 
effectual emetic. Some of the emetics are ipecacuanha, tartar emetic, 
sulphate of zinc, and sulphate of copper. Sulphate of zinc in twenty- 
grain doses is about the best. 

The second indication is to use an antidote. The third indication 
is fulfilled by palliating the symptoms, and neutralizing the after¬ 
effects on the constitution. 

After copious vomiting, soothing liquids should be given, such as 
oil, milk, beaten-up raw eggs. These are useful when the poison 
has been of an irritating character. 

If the patient be much depressed in mind or body, the hands and 
feet cold, the lips blue, the face pale, a cold perspiration on the fore¬ 
head and about the mouth, some stimulant may be administered. 
Strong, hot tea is the best, because it is a chemical antidote to many 
poisons. Strong coffee is a good stimulant. Brandy and other 
spirits are sometimes necessary. Sometimes when the powers of life 
are much depressed, artificial heat also is necessary. 


ACCIDENTS. 


565 


Mineral Poisons. 

Poisoning by Ammonia. 

Water of ammonia, or hartshorn, if taken in an undiluted state, 
acts as a violent poison. 

■ When this accident happens, give vinegar instantly, mixed with a 
little water. Vinegar is an acid^ and ammonia is an alkali; acids and 
alkalies neutralize each other. 

Poisoning by Antimony. 

Tartar emetic, and wine of antimony, are sometimes taken by 
accident in large doses, so as to act as poisons, and cause dangerous 
vomiting and prostration. 

Give a tea of slippery elm, flax-seed, marshmallow, etc.; also 
syrup of poppies, paregoric, or laudanum in twenty-drop doses. To 
neutralize the poison, give a strong solution of tannin, or an infusion 
of oak-bark, or nutgalls. 

Poisoning by Arsenic. 

Use the stomach-pump instantly, if one is to be had; if not, give 
twenty grains of sulphate of zinc (white vitriol) in a little warm 
water; and promote the vomiting by filling the stomach with large 
draughts of warm or cold milk, sweetened water, or fiax-seed tea. 
Or, vomiting may be induced still more quickly, by giving a large 
tablespoonful of strong ground mustard, mixed with a teacupful of 
water. 

But the best antidote for arsenic is hydrated sesquioxide of iron. 
Mix a tablespoonful of this with water, and give this amount every 
five or ten minutes, until half a dozen doses are taken. 

Treat the inflammation of the stomach which follows, by blisters, 
a bland liquid diet, mucilaginous drinks, etc. 

Poisoning by Verdigris, or Acetate of Copper. 

Cooking utensils made of copper never ought to be tolerated; 
yet they are used; and it is from the verdigris which forms upon 
them that most of the cases of poisoning by copper happen. 

Give an emetic instantly, and then two teaspoonfuls of carbonate 
of soda (baking soda) in a tumblerful of water, to be repeated in ten 
minutes. White of eggs diffused in water, and mucilaginous drinks, 
are proper. 

Poisoning by Corrosive Sublimate. 

This is the common bed-bug poison, and is often taken by 
mistake. 

Mix up quickly the whites of a dozen eggs, with two pints of cold 
water, and give a glassful of the mixture every two minutes till the 
stomach can contain no more. If there are not eggs enough at hand, 
take what there are, and make up the deficiency with milk. Wheat 


566 


ACCIDENTS. 


flcur, mixed with water, is a good remedy. Use the stomach-pump, 
if it is at hand. Treat the resulting inflammation with leeches and 
fomentations. 

Poisoning by Sugar of Lead, or Acetate of Lead. 

Give a ground-mustard or a sulphate of zinc emetic; then give 
diluted sulphuric acid, or either epsom or glauber’s salts. 

Poisoning by Strong Lye. 

Strong lye is sometimes swallowed by children. The remedy is 
vinegar, or oil. Vinegar will convert the lye into acetate of potash, 
and any of the oils will unite with it and form soap; and neither 
fchft acetate of potash nor soap will materially injure the stomach. 

Poisoning by Nitric, Muriatic, or Sulphuric Acid. 

When either one of these acids is swallowed, not a moment of 
time is to be lost. Fill the patientof calcined magnesia stirred 
up in water. This is the best remedy; but if it is not to be had, 
give half an ounce of soap in a pint of water. If neither are at 
hand, give chalk, or whiting, in water, or even pound fine some of 
the plastering of the room, and give it in water. 

Poisoning by Nitrate of Potash, called Nitre, or Saltpetre. 

Induce vomiting by lukewarm water, and by tickling the throat 
with a feather; but avoid irritating the stomach with the ordinary 
emetics. 

Poisoning by White Vitriol. 

Provoke vomiting by warm drinks, and by tickling the throat, 
and give freely carbonate of soda, in water. 

Poisoning by Oxalic Acid. 

This resembles epsom salts, and is liable to be taken for salts by 
mistake. The two can always be distinguished by touching a little 
to the tongue. Epsom salts taste hitter; oxalic acid, very sour. 

In cases of poison from oxalic acid, give magnesia in water as 
quickly as possible. When this is not at hand, give chalk, or lime, 
or saleratus. Use the stomach-pump, if it is to be had. 

Vegetable and Other Poisons. 

The vegetable poisons are quite numerous, and many of them 
quite as virulent and rapid as any in the mineral kingdom. 

Poisoning by Aconite. 

Give an emetic of ground-mustard or sulphate of zinc, or use the 
stomach-pump instantly, and then give stimulants, as brandy, gin, 
whiskey, rum, etc. 


ACCIDENTS. 


567 


Poisoning by Opium, Morphine, and Laudanum. 

Use the stomach-pump, if at hand; if not, a powerful emetic of 
sulphate of zinc, or sulphate of copper; or, if these are not at hand, 
a tablespoonful of ground mustard in a teacupful of warm water. 
If vomiting is not induced at once, tickle the throat with a feather, 
or with the finger. If sleep is impending, take the patient into the 
open air, and keep him walking; dash water upon his face, etc. If 
he still falls into sleep, and appears to be near dying, apply means 
for artificial breathing as for persons apparently dead from drowning. 

As a last resort the electric battery may be tried, as it has been 
the means of saving several persons who would have otherwise died. 
One sponge of the battery may be applied to the back of the neck 
and the other to the lower end of the breast bone. By the action 
of the battery on the phrenic nerve, a stimulus to respiration is caused, 
and involuntarily the patient may be made to breathe. 

Poisoning from Belladonna, Hyoscyamus, Stramonium, and Conium. 

These are all narcotics, and when accidentally taken in poisonous 
doses, the treatment is to be the same as for poisoning by opium. 
Strong coffee is said to counteract the effect of these articles. * 

Poisoning by Dogwood, Ivy, etc. 

Give some of the salts as a cathartic, and apply to the skin a solution 
of sugar of lead, or still better, a decoction of witchhazel-bark or 
lime-water. 

Poisoning by Prussic Acid. 

This is the most deadly of all known poisons. One drop of the 
j)ure acid will cause immediate death. Give water of ammonia or 
hartshorn, one part diluted with six parts of water, freely. 

Poisoning by Strychnine. 

The same treatment as for poisoning by opium, excepting that 
sweet milk should be freely administered. This has been recom¬ 
mended by one respectable physician, at least, who says he has found 
it to be a specific. Camphor, two ounces dissolved in a quart of 
wliiskey, and givenis also said to be an antidote. 

Poisoning by Spanish Flies. 

Give large draughts of sweet oil, sugar and water, milk, or flax¬ 
seed tea. For the inflammation of the bladder which is produced 
by it, apply leeches, and a liniment composed of camphor and sweet 
oil. To relieve the strangury or scalding of the water, give camphor 
internally. 


568 


ACCIDENTS. 


How to Lift and Transport 
the Sick or Injured. 


Kneeling on both knees, turn the patient flat on his face and 
stomach, putting the arms straight by his sides, take hold close under 
each armpit, raise the body as high as possible in that position, allow¬ 
ing it to rest on one of your knees. (See Figure No. 1.) 

With the patient’s head on your chest shift your arm around his 
waist, interlock your fingers, lift the person to an upright position. 
(See Figure No. 2.) 

Then take hold of the patient’s right wrist with your left hand, 
bringing his right arm around your neck, place your head beneath 
his body and drop into stooping position. Then pass your right arm 
between or around the patient’s leg or legs, bringing the patient’s 
weight well to the centre of your back. (See Figure No. 3.) 

Then grasp the patient’s right wrist with your right hand, balanc¬ 
ing his body on your shoulders, lift to the erect position. (See Figure 
No. 4.) 

This is a very simple method and it would do well for every person 
to practice this, to be used in case of emergency. 



Figure 1. 


Figure 2. 



ACCIDENTS 


569 



/ 




/ 











SURGICAL DISEASES 



SDEGICAL DISEASES. 


Modern Surgery. 

To one educated in surgery a quarter of a century ago, the cus¬ 
toms and theories of to-day must seem very odd, and the results of 
to-day’s surgical science must seem truly miraculous. Formerly pus 
formation in a healing wound was regarded not only as unavoidable, 
but really beneficial. Pus, or matter, was known as laudable or good 
pus, and diseased^ or bad pus. Wounds only occasionally healed by 
primary union or first intention^ — that is to say, skin growing to skin 
and muscle to muscle as sewn, but they rather healed by a long, slow 
process of granulation attended with pus-formation, called second iur 
tention. The various surgical epidemics of contagious diseases were 
extremely common in the very best hospitals under the guidance of 
the very best men; they were thought unavoidable. Hospital gan¬ 
grene, erysipelas, and the various forms of blood-poison diseases, were 
so common and spread so rapidly as often to render it necessary to close 
a hospital. Major operations were attended by a mgrtality that now¬ 
adays seems almost incredible. To amputate a leg, except under 
the most favorable circumstances, meant almost sure death. The 
late Dr. Pasteur of France first made known to the world that there 
were such things as germs, or microscopic life, capable of transmitting 
themselves and their spores almost endlessly. These germs were 
soon found to be the outcome of dirt and disease, and that possibly 
in their extermination lay a great future for surgery. It was Sir 
Joseph Lister, of England, who first discovered the fact that certain 
medicines, like carbolic acid, would kill these germs, and that in so 
doing wounds would unite by first intention in the majority of cases. 
This was the first great step toward the realization of the dreams of 
our forefathers. 

The study of bacteriology was then commenced, and it has pro¬ 
gressed rapidly ever since, till to-day it has become a marvelous 
science unfolding the life, nature and propagation of all sorts of 
bacteria. 

We now know that on the living skin there exist normally certain 
germs whose function apparently is to use up the waste products of 
the economy, but which, when introduced into the flesh, produce most 
deleterious effects. , 


671 



572 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


Germ-life is found everywhere, — on our hands and clothes, in the 
dust of the air and in the water we drink. So long as they keep to 
their natural abodes no mischief is done. It is this germ-life which 
causes wounds to suppurate, erysipelas, blood-poisoning and gangrene 
to occur. It is the annihilation of these germs about all wounds, 
and on all objects which come in contact with wounds, that distin¬ 
guishes the newer from the older surgery. To-day the mortality 
figures are revised as regards all important operations. Regions of 
the body are invaded which fifteen or twenty years ago were thought 
to be inviolate to the scalpel. Thousands of lives are now saved and 
thousands of people rescued from becoming invalids. 

The methods of treating germs have changed very materially since 
Sir Joseph Lister first announced his antiseptic treatment and showed 
the way to a new era in surgery; but the principles are much the 
same. 

Some germs have been found to be innocuous, even on wounded 
surfaces ; others are deadly poisons. Some germs cause one kind of 
disease, some another; some are even antagonistic to others. They 
are all endowed with great resistance to ordinary medicines and are 
capable of propagation under adverse circumstances; they are con¬ 
tagious and infectious, and when carried from one person to another 
cause their specific disease to start up. The so-called blood-poison 
is a general name for many distinct varieties of germ-disease. 

It matters not whether a simple wound is to be dressed, a leg am¬ 
putated or a woman delivered, the one essential thing above all else 
which protects life and allows the wounded surface to heal is to 
make a clean field, to render the surfaces aseptic. 

Aseptic. Septic. — These are two terms which are daily becoming 
the common property of the laity: the former means without poison,, 
germrfree^ or surgically clean ; the latter means poisonous,, germ-laden,, 
surgically dirty. Let it not be supposed that the flesh looks to the eye 
differently in these two conditions, — it is not so necessarily. These 
bacteria are so minute that if a single rod-bacillus were enlarged fif¬ 
teen hundred times it would then only reach across the head of a 
pin. Nor is their virulence in proportion to their apparent numbers, 
for in twenty-four hours a single germ may multiply to sixteen and 
one-half millions! 

Surgical cleanliness is surgical morality, and consists not merely in 
washing off the rough, visible, outside dirt, but in rendering every¬ 
thing which can possibly touch the wound, directly or indirectly, 
germ-free. This condition is called asepsis ; when, however, germs 
have entered the wound and the consequent changes due to germ 
life have developed, then the condition is called sepsis. 

Antiseptics. — The important and practical question then is, how 
are these germs killed and how is the wound rendered aseptic? 
Lister discovered in carbolic acid a germicide of no mean power, and 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


573 


even to-day this acid is most extensively used for the cleansing of 
wounds and instruments. This process of killing germ-life is called 
sterilization. 

After carbolic acid came numberless other drugs, such as corrosive 
sublimate, phenyl, sulpho-naphthol, etc. Of this group corrosive 
sublimate is by far the most potent: it may be used in very weak 
solutions as one part to three, five, or even ten thousand of water. 

Heat. — By far the simplest, safest, and most economical method 
of sterilization is by means of heat, either in the form of boiling 
water, dry oven-heat, or steam. Whatever can be baked for an hour 
at 140° of heat, or whatever can be steamed for an hour, and what¬ 
ever can be boiled five minutes without impairing the integrity of 
the object sterilized, can be rendered absolutely sterile. Germs and 
their spores, which latter are more tenacious of life than the former, 
yield readily to boiling water in a few minutes; while some germs 
of the most virulent type may soak for hours in a tolerably strong 
solution of the chemical sterilizers without being killed. The ten¬ 
dency of the present is to substitute these natural means of steriliza¬ 
tion for the chemical germicides. 

Preparation for Operation. — Nothing withstands boiling; but 
as the flesh cannot be baked, boiled, or steamed, it is the custom be¬ 
fore an operation to make free use of green soap and a brush to scrub 
off the external superficial dirt and then to give the skin a good 
scrubbing and soaking in corrosive sublimate, in the strength of 
about one part to two thousand. This prepares the skin antiseptically 
for the operation. The instruments and apparatus likely to touch 
the flesh are boiled; the hands and arms of the surgeon, assistant 
and nurse are rendered sterile by repeated scrubbing with soap and 
brush and some one of the several antiseptic processes in vogue. 
This requires fifteen to twenty minutes. All dressings such as gauze, 
cotton, etc., are steamed and neatly done up air-free and germ-free 
ready for use. Sponges, generally made of gauze, have been sterilized 
by steaming previous to the operation. Sutures, etc., have been boiled 
or steamed or soaked in some suitable disinfectant. The neighbor¬ 
hood of the wound is covered with steamed towels or sheets, the 
clothes of the operator covered with some sterilized coat, and in fact 
everything and everybody that is likely to approach the wound is 
first thoroughly rendered aseptic. 

In the subsequent dressing of a wound, and for all time till the 
wound is healed, similar precautions are taken. Thus it is that by 
shutting out all germ-life one succeeds in securing primary union, a 
quick convalescence and a freedom from the risks of septicaemia and 
other blood-poisoned diseases. 

The change from the old-fashioned soap-and-water cleanliness to 
the new antiseptic cleanliness has wrought marvellous results. 
Brains are exposed, gall-bladders incised and stones removed, kidneys 


574 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


removed, wombs and ovaries and huge tumors taken out with a small 
mortality rate. These same operations were but dreams in the pre- 
Listerian days. 

Inflammation. 

On this pathological basis much of surgical disease rests. Surgical 
inflammation is due in a great measure to the introduction into the 
tissues of germs which there multiply with great activity, forming 
as a result certain poisonous products called toxines. These toxines 
are deadly poisonous to the system, and when absorbed cause high 
fever, chills and sweats, loss of appetite and strength, and generally 
undermine the strength. It is as if so much mineral or vegetable 
poison had been introduced into the stomach. Their activity is 
astonishingly rapid when they are situated in tissues favorable to 
their development, like the peritoneum and other serous membranes, 
richly supplied with lymphatic vessels to convey the poison from one 
point to another. 

There are several conditions favorable to the development of germs 
when introduced into the body, chief among which is moisture ; hence 
to keep the wound dry and well drained is the constant aim of the 
surgeon. When bacteria are introduced into the system through a 
wound, they begin at once to put on their activity, and the produc¬ 
tion of toxines commences. Nature rushes, so to speak, to the fleld 
of the enemy, and a great flght at once occurs. She throws out a 
mass of lymph about the invaded portion of the flesh to surround the 
enemy and cut off his base of supplies. She forms out of her own 
blood antitoxines^ so called. It soon becomes a question of which is 
the stronger form, — the toxines of the germs, or the antitoxines of 
the serum. This battle results in a thickened, congested, painfully 
swollen and reddened area, which, if nature conquers, softens and 
melts away, but which, if the enemy is victorious, breaks down and 
forms pus. The result depends largely on the location of the strug¬ 
gle, the strength of the patient, and the virulence of the germ. If 
it be in a part poorly supplied with lymphatic vessels and soft struc¬ 
tures, nature has the advantage, because the enemy cannot And easy 
access to structures beyond the field of battle; but if the neighbor¬ 
hood of the invasion is in soft structures, the enemy quickly seizes 
on some short route to a neighboring lymphatic station and there 
deposits its poison and thus extends its field till nature is over¬ 
whelmed. The ability of nature to manufacture antitoxines quickly 
and mobilize her forces to the rescue on the one hand, and the viru¬ 
lence of the germ or its capability to develop its poison quickly, on 
the other, are always deciding elements in the preservation or de¬ 
struction of the part attacked. Much is now being accomplished 
toward eradicating germ-diseases and germ-inflammation by the cul¬ 
tivation of this natural antitoxine. Its special victory is seen in the 
diphtheritic antitoxine with which that disease is now so successfully 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


575 


fought. This antitoxine which nature throws out is cultivated in 
horses till such an amount is stored up that against it diphtheria no 
longer has any influence ; this serum, so rich in antitoxine, is then 
introduced into the human subject as an antidote to the forming 
toxines of the diphtheria. 

And so it is with lockjaw, rabies, and many other germ-diseases. 
This therapeutic agency is yet in its infancy, but much may be ex¬ 
pected of it in the future. 

But not all inflammation is necessarily of bacterial origin, at least 
so far as is yet proven. 

Every part of the body which has vessels and nerves is liable to 
inflammation. Where there are no nerves, it cannot exist. Many 
diseases are caused by it. Mechanical injuries, such as cuts, bruises, 
and fractures, produce it. And many other disorders, not caused by 
or causing it in the beginning, become entangled with it in their 
progress. It is very important, therefore, to understand the nature 
and management of inflammation. It is not always to be looked upon 
as a disease; it is frequently a simple process of repair, whereby 
nature restores injured parts to health, in which there is no germ-life 
present. 

The Signs of Inflammation are redness^ pain^ heat^ swelling and 
loss of function^ though in some cases these do not all appear. 

Acute Inflammation. — When the redness, the pain, the heat, and 
the swelling are clearly marked, and the inflammation is so rapid 
that it either subsides in a few days, or quickly brings on suppuration^ 
or ulceration^ or mortification^ it is said to be acute. 

Chronic Inflammation. — When it is less painful, and slower in 
its progress, beginning very gradually, and lingering a long time, it 
is then chronic. 

Common, or Simple, or Healthy Inflammation, is that which is 
not mixed up with any disease, but is established by nature for some 
salutary purpose, and is generally germ-free. 

Unhealthy Inflammation is that which has been caused by some 
other disease, like the poison from germ life, and is under its control. 

Specific Inflammation is that which seems to vary from all ordi¬ 
nary cases, being dependent on a particular state of the system, on an 
animal poison, or a principle of contagion or infection, and a power 
of propagation from one person to another, such as all germ-poisons. 

Some of these produce such permanent effects, that those having 
them are not liable to a second attack. 

Inflammation is Primary, or, as the doctors say, idiopathic., when 
it is the original disease. 

Inflammation is Secondary, of Sympathetic, when it is the re¬ 
sult of some other disorder, which goes before, and produces it. 


576 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


It has been explained elsewhere that the different parts of the 
body are connected by little threads or nervous strings which run 
from one to the other. If one part of the body become injured or 
disordered, it uses these nervous threads as telegraphic wires, to tell 
other parts of its misfortune; and it sometimes happens that when the 
intelligence conveyed is of a sad and alarming character, the part re¬ 
ceiving the news is so excited and distressed as to become inflamed. 
Nothing can be more proper than to call this sympathetic inflamma¬ 
tion. 

When the inflammation is violent, and is seated upon some impor¬ 
tant part, the sympathetic action is so great as to disturb the whole 
constitution; and this general disturbance is sympathetic or symptom¬ 
atic inflammatory fever. On the other hand, it more frequently hap¬ 
pens, especially in the light of modern surgical pathology, that the 
lymphatic system, which is in reality a delicate railroad system for 
the economy, leading toward the great citadel of life, the heart, 
carries over its tracks to the nearest station some of these germs or 
germ-poison from the primary wound or inflamed spot, thus spread¬ 
ing the contagion to whatever lymphatic station the vessel happens 
to run. 

The Symptoms are quick and strong pulse, dryness and heat of 
skin, parched mouth, great thirst, scanty and high-colored urine, cos¬ 
tiveness, disordered nervous system, loss of appetite, anxiety, restless¬ 
ness, sleeplessness, headache, wandering and confusion of mind, and 
sometimes delirium. This fever John Hunter called a universal 
sympathy of the body with the disturbed condition of a part of it. 

It is only by inflammation that a wound is healed, or a broken bone 
repaired. 

Upon the surface of a wound nature pours out a fluid called plas¬ 
tic lymph. This is composed of fibrin, — the material of which flesh 
is made, — united with a little of the watery part of the blood, chiefly 
albumen. The watery part disappears soon after it is poured out, 
and the fibrin hardens into a kind of membrane. Through this, 
nature sends small nerves, arteries, and veins, which she uses as 
threads to sew up the wound. Fibrin being the chief material with 
which nature constructs our bodies, she of course uses it to repair 
them when wounded, just as a carpenter, who constructs a floor with 
planks, uses planks to mend it when it is broken through. 

Buffy Coat of the Blood. — The effects of inflammation extend to 
the blood. This fluid, when drawn from the veins of a person suffer¬ 
ing from an inflammation active enough to disturb the constitution, 
forms a clot in the basin more slowly than usual, but the clot is 
harder; and a layer of fibrin is left upon the surface, of a yellowish 
huff-color, looking like size or glue, and called the Inffy coat. The 
clot is also scooped out in the centre, and the blood is said to be 
cupped. 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


577 


Coin Discs. —It is another peculiarity of inflamed blood, that if a 
drop of it be examined under a powerful microscope, its globules, or 
discs, which are very numerous, will be found standing on their 
edges, and leaning against each other, like a row of copper or silver 
coins. (Fig. 152.) 

Inflammation may end in one of four different ways. 

I. By Resolution. —Suppose a large splinter of wood be stuck into 
the hand of a healthy man. It causes redness, heat, swelling, and 
pain; and these combined are inflammation. The splinter is pulled 
out, and the hand well done up with a disinfectant dressing, and 
properly cared for. The redness fades, the heat declines, the swelling 
subsides, and the pain disappears; the inflammation is ended, and the 
hand is well. Coming to a fortunate end in this way, inflammation 
is said to be resolved^ or terminated by resolution. 



Fig. 162. 



Fig. 163. 


II. By Suppuration. — It does not always end so happily. The 
splinter may be broken off below the skin, and not pulled out; or, even 
if removed, germs may have been introduced from the splint or from 
the skin of the hand; these germinate rapidly and form pus, and 
instead of the inflammation abating, it will increase, and the centre 
of the injured part will begin to rise up to a point, and grow white 
on the top. This shows that there is matter formed underneath, 
which is lifting up the scarf-skin, and seeking to come through. Fig. 
153 is a microscopic view of pus corpuscles. 

The pain is now very throbbing and pulsating — keeping time with 
the beats of the heart. When the scarf-skin can hold out no longer, 
it breaks, and yellow, cream-like fluid runs out, which we call pus. 
The redness, pain, etc., now subside. This process we call suppuror 
tion. 

At this time, if the wound have been a severe one, attended by 
sympathetic fever, and the discharge of pus be now large, there may 
be a change in the fever, marked by frequent shiverings and chilli¬ 
ness, followed by flushes of heat, which ends in sweating. W'e call 
this hectic fever, 

III. By Ulceration, or the formation of open, running sores. 


578 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


IV. By Mortification. —If the wounded part have been so much 
injured as gradually to destroy its vitality, it dies. The vivid red 
of the inflammation changes to a purplish, or livid, or black hue. 
The strained condition of the skin ceases, a bloody fluid lifts up the 
cuticle, the pain and feeling are all gone,— the part is dead and 
putrid, and gives out a peculiarly offensive smell. This process is 
called mortification. 

The mortifled and dead part is called a slough; and it is separated 
from the living parts by a peculiar vital process which has the name 
of ulceration. 

Treatment of Inflammation. — Though inflammation sometimes 
ends kindly by resolution, and though it is often a salutary process, 
yet it is frequently very destructive, ending in suppuration, ulcera¬ 
tion, and mortiflcation, thickening, hardening, softening, and en¬ 
larging parts affected by it; and doing these things in textures of 
great delicacy, and of vital importance in the economy of life. It 
calls, therefore, for judicious, and, often, for very active treatment. 

There are three principal things to be done, — to remove the cause, 
if it be still active, to take the blood away from the inflamed part, 
and to render the part aseptic, if possible. 

If a bullet be lodged in the flesh, or a thorn, or a splint of wood, 
or a piece of glass, it is the exciting cause of the inflammation which 
follows, and little can be done to advantage till the offending sub¬ 
stance is extracted. If inflammation be excited in the bladder by 
the irritating presence of urine which cannot be passed, this must be 
drawn off with the catheter before relief can be had. If the stomach 
be inflamed by improper food, or too much of it, the diet must 
cease to follow appetite, and take reason for its master. If ladies 
have excited inflammation in the bowels, or any of the internal or¬ 
gans, by a dragging weight of skirts, they must either put off the 
burden, or hang it upon the shoulders with straps. 

The blood is removed from the inflamed part in two, ways : — 

Cupping and Leeching. — It is done directly by cupping and leech¬ 
ing. These methods take the blood out of the small vessels, which 
are so full and crowded as to produce pain. Cold water, ice, etc., 
applied to the part cause these little vessels to contract, and squeeze 
the blood out of themselves. These are very useful applications; 
and they are to be pursued as long as there is any hope of breaking 
up the inflammation, or causing it to end by resolution. But when 
this is no longer to be expected, and it is found that it will go on to 
suppuration, then apply warm fomentations and poultices. These 
will mollify and soften the parts, and cause the suppurating to go on 
more rapidly and with less pain. 

Counter-Irritation. — The other method of removing the blood 
from the inflamed part is by what is called counter-irritation. 

People are apt to think it very absurd that inflammation should be 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


579 


induced in one place to relieve or cure it in another. But it is not 
absurd. It relieves or cures on the principle of sympathy, which I 
have already explained. We put croton oil, or tartar emetic, or 
Spanish flies, or cayenne pepper, or mustard, upon the surface of the 
bowels when the internal parts are dangerously inflamed, and what 
is the result? Why, the terrible smarting and pain alarms nature, 
and she rushes up to the surface with a large amount of the blood 
around the inflamed parts, and there, for hours, perhaps for days, 
struggles to beat down the new mischief at the surface ; and, in the 
mean time the internal parts, relieved by the removal to the surface 
of so large a quantity of hot blood, make a long stride towards re¬ 
covery. 

A popular orator is speaking to a multitude in a hall, which is 
thronged to excess, and a few feeble persons faint, and are likely to 
be suffocated and trodden upon in the dense mass. A person at the 
door, seeing what has happened, cries The crowd rush out; 

the fainting persons get breath, and are saved. So, when the thou¬ 
sand streams of blood rush through their channels upon an inflamed 
and fainting internal organ, crowding and oppressing it, we set the 
skin on fire with some inflammatory substance; the blood rushes to 
the new point of excitement, and the oppressed and fainting organ 
recovers. 

Cupping and leeching, w^hich are often necessary, are not to be re¬ 
sorted to in very debilitated constitutions. In some persons, leeching 
produces erysipelas. 

Costiveness is always produced by the symptomatic fever which 
often results from inflammation. This should be removed by saline 
purgatives, such as Rochelle, Epsom or Glauber’s salts, salts of tar¬ 
tar, tartrate of potassa, and the tartrate of soda (9), (7), (12), (14), 
(18), (20), (25), (27), (41). Sometimes more active purgatives 
are required, and then the compound extract of colo'teynth, etc. (29), 
will be excellent, or two compound cathartic pills, at night, followed 
by (299) may be used. 

As a drink, cream of tartar (298) will be found cooling and re¬ 
freshing. In all inflammations, the diet must be light and unstimu 
lating. 

To allay the excessive fever and pain of inflammation, some of the 
coal-tar products may be used, like ammonol or phenacetine, in ten- 
grain doses, every two to four hours; but it must be remembered 
that inflammation is the result of poisons and not the cause of them, 
hence these remedies are but temporary and palliative, and must be 
used while the real cause is being fought by removal of the original 
source of the trouble. 

The third method of treating inflammation is the most important, 
because generally it strikes home. Inasmuch as most inflammation 
which comes from outside causes is the result of the introduction of 
bacteria into the body, the most natural thing to do is to disinfect 


580 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


at once the injured or diseased part. The bruised finger, the hole 
made by the bullet, or the cut by the knife, all need to be bathed in 
some antiseptic solution to kill all germ-life and arrest the develop¬ 
ment of their poisons, which inevitably cause inflammation. Such 
solutions should be injected into the wound or freely bathed over 
the surface. They are legion in number, but only a few may be 
mentioned, such as corrosive sublimate, which one can buy in tablet 
form of the druggist, and of which one is taken dissolved in two 
quarts of water; strong carbolic acid is another disinfectant, and 
may be used in strength of one teaspoonful of the ninety-five per 
cent acid to a pint of water. Sulpho-naphthol or oil of milk, is still 
a third disinfectant, and is used in strength of one-half teaspoonful 
to a quart of water; this latter turns the water milk-color. Carbolic 
acid on standing long or being exposed to the light turns reddish, 
but is not impaired in efficacy. The sulpho-naphthol is the least 
expensive, and may be used for sinks, drains, etc. It is perhaps the 
safest and best to have in the house. 


Suppuration and Abscess. 

An abscess is the collection of pus or matter in the substance of 
some part of the body. When the matter is poured out from some 
part, the process is said to be suppuration; when it collects in a tissue, 
it is an abscess. When the matter collecting in some organ comes 
towards the surface, and a place in the centre rises above the sur¬ 
rounding skin, and turns white, the abscess is said to point. Some 
abscesses point and break in a week; others of a more chronic char¬ 
acter will linger on for months. 

Fluctuation. —Before an abscess points, a fluctuation may gener¬ 
ally be felt in the swelling, which is one of the surest signs that it 
contains pus. Sometimes this fluctuation may be felt even when the 
matter lies very deep in the flesh. And when it is so deep that it 
cannot be felt, if a sudden cessation of the symptomatic fever should 
occur, and shiverinffs or rigors should come on., attended by coldness 
in the affected part, we may reasonably suspect that pus is formed. 
It is not easy, at times, to say whether matter is really present; and 
great care should be used not to plunge in a lancet where none 
exists. Chills and fever due to pus formation are caused by the 
absorption into the system of the poisons of ptomaines, which are the 
result of germ-life, and their propagation. 

Treatment. —When the abscess is completely formed, and there 
is no longer any doubt of the presence of matter, it should be opened 
at once. To let out the confined pus alleviates the pain and lessens 
the inflammation. If the matter lie close to a bpne, the opening 
should be made without delay. The opening should be large enough 
to let the matter out freely. It is a rule to keep the incision open 


SUEGICAL DISEASES. 


581 


till the cavity of the abscess is so far filled up that another collection 
of pus is not likely to occur. 

If the matter do not readily get to the surface through the opening, 
it may burrow itse'f in the flesh, in a long narrow channel called a 
sinus. To relieve this, the opening must be extended in such a way 
as to give vent to the new collection. 

An abscess is sometimes indisposed to heal at the bottom, and pus 
continues to be formed a long time, and is discharged through an 
opening smaller than the sack which contains it. This is a fistula,, 
and the opening to it should be enlarged so as to let out the matter 
more freely. A little soft lint may then be gently pressed into the 
wound to prevent its healing before the cavity below. The cavity 
should be freely scraped out to remove all germ-life, and then thor¬ 
oughly disinfected and kept clean and aseptic by aseptic gauze pack¬ 
ings, and in this way nature is bound to heal the wound. 

An abscess from acute inflammation requires to be poulticed for a 
time after it has been opened. When the swelling and inflammation 
are gone, the poultices are to be laid aside, and a bandage put on. 
When the inflammation is gone, let the diet be improved; and if the 
discharge of matter be large, give wine and tonics. 


Mortification. 

The complete death of a part of the body, and its change into a 
black, stinking, cold, and insensible mass, with which the other parts 
of the system have discontinued all organic connection, is what we 
call mortification. That form of it which is most common is said to 
be humid,, on account of the moisture of the dead parts. It is the 
result of nature having walled off by her antitoxin the scene of the 
battle, and while she has lost the original battle and the original 
field, has nevertheless succeeded in keeping out the enemy from the 
remainder of the system. The enemy feeds on the dead tissue, set¬ 
ting up a putrid, stinking cesspool of filth. 

Gangrene. — Before the mortified part is completely dead, and, 
consequently, while its recovery is supposed to be possible, the con¬ 
dition of the part is called gangrene. Diabetes is shown by the 
presence of sugar in the urine, and kidney trouble is shown by the 
presence of albumen in the water; these are probably the two most 
common causes of gangrene in the extremities. 

Sphacelus is the name given to it after its entire death. 

Sloughing is the process of separating the dead matter, and the 
substance separated is a slough. 

The causes of mortification are quite numerous. The most com¬ 
mon are, stoppage of the circulation by inflammation, by mechanical 
causes which obstruct the passage of the blood, by chemical agents 
and poisons, and hy local or general debility. 


582 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


In a bad constitution, which bears disease poorly, mortification is 
very dangerous. 

Treatment. —In treating mortification, three things are to be aimed 
at, — to stop its progress, to promote the separation of the dead from 
the living parts, and to heal the ulcer which is left after the separa¬ 
tion. 

To stop the progress of mortification, we must remove its cause. 
If it be inflammation, treat that according to the principles laid down, 
though leecliing, purgatives, etc., should be used sparingly, as mor¬ 
tification reduces the constitution so rapidlj^ that it does not bear 
reducing well, and sometimes not at all. As soon as the inflamma¬ 
tion has subsided, particularly if the system be weakened, tonic bit¬ 
ters and a nourishing diet must be had. When there is fever, with 
great excitement of the nervous system, delirium, picking of the 
bed-clothes, etc., the patient should have anodynes (121) and anti- 
spasmodics (87), (91), (90), drafts upon the feet, and such other 
local remedies as the case may require. Here opium and stimulants 
are of paramount importance. 

It is of little use to put anything upon the mortifled part, except 
with a view of lessening the stench. For this purpose, lay upon the 
part lint soaked in a solution of chloride of lime or soda, or a solution 
of pyroligneous acid, or of creosote. 

Very little can be done to hasten the separation of the dead part 
from the living; but while it is taking place, a common flax-seed 
poultice, mixed with a little powdered charcoal, may be kept on it. 

The ulcer left after the separation is to be treated like other 
ulcers. A dressing of b)ovinine and flve per cent solution of carbolic 
acid, equal parts, will be found to hasten the granulation. 

Pysemia. 

This frightful affection has been called the bane of surgery. It 
is caused by a peculiar poison, resulting from the fermentation and 
disintegration of the tissues of a wound, which is taken into the 
system either by the veins or absorbents, and is usually accompanied 
by the formation of collections of pus in the various tissues and 
organs of the body. It follows very trifling as well as severe injuries, 
and it is a frequent sequela of surgical operations, oftentimes of a 
very slight character. The only tenable theory which can explain 
the different phenomena of this disease is, that the pyaemic condition 
is caused by the absorption of septic material, sometimes in a fluid, 
sometimes in a gaseous state, which unfits the blood for the processes 
of healthy nutrition, induces capillary stagnation and its conse¬ 
quences, low forms of inflammation in different parts of the body, as 
in the joints and serous cavities, and may finally produce those sec- 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 583 

ondary deposits of pus, in any or all parts or organs of the body, 
called metastatic abscesses. 

When an internal organ is involved, the result is generally fatal. 
When suppuration attacks the integuments or the extremities, there 
is a fair chance of recovery. 

Thence the disease nas been divided into two classes : the internal 
or acute, the external or chronic pyaemia. When pyaemia involves 
the internal organs the course is usually rapid and fatal. When it 
attacks the external parts, it is slow in its course and may be recov¬ 
ered from. 

Duration of the Disease. — Sometimes its course is so rapid that 
the patient may die in two or three days after the appearance of the 
symptoms. As a rule, however, bad cases terminate during the 
second week. Some go on for six or seven weeks. In cases which 
recover, the patient goes through a long illness and may be left per¬ 
manently crippled by secondary affections of the joints. As a rule, 
the longer a patient lives the better the hopes of a successful ending. 

Pyaemic symptoms generally make their appearance after the fourth 
day. The first symptom is a chill; this is repeated at irregular 
intervals, and is followed by profuse and exhausting sweats. 

The hot stage which characterizes the malarial paroxysms of inter¬ 
mittent fever is usually absent or but slightly marked. During the 
course of the attack, the temperature of the body, which is naturally 
98i° Fahrenheit, may rise six or eight degrees, and in ordinary cases 
its fall is, as a rule, gradual. The greatest elevation of temperature 
corresponds with the period of rigor. During the sweating stage the 
temperature falls again. Should the fall be sudden, a general break¬ 
down of the powers of the patient is indicated. The pulse rate varies, 
according to the violence of the attack, from ninety to one hundred 
and thirty. The respiration is usually rapid, from forty to fifty a 
minute, and in many cases a hay-like odor of the breath is present, 
which is considered pathognomonic of the disease. The countenance 
is flushed, the skin dusky, sallow, sometimes jaundiced and marked 
with sudamina. 

The tongue is coated, and there is a complete loss of appetite, and 
often nausea and vomiting. The urine is frequently albuminous. 
When the brain is involved there will be sleeplessness, or delirium 
of a low, muttering kind; some unconsciousness, from which the 
patient can be aroused only to relapse. 

Intense pain usually attends the secondary complications, though 
it is sometimes remarkable how slight the symptoms often are when 
severe local disease exists. 

The wound becomes sanious, serous, and fetid; sometimes the 
secretions are arrested and the surface becomes dry and glazed,- 
sometimes absolute sloughing occurs. Union, if progressing, will 
become disunion, and all reparative action ceases. As the disease 
progresses, the symptoms become profoundly typhoidal, and the 
patient may die comatose or from exhaustion. 


584 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


The exciting causes of pyaemia are very obscure. It attacks the 
healthy as well as the feeble, those surrounded by perfect hygienic 
influences as well as those who are exposed to deleterious influences. 
It is found not only in hospitals but in private practice; but it is 
more prevalent in unhealthy places, in the overcrowded wards, and 
in those spots where ventilation and drainage is bad. It lurks among 
the poorly housed and poorly fed and clad, and wherever those in¬ 
fluences exist which are depressing to the vital powers. 

The general treatment in these cases is of paramount importance. 
It is the duty of the surgeon to see that the patient’s room is well 
ventilated, and that it is frequently purified by cleansing and disin¬ 
fectants. 

The wound is to be kept clean and well drained. 

The dressings should be changed as often as four times a day, and 
saturated with disinfectant lotions. 

When sloughing exists the charcoal poultice should be applied, and 
every measure pursued which will insure the utmost cleanliness of 
the patient and his surroundings. 

The curative treatment is to be conducted on the same principles 
which guide the surgeon in the management of all cases of a typhoid- 
al character. 

The bowels if constipated are to be opened by a gentle laxative, 
and the different secretory organs restored to a healthy action as far 
as possible. 

The vital energies of the patient are to be maintained or stimu¬ 
lated, and everything that tends to lower them must be warded off. 

Quinine is the most valuable remedy we have for the treatment of 
pyaemia. Some surgeons give it in large doses and speak highly of 
its effects. It is valuable in doses of four or five grains every three 
or four hours. It may be combined with iron advantageously in 
some cases. The best combination is with the citrate of iron. Four 
grains of each are to be given four or five times a day. 

Stimulants are also of great importance to maintain the powers of 
life. In some cases it is necessary to employ them freely to keep up 
the waning strength. 

The diet should be as nutritious as the patient’s assimilative powers 
will bear. Milk and the animal broths are the best. 

When the stomach rejects nourishment it must be given by the 
rectum, enema of beef-tea and milk with brandy being administered 
every four hours. 

When the nervous system is disturbed by pain and want of rest 
and sleep, some of the forms of opiates or anodynes are to be given, 
small doses frequently repeated being better than large. 

Should diarrhoea exist it is to be kept under control. It should 
not be checked suddenly, as it appears to have an eliminative ten¬ 
dency in cases of blood-poison. 

Carbonate of ammonia in ten-grain doses five or six times a day 
is a valuable remedy when other tonics cannot be tolerated. 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


585 


When secondary abscesses form, they should be opened and kept 
cleansed, by some disinfectant fluid, such as carbolic acid or the solu¬ 
tion of the chlorinate of soda, in their proper strength. 

Ulcerations and Ulcers. 

When the small particles composing the body have been used 
a while, they wear out, and become useless. Over the whole body 
are distributed a multitude of small vessels, called absorbents, whose 
business it is to pick up these worn and loosened particles, and carry 
them away. 

There is another class of small vessels, having just the opposite 
duty, — namely, to bring new particles of matter, and put in the 
places of those taken away. These are arteries. They are the natu¬ 
ral artisans, who construct our bodies. The absorbents are the 
demolishers who pull them down. Under these two forces, our 
existence is, for a time, a drawn game between life and death. The 
absorbents, like myriads of hungry insects, eat us up, — the con¬ 
structing arteries, like faithful builders, reconstruct us. The work 
of the absorbents, is called absorption; that of the constructing arte¬ 
ries nutrition. 

When nutrition partially ceases, and absorption continues una¬ 
bated, w^e grow thin, or lose flesh. This happens in consumption. 
If nutrition should stop altogether, absorption going on as usual, our 
bodies would be quickly destroyed. We should be wholly devoured 
by these little absorbent vessels. This would be ulceration applied to 
the whole body. But it does not appear in so general a form. It 
confines itself to particular parts. 

When nutrition entirely ceases in any portion of the body, the 
absorbents devour all the skin, flesh, and vessels of the part,—leaving 
an open cavity. The process of taking away the flesh, etc., is ulcer¬ 
ation,, — the cavity left is an ulcer or sore. 

Natural Surgery. — Ulceration sometimes acts the part of a nat¬ 
ural surgeon. When a part dies from mortification, it is necessary 
to have it removed; so nature sets up, directly around it, an acute 
inflammation, in which all nutrition stops, and absorption goes on 
rapidly. In this way, a complete dike is in a short time made around 
the dead mass, and it is as handsomely amputated, or cut off, as any 
surgeon could do it. 

When the ulceration is going on, and the blood-vessels are being 
cut off by it, the blood coagulates or curdles in them for a short 
distance back from the breach, which prevents bleeding. This is as 
good as tying the arteries. 

Some textures ulcerate more easily than others, — the skin and 
mucous membranes most easily of all. 

Ulcers are divided into healthy,, unhealthy, and specific. 


586 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


A Healthy ulcer is a simple sore, not showing any bad symptoms, 
but rather a kindly disposition to heal. It is generally small in size, 
of a florid-red color, and has upon its surface little elevations, pointed 
like cones, called granulations^ which are not so apt as in the case of 
unhealthy ulcers, to rise above the level of the surrounding skin. 

Unhealthy Ulcers comprise those called irritable^ indolent^ pJia- 
gedenic^ etc. 

Indolent Ulcers are numerous. The edges of the skin around 
them are generally thick, prominent, and rounded. The granulations 
are pale, smooth, large, and flabby, with a peculiar gloss upon them. 
These ulcers form most often on the leg; and the nearer they are to 
the ankle, the harder they are to cure. 

Phagedenic Ulcers are those which look as though they literally 
eat away the parts. Their surface has a livid appearance. The 
matter formed is small in quantity, and is frequently tinged with 
blood. 

Specific.Ulcers embrace scrofulous^ cancerous^ venereal^ scorbutic^ 
and others. They are called specific because they are produced by 
particular diseases and states of the system. 

Treatment. —The first thing to be done is to remove the exciting 
cause. A venereal, or a scrofulous, or a scorbutic ulcer, cannot be 
cured, unless we first lessen the force of the disease in the general 
system. If the continuance of a sore depends on bad digestion, we 
cannot expect to cure it till we put the stomach right. 

Healthy ulcers need no treatment, except some simple dressing, 
such as oxide of zinc ointment. It is well, in some cases, to touch 
the granulations near the surface with lunar caustic. 

Ulcers upon the legs and ankles do not heal well if the patient 
walks about much, or even allows the legs to hang down a great 
deal. The patient must be put to bed and the leg bandaged, especially 
if the ulcers are the result of the breaking down of varicose veins, 
which are so common a cause of leg-ulcers. 

Indolent ulcers are to be touched by lunar caustic, or by diluted 
nitric acid. The diluted ointment of the nitrate of mercury is also 
often used with benefit. So is the compound tincture of benzoin, the 
basilicon ointment, etc. Or, apply a bread-and-milk poultice to the 
ulcer, and keep the patient twenty-four hours in bed. Then apply 
the lunar caustic to the whole sore, and to the skin around it. After¬ 
wards cover the ulcer with sticking plaster, and a bandage. 

The following is the best plan. Lay upon the sore a number of 
pieces of lint, soaked in the nitric-acid lotion (314), and cover them 
with a bread-and-milk poultice. Change these applications twice a 
day, and continue them till the discharge looks healthy, and the gran¬ 
ulations begin to appear. 

If there is inflammation abouu the sore, give some of the prepara- 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


587 


tions of salts to purge the bowels, and confine the patient to bed. 
When the parts begin to look healthy, lay some pieces of lint upon 
the sore, wet with nitric-acid lotion (214), or zinc lotion (215); and 
then apply strips of adhesive plaster, one and one-half inches wide, 
two-thirds round the limb, and extending an inch below the ulcer 
and an inch above it,— at the same time drawing the edges of the 
sore together with a gentle force, and retaining them there with the 
plaster. Put a compress of soft linen over the plaster, and apply a 
bandage over the whole, making it tighter below and a little looser 
above, and extending to the knee. (Fig, 154.) 



Fig. 154. 


Surgeons frequently snip out little pieces of healthy skin from 
some adjacent part and graft onto the ulcer, thus shortening the pro* 
cess of healing. A dressing of bovinine and water in equal parts 
hastens the growth of the flesh part. Whenever the flesh is even 
with the skin it should be kept at this level by some mild caustic, as 
stated above. Then comes the time for transplanting skin. The 
varicosities of the veins must be cured, or at least improved before 
the ulcers will remain healed. Avoid the use of pork or lard. 


Boils. — Ferunculus, 

Underneath the skin is a layer of tissue composed chiefly of cells. 
From this tissue there are small elevations, in the shape of cones, 
which rise up into the substance of the true skin. Like those papillae 
of the skin which become inflamed and produce corns^ these eleva¬ 
tions are subject to an inflammation, which causes boils. 

At first, a tender knot or hardness is felt just under the skin, which 
soon begins to look red. A painful tumor now begins to show itself, 
of a dusky red or purple color, which acquires the size of a pea, a 
hazel-nut or a walnut.' Some time between the fourth and eighth 
day it becomes pointed and white at the top, when the scarf-skin 
gives way, and lets out a little pus mixed with blood, and exposes to 
view a mass of dead matter, called a core., which is too large for the 
opening, and is not ready to come away, if it were not. This core is 
a mass of mortified or dead flesh; and nature is cutting a space 
around it, that it may be thrown off. In two or three more days, it 
comes away, leaving a cup-like cavity, which gradually Alls up, and 
the boil is over. 


588 


SUKGICAL DISEASES. 


Some constitutions yield boils in successive crops. When this hap¬ 
pens they are a terrible affliction. There are not many Jobs who can 
bear them with patience. 

Treatment. — A boil will generally run its course. A five-grain 
blue-pill, taken at bed-time, when the boil is first showing itself, is 
about the only thing I know that will blast it. And yet, my unwil¬ 
lingness to encourage a general use of mercurials makes me hesitate 
to recommend it. One pill, not to be repeated, can do no harm, how¬ 
ever, and may safely be taken. 

Boils may sometimes be stopped by touching them with lunar 
caustic. Water-dressing, if used early, and persevered in, will some¬ 
times prevent their growing larger than a pea. After the boil has 
opened, apply poultices for a day or two, then some simple, stimula¬ 
ting ointment, as basilicon salve, or Turner's cerate, or nitric acid 
lotion (314). If boils continue to come out in successive crops, give 
alterative medicines, or sulphurous mineral waters, or liquor potassae, 
or bicarbonate of soda. General tonic treatment, with iron, quinine, 
etc., is usually required (65), (75). 

A pill containing J grain of sulphide of calcium three times a day 
and continuing for several months, while not able to cure the boil 
which is forming, will in a great measure prevent the appearance of 
others. 

Carbuncle. — Anthrax. 

This is like a boil, only much larger and more painful. Instead 
of one of the little cellular elevations being inflamed, as in the case 
of the boil, the carbuncle begins with the inflammation of several. 
Its surface is more flat than that of a boil; its inflammation more 
violent; and the constitutional symptoms excited more severe. It 
has the breadth, sometimes, of the top of a quart bowl. Like the 
boil, it appears most often upon the neck, the shoulders, the back, the 
buttocks, the thighs, etc. It goes through the same process as a boil, 
and ends in the same way, only discharging a vastly larger core. 

Carbuncles most often appear in persons above middle age, and 
indicate an impaired and broken constitution. They occasion great 
suffering, and sometimes prove fatal. Upon the head or neck, they 
are more dangerous than in other situations. They are now con¬ 
sidered to be of bacterial origin. 

Treatment. — Apply, constantly, during the formation of the car¬ 
buncle, either fomentations and poultices, or cold-water dressing. I 
prefer the latter. To stop both the local and the constitutional dis¬ 
order, make two incisions in the form of a cross, cutting entirely 
through the dead mass. Then apply a fermenting poultice, or one of 
oatmeal, for two or three days, after which use the basilicon salve, or 
apply daily a weak solution of lunar caustic, or the nitric-acid lotion 
(314). During recovery, tonics are useful, such as quinine, tincture 


SUKGICAL DISEASES. 


589 


of Peruvian bark. Immediately on formation of carbuncle take Succus 
Alterans {Lilly'), and continue three months. It will purify the blood 
and prevent another forming. 

Malignant Pustule. 

This is one of the five diseases which man may take from animals. 
The other four are the cow-pox^ hydrophobia, glanders, and malignant 
carbuncle. This last is what the French call charbon, — pronounced 
sharbo. My own mother and an elder brother came near losing their 
lives by it, — having taken it by handling the flesh and tallow of a 
dead cow. 

Malignant pustule begins with a water-pimple, not bigger than a 
millet seed. Underneath it is a hard point, surrounded with redness, 
like a flea-bite. This hardness is soon attacked by mortification, 
which spreads on all sides, and kills everything as it goes. Next, in 
fatal cases, come great restlessness, faintings, sunken countenance, 
dry skin, dry brown tongue, despondency, delirium, and death. It is 
supposed generally not to arise from constitutional causes, but to be 
produced by a specific poison or bacterium applied to the skin, or by 
eating the flesh of cattle which die of gangrenous diseases. The dis¬ 
order is probably the same as the malignant carbuncle. 

Treatment. — Deep incisions, and the application of the most pow¬ 
erful caustics, as the caustic potash, etc., and tincture of peruvian 
bark, quinine, aromatic sulphuric acid, wine, ether and opium. Prob¬ 
ably the best treatment is to surround the pustule with a thick layer 
of ointment; then to fasten some lint to the end of a stick, wet it 
with nitric acid, and press it upon the pustule. Now apply cloths, 
wet with cold water, and when the slough comes off, dress with sim¬ 
ple ointment, or touch occasionally with weak solution of nitrate of 
silver (211). When once opened it should be thoroughly irrigated 
with disinfectants like corrosive sublimate, in strength of 1 part to 
2000 solution. 


Chemical Injuries. 

These are of two kinds, produced by causes of an exactly opposite 
nature. The first are 

Burns and Scalds. 

A burn is the effect of concentrated heat acting upon living tissues. 
The effects are inflammation, and sometimes complete disorganiztition 
and destruction of the parts. 

A scald is an injury produced by applying hot water or other fluid, 
to the skin or mucous membrane. The natural temperature of the 
human body is ninet 3 ^-eight degrees; that of boiling water, two hun¬ 
dred and twelve degrees. Bringing the skin in contact mth a fluid 


( 


590 SURGICAL DISEASES. 

heated so far above it, produces redness and pain ; and when nothing 
is done instantly to ward ofP the injury, the scarf-skin is raised from 
the true skin in the form of a blister, filled with water. 

The degree of danger from a burn or scald depends upon the ea>- 
tentoi the injured surface, and also upon the depth of the injury. An 
extensive scald or burn may prove fatal in a few hours,— the patient 
never rallying from the first prostration. These injuries are most 
dangerous when upon the head, neck, chest and belly. Old persons, 
and those who are feeble and have shattered constitutions, will sink 
under burns and scalds from which robust persons will suffer but 
little. 

Treatment. — For slight burns and scalds, make cold applications. 
Put the injured part in very cold water, or lay upon it pieces of linen, 
or lint, wet with vinegar and water, or rose-water and sugar of lead 
(238), or diluted solution of acetate of ammonia. When these are 
not to be quickly had, lay on scraped raw potatoes, which is one of 
the best remedies to give immediate relief. The object is to reduce 
the inflammation, and to prevent blistering. They must, therefore 
be put on very soon. If the scald be extensive, and on the hody ^— 
producing shivering, faintness, paleness and coldness of the skin, 
and a small pulse, — cold applications are not propor. In such case 
we may use warm fomentations, or, in the case of a child, the warm 
bath. A liniment of spirits of turpentine, linseed oil, etc. (194), 
makes an excellent application. Also (371). 

Paw cotton, spread out thin, and laid upon a burn, is a good dress¬ 
ing, and one which is much used. So is flour sprinkled upon the in¬ 
jured surface with a dredger. For loosening the flour when it is to 
be taken off, poultices are useful. 

Keep the air from the wound as much as possible. With this 
view, do not remove the dressing often, and when a cold lotion is 
used, merely pour it upon the rags, letting them remain undisturbed. 
Stimulate and narcotize the patient if exhausted by the shock of the 
burn. Nothing is more generally used than carron oil, which is com¬ 
posed of equal parts of linseed oil and lime-water. It soothes, heals 
and promotes granulation. 

Effects of Cold.— Frost-Bite. 

Cold is a relative term. The same temperature may be called hot 
or cold, according as it is compared with a hotter or colder tempera¬ 
ture. If we warm one hand by a fire, while we lay the other upon 
ice, and then plunge them both into cold water, the water will feel 
cold to the one which has been by the fire, and warm to the one taken 
from the ice. 

The warmth of the body being ninety-eight degrees, any tempera¬ 
ture below this may be said, in a certain sense, to be cold. Yet a 
temperature much lower than this, namely, from sixty to seventy, is 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


591 


the most agreeable and invigorating, because it takes away the heat 
just about as fast as it is produced in a healthy body. 

The first effect of cold applied to the body is to weaken the circu¬ 
lation in the small blood-vessels of the skin. When applied with 
some intensity, the heart and arteries in general are weakened; the 
blood is delayed in the vessels near the surface, and not being changed 
to a red color in the lungs as fast as it should be, the fingers, ears, 
etc., become blue or livid; and, if the cold be continued sufficiently 
long, the circulation stops in these parts; heat ceases to be evolved, 
and mortification or death is the consequence. Parts killed in this 
way are said to be frosi-hitten. 

A free circulation of red blood is essential to the continuance of 
sensibility. Hence, when tlie circulation is seriously impeded by cold, 
the body becomes numb,— it loses its feeling; the muscles act feebly; 
a languor and torpor follows; drowsiness comes on, followed by sleep, 
from which there is no waking. Drowsiness, during exposure to ex¬ 
treme cold, indicates great danger. 

Treatments —It is a great principle in restoring frost-bitten parts, 
and persons benumbed with cold, to communicate heat in the most 
gradual manner. It has been said that the degree of external heat 
should be in proportion to the quantity of life. When life is 
weakened and nearly destroyed by frost, therefore, the warmth must 
be small, and rise no faster than life returns. 

To restore a frozen limb or part, rub it with snow, or place it in 
cold water for some time. When feeling begins to return, still keep 
it in cold water and let heat be added in a very gradual manner, by 
pouring in, now and then, a very small quantity of warm water. 

If a person be reduced by cold to insensibility, and apparently 
frozen to deaths take his clothes off, and cover him all over with snow, 
except the mouth and nostrils. If snow is not to be had, put him in 
water as cold as ice, and let him lie for some minutes. Then rub 
him with cloths wet with cold water. When the body is thus thawed 
by degrees, and the muscles begin to relax, dry the body, and placing 
it in a cold bed, rub with the warm hands, only under the clothes. 
Continue this for hours. If signs of life appear, give a small injec¬ 
tion of camphor and water, and put a drop of spirits of camphor on 
the tongue. After a time, rub with spirit and water, and finally 
with spirit, and give tea, or coffee, or brandy and water, 

Chilblains. 

These are caused by exposure to cold, and affect the fingers, toes, 
and particularly the heels, with a painful inflammatory swelling, of 
a red, purple, or bluish color. The skin may be red in patches, and 
slightly swelled, with itching, tingling, pain, and lameness; or there 
may be blisters, around which the skin is blue or purple; or, worse 
yet, there may be ulceration and sloughing. 


592 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


Treatment. —Stimulating liniments are the remedies usually em¬ 
ployed for this complaint. One of the best consists of six parts of 
soap liniment, and one part of tincture of Spanish flies; and another 
excellent one is prescription 307. If there is ulceration, use Turner s 
cerate, or the resin ointment. 

Mechanical Injuries. 

Wounds are divided into several kinds. 

Incised Wounds are very common. Being made with sharp in¬ 
struments, they are cuts^ and have no laceration or tearing about 
them. 

3tabs» or Punctured Wounds, form another class. They are made 
with pointed weapons, as bayonets, lances, swords, and daggers. 
They are more dangerous than the former, because they penetrate 
to a greater depth,—injuring blood-vessels, nerves, bowels, and 
other organs. 

Contused and Lacerated Wounds form still another class. They 
embrace gun-shot wounds, and all those produced by blunt instru¬ 
ments. They tear^ and bruise^ and mash the flesh. 

Poisoned Wounds form yet another class. They are such as are 
united with the introduction of some venomous poison into the in¬ 
cised, or punctured, or contused part. Stings and bites of venomous 
insects and snakes are of this class, — also the wounds made by 
poisoned arrows. 

Simple Wounds are such as are inflicted on a healthy subject with 
a clean, sharp instrument. 

Complicated Wounds are those inflicted when the state of the 
whole system, or of the wounded part, is such as to make it neces¬ 
sary for the surgeon to deviate from the treatment needed for a sim¬ 
ple wound, — as, for example, when there is bleeding, or nervous 
symptoms, or great pain, or locked-jaw, or much contusion, or ery¬ 
sipelas. 

Lacerated wounds are more dangerous than incised ones, because 
the parts are stretched and otherwise injured, besides being separated. 

A very small wound upon the brain, the spinal marrow, the bowels, 
or the heart, will often prove fatal, because the functions of these 
parts are intimately connected with life. 

Wounds of young persons heal much more rapidly and kindly than 
those of old persons. 

Septic Wounds. 

Whenever a surface has been cut, lacerated, or in any way in¬ 
jured, so that the surface can absorb germ-life from the instrument 
inflicting the wound, from the dressings used to cover it up, or from 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


593 


the dirt of the skin itself, we are very apt to get in a few days what 
used to be known as sympathetic fever^ but which is no more or less 
than the septic fever, or the systemic manifestation of germ absorp¬ 
tion. Fever, loss of appetite, headache, swelling and tenderness of 
the wound, with perhaps pus formation, are the natural outcome of 
such absorption. Hence it will readily be seen from what has been 
previously said about sepsis^ that the first indication in all cuts is to 
disinfect the area injured with some one of the germicidal solutions. 
None is cheaper than corrosive sublimate in the strength of one part 
to two thousand. This, in many cases, is all that need be done. If 
the cut is to be seAvn up, the wound is first cleaned with corrosive 
sublimate or oil of milk solution (a half-teaspoonful to one quart of 
water), and then sewn with needle and thread that have been boiled 
five minutes. The dressings or bandage should be disinfected with 
steam before being applied. Druggists nowadays keep in stock asep¬ 
tic gauze meant for precisely this class of cases, lacerated wounds, etc. 


Incised Wounds. 

Whek the flesh is divided with a cutting instrument, the cut edges 
separate, and the wound has a gaping appearance. This drawing 
apart happens in consequence of the elasticity of the skin. It often 
happens that vessels of considerable size are cut, so that bleeding is 
the principal thing to receive attention. 

Treatment of Hemorrhage.—Bleeding is stopped by the tourniquet^ 
by the ligature^ by compression^ by the application of cold water and 
ice^ and by astringents and styptics. 

The Tourniquet. — This instrument consists of a band and buckle, 
a pad and two brass frames, the 
upper of which is furnished with 
two small rollers, and the lower 
with four, over all of which the 
band plays. When the handle is 
turned to the right or left, the 
band is tightened or relaxed to 
just the extent required. (Fig. 

155.) The band is buckled round 
the limb in such a manner that 
the pad is placed exactly over the 
artery. When an artery is cut, it 
is known by the blood being very 
red^ and spirting out in jets; and 
in this case, the instrument must 
be placed upon the limb above the 
wound, or between it and the 
heart. 



Fig. 155. 





594 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


The Ligature. —When an artery is divided, the surgeon lays hold 
of the end of it with his forceps, and ties a thread tight around it, or 
twists the end of the artery. This is called a ligature. By it, the 
bleeding is instantly stopped, and long before the thread becomes 
loose, the opposite sides of the vessel have grown together, and all 
danger of a renewal of the bleeding is over. In all these procedures 
the careful surgeon uses only disinfected instruments and ligatures. 

Application of Water and Ice. — This is done by saturating with 
cold water several folds of linen rags, or lint pads, and applying them 
to the wound, remoistening, and reapplying them as fast as they be¬ 
come hot, till the pain and inflammation subside. 

Compression. — When the blood does not come from any large 
vessel, but from several small ones, compression is sufficient. It con¬ 
sists in placing the opposite sides of the wound together, if possible, 
and then laying compresses over, and applying a bandage with mod¬ 
erate tightness. 

Astringents and Styptics. — These are spirits, tinctures of myrrh, 
Peruvian bark, diluted mineral acids, solutions of tannin, alum, sul¬ 
phate of copper, decoctions of white-oak bark, etc. These have the 
power to stop bleeding from small vessels. Monsel’s salt is said to 
have more power than all the above. It is a preparation of iron and 
nitric acid, and has been used with great success in stopping violent 
bleeding. It is not a caustic or an irritant; but it acts very power¬ 
fully upon albumen and blood,—producing with the latter a large 
clot, absolutely insoluble,^ which continues to enlarge for several hours 
after the application, and becomes quite hard and firm, so that no 
blood can get through; but it leaves the wound filled with clots 
which afterward decompose and often give rise to blood-poisoning. 
The compress wrung out of some antiseptic solution is always the 
best method when practical. 

Beside these means, the application of the lunar caustic, potash, and 
the hot iron, are used, particularly the first, quite often. 

Union by the First Intention. 

When the bleeding is stopped, all foreign substances removed, and 
the wound properly cleansed, the next thing is to bring the opposite 
sides of the cut evenly together, and to keep them steadily in this 
position till they have healed. If this method succeeds, the healing 
takes place without the formation of any pus. This is called healing 
by the first intention,, or adhesion. The cut surfaces grow together. 
For keeping the surfaces together, straps of adhesive plaster are used, 
putting them at right angles across the cut, and leaving spaces be¬ 
tween them. 

Sutures. — Incised wounds are sometimes served together by what 
is called the interrupted suture. After the bleeding is stopped, a 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


595 


a curved needle is threaded, and, the lips of the wound being brought 
together, is introduced through the right lip, and then, being directed 
across the wound, is pushed through the left lip, from within out¬ 
ward. It is now cut off, and tied in a bow. These stitches should 
be at least an inch from each other. These needles and sutures are, 
of course, to be boiled or otherwise rendered aseptic before using, as 
well as the hands of the one doing the sewing. Needles and thread 
come all ready put up in glass tubes, having fcen first sterilized, and 
kept in alcohol or in a vacuum for any length of time perfectly germ- 
free. 

The first plasters and dressings should remain on the parts at least 
three or four days, unless very great pain, bleeding, or some other 
bad symptom, should call for their removal. 


Useful Rules for Examining and Dressing Wounds. 

Never give the patient more pain from the mode of handling and 
dressing the wound than is necessary for his present good or future 
safety. Never distress him by probing, squeezing, etc., to find things 
that will be of no use when learned. 

Make all examinations as soon after the accident as possible; for 
before inflammation and swelling take place, the probe or finger in¬ 
flicts much less pain. 

In changing the dressing of a wound, let all the fresh ones be ready 
before the removing of the old. The sponge, warm water, adhesive 
plaster, lint, ointment, lotions, bandages, etc., should all be at hand, 
and not have to be looked after when the wound is exposed. 

Put the patient in the most easy position, that he may not be 
needlessly fatigued during the dressing. 

If the bandage, plaster, and other dressings, have become hard, and 
glued together, and to the skin, by blood or matter, soften them with 
warm boiled water, which is to be pressed out of a sponge,—a basin 
being held below the part to catch the water as it falls from the 
dressing. 

The strips of adhesive plaster are to be removed by pulling gently 
at one end, and then the other, — each to be drawn towards the 
wound, so as not to pull its lips apart. 

In large wounds, take off one, or at most, two strips of plaster 
at a time. Cleanse, wipe dry, and again support this part of the 
wound with new strips of plaster, before any more are taken off. 
This will prevent the wound being torn open by the weight of its 
parts. 

If the wound be large and deep, its sides should be supported by 
an assistant while changing the dressings. 

If there are several wounds, dress but one at a time, that there 
may be no needless exposure to the air. 

Pay the utmost attention to cleanliness, asepsis and dryness. 


596 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


The frequency of the dressing must depend on the amount and 
quality of the discharge, the situation of the injury, the climate and 
season of the year, the effect produced by the dressing, and by the 
feelings of the patient. 

Remember that the one great desideratum is to keep away all 
germs from the wound and its vicinity. 


Antiseptic Dressings. 

' Antiseptics have lately attracted a great deal of notice in the 
treatment of inflammation, especially resulting from wounds. 

The article most used at the present time for this purpose is car¬ 
bolic acid. Lister is its chief advocate, and under his authority it 
has established a position which deserves attention. 

It is based upon the germ-theory of disease, which is founded 
upon the observations of Pasteur. The theory supposes that animal 
decomposition is due, not to the chemical action of oxygen, or any 
other gas, but to the presence of organic germs floating in the atmos¬ 
phere. Carbolic acid is used on account of its known destructive 
effects upon low forms of organic life. 

These low forms of vegetable organisms, which float in the air in 
great abundance as constituents of the dust, are called by naturalists 
bacteria, of which there are many varieties. Whenever they And 
3ntrance into the body, there putrefaction is produced. 

These vegetable parasites are capable of a wonderful power of 
multiplying their species, — a single germ producing in a few hours 
many thousands. Once admitted into the body, they find their way 
everywhere, — into the muscles, into the blood, into the different 
organs of the body, — and they spread destructive fermentation and 
putrefaction wherever they go. 

In accidental wounds, it is first necessary to kill any septic organ¬ 
isms which may have been introduced from the air or from contact 
with foreign bodies. We do this by thoroughly bathing the surfaces 
with a solution of carbolic acid, of the strength of one part of the acid 
to twenty of water. 

When the wounds are made by the surgeon, the germs are de¬ 
stroyed by means of a spray imbued with the acid. This spray is 
produced,by an atomizer, of which there are many kinds, and is 
thrown continually on to the surface of the wound, until the comple¬ 
tion of the operation, including the ligaturing of the vessels and the 
final stitching together of its edges. 

Lister also recommends the use of carbolized catgut for ligatures, 
being of an animal substance and finally absorbed. 

When the operation is fully completed, the antiseptic dressings 
are applied. Besides these antiseptic precautions, in cases of large 
and deep wounds a drainage tube is introduced to allow for the 
escape of the serum. 


SURGICAL DISEASES 


597 


The antiseptic dressings consist of — first, the protector; second, 
the carbolized gauze ; third, the mackintosh; and fourth, another 
layer of the gauze, and a bandage of the same to keep the whole in 
place. For the purpose of protecting the cicatrizing parts from the 
irritating effects of the gauze, a layer of oil-silk coated on both sides 
with copal varnish, and afterwards brushed over with dextrine, to 
enable it to become uniformly moistened when dipped into a watery 
solution of the acid, is applied directly over the wound, the ends of 
the drainage tube protruding about an inch from each extremity of 
the incision. The wound is then covered with a layer of antiseptic 
gauze dipped into a solution of one to forty of the acid. There are 
then superimposed six other layers of dry gauze; then the mackin¬ 
tosh or a piece of rubber cloth; then an eighth layer of gauze large 
enough to cover in all the remainder, and finally a bandage of the 
same. 

When the dressings are renewed, it is to be done under the spray, 
great care being taken not to admit any non-carbolized air. 

The dressings are not to be changed until the discharge has begun 
to soak through and appear below the edge of the rubber cloth. 

Use dry dressing wherever practicable. Where much pus is being 
discharged this is out of the question, but where no pus is issuing, 
or in wounds that are entirely closed in, a dry sterile dressing which 
is aseptic, or germ free, rather than antiseptic or germ kill, is the 
best method. 

The antiseptic gauze is made by impregnating cotton cloth of open 
texture with a mixture of carbolic acid one part, resin five parts, 
paraffine seven parts. The resin acts as a vehicle for the acid, while 
the paraffine is added to prevent inconvenient adhesiveness. 

The Way in which Wounds Unite. 

When the two surfaces of a wound are brought together, they be¬ 
come impervious to the blood, but not to coagulable lymph, or fibrin. 
This,— the material of which all flesh is made,— flows out upon the 
two surfaces, and becomes a bond of union between them. 

Into this layer of fibrin, the small blood-vessels,— arteries and veins, 
— which have been cut asunder, push themselves with open mouths, 
and, meeting in the centre, they inosculate, or grow together, and the 
blood resumes its circulation through them. 

By this method, incised wounds of moderate size are often healed 
in forty-eight hours. This method of healing by the first intention is 
always to be brought about, if possible. 

Punctured Wounds. 

These are produced by swords, daggers, etc. 

Great swelling and inflammation, large abscesses, erysipelas, the 
wounding of large arteries, and the consequent extravasation of blood. 


598 


SUKGICAL DISEASES. 


symptomatic fever, and lock-jaw, are the frequent results of punctured 
wounds. They are, therefore, more dangerous and hard to cure than 
cuts. 

Treatment.—For the first twenty-four hours, use superficial dress¬ 
ings of lint, wet with some disinfecting liquid, and a loose bandage. 
If, after this, pain and swelling should increase, leeches may be ap¬ 
plied to the neighborhood of the wound, and fomentations, or pouF 
tices, be applied, placing a small linen rag or gauze, that has first been 
soaked in the disinfectant, over the wound. When the pain and in¬ 
flammation are great, saline purgatives (7), (18), (25), (27), arid 
opiates are often called for. 

Contused and Lacerated Wounds. 

These are produced by cudgels, stones, bullets, or whatever else 
of a blunt nature tears asunder the muscular fibres, leaving jagged 
and uneven surfaces. They are rarely healed without suppuration, 
and are frequently followed by violent inflammation. They suppur¬ 
ate and slough, but they do not bleed much, — not even, sometimes, 
when large arteries are torn asunder. Whole limbs are occasionally 
torn away without hemorrhage. In warm climates, lock-jaw is a fre¬ 
quent consequence of them. 

Treatment. — Draw the edges of the wound loosely together, and 
retain them with a few strips of adhesive plaster. Sometimes a su¬ 
ture, here and there, will be proper. If a great deal of inflammation 
ensues, take away the adhesive plaster and the stitches, and apply a 
poultice, or water-dressing; and if there be much fever, restlessness, 
or delirium, saline purgatives (18), (25), and opium (118), will be 
needed; but especially will it be necessary to again disinfect the 
wound, and by every means possible render the field aseptic. 

The wound having thrown off its sloughs, suppurated, become 
clean, and formed granulations, the poultices are to be taken off, and 
simple dressings substituted. These should be adapted to the con¬ 
ditions of the sore, according to the directions for treating ulcers. 

When the wound is so severe that extensive mortification will be 
sure to follow, the limb must be immediately taken off, to save the 
life of the patient. 

Granulation and Scarification. 

Suppurating wounds heal in the same way as ulcers. The 
chasm is filled up by the appearance of little soft elevations of new 
substance, which originate at all points, and meet at the centre, draw¬ 
ing the sides nearer together, and raising the bottom towards the sur¬ 
face. This is called granulation^ because these elevations look like 
grains ; and the result is a new tissue, of a peculiar character, which 
constitutes the cicatrix, or scar. 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


599 


Reproduction of Lost Parts, 

Among some of the lower animals, whole limbs which have been 
destroyed are easily reproduced. It is not so with man ; though cer¬ 
tain parts, when only partially destroyed, are sometimes regenerated. 
Thus, portions of skin, of considerable extent, are often reproduced; 
and so are the whole of some long bones, when destroyed by necrosis. 
The same is true, to some extent,- of ligaments. But portions of 
brain, and spinal marrow, and muscle, and mucous membrane, when 
once removed, are never regenerated. 

Gunshot Wounds. 

At a time when fire-arms are so much carried about the person, 
and so often used for purposes of duelling and murder, it is proper 
that every person should know something of the modes of treating 
gunshot wounds. 

Treatment. — It is often proper to make a gunshot wound larger 
at the orifice. When this is done, it is generally on the side where 
the bullet has passed out, if it has gone entirely through. A bullet 
is always to be removed, if it can be felt. 

The dressings are at first to be superficial, light, unirritating and 
aseptic. The common antiseptic dressing, covered with a piece of oiled 
silk, is one of the best. Where suppuration occurs, because of the 
introduction of germs into the wound, poultices may be called for, but 
the douching and cleansing of the wound with hot oil of milk solu¬ 
tion is often demanded and always grateful. 

Poisoned Wounds. 

To the bites-and stings of various creatures man is exposed in 
most climates, and in all seasons of the year. These may be divided 
into three classes. 

Bites of Mosquitoes and Spiders, and Stings of Bees and Wasps. 

— For these, the best applications are a solution of common salt, or 
water of ammonia, or sugar of lead (239), or laudanum, or tincture 
of iodine. If none of these are at hand, at the moment, cover the 
part with wet earth. Tincture of arnica (240) is a good application 
(See article on Bites, etc.) 

Bites of Venomous Snakes. — Either instantly cut out a piece 
from the bitten part, or apply a dry cup, to prevent the absorption of 
the poison, or suction with the mouth will sometimes answer the same 
purpose. After doing one of these things, touch the part with caustic 
potash. Internally, give Fowler’s solution, twenty drops, in a little 
water, every two hours. Also purgative injections, stopping the ar¬ 
senic when purging is well established; or drink freely of whiskey. 


600 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


For the bite of the rattlesnake, a remedy is alcoholic drink, 
taken in large quantities, and immediately. Gin and whiskey 
are believed to be the best. Fill the system full. When the poison 
has begun to take effect, enormous quantities will be borne, before 
intoxication can be induced. Keep the whole person saturated until 
the symptoms decline. 

The best treatment is the prescription of the saturated solution of 
permanganate of potassium applied directly to the wound and the 
dose of 1 to 2 grains diluted given by hypodermic injection about 
the wound. 

Also a ligature applied in the form of a rope or twisted handkerchief . 
between the bite and the heart, and twisted tight to stop the circula¬ 
tion, will prevent the entrance of the poison into the blood. 

Fractures, 

The existence of a fracture is to be known by the symptoms. 
These are pain, swelling, deformity from the limb bending to one 
side, sometimes shortening of the limb, or loss of power to use it, and 
a crepitus or grating sound or sensation from the rubbing of the ends 
of the broken bone together. There are several kinds of fractures. 
They are 

The Transverse Fracture^ which is directly across the bone. 

The Oblique Fracture^ which runs from side to side, in an oblique 
direction. 

The Longitudinal Fracture^ which runs lengthwise of the bone. 

A Simple Fracture is one in which the bone is broken simply, with* 
out any wound of the flesh with it. 

A Compound Fracture consists of a simple fracture, and of an ex¬ 
ternal wound in addition, caused by pushing the end of the broken 
bone through the flesh. 

A Complicated Fracture is one in which, besides the breaking of the 
bone, there is the dislocation of a joint, the wounding of an artery, 
the extensive tearing of the soft parts, or the wounding of the bowels 
or some other internal organ. 

A Comminuted Fracture is one in which the bone is broken into 
several pieces. 

Treatment of Fractures. — When a bone is broken, the first thing 
to be done is to get the injured person to his home, or to the nearest 
house. To do this in a rough or careless way might add much to 
his sufferings. 

If it be an arm which is broken, let it be placed in a broad sling, 
extending from the elbow to the fingers. In this condition the pa¬ 
tient, if in tolerable health, and the distance is not great, will find it 
easier to walk home, than to bear the jolting of a carriage. 


601 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 

If the leg or the thigh be broken, then a hurdle of some sort (Fig. 

156), must be obtained as 
soon as possible, and, being 
covered with straw, or blan¬ 
kets, or garments, the pa- 
tient should be gently lifted 
Fig. 156. upon it by just persons 

enough to raise him easily from the ground. This should now be 
carried by four persons, two at each end, moving with great gentle¬ 
ness, and keeping exact step with each other. If these persons 
take hold of 'the ends of two poles, laid under the hurdle, they will 
find they can carry it much more easily. If no hurdle be at hand, 
let four poles, two long ones, and two short ones, be laid across each 
other at right angles, and fasten together with nails or strings.^ Then 
lay upon these an old door, or some loose boards; and the injured 
person may be easily carried upon this temporary structure. A 
blanket fastened upon four poles, in the manner of a cot-bed, will 
answer a good purpose. 

Having placed the patient upon the hand-carriage, bring the sound 
limb and the broken one snug together, and tie them to each other 
with two or three pocket handkerchiefs; this will support the broken 
limb, and prevent its being shaken about and injured by motion. In 
doing this, the limb should be laid as near as possible in the natural 
position, so that the bones may not get out of place, and their ends 
get pushed through the flesh. 

The Reduction^ or Setting of the Fracture^ is the first thing to be 
done. By this is meant the bringing of the ends of the broken bone 
together, and adjusting them to each other in their natural position. 
This is done by what surgeons call extension, counter-extension and 
coaptation. 

Extension means taking hold of the limb helow the fracture and 
pulling from the body. 

Counter-Extension is pulling above the fracture towards the body. 
These opposite pullings are done at the same time to overcome the 
force of the muscles, which contract, and draw the ends of the bone 
by each other and shorten the limb. 

Sometimes no extension or counter-extension is necessary, the ends 
of the broken bone not being pulled out of their place. When the 
pulling is necessary, it should be gentle and steady. 

Modern surgery has developed two simple mechanical means of 
making extension and counter-extension for the purpose of overcom¬ 
ing muscular spasm which rarely fail. One is by the use of elastic 
rubber bands, and the other by the attachment to the limb of a coid 
running over a pulley at the foot of the bed and sustaining a suitable 
weight. The method of employing these will be given in detail in 
connection with special fractures. 








602 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


Coaptation means adjusting the ends of the bone to each other. 

The next thing is to provide for keeping the ends of the broken 
bone steadily in contact, so that nature may have a fair chance to 
unite them. 

To secure this object, mechanical contrivances are used, which are 
simple, and may always be had without difhculty. 

They consist of linen bandages^ about the breadth of four fingers, 
and from four to ten yards long; and pads^ made of old woollen cloth 
or blankets lightly quilted together, or pillow-cases filled with tow, or 
chaff, or cut straw, or even leaves ; and of splints^ made of clapboards, 
or thick shingles, four fingers wide, and in length corresponding with 
that of the broken limb; or wheat straw laid side by side, and quilted 
into a piece of cloth to prevent them moving about. A very useful 
splint may be made from the fresh bark of trees. 

The pads are to be placed under the splints, to prevent injuries to 
the skin; and the bandages to be bound over the whole, 

A great point is to have the splints accurately adapted in each case, 
and the ability to affect this is an important element of success in this 
branch of surgery. Wood may be generally cut into suitable shape, 
but it is perhaps easier to use moulded splints of leather, felt,’ gutta¬ 
percha, or shellac cloth. The starched or plaster bandage^ or gummed 
paper may be effectively used; and with a proper pair of shears, 
sheets of tin or zinc may be cut into splints, which will answer ad¬ 
mirably. Woven iron wire splints are highly recommended. 

For some hours after a limb is broken, the parts continue to swell, 
and if bound up immediately with the pads, splints, etc., much 
needless pain will be occasioned. It is best, therefore, not to put 
these on under two or three days, but merely to lay the limb in a 
natural position, and perhaps lightly bind one splint to it. Broken 
ribs and collar-b?)nes are exceptions, and should be bound up imme¬ 
diately. 

A broken arm lies easiest half bent, upon a pillow; the thigh or 
leg, upon the outside, with the knee bent. 

When the apparatus is once adjusted, the less it is meddled with 
the better. 

In fractures of the shoulder or arm, a sling is a contrivance of great 
importance. This, if well made and adjusted, keeps the broken bone 
in its place, and at the same time allows the patient to take some 
exercise by walking about. 

Besides the above contrivances, there is the double inclined plane 



Fig. 167. 












SURGICAL DISEASES. 


603 


(Fig. 157) for giving the leg the advantage of a bent position. There 
are fracture-boxes (Fig. 1^^)fracture-cradles, — the latter to 
keep the bed-clothes lifted away from the painful limb. Fracture- 
beds are now brought to great perfection, and one should, if possible, 
be procured when the patient is likely to be confined a long time 
with a compound fracture. The fracture-box represented by Fig. 
158, may be made from thin boards, by any carpenter. It has a 
hinge at the knee to enable it to fulfil the double purpose of a double- 
inchned plane and a fracture-box. 



Fig. 168. 


The Way in which Broken Bones Unite. 

The union of broken bones is much slower than that of severed 
flesh. The ends of the bone being kept steadily together, they soon 
become surrounded by a swelling of the soft parts, which change to 
a sort of osseous substance, making a kind of bony hoop, to act as a 
splint or support, — nature not being willing to trust the surgeon to 
keep the fragments exactly in their place. This is called a 'provi¬ 
sional callus, because it only has a temporary use. 

This First Stage lasts about ten days. At the end of this time, a 
spongy substance appears between the ends of the bone. This sub 
stance is not bone, but in the swelling around the fracture specks of 
bone begin to be deposited; the fibrin here poured out becoming 
first cartilage, and then receiving into itself phosphate of lime, it be¬ 
comes bone. A similar work is going on within, in the part called 
the medullary membrane. 

This Second Stage lasts from the tenth to the twenty-fifth day. 

Then begins the Third Stage, which goes to the end of the sixth 
or eighth week. During this period the external swelling, and the 
internal medullary membrane, become completely ossified and firm; 
though the ends of the bone are not yet grown together. 

The Fourth Stage goes to the end of the fifth or sixth montli. Dur¬ 
ing this time, the external swelling, or provisional callus, becomes cov¬ 
ered with a periostewm, and the ends of the bones themselves are fas¬ 
tened together by a bony union. 










604 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


The Fifth Stage extends from the fifth or sixth to the twelfth month. 
During this time, the ends of the bone become grown together so 
strongly that the bony ring, or provisional callus, is no longer wanted, 
and it becomes absorbed, and disappears; in other words, having no 
further use for it. Nature takes off her splint. The place where the 
fracture was is now as strong as any other part. 

Union in Compound Fractures. 

The union of compound fractures takes place in a different way 
from that of a simple fracture, just described. The bones remain dis¬ 
united several weeks, and there is no provisional callus formed; but 
after some weeks the ends of the bone soften and granulate^ and these 
granulations are gradually changed into bone. 

In nothing have the benefits of antisepsis been shown so vividly as 
in the treatment of compound fractures. Twenty years ago a large 
percentage of all compound fractures either suppurated or caused the 
death of the patient; but now suppuration and high mortality are not 
seen. The wound is treated exactly like any other wound, on aseptic 
principles, the bones being held in place as usual. Union thus results 
without suppuration, and a cure is completed in one-half the time, with 
over fifty per cent less mortality than was the case previous to the 
introduction of aseptic and antiseptic surgery. 

The first thing in event of a compound fracture is to render the 
parts aseptic as soon and as completely as possible. This may be done 
by a thorough scrubbing with tincture green soap and water for five 
or ten minutes, and then, after washing off the soap, with alcohol, to 
thoroughly scrub the skin adjoining the wound with some one of the 
disinfectants mentioned under the heading of Sepsis and Asepsis ; as, 
for instance, corrosive sublimate, one part to two thousand parts of 
water. The wound is to be dressed precisely as any wound, and is 
to be so arranged that access may be had to it for future dressings. 
When skin and flesh are much torn they may be sewn together with 
a needle and thread or silk which has been boiled five minutes. The 
stitches are to be removed from the fourth to seventh day. The bones 
are to be approximated just as in simple fractures, and splints 
applied. 

Formerly the mortality of compound fractures was very high, owing 
to the invasion of the tissues by germ-life, but since the introduction of 
antiseptic measures in surgery, the death rate has fallen so markedly 
as to be a matter of great pride to surgeons and the world at large. 

In cases where the wound does not allow of good coaptation, and 
much mangling of the tissues has occurred, it may be well not to suture 
the parts, but to dress them with some antiseptic gauze drainage, and 
do them up like an open wound. 

Time Required for Uniting Different Bones. 

Fractures of the arms unite sooner than those of the legs. 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


605 


The ribs and collar-bone unite with tolerable firmness in about a 
month; those of the arm in six weeks ,• of the thigh and leg in eight 
weeks. I only mean the firmness derived from the provisional callus. 

A broken bone will unite much sooner in a healthy person than in 
an unhealthy one; much sooner in a young than in an old person. 

As a general rule, the apparatus should be kept on thirty days in 
the case of children; forty days in that of adults; and much longer 
in that of aged persons. 

False Joint. 

The union of a broken bone is sometimes prevented by a frequent 
moving of the limb. The ends of the bone, having failed to grow to¬ 
gether, will sometimes become rounded and smoothed, uniting only 
by a kind of ligament, and acquire the habit of sliding upon each 
other, and thus form what is called a false or artificial joints — the 
limb being permanently capable of bending to some extent, at the 
place of the fracture. 

Fractures of the Skull. 

These are always dangerous in their nature, and the aid to be de¬ 
rived from surgery is much less than in other fractures. If a fracture 
of the skull produce deep sleep and snoring, and the patient does 
not show any symptoms of pain when pinched, etc., we are to infer 
that a piece of bone is pressed down upon or into the brain. 

In this case, if the position of the blow be known, a cut is to be 
made through the skin, two or three inches long, down to the bone. 
If arteries bleed, they must be taken hold of with a pair of forceps, 
and tied with a silk thread, the ends of which are to be cut off. The 
bone being well exposed by one or two incisions, the piece which is 
pressed down upon the brain is to be raised with a chisel, or some 
similar instrument, to a level with the other bones. The surface 
must then be cleansed antiseptically, the hair around shaved off, the 
skin brought together, and the cut edges reunited by sticking plaster. 

When the inflammation appears, twenty-four hours after, it is to be 
kept down by doses of from five to ten drops of tincture of veratrum 
viride, given every one or two hours. 

Fractures of the Bones of the Nose. 

Injueies of this kind may generally be rectified by passing a strong 
probe up the nostril, and pressing out the bones to their natural place, 
at the same time using the fingers on the outside to prevent their 
being pressed out too far. Inflammation must be kept down by cloths 
wet in cold water and laid on, and by light diet. 

Fracture of the Lower Jaw. 

This usually takes place near the chin. It may occur also near 


606 


SUEGICAL DISEASES. 


the angles of the jaw. It may be simple or compound, and is known 
by tlie pain, the swelling, the inability to move the jaw, the indenta¬ 
tion felt by the finger, the irregularity of the teeth, and the grating 
sensation felt while moving the jaw with the hand placed on the back 
fragment. 

Treatment.—Let one or both thumbs be introduced into the mouth. 
With these, keep the back part of the jaw stationary, and pull for¬ 
ward the fore part with the fingers on the 
outside. In this way the fracture can soon 
be put right. This done, shut the mouth 
firmly, and place a thick compress of lint 
over the broken part; over this put a piece 
of pasteboard, wetted so as to bend easily 
to the parts, and over this a strong band¬ 
age of muslin, two and a half inches wide, 
with a small bag to fit and hold the chin; 
all which is represented in Fig. 159. 

For a fortnight the patient must feed on gruel, broth, arrow-root 
and milk, that the jaw may not be displaced by chewing. 



Fig. m 


Fracture of the Collar-Bone, or Clavicle, 

This accident generally occurs about the middle of the bone, and 
is generally caused by falls on the arm and shoulder. 



Fig. 160. Fig. 161. 


Symptoms. — Pain and tenderness at the place of the injury, and 
inability to lift the arm ; a small bunch or prominence at the point of 
the fracture; the distance from the point of the shoulder to the 
breast-bone shorter than on the other side; and the dropping down¬ 
wards, forwards, and inwards of the shoulder. To make the case 
sure, compare the two bones, and see whether they agree. 






SURGICAL diseases. 


607 


Treatment.— Place the knee between the shoulder-blades, and 
grasping the round ends of the shoulders with the two hands, draw 
them gently back till the ends of the bone come to their proper place; 
or place the elbow of the patient close to the body, and a little for¬ 
ward, and then push it upward. 

To retain the shoulders in this upward and backward position for 
some weeks, pass a flannel bandage, four inches wide, around the 
front of one shoulder, under the arm-pit, across the back, over the 
opposite shoulder, under the other arm-pit, and again across the back, 
in the form of the flgure oo. To prevent the bandage from cutting 
the skin, put pads under the arms. (Figs. 160 and 161.) 

Fracture of the Shoulder-Blade. 

When this accident happens, the body of the bone is generally 
broken across by some great direct violence. In a few instances, the 
end next to the collar-bone is broken. 

Symptoms. — Great pain in moving the shoulder, and the grating 
sensation which may be felt by placing one hand on the upper euv^ 
of the bone, and moving the lower portion with the other. 

Treatment. — A bandage must be passed round the chest, and a 
few turns be made around the upper arm, so as to fasten it to the 
side, and prevent all motion. Purging, low diet, and the tincture of 
veratrum viride will be required to keep down inflammation. 

Fracture of the Acromion, or the end of the scapula which unites 
with the collar-bone, may be known by the flattening of the shoulder, 
— the broken part being drawn down by the action of the deltoid 
muscle. 

Treatment. —It must be supported by the same bandages as are 
used for a fracture of the collar-bone; and the elbow must be well 
raised, so that the head of the upper-arm bone may be lifted against 
the upper portion of the scapula, and act as a prop to keep it in place. 
No pad should be put in the arm-pit, for this would push the broken 
part too much outward. Gentle motion of the arm may be begun 
about the sixth week. 

Fracture of the Upper-Arm Bone. 

The bone of the upper-arm is most frequently broken near the 
centre, though it may be fractured near the ends. It may be known 
by taking hold of the arm above and below the suspected fracture, 
and attempting to move the ends of the upper and lower fragments 
upon each other. If there be a fracture, the grating of the broken 
ends against each other will either be heard or felt. The arm will 
also be bent and helpless; and if the ends of the bone be slipped by 
each other, it will be shortened. 


608 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


Treatment. — Let a powerful man take hold of the arm and pull 
gently and gradually, but with considerable force, till the arm is 
brought to its natural length, another man taking hold of the body 
of the patient, and pulling in an opposite direction. In the mean 
time, the surgeon is to adjust the ends of the bone to each other, and 
apply a bandage, but not very tightly, from the elbow to the shoulder, 
and over this, four splints, with pads under them; one in front, reach¬ 
ing from the shoulder to the bend of the elbow, 
with a few turns of the bandage over it; another 
behind, reaching from the shoulder to the point 
of the elbow, with a few turns of the bandage 
around it also; another on the inside, extending 
from the arm-pit to the inner projection of the 
bone at the elbow, also secured by a few turns of 
the bandage; and the fourth one on the outside, 
reaching from the shoulder to the outside knob 
at the elbow. The whole is now to be secured 
either by a bandage or tape. (Fig. 162.) The arm is to be confined 
jO the side, and the hand and fore-arm placed in a sling. In from 
seven to ten days, the dressing should be taken off to see if all is 
right. 



Fracture of the Elbow. 

This may be known by the patient being able to bend the arm, 
but not straighten it, and by the grating which may be heard or felt 
when the arm is moved back and forth by the operator, and also by 
the severe pain felt in the fractured part. 

Treatment. — First apply leeches and evaporating lotions to re¬ 
duce the inflammation. When this is effected, straighten the limb, 
and apply a bandage snugly from the fingers to the elbow. The 
broken end of the bone must now be brought to its place, and the 
bandage continued over it, and for a few inches above it. Secure it 
here, and bring it back, — carrying it above and below the elbow for 
several times; and then extend it up to the shoulder. A splint 
must now be applied to the inner side of the arm to prevent its being 
bent, extending from the hand nearly to the shoulder, and another, 
of similar shape, to the outside. The joint should be kept quiet for 
four or five weeks, during which time the splints may be taken 
off three or four times, to see if there is any chafing of the skin, or 
any disturbance of the bones. 

Fractures between the Elbow and Wrist. 

The part of the arm between the elbow and wrist, called the fore¬ 
arm^ has two bones, — one extending from the elbow on the inside 
to the wrist at the root of the little finger, called the ulna^ and the 




SURGICAL DISEASES. 609 

other on the side next the thumb, a shorter and a smaller bone, and 
called the radius. 

When both these bones are broken at the same time, the fracture 
may be easily discovered; when only one, the sound bone keeps the 
other in place, and the injury is not so easily made out. 

Treatment. — Relax the muscles by bending the elbow, and then, 
by extension and counter-extension, put the ends of the bones in 
proper place; then place two splints, thickly padded in the centre, 
one upon the front of the hand and forearm, and the other upon the 
back of the hand and forearm, — the palm of the hand being turned, 
not towards the chest, but downwards. They are to be covered with 
a bandage from the fingers to the elbow. The whole arm and hand 
should be placed in a sling, and remain in this position four or five 
weeks. 

Fractures of the Wrist, Hands, and Fingers. 

The setting of fractured bones in these parts is to be done by ex¬ 
tension and counter-extension, as in the case of other bones. 

If the wrist be broken, a splint should be applied in front and one 
behind, and a bandage bound tightly from the hand half way to the 
elbow. 

In fracture of the bones of the hand, a pad or compress must be 
put upon the palm of the hand, and a splint placed over this, with a 
bandage extending from the wrist to near the ends of the fingers. 

If one finger only be broken, apply narrow pasteboard splints on 
four sides, and cover them with a narrow bandage ; and then bandage 
the whole hand. 

In all these fractures, place the hand in a sling. About three 
weeks will be required for the bones to unite properly, and several 
weeks more for the parts to acquire their natural usefulness. 

Fracture of the Ribs. 

This accident occurs either by blows, or by being crushed between 
two opposing forces. One, two, or more ribs may be broken at a 
time, according to circumstances. 

Symptoms. — A fixed, piercing pain, made worse by breathing 
coughing, or any other motion, and also a grating sensation during 
the taking of a long breath, the hand being laid upon the injured 
part at the time. 

Treatment. — The ribs are to be held steadily in their place by 
pressure. To effect this, request the patient to draw in a long breath, 
and hold it. While the ribs are swelled out in this way, and the 
broken ends are thus brought to their proper place, pass a woollen 
bandage, five or six inches wide, several times tightly around the 
chest, from the arm-pits to the pit of the stomach. This will confine 


610 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


the muscles of the chest, and the breathing will have to be done with 
the muscles of the belly, and the ribs will thus be kept still, and 
have a chance to grow together. 

If the pleura be wounded, and inflammation follow from this or 
other cause, the patient must be confined in bed, kept on a low diet, 
and his pulse be kept down by tincture of veratrum viride. The 
bowels should be emptied by recipes 18, or 10, or 27, or 41, both to 
subdue inflammation, and to give the diaphragm a chance to drop 
down freely. 

Fracture of the Breast=Bone. 

Symptoms. — The injured part is frequently either sunk down or 
raised up; there is difficult breathing, cough, spitting of blood, pain, 
inability to lie on the back, and a grating noise caused by breathing. 

Treatment. — The same as that for broken ribs. Should the broken 
part be pressed down upon the lung, so as to cause serious difficulty 
of breathing, an incision may be made, and the broken piece raised 
up with a chisel, or stiff case-knife, or some similar instrument. 

Fracture of the Haunch-Bones, or Pelvis. 

These fractures are dangerous, — being often connected with some 
other injury, as tearing of the bladder, lower bowel, or great veins or 
arteries. Fortunately, however, they are only caused by some great 
violence, and do not often occur. 

Treatment. — Place the patient in the easiest possible position, and 
keep him entirely at rest. Generally a catheter should be kept in the 
bladder, that the water may pass off easily; and the whole hips 
should be bound round tightly with a flannel or calico bandage, and 
made as firm and fixed as possible, to keep the broken bones together. 
The most perfect rest must be ordered for six weeks or two months. 

If the extreme lower end of the sacrum, the os coccygis (Figs. 8— 3) 
be broken, the separated portion must be put in its place by introduc¬ 
ing the finger into the rectum; and the bowels must be kept loose by 
gentle physic, that the broken bone may not be pushed frpm its place 
by the pressure against it of hard stools. 

Fracture of the Thigh-Bone. 

The points where this bone are broken are at its upper portion or 
neck, and near its middle. The break at this latter place may be 
straight across, or oblique, — partially lengthwise. When oblique, 
the point of the bone may stick into one of the large muscles, and be 
made fast by it. 

Symptoms. — The fracture in the middle of the bone, if it be trans¬ 
verse, may be known by some swelling or irregularity discovered by 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


611 


running the hand along the thigh, and grasping it here and there ; 
and if it be oblique, the ends of the bone will be drawn by each other, 
and the limb will be shortened. 

Treatment. — Place the patient on his back, and let two strong 
men use extension, — one taking hold near the hip, and the other 
grasping the limb at the knee and pulling steadily and strongly till 
the limb is of the proper length, and the ends of the bone are in their 
place. The man who takes hold of the upper end of the limb may 
hold it more firmly and with less fatigue by passing a folded sheet 
around the groin. 

The extending force being still continued, the operator is now to 
apply the splints, which are to be four in number, — one in front, 
reaching from the knee-pan to the groin; one behind; one on the 
inside, from the upper part of the thigh to the inside of the knee; 
and a fourth one, about four inches wide, reaching from the arm-pit 
to a distance of two or three inches beyond the sole of the foot. Cot¬ 
ton must be placed under these splints to prevent their injuring the 
skin, and they must be of a width to nearly, but not quite, touch 
each other. These being properly adjusted, and the extension still 
continued if the fracture is oblique, the bandage is now to be firmly 
applied from the foot to the upper part of the thigh, and then passed 
a few times around the body. This fracture is sometimes treated 
without splints, as represented in (Fig. 163). 



Fig. 168. Fig. 164. 


Six or seven weeks will be required for the bones to grow together. 









612 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


during which time the patient will need to lie upon his back. But the 
dressing may now and then be taken off and put on again. 

Sometimes only a single long splint is used; sometimes no splint; 
in still other cases, four splints, — the outside one being short, and 
the limb resting on a double inclined plane. 

Fracture at the Neck of the Bone. — When the bone is broken at 
the neck, close to the hip-joint, the injury is known by the knee and 
foot turning outward^ and by the limb being an inch or two shorter 
than the other (Fig. 164). This is an accident to which old persons 
are particularly liable. When the bone is broken here, it seldom 
grows together again. The union which is formed is generally by a 
ligament. 

Treatment.— This requires a very long splint, reaching from the 
armpit to beyond the sole of the foot, and bound firmly with a band¬ 
age, as in fracture in the middle of the thigh. The limb should be 
kept extended, and the injured one must be bound to the other by a 
bandage, keeping both legs straight and immovable. A broad leather 
strap, bound firmly round the hips and thighs will be serviceable. 

Two or three months will be required for the injury to become re¬ 
paired, so that the limb may be used. The patient must get up cau¬ 
tiously, and be careful not to use the limb much so long as pain is 
produced. 

Fracture of the Knee-Pan. 

The knee-pan (patella) may be broken up and down, or across; —• 
the latter fracture is the more common. It is a troublesome fracture, 
and is very apt to leave a stiff knee. 

Symptoms. — When the bone is broken across, the patient cannot 
stand upon the limb; the leg may be flexed or crooked, but cannot 
be straightened, the upper part of the knee-pan is drawn up away 
from the lower portion, leaving a wide gap, into which the fingers 
may be laid, — at the top and bottom of which the rough edges of 
the movable bones may be felt. 

Treatment. — First, reduce the inflammation by tincture of arnica, 
leeches, etc. Then straighten the limb, and put a well-padded splint 
behind, to keep the knee motionless; place the patient’s body in a 
half-sitting posture, and raise the foot considerably above a level. 
Put a bandage over the splint, beginning half way up the thigh, and 
extending down to the knee-pan, and being made very tight just 
above the broken bone, so that it cannot easily slip under it. The 
broken bones must now be brought together, and the bandage be 
passed below and again above the knee several times in the form of 
a figure 8, to keep the bones from parting. 

The bandage, generally, may not be removed for a fortnight. After 
this period, if everything has gone on well, the limb may be carefully 
bent a little every day, to avoid a stiff knee. 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


613 


Fracture of the Bones of the Leg. 

The leg is tliat part of the limb between the knee and ankle. Tt 
has two bones; the smaller on the outside, called the fibula; the 
lars^er on the inner and front side, called the tihia^ or shin-bone. 

One or both of these may be broken at the same time. If both 
are broken, it is impossible to walk upon the limb; there is a change 
in its shape; it may be bent; and the grating of the broken ends of 
the bones may be felt or heard. 

Treatment. — First, adjust the bones by means of extension and 
counter-extension, as in other fractures. 

Then apply two splints, one on the out¬ 
side from the knee to the sole of the foot; 
the other upon the inside. Over these a 
bandage is to be firmly applied, reaching 
from the toes to the knee. The leg may 
rest upon the side or the back, as the com¬ 
fort of the patient may require. Upon 
the side is generally the easiest position, 
with the knee a little bent (Fig. 165). 

The dressing may be removed in six or seven days, to see that the 
bones are in their proper place. Five or six weeks will be required 
for recovery; and at the end of this time, the dressing may be laid 
aside. But the patient must use his leg very gradually. 

In the treatment of fractures of the shafts of the bones of the 
lower extremities, three indications should be fulfilled: First, coap¬ 
tation and fixation of the fragments; second, moderate extension; 
tliird, gentle compression and support. Provided these requirements 
are carried out, it matters little what apparatus may be employed; 
but that which can be applied with the least disturbance of the 
fractured bone, and is most comfortable to the feeling of the patient, 
should be preferred. 

The best mode of extension and counter-extension now in use is 
by raising the foot of the bedstead about eight inches, by a block of 
wood placed under each fore-leg. This makes an inclined plane, and 
the body consequently tends to incline towards the head of the bed; 
this is the counter-extension. 

Then extension is made as follows: A strong piece of adhesive 
plaster, about two and one half inches wide and about three feet long, 
is applied to the sides of the leg, extending from a little below the 
knee, leaving a loop under the foot four or five inches long. This 
is secured firmly in place by a bandage to the whole length of the 
leg. A piece of cord is fastened to the loop and passed over a pul¬ 
ley, which is fixed to the foot-board of the bed. To the other end of 
this cord is attached a weight. This need not exceed ten or twelve 
pounds. 



614 


SUEGICAL DISEASES. 


In this way we get our counter-extension and extension: the body 
is drawing one way and the weight is pulling the other all the time. 

This is a simple and comfortable way of treating fractures of the 
shafts of the bones of the lower extremities which require extension. 
It may be applied to the different fractures of the neck of the thigh 
bone, to fractures of the shaft, and also to fractures in the shafts of 
the bones of the leg 

It is the best and most effectual way of preventing undue short* 
ening that we have in use, and what is of as great importance to the 
patient, a most comfortable way of keeping the painful limb in the 
proper shape. 

The object of this weight is to cause extension and counteract the 
pull of the muscles, and paralysis is caused by the weight used in 
proportion to the size of the patient, his age and muscular develop¬ 
ment. After two or three weeks use of the weight recommended, 
namely twelve pounds or so, it is desirable to diminish the weight 
by degrees until such time as the weight can be dispensed with en¬ 
tirely, which is usually after four or five weeks, and the splints them¬ 
selves may be allowed to remain three or four weeks longer. In the 
impacted fracture, which variety occurs when the main part of the 
broken bone is forced into the lesser fragment, no unusual motion is 
present. This form of fracture is very common in the aged and it 
may result in some permanent displacement and lameness, but the 
best treatment is not to break up the impaction which would be done 
in a younger patient, as in the aged a fracture after being changed from 
an impacted to a sim^ple one might not unite readily. The treat¬ 
ment then for this class of cases, especially after sixty or seventy 
years of age, would be to let the leg lie quietly in bed with heavy 
oblong bags filled with sand placed on each side of the limb to prevent 
motion until the bones are set and healed in the new location. 

Fractures of the Bones of the Foot. 

These are to be treated in the same manner with fractures of the 
hand. They are often attended with much other mischief, as lacera¬ 
tion of the flesh, ligaments, etc. Hence, cutting off the foot, or a 
part of it, is often necessary. Pasteboard splints are frequently used 
in these fractures. If matter forms, it must be let out by opening 
the parts. 

A useful and simple expedient that may be used in all fractures 
and, in fact, any troubles of the lower extremities where dressings 
are needed, is the building of a cradle to prevent the clothes coming 
in contact with the injured parts. 

This may be made by taking three laths or thin strips of wood about 
an inch wide, one-eighth to one-fourth inches thick and from two to 
four feet long, nailing three or four half barrel hoops at right angles 
to this piece and equal distance from one another, so that when placed 
on the bed and encircling the leg, the clothes will be kept away and 
pressure averted. This arrangement is desirable during the heat of 
the summer months. 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


615 


Compound Fractures. 

In many simple fractures, as, for instance, a fracture in the shaft 
of the lower leg and in certain selected cases of breaks at the ankle 
joint, the use of plaster of Paris casts enables the patient to go around 
somewhat with the use of crutches, when if using the splints it would 
not be advisable to allow him to leave the bed. This bandage may 
be made by taking thin meshed cheese-cloth, about four inches wide 
and three or four yards in length, spreading it out on a board and 
winding the bandage tight after rubbing plaster of Paris on the sur¬ 
face of the cloth. These are then ready for application after being 
entirely covered by water for two or three minutes or until the bubbles 
of air cease to rise. After the fracture has been in splints long enough 
to be sure that all swelling has ceased subsiding or surely will not 
increase any more, the temporary splints which have been used to 
hold the parts in position may be removed and a thick^dressing of 
sheet wadding may be wrapped around the limb. Over two or three 
thicknesses of the wadding the prepared plaster bandage is then 
rolled. These may be smoothed over and the limb held in proper 
position until the plaster is set, which usually takes fifteen to twenty 
minutes. Absolute inability to move the joints and broken bone can 
now be assured if the plaster has been put on in the proper manner, 
though care must be taken in the application of this as in any bandage 
not to stop the circulation, and a pulse must be sought for beyond 
the bandage, that is, on the side of the bandage farthest away from 
the heart. These bandages may be left on from two to three weeks 
if the leg does not become loose inside of that. Then the bandage 
should be cut down lengthwise from top to bottom with a sharp 
knife, care being taken not to go through suddenly and injure the 
leg. The use of cider vinegar will make the plaster cut more easily. 

When, in connection with a broken hone, there is a wound of the 
flesh, which leads to, and communicates with the space between the 
broken ends of the bone, the whole injury is called a compound frac¬ 
ture. The wound in the flesh may be caused by the same force 
which breaks the bone, as a bullet from a gun, or a cart-wheel, or 
some machinery in which the limb is entangled. Quite often the 
flesh wound is caused by one of the ends of the bone being forced 
through the flesh and skin. 

But, however caused, a compound fracture is of a much more 
serious nature than a simple one; and it is particularly dangerous 
when a joint is involved. It is more serious above the knee and 
elbow than below, and more to be dreaded in the lower limbs than 
in the upper. 

Treatment.—An attempt should always be made to preserve the 
limb; it should not be cut off, unless the compound fracture is of 
the worst kind. But if there be no hope of saving the limb, the 


616 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


amputation should be performed at once, while the constitution is 
tranquil, and before it has been shocked and injured by suppuration, 
abscesses, and sepsis, which sometimes follow such grave injuries. 

But, suppose it be determined not to cut the limb off, — as it gen¬ 
erally should be, — the first thing is, after the bone is set, to close the 
wound against all entrance of air, and to cause it to heal by the first 
intention, that is, without suppuration. To do this, one method is to 
cover the wound with lint dipped in blood; but the more usual mode 
is, to bring the sides of the wound together, and secure them very 
carefully by strips of adhesive plaster, in the same way as in common 
cuts. The bandage should be kept wet with cold water, by squeez¬ 
ing a sponge over it, or by sprinkling cold water upon it as fast as it 
becomes dry. 

It will be necessary, in this case, to keep the bed-clothes away from 
the limb while it is thus wet, which may be done by cutting a barrel 
hoop in two, and nailing it to two pieces of lath. There should be 
air circulating under the sheet, that the heat of the inflammation may 
not keep the limb in a steam bath. 

Should the wound heal by the first intention, the danger will soon 
be over, and the treatment may be the same as for simple fracture. 
But this, unfortunately, does not always occur. 

It occasionally happens, that after three or four days, the patient 
grows restless, has very short and disturbed sleep, is hot and thirsty, 
has headache and shivering fits, is more ill towards evening, wanders 
in his mind, or becomes delirious, and perhaps dies in ten days or a 
fortnight from the sepsis or blood-poisoning that has taken place. 
If the symptoms are a little less severe, the wound will at first dis¬ 
charge a small quantity of dirty, bloody matter, which, if everything 
goes well, will, by degrees, change to healthy matter, without smell, 
of a straw-color, and about as thick as cream. 

The fever, and other bad symptoms, will now suoside; the sleep 
and appetite come back, and a new process begins, that of healing by 
granulation^ or the formation of new flesh to fill up the gap made by 
the wound. 

For old persons, or those whose health has been broken, this stage 
is full of danger, and is apt to result in death, if the lower limb be 
the injured part. 

If the constitution proves unable to bear up against this stage of 
the injury, alternate heat and sweating set in, the face is flushed with 
a pink color, the pulse becomes weak and quick, the body wastes, the 
appetite disappears, the tongue becomes dry and brown, restlessness, 
wandering, and delirium follow in quick succession, and all are 
speedily terminated by death. With the setting in of these symp¬ 
toms, the wound stops discharging, or throws out only a thin, watery 
and stinking matter. Quite often the skin and other parts mortify, 
and if there be strength enough to throw off the dead parts, the 
broken ends of the bone stick out, looking dead and white. 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


617 


When the constitutional symptoms begin, open and thoroughly 
disinfect the wound and provide for free drainage; a poultice may 
also be used if much pain be present. The poultice must be 
continued till the wound is filled with new flesh nearly to the 
surface. 

It must be said in justice to modern surgery, that, if antiseptics 
are used at the first dressing of the wound, we expect union by first 
intention, and the avoidance of pus formation with all the dangers 
this entails. The wound is to be treated just like other fresh 
wounds, aseptically; the limb may then be done up like a simple 
fracture, but the dressings should be so arranged as to allow of sub¬ 
sequent inspection. (See article on Asepsis, etc., p. 572.) 

Dislocations. — Luxations. 

The surfaces where two bones meet and glide upon each other for 
the purposes of a joint, are called articular surfaces^ and the union is 
said to be an articulation. These surfaces are covered by a smooth 
c irtilage, to render their play upon each other easy. 

The joints are held together by cartilaginous straps and ligaments, 
which serve as pullies ; by the aid of these, the joints turn back and 
forth, as a door opens and shuts upon its hinges. 

When by some external violence, or the weakening of these liga¬ 
ments, these surfaces are suddenly separated, or forced apart, there 
is said to be didocation or luxation. 

Joints are divided into two kinds, the ball-and-socket (orbicular), 
which has a rotatory motion, as the shoulder, hip, thumb, — and the 
angular, or pump-handle (ginglymoid), as the elbow and knee. 

The ball-and-socket joints have a greater diversity of motion, and 
are more exposed to dislocation. They are likewise more easily put 
in their place. 

In a Primary Dislocation, the bone is thrown at once into the 
place where the surgeon finds it. 

The Secondary Dislocation is one in which the muscles pull the 
head of the bone still further from its natural place than it was 
thrown by the first shock of violence. 

A Dislocation is Simple when there is no wound penetrating the 
synovial membrane. 

It is Compound when attended by such a wound. 

A Dislocation is Complete when the articular surfaces are entirely 
separated. 

It is Incomplete when the separation is only partial. 

Recent Dislocations are rectified with comparative ease. 

Old Dislocations are hard to be repaired, and sometimes cannot be 
reduced at all. 


618 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


The Symptoms of Dislocation are, inability to use the joint; the 
head of the bone being felt in an unnatural place ; the limb shortened, 
lengthened, or distorted; a change in the shape of the joint, etc. 

Simple dislocations are generally trivial. Compound dislocations 
often render amputation necessary, and are always perilous. 

Aged persons are less liable to dislocations than the young. 

When a dislocation and a fracture occur at the same time, the 
dislocation is to receive attention first. 

A dislocation is to be reduced by a gradual and continuous extend¬ 
ing force. The reduction is known by the limb recovering its natural 
length, shape and direction, and by its being able to perform certain 
motions which are not possible while in a dislocated state. The j)ain 
is immediately reduced upon reduction taking place. In shoulder 
and hip dislocations, the head of the bone makes a loud noise when 
it slips into its place. 

Dislocation of the Lower Jaw. 

Gapestg very wide is the usual cause of this. It has been known 
to result from a mere yawn. One or both sides may be disjointed. 

Symptoms. —If but one side is dislocated, the chin is twisted to 
one side, and immovable, and the jaws are partially open; if both 
sides, the mouth is wide open, the chin projects, there is a hollow in 
front of each ear, great pain, inability to speak, and dribbling of 
spittle from the mouth. 

Treatment. — To effect a reduction, cover the thumbs with a towel 
or a piece of wash-leather to prevent their being injured by a sudden 
snapping together of the jaws, and then, standing in front of the 
patient, introduce them into the mouth, press them upon the crown 
of the back lower teeth, at the same time lifting the chin with the 
fingers. 

After the jaw is set, it should be kept bandaged for a few days,— 
the bandage being merely passed once or twice over the top of the 
head, and under the chin. No solid food requiring chewing should 
be taken for a short time. 

Dislocation of the Collar-Bone. 

This may take place by the end attached to the breast-bone slip¬ 
ping over or under that bone, or by the other end slipping above or be¬ 
low the bone to which it is attached. When the first named end of 
the bone slips over the breast-bone, it is said to be a forward disloca¬ 
tion ; when it slips under the breast-bone, it is backward. In this 
latter form of dislocation, the end of the collar-bone sometimes presses 
upon the gullet, and prevents swallowing. 

Symptoms. — In the forward dislocation of the inner end of the 
bone, a bunch may be felt by the hand at the top of the breast-bone; 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


619 


in the backward dislocation^ a depression or hollow. The upward dis¬ 
location of the outer end of the collar-bone may be known by the 
flattened and sunken condition of the shoulder. 

Treatment. — To put the bone in its place in the first of these ac¬ 
cidents, draw the shoulders back, by which means the collar-bone (clav¬ 
icle) is drawn away from the breast-bone (sternum), and easily slips 
into its place. To reduce the dislocation at the other end of the 
bone, place the knee between the patient’s shoulder-blades (scapulae), 
and draw his shoulders backwards and upwards. After the reduction, 
support the arm in a sling. 

Dislocation of the Shoulder»Joint. 

The head of the long bone of the arm (humerus) may be displaced 
in three different directions, — downward.^ into the arm-pit (axilla) ; 
forward,, under the muscles of the breast; and backward., upon the 
back of the shoulder-blade. 

It is recognized by the shoulder losing its roundness, and becoming 
flat; by the lengthening of the arm; by the head of the bone being 
felt in the arm-pit; and by severe pain. 

To effect the reduction in the first form of displacement, put the 
patient on a bed, or upon the floor. Put one heel in the arm-pit, 
against the head of the bone. Then, taking hold of the arm above 
the elbow, or at the wrist, pull steadily, and push with the heel. 
(Fig. 166.) The extension may be more steady and powerful by a 
double towel around the surgeon’s neck. 



If the reduction cannot be effected, relax the muscles by a warm 
bath or hy etherization. 

A simpler method often succeeds and is the only one required in 
certain forms of shoulder dislocation. Bend the elbow at right an- 









620 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


gles and place it at the side of the body. Next rotate the fore-arm 
outward as far as possible; then carry the elbow, still flexed, inward 
and upward onto the chest, and then allow the elbow to fall. The 
head of the humerus often slips into place with the greatest of ease. 

After the reduction, a sling will be required, and three weeks’ or a 
month’s rest. 


Dislocations of the Elbow=Joint. 

Of these there are six varieties. In the first, both bones of the 
fore-arm (radius and ulna) are thrown backwards ; in the second, both 
are drawn backwards and inwards; in the third, both are thrown 
backioards and outwards ; in the fourth, the ulna alone is forced back¬ 
wards ; in the fifth, the radius is forced forwards ; and in the sixth, 
the radius is thrown backwards. 

In general, these dislocations are all easily set. In the first four, 
the knee is to be placed at the bend of the elbow, and the fore-arm 
bent upon it, the surgeon grasping the upper arm with one hand, 
and the fore-arm with the other. In the dislocations of the radius, 
the upper arm is to be put in a fixed condition, while the surgeon 
takes hold of the hand and pulls, at the same time throwing the bone 
forward. If the luxation be backwards, there must be the same ex¬ 
tension and counter-extension, while the fore-arm is bent. 

Treatment. — The fore-arm must be placed in a half-bent position, 
and a splint should be bandaged upon the front of the whole limb, 
compresses being placed upon the head of the bones opposite the di¬ 
rection of the dislocation. This confinement must be continued three 
weeks. 

Dislocations of the Wrist. 

These are caused by falls upon the hand. Both the radius and 
ulna may be thrown back¬ 
wards or forwards upon 
the wrist, causing a pro¬ 
jection either in front or 
behind. (Fig. 167.) The 
bones are to be set by 
pulling in opposite direc¬ 
tions upon the hand and the forearm, and pressing laterally, if the 
displacement be at the side of the wrist. 

Treatment. —Put a straight splint on the front, and another on the 
back of the fore-arm and hand, with compresses on both sides of the 
wrist, and a bandage over the whole. Support the fore-arm in a sling, 
and keep down inflammation by cold water, cooling lotions, etc. 

Dislocations of the Bones of the Hand. 

Some one of the carpal bones may be pushed up out of its place, 




SURGICAL DISEASES. 


621 


SO as to form a projection on the back of the hand. To put it in its 
place, press upon it simply, and then put compresses on the front and 
back, with straight splints upon these and a bandage over all. Put 
the hand in a sling. 

Dislocations of the finger-joints may generally be replaced by bend¬ 
ing the displaced phalanx over the head of the bone from which it 
has been disjoined. Sometimes a good deal of extension and counter¬ 
extension are required, for which purpose a piece of cord, may be 
wound around the finger, — the skin being protected by covering it 
with a piece of wetted buck-skin. 

Dislocations of the Hip-Joint. 

These are four in number, — upwards^ downwards^ backwards and 
upwards^ forwards and upwards. 

To reduce these, a greater amount of power is needed than in the 
dislocations of any other bone, — owing to the greater power of the 
muscles which are to be overcome. 



Fig. 168. 1^9. 


Dislocations of this joint are often confounded with fracture of the 
head and neck of the thigh bone. This latter may be distinguished 
from the luxation by the grating sound to be heard, by the possibility 
of pulling the limb out to its natural length, and by its being short¬ 
ened up again by the action of the muscles the moment the pulling 
is gi’ven up. 









622 


SUKGIUAL DISEASES. 


The upward Dislocation of the head of this bone upon the back 
of the haunch-bone is known by the shortening of the limb, and by 
the knee and foot turning inward^ — the foot lapping over the oppo¬ 
site foot, and the great toe resting upon the other instep. (Fig. 168.) 

The Dislocation Downward is known by the lengthening of the 
limb, the projection of the knee, the turning of the foot and knee out¬ 
ward^ and the bending of the body forward. (Fig. 169.) 

The Dislocation backward and Upward is distinguished by the 
inclining of the foot and knee inward^ the drawing up of the heel, and 
the resting of the great toe against the ball of the great toe of the 
other foot. (Fig. 170.) 

The Dislocation Upward and Forward is known by the shorten¬ 
ing of the limb, and the turning of the foot and knee outward, (Fig. 
171.) 

For replacing the bone, put the patient upon a table, on his back. 
Draw a sheet between his thighs, and extending it up by the side of 
his body, let it be fastened to a staple. Put a padded belt, with rings 
attached, around the injured limb, just above the knee. To these 



Fig. 170. Fig. 171. 


rings, fasten one block of a pulley, and attach the other to a post, 
giving the pulley-rope to an assistant. The surgeon now, standing 
on the injured side, directs gradual extension to be made, while he, 
by his hands, or by a band passing around the injured thigh and over 














SUKGICAL DISEASES. 


623 


his own shoulders, lifts the head of the bone, and guides it into its 
socket. Etherization is not infrequently required. 

Treatment. — Keep the patient in bed for two weeks or more, with 
his knees tied together by a strip of muslin, and a broad belt around 
his hips. 

Dislocations of the Knee-Pan or Patella. 

This bone may be thrown outward^ causing a great projection on 
the outside, and an inability to bend the knee. 

It may be thrown inward^ dhusing the same impossibility to bend 
the knee, and a projection on the inside. 

To restore the bone to its place, put the heel of the patient upon 
the shoulder of an assistant; then press down the edge of the knee- 
pan which is farthest from the centre of the joint, thus tilting up the 
other edge of the bone, when the muscles, aided by a lateral pressure, 
will draw it to its place. 

Treatment. — Put a straight splint upon the back of the limb, 
and make moderate pressure upon the knee by a bandage. Cold 
water, or cooling washes, should generally be applied. Keep the pa¬ 
tient in bed two weeks. 


Dislocations of the Knee=Joint. 


There are four of these, — forward^ backward^ inward and outr 
ward. 

They are readily corrected by extension and counter-extension from 
the ankle and thigh, and pressure upon the head of the displaced 
bone. 

Treatment much the same as for displacement of the knee-pan. 



Fig. 172. 


Fig. 173. 




624 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


Dislocations of the Ankle. 

These may occur in a forward^ backward^ outward, and inward 
direction. (Figs. 172 andl73.) 

To rectify it, bend the limb, so as to relax the muscles on the back 
of the leg; then, while extension and counter-extension are made 
upon the foot and thigh, press firmly on the dislocated bone, and thus 
force it to its place. 

Treatment. — Confine the foot and leg in splints made of thick 
pasteboard, soaked in hot water and moulded to the shape of the 
limb, with a foot-piece at right angles. Keep the patient in bed five 
or six weeks, and when he begins to walk, support the ankle with a 
roller bandage, or a laced gaiter. 

Contusions. — Bruises. 

Whek any blunt, hard substance comes in violent collision with 
the soft parts of the body, without breaking the skin, the injury re¬ 
ceived is called a bruise. One of these accidents generally ruptures 
a great number of the very smallest blood-vessels, which let out 
blood under the skin, producing black and blue,'' or livid spots 
(ecchymosis). jist-jighters call a black eye is an example. 

Treatment. — Cold applications at first to prevent the blood run¬ 
ning out of the small vessels under the skin. After the inflammation 
has subsided, stimulating applications, as vinegar and water, alcohol, 
camphorated liniment, ammonia and alcohol, equal parts, and some¬ 
times bandages. 

Sprains. 

A SPRAIN is a forcible wrenching and twisting of a joint to such a 
degree as to stretch and more or less lacerate the ligaments of the 
part, and sometimes to break a tendon, but without entirely displac¬ 
ing a bone. Its symptoms are, violent pain, swelling, and discolora¬ 
tion of the parts from the blood running into the cells under the skin. 
In elderly persons, the effects of sprains are very tedious, disabling 
them for many weeks, or even months. 

Treatment. — Elevate the limb, keep the joint perfectly quiet, 
and apply cold lotions or fomentations. When the inflammation is 
all past, apply stimulating liniments, and bandages, or shower the 
part with cold water. 

When first done, put the part, if possible, into as hot water as can 
be borne and maintain it there for half an hour, then strap the part 
moderately tight with plaster. An ice-bag applied over a joint when 
the hot water cannot be obtained, or is inapplicable, is nearly as effica¬ 
cious. 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


625 


Ruptures of Tendons. 

These accidents are known by a sudden snap, followed by pain, 
loss of motion in the part, and swelling and discoloration. 

Treatment. — Place the part in such a position as to relax the 
broken tendon, the ends of which must be brought together, and re¬ 
tained in contact till they grow together. They are to be sewn 
aseptically and the wound treated like any closed wound. 

Diseases of the Bones. 

The bones are supplied with blood-vessels and nerves; and as they 
live and grow like other parts of the body, so they become diseased 
and die in like manner. 

Ulceration of the Bones. — Caries, 

Bones, like the soft parts, when attacked by violent inflammation, 
may ulcerate, discharge matter, and heal by granulation; or, having 
lost a portion of their substance, may sink under entire disorganiza¬ 
tion and death. This disease passes, in some parts of the country, 
under the name of “fever sore.” It is generally the result of poor 
blood, scrofula and like disease, and hence needs tonic, constitutional 
as well as local treatment, cod-oil, iron, etc. 

Treatment. — Apply splints, and keep the part in a state of abso¬ 
lute rest. Subdue the local inflammation by the usual means. If 
the disease arise from scrofula or syphilis, use the remedies for those 
diseases. 


Periostitis. 

This term includes periostitis proper which is comparatively rare 
by itself, as this term means simply an inflammation of the outside lin¬ 
ing of a bone named the periostium, and includes the inflammation of 
the bony substance called osteo periostitis and the marrow of the 
bone called osteo myelitis. They usually result from cold, blows, 
contusion, strains, adjacent inflammation, as very old ulcers, or from 
special constitutional diseases such as syphilis, tuberculosis or pus 
in the system called pyaemia. The symptoms may be very mild in 
the beginning, especially if the cause is not one of injury. Pain 
and swelling, usually of a deep boring character like a gimlet being 
screwed into the bone, occurs and is worse at night. The parts are 
extremely tender, often reddened and inclined to leave an impression 
of the finger when pressed upon. 

Treatment.— It is very desirable to have absolute rest of the part 
at first and the application of heat or cold, whichever is more agreeable, 


626 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


may be used; should destruction of the tissue go deeper, the treat¬ 
ment will be prompt incision and letting out the pus that is making 
the trouble. Poultices, hot antiseptic solutions and irrigation to 
wash away the old dead discharge may prevent death or necrosis 
of the bone, which will require a more extensive operation. 

Death of the Bones. — Necrosis, 

This is like mortification of the soft parts. It occurs from injuries 
and inflammation of the periosteum. 

It is known by dull,deep-seated—sometimes acute—pain; and is 
followed by increase of size, from the formation of new bone around 
the old, — the old being gradually broken into pieces, and discharged 
through external openings. 

As blood poison may often result from absorption of dead bone 
tissue that has not had a proper outlet, it is usually the best treatment 
to make an incision over a swelling in bone troubles, should pus be 
suspected. If made under the antiseptic conditions already advised, 
the improvement will be noticed when the pus escapes, and the local 
condition, which is severe enough looked at from any direction, will 
remain as it is and not go into a general body infection which may 
cause death or lead to amputation at a much higher level than would 
have been the case. 

Treatment. — Poultices and quieting fomentations. Resort will 
generally be made to surgery. 

The greater the amount of bone involved the larger amount will 
have to be removed, and as no healing may be expected, as long as 
any infective material remains, all bone that is in any way diseased 
must be scraped or even chiseled away. Nature is very kind in restor¬ 
ing bone and if only the outside shell of the large bones, like the tibia 
or shaft of the lower leg, remains, it will fill in by granulation and 
make a sound bone. 

Unnatural Growth of Bones. — Exostosis, 

This disease consists either of a tumor of a bony nature, growing 
upon and arising from a bone, or an enlargement of a bone. It 
springs from the periosteum, or from the surface of a bone, or from 
its spongy texture. The enlargement or the tumor may be white 
and hard, like ivory, or dark-colored and spongy, or a mixture of the 
two. 

At first, a tumor of this kind is not attended with pain or incon¬ 
venience. It comes on slowly, and sometimes remains nearly sta¬ 
tionary for several years. 

Treatment. — If the tumor be large and inconvenient, remove it 
with the knife. If not, use local pressure with pads and bandages j 
also leech, blister, and restrict the patient to a spare diet. 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


627 


Diseases of the Joints. 

Some of these diseases begin in the cartilages, some in the synovial 
membrane, and others in the heads of the bones. 

Disease of the Hip»Joint. — Coxalgia, 

This generally consists in inflammation of the synovial membrane 
and capsular ligament of the hip-joint, ending frequently in ulceration 
and destruction of the head and neck of the thigh bone. 

The symptoms are fullness in the groin; pain, which is increased 
by motion; aggravated when the limb hangs without touching the 
ground; is more felt in the knee than in the hip itself; and shoots 
down along the inside of the leg, as far as the instep. The thigh 
inclines forward, and the limb has the appearance of being longer 
than the other, — though in the latter stages, it is really shorter. 

Treatment. — Before suppuration takes place, apply leeches and 
blisters, and enjoin perfect rest. After suppuration, keep the patient 
upon his back, on a mattress, and mould to the parts thick paste¬ 
board splints, with pads, and give tonics. Keep the bowels open with 
senna and bicarbonate of potash, and rub the parts with iodide of 
potassium ointment, or with preparations (282), (283), (195). The 
disease being scrofulous, the iodide of potassium (140) may be taken 
with advantage internally. The disease occurs for the most part in 
children. Th^ey should be put on a long splint from the very first 
and the joint kept immobilized. 

White Swelling.—Synovial Degenerations. 

There are several diseases of the knee-joint, characterized by swell¬ 
ing and white color from tension of the skin, which have passed 
under the common name of white-swelling. The diseases are not 
strictly the same, but as they all affect the knee, and have symptoms 
to some extent in common, it is well enough to group them under 
the same title,—especially as one treatment is adapted to all. 

One is a pulpy disease of the synovial membrane. It begins with 
a trifling stiffness, and a slight swelling. The swelling increases by 
degrees, and on touching the part there is a sensation as if it con¬ 
tained fluid. By and by the cartilages ulcerate. The disease is in¬ 
curable, as the synovial membrane is finally converted into a pulpy 
substance, and the limb has to be amputated. 

Another of these is inflammation of the synovial membrane, be¬ 
ginning with ulceration of the cartilages. It begins with pain in the 
joint, which is severe at one point, and attains its height in a week. 
In a day or two, the joint is swollen from a collection of water. 

Treatment.— Splints and entire rest, as in all chronic diseases of 


628 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


the joints. Also a generous diet, and whatever is calculated to build 
up the health. For the tubercular variety an injection of iodoform 
dissolved in glycerine is most commonly used. 


Bunions. 

This is an inflammation, enlargement, and hardening on the inside 
of the ball of the great toe. It is frequently connected with a distor¬ 
tion of the toe, which seems partially out of joint. The projection 
of the joint exposes it to great irritation from the shoe, and to re¬ 
peated attacks of inflammation. It occasions great suffering. 

Treatment. —Remove the pressure from the part, and when there 
is inflammation, keep the foot quiet and elevated upon a chair, apply¬ 
ing leeches, poultices, etc. Another method is to cover the bunion 

with soap-plaster, spread on 
thick, soft leather, or, put the 
toe in a separate compartment 
of the stocking, like the finger 
of a glove. Then enclose it 
in a separate part of the shoe, 
which is contrived by fixing 
a piece of firm sole-leather in the bottom of the shoe, so as to make 
a separate compartment for the toe. By this means the pressure 
against the side is removed. Sticking plaster may be spread on 
wash-leather, and a piece cut out the size of the bunion. This will 
take off a portion of the pressure of the shoe, and will hasten the 
cure. 

Fig. 174 represents a ganglion or tumor formed upon the syno¬ 
vial sheath of the tendon which bends the finger. 

Whitlow. — Felon. — Paronychia, 

This is an abscess of the fingers, of which there are three kinds, — 
the first situated upon the surface of the skin, the second under the 
skin, the third within the sheath which contains the tendons of the 
fingers, and sometimes involving the covering of the bone. 

The latter form of the disease is the most terrible, and begins with 
redness, swelling, and a deep-seated and throbbing pain, which grad¬ 
ually becomes so excruciating as to banish all sleep, and nearly drive 
the patient to distraction. Finally matter forms and burrows in the 
deeper parts of the finger, and at length finds an opening, which 
brings relief. 

Treatment. — Carry the hand in a sling; apply a leech or two, 
and use poultices. A poultice made of equal parts of powdered slip- 
pery-elm bark, poke-root, ground flax-seed and lobelia-seeds, mixed 
with hot ley, and changed twice a day, is an admirable application. 



Fig. 174. 



SURGICAL DISEASES. 


629 


When these methods fail to stop the progress of the abscess, the 
finger should be laid open with the scalpel, cutting down to the bone. 
This will give vent to the matter, and the wound may be dressed 
with poultices, until the inflammation is subdued, and the healing 
process is well established, when some simple salve may be applied. 


Stiff Joint. — Anchylosis, 

This is of two kinds, complete and incomplete^ —complete when the 
bones of the joint have become flrmly united by bony matter, and 
incomplete when the motions of the joint are very much interrupted, 
but not entirely destroyed. The first is the result of ulcerations of 
the cartilages of the joints, and of the heads of the bones ; the latter, 
of fractures, sprains, bruises, thickening of the synovial membrane, 
and weakening of the muscles. 

Treatment.—No treatment is of much use in the first-named form 
of the disease. By sawing through the bone, and then daily moving 
the limb back and forth, a false joint may be made, but it is apt to 
grow together again, and finally defeat the purpose of the surgeon. 
When, however, stiffness arises from the weakening of the muscles, 
and some other causes involving the ligaments and tendons, something 
may be done by daily frictions with stimulating liniments, champooing, 
and warm fomentations; and by gently bending the joint back and 
forth, several times every day, as much as can be done without pain. 


Tumors. 

A TUMOR is a swelling which consists of a new production,, not 
constituting any portion of the original structure of the body. There 
are several kinds of tumors; but it is sufficient for my purpose to 
follow Mr. Ferguson, and divide them into the malignant and non- 
malignant. 

Cancer. 

This belongs to the class of malignant tumors. It has two stages. 
The first is that of induration or scirrhus,, during which it has, 
under the finger, the feeling of stony hardness. The second stage is 
that of ulceration or open cancer. 

Cancer most often attacks the female breast, the skin, the mucous 
membranes, the tpngue, the stomach, the neck of the womb, the lips, 
etc. It rarely occurs in subjects under thirty years of age, and not 
often in persons under forty-five. 

The Symptoms of Cancer, when it appears in the breast, are, a 
puckered condition, and dull, leaden color of the skin; a hard, knotty, 
and uneven feel; and occasionally sharp pains. When it attacks 
the skin and mucous membranes, there is a hard, warty lump, which 


630 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


ulcerates, after a time, producing an open sore, with a hard basa 

(Fig. 175.) 

The sore of a cancer discharges an 
irritating, excoriating matter, which has 
a peculiarly fetid odor, so offensive and 
so different from any other smell, that it 
is seldom forgotten. The bones of a 
cancerous person break with great ease. 
Unmarried females are much more liable 
to the disease than the married. The 
cancerous growth is composed, in part, 
of cells, rounded or caudate, containing, 
as seen under the microscope, nuclei, 
younger cells, and granules. (Fig. 176.) 


Fig. 176. Fig. 177. 

The difference between these cells and those of common pus-glob¬ 
ules may be seen by comparing Fig. 176 with 177,—the latter being 
pus-corpuscles highly magnified by a powerful microscope. Fig. 178 
represents pus-globules not so much magnified. 

Treatment. — There are but two methods of treatment which 
promise any success. The first is to extirpate the tumor by a surgical 
operation before the disease has so far invaded the constitution as to 
be sure of returning. The other is that adopted by Dr. J. W. Fell, 
an American physician, who was permitted to try his remedies in 
one of the English hospitals, and who drew from the surgeons in 
charge of it a favorable report of the results. 

Dr. Fell’s rem,edies are mainly blood-root and chloride of zinc (386) 
made into a paste. The skin over the tumor is first destroyed, and 
this paste, spread upon strips of linen, is applied. This causes an 
eschar, into which incisions are made, half an inch apart, taking care 
to avoid the living tissue. The same paste spread in a like manner 
is then daily inserted into the furrows. By this means, which is 
original with Dr. Fell, the effect of the caustic penetrates through 
all parts of the tumor, causing the whole diseased mass to fall off, 
and leave a healthy, granulating surface. 

In incipient cancer, where the disease has not made much progress, 




Fig. 178. 



Fig. 175. 



SURGICAL DISEASES. 


631 


Dr. Fell uses the above, which he calls a brown ointment (336), and 
in connection with it an ointment of the iodide of lead (337), using 
each twelve hours. With these, he claims that he cures incipient 
cancers with great readiness. He also employs, internally, half-grain 
doses of pulverized blood-root (143), with arsenic and cicuta. 

Dr. Fell claims that with these preparations, he has often cured 
lupus^ and has been very successful with them in treating indolent 
ulcers. Of late a new treatment has sprung up—namely, the injec¬ 
tion of anti-cancer serum, but as yet a definite opinion cannot be 
given as to its results. The latest remedy that holds out any hope 
is in the use of the x-ray, Finsin light, or radium. The action of this 
agency will be explained at the end of this chapter. It is not possible 
that they can be successful in deep seated cancers at the present state 
of their usefulness, and it may be said that the hopes that were at 
first held out for them, together with the anti-cancer serum are not 
being fulfilled; but their success has been brilliant in certain varieties, 
especially skin cancers and lupus. 

Soft Cancer. — Bleeding Cancer. 

Medullary CancerEncephaloid Tumor .— Fungus Hematodes. 

This varies in size from that of a nutmeg to a child’s head. Its 
color varies from white to deep red. At times it is soft and elastic at 
first; at other times, it is firm and tense. The patient is wan and 
pale from the beginning. The parts do not ulcerate, as in scirrhus; 
but after the skin is broken, a spongy, bleeding tumor protrudes. 

Treatment. — Dr. Fell’s method. 

Black Cancer. — Melanosis. 

This is an organic disease, in which the tissue of the disordered 
part is converted into a black, hard substance, which is converted 
into ulcerous cavities. This often appears in the lungs, and is met 
with in the liver and other parts. 

Its symptoms are, a sallow complexion, great debility, and dropsi¬ 
cal swelling of the limbs before the termination. 

Treatment. —When it appears externally. Dr. Fell’s treatment is 
worth a trial. When in the lungs, the inhalation of tincture of blood- 
root and solution of chloride of soda (241) should be used. Two 
teaspoonfuls may be put in a Vapor Inhaler,—the instrument being 
filled half full of hot water, — and inhaled ten minutes, three times 
a day; the blood-root pills (143) being taken at the same time. 

Fatty Tumor.— Sipoma. 

This is the most common of all the forms of tumor. These bodies 


632 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


generally have a soft and doughy feel, or as if filled with wool. 
They are the least inclined to become malignant, and consequently 
the least dangerous, of all the tumors. Whatever pain there is, is 
caused by their size, weight, and pressure. They are occasionally 
found a little below the point of the shoulder, in the deltoid muscle 
of females, and are caused by the unreasonable pressure of the dress 
at that point. 

Treatment. — They should be removed by an operation, which is 
easily performed, as they separate very readily from surrounding 
parts, shelling out of the capsule that surrounds the tumor like an 
egg from its shell. 

Polypus, 

The polypi constitute a class of tumors growing from mucous 
membranes. They are of two kinds, — the soft^ jelly-like polypus, 
and the fleshy or fibrous polypus. 

The Soft Polypus, which grows from the nose, has not much feel¬ 
ing, and is not particularly disposed to bleed. 

The Fleshy Polypus is firmer and harder than the preceding, and 
most generally connects itself with the womb. 

Treatment. — Both kinds of polypi are either twisted off with a 
pair of forceps, or strangled by putting a string, called a ligature, 
around their neck, which will cause them to fall off in a short time. 


Piles, — Hemorrhoids, 

These venous swellings often cause so much pain and trouble, are 
so often chronic and unyielding to medical treatment, that surgical 
interference becomes now and then a necessity. The operation for 
their relief and cure is an extremely common one, and nowadays is 
limited to a very few different methods. 

The carbolic acid treatment which has found favor with many 
consists in the injection into the pile of a small amount cf carbolic 
acid dissolved in glycerine or water. The process is simple and 
almost painless, especially if done after numbing the parts with a three 
per cent cocaine solution. The carbolic coagulates the blood and al¬ 
bumen of the tissues and causes a death of the parts with a subsequent 
sloughing and puckering. The advantage of this procedure lies in 
the ability of the patient to be up and about. The danger lies in 
the risk of setting free a clot in the circulation, causing most serious 
consequences and even death. It should be used only in selected 
cases and then not too freely. Not over a stronger solution than two 
per cent, in strength should be used. 

A second method, and by far the oldest, is to encircle the pile with 
a ligature and allow it to eat through, thus destroying the pile and 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


633 


causing it to heal behind the ligatures. This method is painful, re¬ 
quires ether and necessitates rest in bed. A third way is to burn 
off the pile by means of a cautery and clamp. It is far preferable to 
the ligature, requiring but a few days’ stay in bed, and is less painful. 
A fourth, and the most scientific method, is one just coming into 
prominence, and consists in dissecting out the pile area and sewing the 
flaps of mucous membrane and skin together. 

Numerous washes, ointments, and lotions have been used to tem¬ 
porize, but the only sure and thorough way to treat obstinate piles 
which remain after continued and unsuccessful attempts to remove 
the original cause, is to remove them once for all. The following 
salve will be found useful: cocaine, eight grains; gall ointment, 
half an ounce; mix. Smear well over the piles and then push them up 
into the bowel. Piles should always be returned into the bowel 
when possible ; this of itself, when practicable, oftentimes constitutes 
a cure. 

Whenever a small, round, hard pile is seen on the outside and is 
very painful, it should be incised, after numbing with a cocaine so¬ 
lution, and the clot turned out. This simple and painless procedure 
works great relief and often a cure. 

The bowels are to be kept open daily by a solution of the citrate 
of magnesia (one-half bottle), which keeps the bowels loose and 
causes no pain in defecation. 

Wens. — Encysted Tumors, 

The most common situation of these is under the skin of the head. 
A wen is simply a sac full of various matters, which, when examined 
with a microscope, are found to be oil-globules, epithelial cells, and 
crystals of stearine. These contents are secreted by the internal 
surface of the sac. They sometimes look like curd or rice, sometimes 
like suet, and sometimes like honey. In other instances, they are 
mere water, and they have been known to consist of hair or horn. 
These tumors are round, elastic, and movable, and are without pain. 
They grow slowly, but steadily. 

Treatment. — The attempt to excite inflammation and conse¬ 
quently absorption, by punctures, setons, or injections, are danger¬ 
ous, and ought not to be resorted to. If the tumor is small, its 
opening, indicated by a small black spot, may be found, a probe be 
introduced into it, and the contents of the sac be squeezed out; and 
this may be repeated as often as necessary. But the proper and only 
real remedy for these tumors is their removal by a surgical operation, 
which, under aseptic rules, is painless, easy and sure. 


634 


SURGICAL diseases: 


Aneurisms. 

Aisr aneurism is a tumor formed by arterial blood, and communi¬ 
cating with an artery. A true aneurism is formed by the coats of 
artery getting weakened by some cause, and swelling out so as tc 
form a pouch or sac. (Fig. 179.) There are other kinds of aneu 
risms, which need not be described. 



Symptoms. — An aneurism may be felt as a tumor somewhere 
along the course of an artery, and it beats under the finger like the 
pulse. The beating is caused by a fresh quantity of blood being 
pushed into this sac with every stroke of the heart. If it be small, 
pressure on the artery above it will so far shut off the blood from it, 
that it will feel flaccid or soft. The patient will often say that the 
tumor began to appear after some violent strain, when something 
appeared to give way. In the chest, aneurism will produce an un¬ 
natural pulsation felt by the patient. In the belly, it may generally 
be felt as a tumor through the abdominal walls. 

Distinction. — Tumors which lie directly over arteries are lifted 
up every time the blood is driven along under them, and hence they 
pulsate like aneurisms; but they do not pulsate when smalls whereas 
aneurisms do from the beginning of their growth. Aneurisms are 
soft at firsthand hard afterwards; whereas tumors are generally hard 
at first, and finally soft. 

Treatment. — In some few fortunate cases, aneurisms get well 
spontaneously. If the flow of blood through them can be stopped, that 
which is within them will coagulate, forming a hard tumor, which 
will gradually waste away. To cure them, therefore, we must stop 
the circulation through them; and this may be done, in some cases, 
by compression. The pressure upon the artery must of course be 
above the tumor, and should not be so great as to stop the blood 
altogether, but only very materially to diminish its flow. The pres¬ 
sure is applied by an instrument having two pads, an arc of steel, a 
joint in the middle, and a screw by which the padded extremities are 
pressed together. (Fig. 180.) 

When this mode of treatment is not practicable, the artery must 
be tied between the aneurism and the heart. The patient should be 
placed in bed, with the limb wrapped up to preserve its temperature, 




SURGICAL DISEASES. 


635 


and placed in an easy position. Nothing cold should be applied to it. 

The force of the circulation should be reduced by the tincture of 
veratrum. 

Bronchocele. — Derbyshire Neck. — Goitre, 

Bronchocele is what is called an endemic disease; which means, 
a disease which prevails in certain localities. This complaint is preva¬ 
lent in Nottingham and Derbyshire, England, among the Alps, and 
especially in the Tyrol and valley of the Rhone. It is thought to be 
produced by the use of melted snow, and water impregnated with 
lime and earthy matter. 

Symotoms. —A orominent, soft, elastic tumor, occupying the front 
of the throat, in the situation of the thyroid gland, and like it in shape. 
It is not tender, and the skin is not discolored. In old cases, the 
tumor becomes hard. In Fig, 181 the tumor is so large as to have 
pushed the gullet to one side. 



Fig. 180. Fig. 181. 


Treatment. —The usual and perhaps the best remedy for this dis¬ 
ease is iodine. It may be given as iodide of potassium, with a bitter 
or some other article (138), (145), (101). An iodine ointment may 
be applied to the tumor (185). 

The patient should move away from the infected district, and re¬ 
side, if possible, upon the sea-coast. 

The use of the thyroid gland of the sheep given in 5-grain tablets 
is the best treatment which can hold out any promise of cure. 

Water in the Scrotum. — Hydrocele. 

As the name shows, this is a collection of water in the scrotum or 
bag which holds the testicles. 

Symptoms. —It presents a swelling, shaped like a pear, smooth 



636 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


on its surface, fluctuating if pressed, without pain, but causing a little 
uneasiness by its weight. On placing a lighted candle on one side 
of the scrotum, the light may be seen through it. 

Distinction. — This complaint may be distinguished from a soM 
enlargement of the testicle by its not being so heavy, solid, or pain¬ 
ful, and by its fluctuating and being transparent; from rupture, by 
its forming slowly instead of suddenly, by the swelling beginning at 
the lower part of the scrotum instead of the upper, and by the en¬ 
largement not being increased by coughing as it is in rupture. 

Treatment.— In children, strong scattering washes (353) are some¬ 
times successful. But most commonly a number of punctures are 
made with a large needle, to cause the fluid to escape into the cell 
tissue of the scrotum, whence it is removed by absorption. 

To effect a radical cure in grown persons, the surgeon is to grasp 
the tumor behind, and introduce a trocar and canula into the sac, — 
being careful to point the instrument upwards, so as not to wound 
the testicle. The trocar is then withdrawn, — the canula being at 
the same time pushed well into the sac, so that none of the fluid may 
get into the cell-tissue outside the sac. The fluid runs off through 
the canula. When this has all escaped, some stimulating fluid, as 
common lime-water, or, still better, tincture of iodine, is to be injected 
through the canula into the emptied sac. After retaining this from 
two to five minutes, it is permitted to flow out. Inflammation fol¬ 
lows, which breaks up the secretion of water, and effects a cure in 
two or three weeks. The amount of fluid thrown in should be about 
one or two teaspoonfuls of a mixture of one part of tincture of iodine 
and two parts of water. If the first operation does not effect a com¬ 
plete cure, it may be repeated. The most successful of all treatments, 
however, is to open the scrotum and dissect out the greater part of 
the tissue which covers the testicle and which secretes the fluid. 

A suspensory bandage which, by relieving the weight from the 
spermatic cord will cause great relief, is desirable and in early cases 
may prevent the troubles becoming serious enough to warrant 
operation. 


Blood in the Scrotum. — Haematocele, 

This is a collection of blood in the scrotum, from some injury. 

Treatment. — If the quantity of blood effused be small, cold ap¬ 
plications may cause it to be absorbed. If it be large, make a punc¬ 
ture, and apply a poultice for the blood to ooze into. 

Acute Inflammation of Veins. — Phlebitis. 

The veins are subject to attacks of acute inflammation, which con¬ 
stitutes a very dangerous, and often fatal, disease. 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


637 


Symptoms. — Fits of shivering, or perhaps fainting, a rapid pulse, 
anxiety of countenance, lowness of spirits, catching pains about the 
heart, and sioelling^ redness^ tenderness and hardness along the course of 
the affected veins. Sometimes the tongue is furred brown or black, 
the skin is sallow, there is bilious vomiting, low delirium, and death. 
In cases less rapid, there are great swelling and redness over the dis¬ 
eased veins, and abscesses form, which, when opened, reveal clots of 
blood mixed with pus. Or, the patient, while remaining low, with a 
sallow countenance, and a yellow tongue, will complain suddenly of 
intense pain in some joint, as the knee or shoulder, — in which there 
will be a rapid formation of pus; a similar suppuration will follow 
in other joints, as well as in the lungs, etc., until the patient sinks, 
and dies of exhaustion. 

Treatment. — Apply leeches freely over the inflamed veins, — also 
fomentations. Every abscess should be opened early. Keep the 
bowels moderately open with some preparation of salts, and allay 
pain and restlessness by morphia. Support the strength by beef-tea, 
etc.; and, if the pulse be feeble, give wine or quinine. 

The suppuration may be checked, in this as in other complaints, 
by drinking freely of chamomile tea. The power to control suppura¬ 
tion has recently been discovered as belonging to chamomile flowers. 

Chronic Phlebitis. 

This is a far less serious disease than the preceding. It generally 
affects the veins of the legs. 

Symptoms. — Tenderness and hardness of the affected vein, with 
swelling around it, and of the parts below; a general painfulness of 
the limb. After the inflammation has subsided, the vein feels hard, 
like a cord, because the inflammation causes the blood within to co¬ 
agulate, and harden, so that nothing can pass through the vessel. 

Treatment. — Leeches, fomentations or cold lotions, as the patient 
may choose, purgatives and rest, with the limb elevated. Subse¬ 
quently, when the inflammation seems completely subdued, friction 
with camphorated oil and bandages. 

Enlarged or Varicose Veins. — Varix. 

The veins which lie near the surface, especially those of the legs, 
are apt, by exhausting labor upon the feet, and by strains, to get 
weakened, so that their valves lose their tone, and their sides stretch 
and give way in certain places, letting the blood bulge out, and form 
purple bunches. These bags of blood, lying along upon the surface 
of the limb, form knotty tumors, looking like blood-boils. They oc¬ 
casion a kind of distress, but no sharp pain. 

Persons of weak, soft and relaxed muscles and blood-vessels are 


638 


SUKGICAL DISEASES. 


pirticularly liable to this complaint. It often attacks women in the 
family way. 

Treatment. — Where only a few veins are affected, it may be 
sufficient, in some cases, to apply firmly over them a few strips of 
leather, spread with soap-plaster. But generally it is better to sup¬ 
port the whole limb with a good woolen bandage, or with a laced 
stocking, which should be applied in the morning before the patient 
is up. It is generally well, also, to use friction, with some liniment, 
or iodine ointment. Lead-water, or alum-wMer, or an infusion of 
white-oak bark, may be used with advantage. Burdock and plantain 
leaves, bound upon the skin, and removed before they are dry, are 
useful. Showering with cold water strengthens the veins. An elas¬ 
tic silk stocking made for the limb is the best general measure. 

Rupture. — Hernia, 

Hernia signifies a protrusion of any internal organ from the cavity 
where it belongs ; but the term is generally restricted so as to mean 
no more than a protrusion of the bowel through the walls of the belly. 

When the abdominal walls are weak, from any cause, no matter 
what, — lifting, straining, or making violent muscular exertion of any 
kind, will then often cause the bowel to force itself through at the 
most debilitated spot; and pushing the lining of the belly, the peri¬ 
toneum, along before it, a bag or sac is formed, in which the project¬ 
ing bowel is enclosed, forming an external tumor. 

Divisions of Hernia. — Rupture may occur in several different 
places, and has accordingly received different names. 

Umbilical Hernia is a protrusion of the bowel at the umbilicus or 
navel. This is most common in children soon after birth; and 
women who are often pregnant are liable to it. 

Ventral Hernia is that which occurs at any part of the belly where 
other forms of rupture do not appear. 

Inguinal Hernia is that in which the bowel protrudes at the groins, 
or through the abdominal rings. 

Scrotal Hernia is that in which the bowel descends into the bag 
or scrotum. 

Femoral Hernia is the dropping down of the bowel behind what 
is called Poupart’s ligament, and appearing as a tumor at the upper 
part of the thigh. 

Reducible Hernia.—Rupture is said to be reducible,^ when the 
bowel may be put back into the cavity from which it came. 

Irreducible Hernia. — Hernia is called irreducible when the pro¬ 
truding bowel cannot be returned into the belly. 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


639 


strangulated Hernia is that form of the complaint in which the 
bowel is so pressed upon at the point where it passes through the 
walls of the belly that it is strangled or constricted so that its contents 
cannot pass through. 

Symptoms of Hernia. — A soft tumor, which may be compressed, 
appears somewhere about the belly; and is increased in size when 
the patient stands up. It also swells when he coughs, or makes any 
exertion; and grows smaller, or entirely disappears, when he lies 
down. 

Treatment. — In a case of reducible hernia, the first thing to he 
done is to put the bowel back in its place, which is accomplished by 
gently pressing and kneading the tumor, and swaying it back and 
forth, — being careful to use no violence, — until it can be pushed 
within the abdominal walls. It is then to be kept in its place by the 
use of a truss, made expressly to fit the case. This instrument should 
be constantly worn by day, and by night, too, if not too irksome; but 
if worn by day only, it should always be applied before rising in the 
morning. 

Irreducible Hernia may be palliated by wearing a truss with a hol¬ 
low pad^ which will so evenly and firmly embrace the tumor as neither 
to irritate it, nor permit any further protrusion or enlargement. 

Strangulated Hernia. — If a person has worn a truss for some 
time, and suddenly leaving it off, makes some violent exertion, either 
the bowel or omentum is liable to be suddenly forced through a nar¬ 
row aperture, and to become strangled. In such case, the patient 
has flatulence, colicky pains, a sense of tightness across the belly, and 
a desire to go to stool, but no ability to pass anything. Then follows 
vomiting, first the contents of the stomach, then mucus and bile, 
and, lastly, the fecal matters from the bowels, which are not per¬ 
mitted to pass on to their natural outlet. The neck of the hernial 
sac now becomes swelled, tender and painful, the countenance is anx¬ 
ious, and the pulse small, hard and wiry; and, after a time, the tu¬ 
mor begins to mortify, the patient expresses himself free from all 
pain, and soon after dies. 

In the treatment, the bowel is to be returned if possible. To do 
this, the bladder should first be emptied with a catheter, and the 
patient should lie down with his shoulders raised, and both his thighs 
bent towards the belly, and placed close to each other, so as to relax 
all the ligaments and muscles of the belly. The surgeon may now 
work gently for half an hour, if necessary, trying to put the bowel 
back, but must be very careful not to excite inflammation by any 
violence. 

If he does not succeed, efforts are next to be made still further to 
relax the muscles, as well as to reduce the force of the heart’s action, 
and to diminish the size of the tumor. With the tincture or fluid 
extract of veratrum viride, the heart’s action and force of the circula* 
tion may be reduced to any desirable extent. 


640 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


To reduce the tumor, apply pounded ice in a bag, or a freezing 
mixture* (354.) If the pain be acute give large doses of opium or 
morphia. Ether is generally required to reduce a hernia. 

If all these remedies fail, there is then no hope but in relieving the 
stricture by a surgical operation, which must not be deferred too long. 

General Directions. — Rupture is an exceedingly common affec¬ 
tion. Perhaps every third or fourth person suffers from it more or 
less. Females, from motives of delicacy, are apt to conceal the mis¬ 
fortune, and not seek advice. This exposes them to danger. Queen 
Caroline, wife of George II, lost her life by such concealment. 

A swelling coming on suddenly in the groin or at the navel, after 
considerable exertion, may be taken to be a rupture without much 
fear of mistake. 

The complaint being discovered, the bowel should be put back in 
its place, and a truss be put on at once. In the case of young per¬ 
sons, a truss may frequently effect a cure; but, that it may do this, it 
should not be taken off, night or day, except to cleanse it, and then 
only when the wearer is in bed. 

Tliose who can afford it should have two trusses of the same size 
and strength, so that if one get out of order, the other may take its 
place while it is being repaired; for an hour’s absence of the truss 
might occasion a mischief which it would require months to repair. 

Persons having a rupture must be very careful to keep costiveness 
at a distance; for straining at stool is highly injurious. 

Varicocele, — Cirsocele. 

This is an enlargement or varicose state of the spermatic veins 
and may be mistaken for hernia, inasmuch as standing and coughing 
increase it. But it feels like a bag of worms ; and by this peculiar¬ 
ity may be distinguished from rupture. 

Treatment. — Wear a suspensory bandage. Have an operation 
done if this fails to relieve. 

Deformities and Irritations of the Spine. 

Lateral Curvature. — There are several varieties of curvature of 
the spine. Some of them are caused by the destruction of some por¬ 
tion of the spinal column by disease. It will not be necessary for me 
to treat of these forms of curvature, as they can only be investigated 
and treated by the most skilful surgeons. Those who will use this 
book chiefly, would hardly think of meddling with them. 

The curvature which arises from debility of the bones, ligaments, 
and muscles, and which is very common among females, has the fol¬ 
lowing 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


641 


there is a projection of one collar-bone, or 
one side of the chest, or one shoulder is 
considerably elevated, and is popularly 
thought to be '•^growing outr On exami¬ 
nation, the right shoulder and the right 
side of the chest will be found, generally, 
to be rounded and lifted up, while the 
other is sunk down and concave. At the 
same time, the left hip sticks out, and the 
loins on the right side have an inward 
curve. The spinal column will have a 
curve, as in Fig. 182. 

Causes. — This affection is caused by 
occupations which keep the body in a 
laterally distorted position, and tax one 
side of the body more than the other. 
It is produced in children who study 
their lessons at school with one elbow 
resting on a high desk. The muscles, 
too, get so weakened in many females of 
luxurious, sedentary and indolent habits, that they cannot hold the 
bony frame of the body in an upright position, and the jointed 
column of bones, called the spine, sags down to one side, and draws 
the whole skeleton of the trunk out of shape. 

Treatment. — The first thing to be done is to learn what particu¬ 
lar attitude of the body has occasioned the distortion. This discov¬ 
ered, every possible effort is to be made to break up the habit, what¬ 
ever it may be. If it be standing on one foot, or sleeping on one 
side, or reading or writing with the elbow high, keep a constant 
watch and strict rule over the patient. 

Exercise in the open air should be free, and taken daily. The use 
of the dumb-bells is excellent for both sexes; but girls should, in 
addition, have all the variety of elegant exercise furnished by calis¬ 
thenics. Wealthy parents, whose daughters are tenderly bred, should 
never let them grow up without the invigoration which these exer¬ 
cises impart. 

When the curvature is marked, and the debility considerable, these 
vigorous exercises should be taken for a time with moderation, and 
the patient should lie down and rest immediately after taking them. 

In many cases considerable benefit is derived from the mechanical 
support afforded by supporters of various kinds. These are now con¬ 
structed and adapted to the body, with considerable skill, by those 
who make their construction a study and a business. 

Spinal Irritation. — The spinal column is liable, at certain points, 
to become congested, and consequently sore and irritable. 


Symptoms. — At first 



Fig. 182. 


642 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


Symptoms. — The symptoms of this state of things are very varia¬ 
ble and numerous, as all sorts of sensations of the skin, from utter 
numbness and insensibility up to the most acute sensitiveness, de¬ 
scribed as creeping, shooting, coldness, tingling and the crawling of 
ants. There may be neuralgic pains, spasm, cramp, trembling or 
palsy of the voluntary muscles; or a fixed pain and tenderness in 
some joint or other part; or palpitation of the heart, dizziness and 
wind and pain in the stomach. 

When any of these symptoms appear, and cannot be traced to any 
other cause, we are to suspect some irritability of the spinal column, 
and to search, accordingly, in that direction. The proper method of 
search is, to make firm pressure on each of the projections of the 
spine, and to pass over the projections a sponge wrung out of hot 
water. If there be trouble here, the patient will now be likely to 
complain of severe pain at some one point. Or, the tender place 
will generally be found sooner, by tapping with the ends of the fin¬ 
gers, with quick and sharp strokes along upon the projecting bones 
of the spine. The patient will be pretty sure to wince when the ten¬ 
der point is reached. 

Treatment. — Apply leeches, and follow them with a blister, or 
stimulating liniment, or some strong, slightly irritating plaster, and 
the tenderness will be very likely to disappear, as if by magic. 

Wry Neck.— Torticollis, 

In this complaint, the head is drawn over towards one of the shouh 
ders, with the face generally turned towards the opposite side. This 
is caused by the rigid contraction of a particular muscle. In some in¬ 
stances, however, other muscles are affected, and the head may be 
drawn in other directions, or be twitched about in various ways. 

I had a singular case from New Hampshire, which, though not 
exactly wry neck, was a kindred disease, and is worthy of being men¬ 
tioned. The subject of it was a young lady of good physical develop¬ 
ment, but inclined to nervous complaints. Her head was chiefly 
drawn over backwards, sometimes so as to lie for a short time flat 
upon the back, with no power to raise it. She was obliged, ordinar¬ 
ily, to let her head lean a little to one side, and rest upon the hand, 
in order to keep it steady. When walking, with the head erect, with¬ 
out this support, it was every few moments jerked over backward 
and a little to one side, the chin being thrown up in a most unseemly 
way. The case partook of the nature of chorea. 

Treatment. — For the genuine wry neck, where the muscle which 
draws the head to one side is rigid and inflamed, the treatment should 
consist of leeches, poultices, purgatives, blisters and alteratives. When 
the muscles causing the distortion are not rigid, electro-magnetism, or 
the shower-bath may have a good effect. In some cases, strychnine 
will do well. 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


643 


The peculiar case mentioned above completely recovered, under 
the use of the extract of St. Ignatius’ bean (95), one pill three 
times a day, and gradually increased to nine pills a day. She also 
took iron, and was put upon a most energetic system of out-door ex¬ 
ercise. Considering the stubborn and severe nature of the complaint, 
her complete recovery was as unexpected to her friends as it was 
gratifying. As the majority of wry neck cases are due to muscular 
contraction of a rheumatic type, the remedies employed for that dis¬ 
ease should be used here. In all cases the hot applications should 
not be lost sight of. 

Foreign Bodies in the Eye. 

When* a person complains of some substance in the eye, the inside 
of the lower eyelid and lower portion of the ball should first be ex¬ 
amined, the person being directed at the same time to look up. If 
nothing be discovered there, the patient is then to be directed to look 
downward. This will expose to view the upper part of the globe. 
At the same time, the eyelashes should be taken between the thumb 
and finger, and the lid turned upward over some round smooth thing, 
as a pencil, which will turn the lid wrong side out, and bring to view 
whatever is on the inner surface. Any foreign body discovered may 
be removed by wiping it off with the head of a pin, having a silk 
handkerchief turned over it. If this fails to detach it, it may be 
carefully picked up by running under it the point of a wet tooth-pick. 

stye . — Hordeolum, 

A STYE is nothing more nor less than a small, painful boil at the 
edge of the eyelid. 

Treatment.—In severe cases, apply a poultice; and open it as 
soon as it begins to point. After it has discharged all it is likely to, 
apply, on going to bed, for two or three nights, a little diluted nitrate 
of mercury ointment. Tonics and alteratives are frequently required 
to break up the formation of styes. 

Inflammation of the Edge of the Eyelids. 

Ophthalmia Tarsi, 

This inflammation often involves the Meibomian glands, which 
then secrete a sticky mucus, which, not being wiped away during 
sleep, glues the lids together, so that, on waking in the morning, the 
patient cannot get his eyes open. The complaint is generally chronic 
and obstinate, lasting a long time. Weakly persons, with disordered 
digestion, are most subject to it. In some cases the lids ulcerate, and 
the lashes fall out. Generally the lids are considerably inflamed for 
a few days, and then, the inflammation subsiding, branny scales, 
which may be brushed off, form along the borders of the lids, at the 
roots of the lashes. 


644 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


Treatment. — The health being generally disordered, needs first to 
be improved by all possible means, as by alteratives, tonics, bathing, 
exercise in the open air, travelling if practicable, and a generous diet. 

While the lids are infiamed, they should be bathed by a wash com¬ 
posed of sulphate of zinc, twelve grains ; laudanum, two drams; and 
soft water, twelve ounces. The redness and heat having subsided, 
and the bowels being opened by a gentle dose of physic, an astrin¬ 
gent wash should be applied once or twice during the day (208), 
(209), and a small piece of the diluted nitrate of mercury ointment 
be rubbed along the borders of the lid, with a pencil-brush at night. 
This will generally effect an immediate improvement, and in time 
will bring about a cure. 

Disorder of the Lashes, 

Trichiasis.— This signifies a growing inward of the eyelashes. 

Dystrichiasis. — This is a double row of eyelashes, one of which 
grows inward. 

Treatment. — Pull out the misplaced hairs, and continue to do so 
as fast as they appear. 


Ptosis. 

This is a falling down of the upper eyelid, from palsy of the third 
nerve. It is sometimes attended with headache and dizziness, and 
may be the forerunner of apoplexy. 

Treatment. — Begin the treatment with purgatives, and then use 
every means to improve the health, especially exercise out of doors. 
As this trouble is the result of one of several diseases, the proper 
remedy would be that which is applicable to the disease. If due to 
syphilis, mercury and iodide of potash must be used in appropriate 
dosage; if due to rheumatism, the different preparations of salicylic 
acid. 

Chronic Inflammation of the Lachrymal Sac. 

When the mucous lining of the nasal duct gets thickened and 
obstructed, the patient complains of great weakness of the eye, which 
is constantly weeping ^—the nostril on the same side having a corres¬ 
ponding dryness. The tears not passing down through the obstructed 
duct, collect in the lachrymal sac, and form a small tumor by the side 
of the nose. By pressing the finger upon this, the tears may be 
squeezed out through the upward passage, and glairy mucus along 
with them. There is generally tenderness of the sac, and sometimes 
redness of the skin. There is commonly inflammation of the mucous 
membrane lining the eyelids, etc. 

Treatment. — The acute inflammation of the sac must be treated 
by leeches, purgatives, and cold washes. 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


645 


Chronic inflammation of the sac requires a special attention to the 
general health. The diet should be carefully regulated, and the alka¬ 
line sponge-bath used every day, with brisk rubbing after it. When 
the sac gets very full, the patient should try gently to force the con¬ 
tents down into the nose by pressing upon the upper side of the 
tumor ; and he may promote the same object by strongly di'awing in 
his breath often with his mouth and nostrils both tightly shut. The 
so-called citrine ointment, full strength, may be applied to the eye¬ 
lids at bed-time, and a little of prescription (211) may be dropped 
once during the day into the inner corner of the eye. 

Purulent Ophthalmia. —Egyptian Ophthalmia. 

Owing to the glaring sunshine, and the particles of sand with 
which the air is loaded, this disease is endemic in Egypt. Hence its 
name Egyptian ophthalmia. 

Symptoms. — It begins with stiffness, itching, and watering of 
the eyes, and a feeling as if there were dust in them. The lids are a 
little sv/elled, and become glued together during sleep. The mucous 
inambrane which lines the lids and covers the ball is intensely red 
and swollen, and discharges a copious quantity of pus. There is a 
severe burning pain extending to the cheek and temple, with head¬ 
ache and fever. The eyes cannot be opened. It is both contagious 
and infectious. 

Treatment.—At the very beginning, apply a nitrate of silver wash 
(211) twice a day With this application, a low diet, and five to 
ten-drop doses of fluid extract or tincture of veratrum viride, every 
hour, tliis terrible complaint may often be broken up. 

If the disease have reached its height, and there is great fever and 
headache, the patient may be freely purged (31), and the pain be 
allayed by cocaine applied with a camel’s hair brush. 

The patient must be kept in bed, in a dark room, with the head 
elevated. 

The eyes should be frequently washed out gently with warm water, 
or a decoction of poppies, containing one grain of alum to an ounce. 
This must be done with a piece of fine sponge, or with a small 
syringe. Once or twice a day, a few drops of solution of nitrate of 
silver, two grains to the ounce of soft water, may be dropped in 
the eyes from a camel’s-hair pencil. As soon as the disease begins 
to give way, the alum in the poppy decoction may be increased a 
little. 

Purulent Ophthalmia of Children. 

This always begins within a short time after birth, — generally 
on the third day. 

Symptoms.—The edges of the lids at first become red, and glued 
together, and the membrane lining them is red and rough. The eye 


646 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


remains closed. The conjunctiva or membrane which covers the 
globe, next becomes intensely scarlet, and so much swelled, at times, 
that the lids turn out; and it discharges a thick purulent matter. 
The child is feverish and restless. 

Causes. — Exposure to cold and damp, bad nursing, omitting to 
wash away from the eyes the cheesy secretions of the skin, and the 
contact of gonorrhoeal and leucorrhoeal secretions of the vagina at 
birth. 

Treatment. —Wash out the eye frequently, and gently, with a 
weak astringent wash (207), (203), or put between the lids once a 
day, a large drop, with a camel ’s-hair pencil, of a solution of nitrate 
of silver, 4 grains, water 2 ounces. When the disease is declining, 
apply to the lids, with a camel’s-hair pencil, the ordinary citrine 
ointment of the druggist. 

Catarrhal Ophthalmia, 

Symptoms. — In this complaint, the white of the eye becomes in¬ 
flamed and very red, the redness being superficial, so that the vessel 
can be moved by pulling the eyelids; generally there is a thin mu¬ 
cous discharge, which, in severe cases, becomes thick and purulent. 
It is caused by cold and damp. 

Treatment. — If there be considerable pain and headache, give 
purgatives (31), (19), and continue them, once a day, till the symp¬ 
toms of active inflammation subside. Apply to the eyes a poultice 
of slippery elm, and bathe them frequently with a decoction of poppy 
leaves, lukewarm or cold, according to the choice of the patient. 
Smear the edges of the lids at night with fresh lard; and when the 
inflammation begins to decline, use diluted nitrate of mercury oint¬ 
ment instead. Keep the eyes well protected from the light with a 
shade. A large drop of a solution of nitrate of silver, two to four 
grains to the ounce of water, may be put into the eye two or three 
times a day. Sometimes sulphate of zinc, four grains to the ounce 
of water, will do well, or cocaine solution, 4 per cent. 

When the disease reaches the chronic stage, — the pain and head¬ 
ache having passed off, — some astringent applications will be re¬ 
quired, as a very weak solution of nitrate of silver (208), or a dram 
each of powdered witchhazel leaves and golden seal, steeped for ten 
minutes in a gill of boiling water, and strained when cold. 

Scrofulous Ophthalmia. 

This disease is chiefly confined to children under eight years of 
age. 

Symptoms. —Entire inability to bear light; the lids are spasmodi¬ 
cally closed, and the head constantly turned away from the light. 
The blood-vessels of the conjunctiva are not particularly injected, 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


647 


with the exception of one or two large ones which run towards the 
cornea, and terminate in one or more small opaque pimples. The 
cornea frequently ulcerates, and the complaint is very obstinate, — 
being liable often to recur. 

Treatment.—As in all scrofulous complaints, it is important in 
this to look after the general health. No more physic is required 
than to keep the bowels open; and even this, if costiveness exist, 
had better be done by bread made from unbolted wheat flour, by 
injections of cool or tepid water, and by exercise. The health must 
be supported by iron, sarsaparilla, stillingia, and quinine. 

The eye is to be strengthened by cold water applied to the lids, 
the forehead, and the temples. The eyes may be bathed likewise with 
a warm decoction of poppies, or of chamomile flowers or cocaine. 

But one of the best applications is a solution of nitrate of silver, 
one or two grains to the ounce of water, a few drops being put into 
the eye once or twice a day. Occasionally a solution of sulphate of 
copper, of the same strength, may be used with decided advantage. 

Both eyes should be protected by a shade. 

Inflammation of the Cornea. — Corneitis, 

Symptoms. — The cornea is rough, red, opaque, and generally 
prominent. There is some pain and inability to bear light, but not 
great. The pulse is frequent, and the skin dry. 

Treatment.—If the inflammation be acute, use leeches, purgatives, 
tincture of veratrum. Apply fomentations, and smear belladonna 
ointment on the eyebrows. 

For the chronic form, give quinine and other bitters, and put blis¬ 
ters upon the nape of the neck, and behind the ears. The wine of 
opium, and the diluted nitrate of mercury ointment, must be applied 
to the lids, or cocaine. 

Inflammation of the Iris. — Iritis, 

The iris is covered with a serous membrane, and is very liable to 
adhesive inflammation. 

Symptoms. —In the first stage, the iris changes its color, and the 
pupil is contracted. In the next stage, lymph is poured out upon the 
surface in a thin layer, sometimes, which looks rusty, and sometimes 
in larger quantities, filling the whole cavity of the aqueous humor. 

Causes. — Injuries, or overworking the eye, but more frequently 
a taint of the system from gout or syphilis. 

Treatment.—If there be considerable inflammation, apply leeches 
to the temples, and keep down the circulation by tincture of vera- 


648 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


trum. To relieve pain, use continuously either hot or cold water 
applied on cloths, whichever is agreeable to the patient; these cloths 
must be changed frequently enough to keep the parts at an even tem¬ 
perature. The strength is generally to be supported by quinine; and in 
many instances, iodide of potassium is to be given as an alterative. A 
little solution of atropia, one grain to the ounce of water, is to be 
dropped into the eye once or twice a day, and the bowels to be kept 
open by gentle physic. In severe pain give morphia one-sixth of 
a grain by mouth. 

Weakness of Sight. — Muscce Volitantes. 

This is an affection to which persons of weakly constitution are 
liable, and those who write much, or examine very small objects. 

Symptoms. —Dimness of sight; uneasiness on exposure to a strong 
light; and specks floating before the eyes, — often looking like flies. 

Treatment. — The complaint depends on debility, natural or ac¬ 
quired ; and tonics, as quinine and iron, and the shower or sponge 
bath, and out-door exercise, are the proper remedies. 

Imperfect Vision.— Amaurosis, 

The complaint here referred to is dependent on some change in 
the optic nerve or the brain, — most commonly the former. 

Symptoms. — In some cases the sight becomes suddenly dim, and 
is perhaps soon lost altogether; but more often it is impaired by slow 
degrees, — being only defective at intervals, as when the stomach is 
out of order, or the eyes have been fatigued. At one time, it will 
begin with objects appearing dim; at another, with their being 
double; at still another, with the ability to see only one half of 
objects. In some instances, the complaint begins witn a crooked 
or disfigured or discolored appearance of things looked at. Again 
it will begin as near-sightedness, or far-sightedness; or the patient 
cannot measure distances, and will miss his aim in pouring water 
into a glass, or in putting a match to the wick of a lamp. The flame 
of a lamp will appear split. At times the eye does not bear light; 
at other times it longs for it, and objects do not appear illuminated 
enough. 

Distinction. — Amaurosis may be distinguished from cataract by 
there being no opaque body to be seen behind the pupil; and by the 
light of a candle appearing discolored, split, or lengthened, or irides¬ 
cent ; whereas in cataract vision is only clouded, and a lighted candle 
looks as if surrounded with a mist. 

Chances of Cure.—These are generally not very favorable, unless 
the remedies employed very soon produce good effects. 


STJKGICAL DISEASES. 


649 


Treatment. —Electro-galvanism is one of the most promising reme¬ 
dies. Bayberry root, dried and reduced to an impalpable powder, and 
taken as a snuff, is occasionally nseful. Cayenne, steeped in water, 
one grain to one ounce of water, and a little of it dropped into the 
eye, may stimulate the palsied nerve, and in some cases restore sight. 

Blisters may be applied behind the ears, or a seton may be tried 
upon the back of the neck, with some promise of success. 

But probably nothing will do better than cold bathing,—a shower 
bath if it can be borne, — out-door exercise vigorously pursued, and 
an adherence for a long time—perhaps a year—to a strictly vege¬ 
table diet, at the same time using nervine tonics, etc. (316). 

Short and Long Sight. 

Short Sight, called myopia^ depends on too great a convexity oi the 
cornea, or crystaline lens, or vitreous humor,—one or all,—and the 
consequent formation of the image of the object inspected a little in 
front of the optic nerve^ or retina ^— as at a (Fig. 183), instead of at 5. 



Fig.' 183. 


where it should be formed. The rays of light are brought to a focus 
before they reach the retina. 

Children are either born with this defect, or it is brought on by too 
close study, or by long application of. the eyes to minute objects. 

It may be remedied frequently by exercising the eyes in looking at 
distant objects. Children afflicted in this way should have their 
studies abridged, and their exercise in the open air increased. While 
studying they should have some apparatus applied to them which 
shall keep the chin elevated, so that the head cannot be dropped too 
low, and the eyes brought too near the book. And the book should 
each day be placed a very little further from the eyes. 

Glasses worn by persons having this defect of vision should be 
concave, as at c. 



TlQ, 184. 





650 


SUKGICAL DISEASES. 


Long Sight, ov presbyopia, depends on the humors of the eye not 
being convex enough. In this case, the image of the inspected object 
is formed beyond the optic nerve, as at d (Fig. 184). This is one of 
the earliest signs of advancing age. 

This defect is to be remedied by glasses which are convex, e. Per- 
Bonsdn the early autumn of life must not resort to glasses too hastily, 
or, indeed, until they are compelled to, nor should they change those 
first used too soon. Glasses should make objects look distinct and 
bright, but not larger than natural. 

Squinting. — Strabismus. 

In strabismus, the eyes are not parallel in their position and mo¬ 
tion. 

It is supposed that one eye may become weaker than the other, or 
that the visual axis of the two may n.ot be adjusted alike, so that one 
eye — perhaps the more defective one — turns aside to escape the 
distorted vision, or possibly the injury to itself which would follow 
the attempt to make eyes of unequal power work evenly together. 
The opposing muscles lose their counterbalancing force, and the in 
ternal rectus, gaining the preponderance, draws the eye inward ,—for 
the squint is more often convergent than divergent ; that is, the eye 
turns in more often than out. Both eyes sometimes squint. 

Treatment. — In recent cases there is some chance of curing this 
complaint without a surgical operation. The patient should not be 
in the society of other squinting persons, so as to learn it by imitation. 

In the first place care should be taken that the bowels are kept in 
good condition, and that the general health is well fortified by bath¬ 
ing, tonics, and exercise. The patient should be made to stand 
before a glass, and while he closes the sound eye, look steadily at 
some object with the squinting eye. Let him do this till the eye is a 
little tired; then let him open the sound eye, when the squinting one 
will turn aside. But by compelling it, in this way, several times a 
day, to work in a straight line, it may, perhaps, be taught to remain 
parallel with the other. 

Nervine tonics, as strychnine (86), (94), (95), (316), will some¬ 
times do good service; and electro-galvanism has been found useful 
in many cases. 

But in old and obstinate cases, the only cure is found in dividing 
the muscle which pulls the eye to one side, — the internal rectus, if 
the eye is drawn in, — the external rectus, if it is drawn out. 

Affections of the Ear. 

These are so common, that, in almost every family, they require 
attention, at one time or another. And deafness, which so often 
results from these disorders, is so serious a misfortune that every 
affection of the ear should receive early attention. 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


651 


Examination of the Meatus. —For examining the meatns, or ex¬ 
ternal passage of the ear, there is perhaps no better instrument than 
a simple silver or glass tube, of the size 
and shape represented in Fig. 185. 

To make the examination properly, 
place the patient either in a sitting, 
kneeling, or standing posture, as may be 
most convenient, with the ear directly 
under a good stream of gas- or lamp- or 
sun-light. Then take hold of the ear with the thumb and finger, and 
gently draw it outward and backward, and with the other hand in¬ 
troduce the small end of the tube or speculum, and carry it forward 
as far as it will go without producing pain. Then by gently swaying 
the large end of the tube back and forth, a stream of light may be 
made to illuminate all sides of the passage. If the lining of this 
passage is smooth, dry, pearly-white, and shining, and is without wax, 
it may be regarded as healthy. At the close of the passage, the 
tympanum may be seen, and should be semi-transparent, dry, and 
grayish-white. Within this may be seen the handle of the malleus, 
coming from above downward and forward. This bone runs about half 
way across the tympanum, and divides it into an upper front, and 
a lower back part. This lower back portion, when viewed through 
the speculum, is more glistening than the upper and front part, and 
a bright spot of light is seen on its most rounded portion, which is 
just below and behind the point of the malleus. Inflammation causes 
this innermost part of the meatus to become thickened, vascular, or 
granular, — like the conjunctiva of the eye when it is inflamed; it 
also causes it to secrete and discharge matter. 

Inflammation of the Meatus. — Otorrhcea, 

This is quite a common complaint among delicate children; and 
may occur as the result of scarlet fever, or be excited by currents of 
cold air, by rotten teeth, or by deranged stomach and bowels. 

Symptoms. — Fever, headache, intense pain in the ear, and swell¬ 
ing of the glands of the neck. After a time, a reddish, watery dis¬ 
charge comes on, which soon grows thicker and mattery. The fever 
disappears with the appearance of the thick matter. An examination 
with the speculum shows the whole meatus to be swollen, vascular, 
and covered with a slimy matter. 

Unless great attention be given to cleanliness, the discharge be¬ 
comes very abundant and fetid, and lasts for a long time; and if 
neglected, will be likely to lead to very serious consequences, even 
the decay of some of the bones of the head. 

Treatment.—While the inflammation is acute, and there is fever 
and pain, the diet should be confined to mere liquids, — as rice-water. 




652 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


gruel, etc., and the bowels should be opened with some preparation of 
salts, the ear being gently syringed, occasionally, with warm water 
or decoction of poppies, and being covered with a warm poultice of 
flax-seed or bread and milk. In place of a poultice, a soft linen bag, 
filled with bran, and dipped in hot water, may be kept on the ear. 
If there be great pain and headache, put leeches behind the ear. 

The pain and fever being gone, and the mattery discharge having 
come on, the case is to be treated like other chronic diseases of mu¬ 
cous membranes in scrofulous* constitutions, by tonics, alteratives, 
warm baths, and out-door exercise. 

The ear may now be gently syringed out with castile soap and 
water, and immediately after with a weak solution of alum, or sul¬ 
phate of zinc, one grain to a dram. This may be done twice a day. 
Oi*, a little of a mixture of two drams of solution of sugar of lead 
and half a pint of water may be dropped into the meatus, and, after 
remaining two or three minutes, be allowed to run out. ’ If the dis¬ 
charge be very fetid, two drams of solution of chloride of lime, with 
half a pint of water, will make a suitable wash with which to syringe 
it, applying, once a day, a solution of nitrate of silver, five grains 
to the ounce of water. 

Should the discharge stop at any time, and pain and fever come 
on, lav aside these astringent applications, and go back at once to the 
leeches, purgatives, poultices and fomentations. 

Wax in the Ear. 

The ear sometimes becomes completely filled with wax, mixed 
with hairs and flakes of scarf-skin, impeding greatly the sense of 
hearing. 

Treatment. —Let the ear be gently syringed each morning with 
warm soapsuds, so as to thoroughly clear out the whole mass of 
matter, after having dropped into the ear the night before four or five 
drops of oil. The water may be quite warm, and a little cotton should 
be loosely inserted after the syringing. 

Earache. — Otalgia. 

5ymptoms.—This is simply neuralgia of the ear, and comes on in 
fits of excruciating pain, which shoots over the head and face. It 
may be distinguished from inflammation of the ear by the sudden¬ 
ness and intensity of the pain; by its not throbbing, not increasing 
in intensity, not being attended by fever, and not coming and going 
without apparent cause. 

Treatment. — Fill or remove all rotten teeth, which may be sus¬ 
pected as the cause of the suffering. Give iron, particularly the 
citrate combined with strychnine (316). 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


653 


Any hot application will be found to relieve this painful affection 
without resort to the use of articles more or less dirty that were for¬ 
merly used. A hot water bottle, hot salt bags, hops steeped in hot 
water and placed in a bag, or syringing out the ear with very hot 
water for ten or fifteen minutes, will many times give relief. Heating 
a small quantity of equal parts of olive oil and laudanum in an iron 
spoon and pouring two or three drops into the ear, then covering by 
cotton, is a good remedy. 

Inflammation of the Tympanum. — Deafness, 

Otitis. 

Symptoms. — In the acute form of the disease, there is violent 
pain, ringing noises in the ear, and delirium. When the suppuration 
takes place, there is a chill, and a heavy, tensive pain. 

In the chronic form of the complaint, the lining membrane of the 
tympanic cavity has its vessels a little enlarged, with blood some¬ 
times effused into its substance, or lymph upon its surface, or the 
membrane is thickened, and sometimes covered with tuberculous 
concretions, or there are fibrous bands occupying nearly the whole 
of the cavity. 

Symptoms. — These are slight,—the first perceptible change being 
generally deafness in one or both ears. There may be a woolly sen¬ 
sation, with noises or ringing, and slight aching pains. 

Treatment.—As the deafness in these cases generally depends on a 
chronic inflammation of the tympanic membrane, the best remedies are 
those which improve the condition of the digestive organs and gen¬ 
eral health, as regular diet, bathing, pure air, and exercise, with tonics 
and alteratives. Occasionally, a leech or two, or a blister behind the 
ear will be serviceable. But generally dry cupping behind and in 
front of the ear will answer the purpose for calling the blood away 
from the thickened membrane. 

If the inflammation be acute, it must be combatted with purging 
blisters, poultices and fomentations. 

When deafness is caused by inflammation in the Eustachian tubes, 
or from enlargement of the tonsils, etc., the tonsils must be cut off, 
and a solution of nitrate of silver, twenty grains to the ounce, must 
be thrown upon the mouths of the tubes with a shower syringe. 

As deafness when due to throat troubles is caused by disturbance 
of air pressure in the middle ear on account of the eustachian tubes 
being closed, the object is to make them permeable to air. The 
Politzer air bag is the best method to accomplish this and consists 
of a large bulb attached to a rubber pipe which has a small rubber 
nozzle at the end to insert into the nostrils. The patient holds a 
swallow of water in the mouth until the operator has placed the rubber 


654 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


nozzle in the one nostril, and tightly closing the other nostril, he presses 
the bulb. At the time when the air is forced into the nose, the patient 
is told to swallow. The action of swallowing causes the throat 
muscles to close in such a way that the only escape for the air is 
through the tubes and this is what it was hoped would be accom¬ 
plished. Another fairly successful method to obtain the same result 
is named the Valsavaan, after the ear specialist who originated it. 
This consists in closing both nostrils between the thumb and fore¬ 
finger and then closing the mouth, forcibly trying to blow the nose. 
As air cannot escape from the nostrils because they are being held, 
many times it will go through the tubes. 

Bleeding from the Nose.— Epistaxis. 

Treatment. — In full-blooded persons, with redness of face, and 
subject to headache and dizziness, bleeding from the nose may be 
salutary, and necessary to ward off apoplexy, and should not be too 
suddenly stopped. 

When the bleeding is such as to require to have it arrested, plug 
the nostrils with the scraping from a fur.hat, or with lint, dipped in 
a strong solution of alum or tannin or Monsel’s persalt of iron, one 
part to ten parts of water. To give immediate relief, press up under 
the upper lips or apply something cold to the back of the neck. 

Ingrowing Toe=NaiI. 

To most persons, the above words will suggest some unpleasant 
associations, for there are few but have had some painful experience 
with this affection. It is usually, like corns and some other trouble¬ 
some things, the penalty inflicted for wearing tight shoes. It gener¬ 
ally appears upon the great toe. The constant 
pressure of a narrow boot or shoe against the side 
of the toe, causes the edge of the nail to sink into 
the flesh, producing inflammation and pain, and 
finally ulceration. Nature, attempting to repair 
the mischief, sends out granulations, which, being 
perpetually irritated, shoot up into unhealthy 
growths, called proud flesh. Thenceforward, the 
sufferings of the patient become incessant; and he 
cannot now even compromise, as he would be glad 
to do, by putting on shoes of ample dimensions, but 
is obliged to negotiate a peace by putting away the 
shoe altogether, or by cutting a hole through it to 
take off the pressure. At the risk of giving the reader a few dismal 
twinges every time he looks upon this page, we place here, in Fig. 
186, a good representation of this tormenting disorder, as a suit¬ 
able warning against the folly of giving the toes narrow quarters. 



SURGICAL DISEASES. 


655 


Treatment. 

When the disorder begins to make its appearance, it is a good plan 
to scrape the nail very thin on top; this will cause it to grow upon 
the upper surface, and to give way at the tender part, so as to obvi¬ 
ate, sometimes, the necessity of any other treatment. 

The following is the best treatment. Wash the toe in warm water, 
and make the parts dry with cotton wool. Then gently press cotton 
wool in between the toe-nail and the tender projecting flesh, and ex¬ 
tend it along the groove back between the skin and nail. Next, wet 
the end of a piece of nitrate of silver, and rub it thoroughly upon the 
nail, close to the cotton, not allowing it to touch the tender flesh; 
then put on a thin layer of cotton wool, and, in two or three hours, 
a poultice around the toe. 

In two days, the nail will be perfectly black, and, as far as the ni¬ 
trate was well applied, will be separated from the parts underneath, 
and may be taken off without pain. 

If the nail is very thich^ scrap off the black and deadened part in 
two days, and apply the nitrate again. This treatment is a vast im¬ 
provement on the old and cruel practice of tearing off the live nail 


Chafing and Excoriation. 

When the neck, arm-pits, thighs, etc., of children, get chafed or 
excoriated, a remedy may be found by keeping the parts clean, and 
by dusting them with powdered slippery elm, starch or talcum pow¬ 
der. If this does not effect a cure, apply Turner’s cerate, or wash 
the parts with a solution of sulphate of zinc, or nitrate of silver, five 
grains to the ounce of soft water. 

Grown persons may treat these troubles very much in the same 
way, or by wearing cotton between the parts which rub together. 

Foreign Substances in the Nose. 

When any foreign substance gets lodged in the nose, close the 
mouth and the opposite nostril, and then blow forcibly through the 
obstructed side. If this is not successful, press the thumb against the 
nose above the obstructing body, and then make a hook of a piece of 
wire or knitting needle, and pressing it up over the offending sub¬ 
stance, pull it down. 

Foreign Substances in the Ear. 

If flies and other insects get into the ear, fill the ear with sweet 
oil, and then syringe it out with warm water. Sometimes it will be 
sufficient to hold the head down on one side, and have the ear filled 
with water, — remaining quiet in this position for a short time, when 
the insect will rise to the surface. If any hard substance be got into 
the ear, lie down quietly upon the affected side, and send for a phy¬ 
sician. 


656 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


Foreign Substances in the Gullet. 

If the substance have not gone beyond the reach of the thumb and 
finger, thrust them down as far as possible, and try to pull it out; or, 
a small curved pair of forceps will reach still lower than the fingers. 
Or, this failing, let some one place one hand firmly on the chest of 
the choking person, and give him a smart blow or two between the 
shoulders with the other hand. If the substance be down some way 
in the gullet, it may be pushed along into the stomach by some 
smooth, blunt instrument. 

Foreign Bodies in the Windpipe. 

Sometimes foreign bodies will remain a long time in the windpipe, 
and will only create some inflammation and cough, but not any im¬ 
mediately dangerous symptoms. When the body has gone entirely 
below the epiglottis, but little can be done, except to give a pinch of 
snuff to cause sneezing, and to direct the patient to expel the air ex¬ 
plosively from the lungs by a few energetic and sudden coughs. This 
may drive the offending body out. 

Bleeding from Wounds. 

If bleeding occur from any part where a bone lies near the surface, 
as the head or face, it may generally be stopped by pressing firmly 
against the bone with a finger, or a piece of cork, or by binding on 
tightly a hard pad. If this does not succeed, lift up each edge of the 
wound, and examine carefully to see if any small stream of blood is 
spouting out in jets. If so, an artery is wounded, and the point of 
small forceps or tweezers must be dipped in where the jets come 
from; the spouting mouth taken hold of and drawn out; and a 
strong silk thread passed around it, and tied below the forceps. The 
white and gaping mouth of the vessel may then be seen. 

If the bleeding be profuse from an arm, the whole current of blood 
to that limb must be cut off, which may be done by some person 
pressing a thumb firmly into the neck behind the middle of the col¬ 
lar-bone. This will dam up the blood in the great artery of the arm, 
as it comes out of the chest. The handle of a door-key, wrapped in 
several folds of linen, may be pressed upon this place for a long time 
until medical assistance can be had. 

Dangerous bleeding from the thigh or leg may often be stopped by 
pressing the great artery just below the crease of the groin. 

If the bleeding be below the middle of the upper arm, or middle 
of the thigh, pass a handkerchief once or twice around the limb, as 
far above the wound as possible, and tie it tightly. Slip a stiff stick 
under this, and turn it round, like the handle of an auger, until the 
handkerchief becomes so tight as to stop the bleeding. This arrange¬ 
ment is called a stick-tourniquet, and is intended to answer the same 
purpose as the instrument represented by Fig. 155. 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


657 


One of the best methods now in use, of arresting hemorrhage in 
cases of accidental injuries of the large arteries of the extremities, is 
by surrounding the limb above with two turns of a piece of rubber 
tubing about three-fourths of an inch in diameter, and tying it tight. 
This safely and effectually controls all bleeding. 

Advantage is taken of this elastic property of rubber in controlling 
hemorrhage, in performing what is called bloodless operations of sur¬ 
gery. It is called Esmarch’s method, from the name of the origina¬ 
tor. It may be resorted to in all operations on the extremities, whether 
of amputations, the removal of tumors, or in the minor operations of 
removing needles, and whenever the bleeding interferes with the per¬ 
formance of the operation. 

It is applied as follows: The limb should first be tightly bandaged 
with an elastic rubber bandage about three inches wide, from below 
upwards, and then surrounded at the highest point f^ith a band or 
tube of rubber in the place of a tourniquet. The bandage is then to 
be removed, when the operation may be performed in temporarily 
bloodless tissues. 

An amputation of the thigh may be thus performed without loss of 
any blood of consequence. 


658 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


i 

i 

COMPRESSION OF ARTERIES. 

TO STOP THE FLOW OF BLOOD. 

Compression of arter¬ 
ies may be done by direct 
pressure of thumb or 
finger, or some object 
such as a key or piece of 
wood answering the same 
purpose. Better still, in 
places where it may be 
used is the tourniquet 
which is the name given 
the appliance whether 
made of a piece of string 
or more elaborately made 
of rubber or manufac¬ 
tured webbing (see Fig¬ 
ure A). The object is to shut off the supply of blood from the heart 
and the point chosen is nearest the surface where compression may 
be applied and as far from the heart as possible. 






THE ARTERIES AND VEINS OF THE HUMAN BODY. 
HOWTO STOP BLEEDING 


PL4. 



















SURGICAL DISEASES. 


'659 


The temporal artery may be felt and secured just in front of 
the upper inner attachment of the ear to the head (see Figure B). 

The sub-clavian artery, just above the collar bone along the 
outer half before it is attached to the shoulder blade as in Figure C. 

The brachial artery, at the middle of the upper arm at the under 
side of the biceps muscle 

The ulnar artery, out of the front of the wrist just inside the ulnar 
bone, which is the one on the little finger side (palm upwards). 

The radial pulse, the most accessible vessel in the body, is on the 



Figure D, 










m 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


outer or radial or thumb side of the wrist between the prominent 
muscle tendon and the radial bone. 

The femoral is at the extreme upper inner corner of the thigh. 

The popliteal is at the under surface of the bend of the knee. 

Figures D, E, F, G and H show different kinds of tourniquets and 
how used; figure D, for example, shows a tourniquet made by fold¬ 
ing a handkerchief and tying it into a knot, the knot being placed over 
the artery, the handkerchief tied around the limb and then twisted 
as in cut. This presses the knot against the artery and stops the 
flow of blood. Figure E shows the band tourniquet; F the screw 
tourniquet applied; G and H show the improvised tourniquet ap¬ 
plied to the arm or thigh. 



Figure H. 














SURGICAL DISEASES. 


661 


Anaesthetics. 

In these days when so much wonderful surgery is done and when 
everybody desires to have the advantage of all modern methods being 
employed in the treatment of their case, a little knowledge of anaes¬ 
thesia will be of service to the reader. Before the discovery of ether 
an operation meant torture to the patient. If you should visit some 
of the old operating-rooms you would find rings in the floor to which 
ropes used to be attached in order to hold down the patient. Ether 
is the most commonly employed anaesthetic, and is safe to inhale, sure 
in its action and gives the least mortality. Something like one per¬ 
son in 50,000 dies from the inhalation of ether against one in 15,000 
to 30,000 when inhaling other ansesthetics. It is not over pleasant 
to inhale, as it is somewhat pungent and choky to breathe when first 
inhaled. This sensation soon passes ofl. A longer time is required 
to produce anaesthesia with ether than with chloroform, but its greater 
safety overbalances this slight disadvantage. Vomiting more fre¬ 
quently occurs after ether than after chloroform. 

Chloroform is* the next most commonly employed anaesthetic. It 
is agreeable, quick in its action, and very little is required. It is 
the common anaesthetic in European practice, yet its greater mortality, 
the sudden change in heart and lung action, render its usefulness 
much more limited in this country than that of ether. It is employed 
especially in cases complicated by lung and kidney disease in the 
young and very old. 

The A, C, E, mixture, so-called, is still a third anaesthetic, and is 
composed of a mixture of alcohol, chloroform and ether, and is* fre¬ 
quently given to start a case with, as its inhalation is pleasant and 
its anaesthetic properties quick. Its mortality rate lies between that 
of ether and chloroform. Some people take these anaesthetics with 
perfect comfort; others, being timid, require a larger amount and 
give in to its soporific effects very slowly. 

Of late Cocaine has been introduced into medical practice as a 
means of rendering the flesh numb and painless when injected under 
the skin about the site of the part to be operated on. It has the great 
advantage of maintaining the senses other than that of sensation and 
pain perfectly intact. By its use large operations may be done, and, 
in the case of minor operations, time and money are saved and bad 
after-effects are avoided. Sometimes a temporary faintness occurs 
from the use of a too strong solution, but this can always be avoided 
by weaker solutions and overcome at the time by a little stimulant. 

For many local operations requiring incisions in the skin, temporary 
anaesthesia can be obtained by spraying the skin with a mixture of 
chloride ethyl. This acts by rapid evaporation in a way to freeze the 
skin, not enough to impair the tissue but sufficient to allow rapid 
operating for two or three minutes duration. 


662 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


There is a popular feeling that ether and chloroform leave their 
traces in the system for a long time afterward; such is not the case, 
however, and fear need never be entertained that the system will be 
left the weaker for it. 

In the use of anaesthetics proper^ certain rules are to be observed. 
Nothing solid is to be eaten for a number of hours previous to the in¬ 
halation. All artificial teeth must be removed and all waist-bands 
and tight clothing should be loosened if not removed. 

A little strong coffee or a little brandy and hot water may be given 
by mouth to prevent the subsequent vomiting and nausea. 

Care of the Teeth. 

Decay and loss of the teeth is common even among the young. 
Few persons at the age of twenty have sound teeth, and the ten¬ 
dency to decay is no doubt to some extent inherited; but with care¬ 
ful attention they may be preserved in good condition till late in life. 
Parents should inculcate in their children the habit of cleanliness of 
the teeth. 


Rotting of the Teeth. — Caries. 

This is not confined to any age, temperament, or condition ot 
society. 

The teeth become diseased, die, and drop away, while all the other 
organs are sound and active. 

The Creator doubtless intended that all the members of the same 
body should be equally durable; but certain laws of nature, violated 
by us habitually, turn upon us, as it were, in anger, and smite us full 
in the face, breaking our teeth, and robbing us of the means of pre¬ 
serving the health which we do not appear to prize. 

When rotting begins in the teeth, its progress is more or less rapid, 
and their destruction is certain, unless it is arrested by artificial 
means. 

The enamel is nature’s fortification to protect the teeth against ex¬ 
ternal injuries. When this is broken, or worn away, the bone of the 
tooth becomes exposed, and rotting begins immediately. Whatever 
has a tendency to crack, break up, or destroy the enamel, therefore, is 
to be carefully avoided. 

Hot Drinks, or hot food, coming suddenly in contact with the en¬ 
amel, are liable to crack it, and expose the bony substance of the 
tooth. The enamel is exceedingly brittle, much like glass in its 
structure, and is easily cracked when exposed to sudden transitions 
from heat to cold, and from cold to heat. 

Luxurious Living often deranges the general health, and causes 
acid and unhealthy secretions in the mouth, which act injuriously 
upon the enamel. 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


663 


Acids are injurious to the enamel; and when taken as medicine, 
should be well diluted, and in some cases, drunk through a tube, so 
as not to come in contact with the teeth. Sugar is not directly inju¬ 
rious to the teeth, as many suppose; but if allowed to remain about 
and between them, it may generate an acid which is destructive to 
the enamel. 

A Crowded Condition of the teeth in the mouth causes the enamel 
to wear away, and leads to rotting; in which case, early attention 
and advice from a dentist is quite important. 

Food Lodged Between the Teeth, and in their depressions, is a 
cause of extensive decay. Animal and vegetable matter, when ex¬ 
posed to warmth and moisture, soon generate an acid which corrodes 
the enamel. The teeth, consequently, often begin to decay in parts 
where one presses upon another, and in depressions, where food lodges 
and remains. This shows the necessity of cleansing the mouth and 
teeth often, — particularly after meals. 

Mercury, when taken to the extent of salivation, — whether it be 
calomel, corrosive sublimate, blue pill, or any other form of it, — 
causes inflammation of the membranes about the teeth, and indirectly 
produces caries. 

Acidity of the stomach, the contact of decaying teeth and dead 
stumps with sound ones, diseased and ulcerated gums, and, above 
all, a filthy, unclean and unwholesome condition of the mouth, are 
active causes of diseased teeth. 

Improper Tooth-Powders, as those containing gritty particles, are 
to be avoided. 

Tobacco, by deranging the general health, may be indirectly inju¬ 
rious to the teeth. Smoking blackens the teeth; and though chewing 
may be useful in deadening the sensibility of the nerve of a decaying 
tooth, this alone is not a sufficient reason for so uncleanly and disa¬ 
greeable a habit, while so many agents may be found to produce the 
same effect. 

Tartar. — This is derived from the saliva, and is found, when ex¬ 
amined by the microscope, to be composed of myriads of living 
animals. When first deposited around the teeth, it is in a soft state; 
but, when not brushed away, it soon hardens, and changes from a 
yellow to a brown, and sometimes to a black color; and often in 
children it becomes a dark green. It destroys the beauty of the 
teeth, giving them a filthy and revolting look; the setting of the 
teeth in their sockets is weakened; their appearance is elongated; 
the periosteum or covering of the fang becomes inflamed and tender; 
and, if the proper remedy be not applied, the teeth will become loos¬ 
ened, and finally fall from their sockets. It causes the gums to be¬ 
come inflamed, swollen, tender, and ulcerated, and loads the breath 


664 


SURGICAL DISEASES 


with a disagreeable fetor. Its direct influence on the teeth is not 
great; but it vitiates all the secretions of the mouth, and is thus a 
very efiicient, though an indirect cause of decaying teeth. In all 
cases, it should be immediately and carefully removed, and some 
astringent wash, made from Peruvian or oak bark, be applied to 
reduce the inflammation and swelling of the gums. 


Tooth*Ache. 

This is generally caused by an exposure of the nerve which fills 
the internal cavity of the tooth. This exposure is caused by a frac¬ 
ture, or, more commonly, by the rotting away of a part of the tooth. 
This nerve is extremely sensitive; and, by coming in contact with 
the air and acrid substances, inflammation is. excited, and tooth¬ 
ache is the consequence. 

Teeth sometimes ache when they are, to all appearance, perfectly 
sound. This may be caused by bony enlargements of the ends of 
the fangs, inflammation of the periosteum, a peculiar irritability and 
ague of the face, which excite neuralgia, etc. 

Pain of a sound tooth is sometimes caused by sympathy with a 
decaying one, by a disordered stomach, or by scurvy, pregnancy, tar¬ 
tar, or whatever excites painful sympathetic action in the nerves of 
the face. 

Treatment. — Tooth-ache may be quieted by placing a drop of oil 
of cloves, or cajeput, or a drop of creosote upon a piece of cotton, 
and inserting it into the cavity of the tooth, and bringing it into con¬ 
tact with the exposed nerve. A few drops of a five per cent solution 
of cocaine placed in the tooth by means of absorbent cotton, or even 
wiped around the gum, acts very beneficially and usually quiets the 
worst tooth-ache. Chloroform likewise is often good. 

Pains of the face and jaw, when not the consequence of rotten 
teeth, may be relieved by holding brandy, or whiskey, or rum, or 
diluted tincture of cayenne, or hot water, in the mouth, and by ex¬ 
ternal applications of laudanum, Oliver’s plaster, a mustard plaster, 
or hops steeped in alcohol, or a blister behind the ear. But for teeth 
too much decayed to be saved by filling, there is no remedy so proper 
as extraction. 

Filling Teeth. 

There is no operation of the dentist of more real and lasting 
benefit to the patient than that of filling rotten teeth. 

A tooth that is well filled before its nerve is exposed, is as service¬ 
able as a sound one, and nearly as durable. Its preservation for 
many years is perfect and complete. 

It is necessary, in the performance of this operation, to remove 
very carefully all rotten and foreign matter lodged in the cavity; to 
make the cavity of a dovetail shape, so as to retain the filling; to wipe 


SUKGICAL DISEASES 


665 


it perfectly dry; and to press the gold in so as to make the cavity 
perfectly water and air tight. A tooth filled in this way may be 
preserved many years, and in many cases during life. 

When decay has gone so far as to expose the nerve and render a 
tooth painful, the nerve, in all cases, should be destroyed before the 
cavity is filled; otherwise there may be soreness, and sometimes ex¬ 
treme pain making the extraction of the tooth absolutely necessary. 

A tooth filled after the nerve is destroyed is not as good as if filled 
before the nerve was exposed; the walls of the cavity are thinner and 
weaker, and consequently are more liable to break and crumble away 
when brought into contact with hard substances; and the filling will 
be more likely to be loosened. There is likewise some danger of ulcer¬ 
ation and absorption at the root of a tooth, when filled in this condition, 
which makes it very important that teeth should be filled early. 

Gold foil is preferable to all other substances for filling teeth. If 
it is properly dressed and polished, it will remain in the mouth for 
many years without any sensible loss of its substance. 


The First Teeth. 

It is an imperative duty of parents to see that their children’s teeth 
have early and careful attention. 

The health and durability of the permanent teeth depend materi¬ 
ally on the healthy condition, regularity and durability of the tempo¬ 
rary ones. It may seem strange that diseases of the first set of teeth 
should influence the set which is to follow; but when we consider 
that the rudiments of the second set already exist when the first are 
cut, it is not unreasonable to suppose they may inherit disease from 
their predecessors. 

Cleaning the Teeth. 

The most important rule to be observed in the preservation of the 
teeth is to keep them perfectly clean, and never to allow any foreign 
substance to remain on or about them. A decaying tooth should 
never be allowed to remain in the mouth; it causes others to decay. 

If tartar has been allowed to collect, have it removed immediately. 
The teeth should be carefully and thoroughly brushed daily with 
warm water, and the occasional use of a dentifrice that is impalpably 
fine, and that contains no acid. 

A Brush has no bad effect upon the teeth, as some suppose, for 
the parts of the teeth most exposed to the friction of a brush are 
never the first to begin to decay. This beginning of decay takes 
place in their depressed surfaces, and where they touch each other. 
A soft brush is better for the teeth than a stiff one, because the lat¬ 
ter is apt to fret the gums, and cause them to recede, which gives 
the teeth a lengthened appearance. 

Teeth in a crowded condition should never be filed, unless they 
begin to decay. 


666 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


Tooth-Picks, made of quill, or wood, or ivory, should be used after 
meals, and all particles of food lodged between the teeth should be 
removed. 

In Sickness, the rules for cleanliness of the teeth should be more 
rigidly enforced than at any other time, as then they are more ex¬ 
posed to destructive agents, and are liable to participate in the gen¬ 
eral debility and disease of the system. 

Influence of Diseased Teeth upon the Health. 

The bad effects of a diseased and unclean mouth upon the general 
health are of more serious consequence than most people are aware. 
In twenty-four hours, we breathe twenty thousand times; and what 
must be the effect upon the delicate structure of the lungs, when, 
for days, months and years, the air we breathe is drawn through a 
depository of filth, and is poisoned by being mixed with effluvia 
arising from decayed and diseased matter in the mouth. 

The intermittent fevers of the West are caused by the effluvia 
arising from the decaying matter of low grounds and marshes, which 
can hardly be more pernicious than the effluvia from the impurity 
and corruption generated in an unclean mouth, filled with decaying 
teeth. Dr. Hays says ‘‘ no species of animal matter is so offensive to 
the health and vitality of the adjoining substance, whether nerve, or 
membrane, or any part or portion of the living body, as decaying 
bone.” 


Ulcer of the Stomach. 

The stomach is normally supplied with pure hydrochloric acid 
manufactured by glands in its mucous membrane. Should, for any 
reason, this acid become either too strong or too great in quantity, its 
action in addition to that of the food, would be on the stomach itself. 
In early or mild cases perhaps the trouble would be no more than 
that of a bad attack of indigestion or dyspepsia, but as the process 
continues, the pain becomes more severe and other symptoms follow 
which shows the severity of the trouble. If it is asked why the stom¬ 
ach walls are not thus digested if they are capable of absorbing the 
food that is being digested in it, the answer, while not satisfactory, 
is perhaps the best that can be given, that the vital forces which 
keep the tissue living, owing to constant circulation of blood, prevent 
the action of the juices upon the body. The ulcer of the stomach 
is fairly common, more so in England than in the United States, and 
is found most commonly between twenty and thirty years of age. 
Women are more affected than men and the occupation of servants, 
cooks, and waiters seem to increase cases. After some obscure dyspeptic 
symptoms, we have pain after eating with a constant gnawing when 
the stomach is empty, together with vomiting, many times of blood, 
and general failure of health with loss of flesh and strength. Food 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


667 


when taken into the stomach seems to relieve the pain, which returns 
as soon as digestion has taken place and the stomach is empty again. 
The hemorrhage from the stomach is the true result of the erosion 
or eating away of a blood vessel in the ulcer, and this erosion may 
go so deep that a perforation will be caused and a peritonitis will 
result. As partial healing of this ulcer may occur a cicatrix or 
scar in the stomach may be formed which will cause a contraction, 
which if occurring at the outlet will prevent food leaving the stomach 
as it should. Therefore, in addition to the distressing symptoms 
associated with gastric ulcer, we have as a consequence three serious 
additional possibilities: Death from hemorrhage or from peritonitis, 
due to perforation or inability of the food to leave the stomach on 
account of closing of the pylorus, which would cause excessive en¬ 
largement of the stomach and death by starvation. 

Treatment.—Where competent surgeons are not obtainable, the 
treatment must be by medicine to counteract the excessive acidity. 
We give bicarbonate of soda in 10 to 15 grain doses several times 
a day, or any other simple alkaline. We are careful to have the diet 
consist of material that can be easily digested and not leave much 
residue to pass over the ulcer. Owing to the constant motion which 
the stomach and bowels perform in the endeavor to pass the food 
onward, the surface of the ulcers are being continually scraped by 
food passing over them. Healing is, therefore, retarded unless some 
method is devised to stop the irritation. The best treatment is by 
nutrient food thrown into the rectum by means of a syringe. Milk, 
eggs and digested juices can be absorbed by the rectum almost as 
well as by the stomach. Six ounces at a time may be used and this 
quantity given four times in twenty-four hours. With care and when 
given by a person practised in its use, larger amounts can be tolerated. 
The writer kept a young female patient for three weeks on nutrient 
feeding by the rectum, with complete recovery from extensive ulcer 
of the stomach, the only liquid that passed the lips being sips of water. 
Milk digested with peptonizing powders was used, a pint at a time, 
and the recovery from a bad ulcer which had caused so much loss of 
blood that the patient almost bled to death. An operation with 
brilliant results is now being done by surgeons. This operation goes 
under the title of gastro-enterostomy and consists in cutting off the 
small intestine where it leaves the stomach, especially if a constric¬ 
tion is present, but in any case a new opening is made in the stomach 
and the new portion of small intestines is sewed to this opening in 
the stomach. By this means, food is passed almost directly from the 
gullet across one end of the stomach into the small intestine and the 
remainder of the stomach is left in a state of rest. The operation 
has given great promise and in chronic cases is a well recognized 
procedure, especially after perforation. 


668 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


Glanders, 

This disease, while usually occurring in animals, especially the 
horse, is capable of infecting the human being by means of the trans¬ 
mission of its germs which is called bacillus mallei. Infection may 
occur through drinking water, from one horse to another, through 
the same trough, or to a man if careless about drinking, if the horse 
coughs or blows some of his nasal secretion into drinking cups. It nan 
occur through wounds of the skin, but is most often contracted while 
taking care of the horse affected with the disease. 

Symptoms.—Several days after beginning of infection, fever 
develops and the general sickness is felt throughout the body. A 
round, reddish painful nodule or swelling will appear either in the nose 
or at the place where the skin is broken and ulceration of the lining 
of the nose with discharge of pus occurs. The rash composed of small 
boils or pustules which has an appearance like smallpox often shows 
upon the face, and within a week or ten days death occurs. 

Treatment.—^The treatment should be incision of all swellings, 
syringing with peroxide of hydrogen and the application of antiseptic 
washes. A remedy called mallein has been recommended, but recov¬ 
ery is very rare in spite of all we may do. We are warranted in taking 
all precautions to prevent friends and attendants from contracting 
the disease. 

X=Ray. 

The Roentgen or x-rays are developed by means of a powerful current 
of electricity which is passed through a large glass tube from end to 
end rather than on an incandescent principle by which the current 
returns through the same aperture that it enters. These tubes have 
had the air withdrawn from them to the highest possible degree, in 
which respect they are like incandescent lamp globes. The x-ray 
tube is called a ^Trookes’’ tube, named from the inventor. The dis¬ 
charge of electric current through the rarefied air in the tube allows 
the transmission of shadows through what was formerly an opaque or 
non-light-conducting substance. Professor Roentgen of Wurtzburg, 
Germany, is the man to whom the discovery belongs, though four or five 
years before his announcement, Hirtz had shown that light waves 
were able to penetrate solid matter. In 1895 Roentgen accidentally 
discovered that a certain chemically prepared paper becomes phos¬ 
phorescent when used in connection with a Crookes tube. From this 
date the development of the so-called x-ray has been rapid. It is 
well known that nails, screws, and other metallic substances may be 
imbedded in wood, and their exact location shown by means of the 
x-rays, but it is of interest to know what development the new science 
has made in medicine and surgery. We can discover where a bullet 
lies in a head or in an arm, whether* in bone or in muscle or in the 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


669 


regions where it is too dangerous to attempt to remove the foreign 
body and allow it to remain. Broken bones show up well under the in¬ 
fluence of the x-rays and bad results after fracture may be determined 
and better ones obtained by resetting. Varieties of club-foot and 
flat-foot may be inspected and the operation necessary for their cure 
determined. In cases owing to too much swelling or pain where 
either fracture or a sprain may be present, we may determine with 
exactness which injury we have to deal with. Philadelphia sur¬ 
geons lately were able to make out the exact spot at which a jack- 
stone was located in a child’s gullet, and its removal by the knife was 
accomplished. 

As the detection of one substance from another depends upon the 
difference in density between two substances, it stands to reason 
that the greater difference there is the clearer the picture will come 
out. By means of the so-called Fluoroscope we investigated the con¬ 
ditions as they are in the living, but it is possible by means of the so- 
called skiagraph to take an x-ray photograph and permanently pre¬ 
serve the picture. Valuable as the x-rays are as a means of diag¬ 
nosis, their importance is increased in medicine. Here a man well 
acquainted with the working of the machine may see a heart beat 
inside the body, may detect the beginning of changes in the lung which 
is the forerunner of consumption, may decide with certainty that a 
stone or calculus is located in the kidneys or bladder where its pres¬ 
ence was only suspected. By the dentist the eruption of the teeth 
and the presence of retained roots or even extra teeth in the jaw 
may be discovered. For the obstetrician the position as well as the 
size of the child may be located in the mother. Medicinally the 
x-ray is being used largely. In certain varieties of cancer the growth 
is stopped, the inflammation is lessened, healing takes place and in 
favorable cases a perfect cure is obtained. This treatment holds true 
in too few cases to enable us to lose our dread of that disease and only 
where there are skin manifestations, and those not extensive, are they 
able to be held in check. When cancers are deep seated, as in the 
stomach or the liver, in which localities they are so liable to affect, we 
cannot expect much improvement. In a great variety of skin disease, 
as in eczema, neuralgia, pains, ulcers, keloid and lupus, the result 
from the Roentgen ray is extremely gratifying. As severe burns are 
liable to result where the rays are brought in contact with normal, 
that is, healthy skin, some means of prevention is to be used. Lead 
foil is placed on the body with a hole cut in it the size of the disease 
which is to be treated; the current is then turned on and the radia¬ 
tions from the tube are stopped by the non-conducting metal foil 
and only go through the opening under which the disease is present. 
An interrupted electric current is the means used to obtain the spark 
which jumps across the glass tube before described, and this break 
in the wire varies from eight to fourteen inches^ according to the 
desire of the operator. The machine is made so that there will be 
about twenty-five thousand interruptions a minute. 


670 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


Radium. 

A CERTAIN substance, has been discovered to which the name of 
radium has been given, which has the power after an exposure to light, 
of transmitting rays in every direction. By further investigation 
certain salts were separated from uranium and the impurities from 
these salts found to have greater power of transmitting rays. They 
have the same general properties that were found in the Roentgen 
rays, but a latent power is the cause of the phenomenon rather than 
electricity, as in the x-rays. Since 1901, Professor Currie with his 
wife, have added greatly to the knowledge concerning this body. 
In appearance radium is a crystal not unlike common salt and glows 
feebly in the dark. It has been impossible to obtain radium in any 
large amount, in fact, it requires eight tons of the residue from the 
radium ore to yield fifteen grains of pure radium. This would bring 
the price up to about $125 a grain, which is three thousand times 
the price of gold. The rays that emanate from radium have the power 
of imparting their glow to all articles they are in the vicinity of. The 
hand, clothes and instruments of an experimenter with radium ab¬ 
sorb the power of glowing in the dark. Although the scarcity of 
radium was mentioned, it is remarkable with all the investigators 
attempting to obtain it that there is so little still on the market. One 
year ago it was estimated that in the whole of Europe, including 
Germany and France, not more than forty grains of pure radium 
salt exists. The power of continually emitting the feeble light which 
it was formerly supposed did not cause any lessening of the sub¬ 
stance itself, is now known to diminish its weight, so while the loss 
is almost infinitesimal, in fact, not able to be measured, yet there is 
some loss going on from the discharge of the rays. The same prop¬ 
erty of liability of burns is always noticed in radium. Carrying a 
minute quantity in a glass vial in the pocket has caused a fortnight 
later a deep and painful sore on the body which required weeks to 
heal. The same precaution, i. e., lead foil that was recommended 
for the x-rays is necessary for radium rays. The sensation of light is 
perceived through the closed eyelid, which is not due to the eye seeing 
the light but due to the phosphorescence set up by the rays, passed 
through the liquid and through portions of the eye. The rays that 
are absorbed by materials other than radium itself lose their prop¬ 
erty after a greater or less period of time, depending partly on the 
kind of substances and partl}^ on the action of the air. If lead has 
been exposed to the action of radium and then sealed up, it loses 
its power of discharging rays very much slower than lead which has 
been freely exposed to the air. Radium does not lose its power 
on exposes to the greatest degrees of glow; on the other hand, intense 
heat causes sudden discharge of rays with corresponding loss of light, 
which, however, is renewed within two or three days if allowed to 
rest. The same class of medical cases that the rays have been used 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


671 


for have been the subject of experiment by radium. In cancer and 
other diseases which have their origin in the growth of germs it has 
been hoped that the influence of radium rays would modify their 
course, and it is true that many patients have had no relapse for some 
months after treatment; whether a permanent cure can be announced 
it is yet too early to say. The mode of treatment by radium consists 
in enclosing a small portion of radium between two metallic sheets, 
one of copper, the other of aluminum with the aluminum face down¬ 
ward upon that portion of the body which is to be treated, and an 
exposure of fifteen minutes a day is allowed for a period extending 
over weeks or months. Although radium is present in such minute 
quantities, it is nevertheless widely distributed in America. It is 
found in a mineral known as carnolite which is abundant in Utah. 
In Texas a quantity of earth always gives up a small amount of ra¬ 
dium. Abroad, in certain of the mountains, especially in the region of 
Saxony, radium has been extracted from the by-products of the silver 
ores. Two other substances, namely polonium and actinium, were 
discovered at about the same time with radium. Their difference 
from the others is comparatively nothing, except greater or less 
brilliancy and the color of their rays. 


672 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


Flatfoot. 

An affection of one or both feet that is very often mistaken for 
rheumatism and treated with rheumatic remedies for a long time with¬ 
out relief, is flatfoot. This-term is used synonymously with broken 
arch, contracted foot and broken instep. To obtain the strength 
necessary to enable the weight of the body to be carried in a light, 
graceful and easy manner, the foot is not placed entirely on the ground, 
but an arc or arch is formed by the bones being held in a certain 
position by the ligaments. Under the influence of disease, rapid 
growth of fat with gain of weight, long standing on hard pavements, 
much walking, bad boots, and occasionally by jumping from high 
places, as a chair or step ladder, these ligaments lose their efficiency 
and the arch gives away and flatfoot results, as in Figure 1. Many 



Fig. 1. 

writers distinguish pronated foot from flatfoot; the difference is that 
in the former the foot is only flat when weight is put upon it and then 
the inner border of the foot rolls under, and toward the inside, while in 
true flatfoot the arch is gone whether the foot is at rest or bearing 
weight. 



Fig. 2. 



SUKGICAL DISEASES. 


673 


The presence of flatfoot may be determined by wetting the sole of 
the foot and placing it on a dry planed board. The imprint will 
show the entire surface of the bottom of the foot, while if there is no 
flatfoot, the imprint will show only the toes, ball and heel of the foot, 
and the outer edge, the whole having the effect of a crescent, the 
arch as in Figure 2 not touching the board. 

Symptoms.— The symptoms of flatfoot are pain and tiredness 
anywhere from the ankle to the hip. Great discomfort is felt if 
standing is continued over a great period of time. The foot is hot 
and feverish and the boots are hard to get on. Possibly the pain is 
most severe in the calf and the big ligament at the back of the ankle. 
It will easily be seen how these symptoms may be mistaken for rheu¬ 
matism and treated as such. Symptoms are less pronounced in the 
morning, and in fact in early cases all of the pain will be felt on going 
to bed, and excepting for a sense of stiffness, the troubles will have 
disappeared until the causes are again at v/ork. 

Treatment.— The simplest method of repairing a broken arch is 
by the use of pads made of some non-absorbable material and with 
density enough to give support. Many times if the arch is properly 
supported it will regain its tone and the pad may be dispensed with. 
Cutting out two or three pieces of thick felt, J inch thick, or if the 
hard felt is used, about } inch, they may be held in the arch of the 
foot by bandages or adhesive plaster. The pattern should be of J 
moon shape with the straight edge pointing upwards and the round 
edge fitting under the hollow of the instep; enough layers, usually two 
or three are sufficient, should be used to overcome the drop of the liga¬ 
ment and yet not over-arch the foot. As this pad soon becomes 
dirty and foul smelling, metal plates are much better, and to make 
them it is necessary to take an impression of the foot in plaster of 
Paris. After removing the foot from the plaster, the negative im¬ 
pression is well greased with lard or vaseline and a positive impression 
of plaster is run into the moulds. After giving a sufficient time for 
the cast to harden, the outer mould is pounded away with a hammer 
and the true impression of the foot remains. With a knife, enough 
plaster is now scraped away from the instep, which it will be noticed 
is low, until a normal foot is produced. Any instrument maker can 
now fit with steel a shank that will have the outline of the arch as 
fashioned with the knife. This steel shank after being put between 
thin leather soles, if desired can then be worn in any boot that the 
person desires^ 


674 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


BANDAGES. 


For the purpose of holding dressings of all 
kinds in place, to obtain compression, to give sup¬ 
port, or correct deformities, and finally, to immo¬ 
bilize splints, we use layers of cheese cloth, 
cotton flannel, rubber or other material which 
we call bandages. 

To further increase their usefulness we either 
apply certain substances after the bandage has 
been put on or we may apply the same substances 
in the bandage material and hardening will occur 
in the meshes of the bandage. These materials 
are plaster of paris, starch, glucose or silicate of 
sodium. 

The Hand.— ^The ordinary handkerchief ban¬ 
dage is often used to temporarily hold dressings 
in place when the roller bandage is not available. 

By folding a linen or silk handkerchief on a line 
from one corner to the opposite diagonal and then folding twice more 
we obtain with a large handkerchief a bandage that will be from 

four to five inches 
wide. Place the 
hand, palm down¬ 
ward, in the middle 
of the bandage, 
carry the ends over 
and cross them on 
the back of the 
hand, then around 
the wrist and tie 
in a square knot 
(see Fig. 1). 

For finger and 
hand bandaging 
take a roller band¬ 
age varying in 
width from one 
2- inch to three inches 










SURGICAL DISEASES. 


675 


wide and five yards long. After the dressing 
has been applied take two or three turns 
around the finger to hold the bandage from 
slipping, then from left to right making the 
distances neat and even, carry the roll around 
the finger. 

The figure of eight, which has the advan¬ 
tage of giving better compression is made by 
carryin >: the bandage away from the person 
applying it on the upper stroke, then around 
the hand and toward the person on the down 
stroke, making the crossing point in the 
middle of finger, as illustrated, and having 
each crossing point one-half inch higher up 
than the one preceding (see Figures 2 and 3). 

Wrist and Forearm.— A two or three 
inch width bandage is needed. Begin with 
a couple of turns around the wrist, then 
down over the back of the hand to make a 
beginning at about the junction of the fin¬ 
gers with the flat of the hand. Use the 
figure eight up to the beginning of the wrist. 



Figure 3. 



Figure 5. 















676 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


then three or four circular turns, then the figure of eight again up 
to the elbow and if necessary to bandage the elbow, carry the roll 
directly over the point of the elbow, then the next turn just above 
and the following one just below. Continue until the elbow is 
covered in and then begin the figure eight style above the elbow 



Figure 6. 

(see Figures 4, 5 and 6). 

Leg.— For the leg at any point, begin with the circular for two or 
three turns and continue with the figure of eight. 

Head.— Use two bandages, carrying the first one several times 
around the head just above the ears, and then catching the other 



Figure 7. 




















SURGICAL DISEASES. 


677 




















678 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 



Figure 14. The heel. 



Figure 15. The foot. 



Figure 16. The foot. 


Figure 17. The calf. 


bandage each time, which is being carried over 
the top of the head at.right angles to the first 
(see Figures 8 and 8a). 

Figures 9, 10 and 11 explain themselves in il¬ 
lustrating the use of one or two handkerchiefs 
when used for bandages. 

Jaw.— The jaw should be bandaged in the 
manner shown in Figure 12. It is well to catch 
the crossing points of the bandage on either sit^-e 
with a safety pin or with needle and thread. 





















Figure 22. 


Back. 


Figure 23. Chest. 
























































680 


SURGICAL DISEASES. 


Eyes.— A handkerchief or roller bandage will act equally well for 
bandaging the eye (see Figure 13). 

Foot, Calf, Knee and Thigh.— The bandaging of the foot and leg 
is done precisely the same as the hand and arm. The knee is treated 
similarly to the elbow. The bandages of the thigh, called the ^^spica,’’ 
is simply a pattern of the figure of eight with the loop enclosing the 
abdomen greatly enlarged (see Figures 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19). 

Abdomen, Groin, Chest, Back, and Shoulder.— The abdomen 
may be sustained by a handkerchief, or better, with a ^‘swathe” about 
ten to twelve inches wide and pinned securely in front with safety 
pins (see Figure 20). 

The chest and back may be swathed or bandaged with the circular 
turns and a short piece of bandage passed over the shoulder (suspender 
style) to prevent it from slipping, and pinned with safety pins as in 
Figures 22 and 23. 

The shoulder is bandaged in a like manner as the thigh and groin 
(see Figure 24). 



Figure 24. Shoulder. 







HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT 


OF DISEASES 


With the Latest Directions for the 


Selection and Use of Homoeopathic Remedies 


BY 

A. T. LOVERING. M. D. 


Member of the Faculty Boston University School of Medicine 
Member of Boston Homoeopathic Medical Society 
Associate Elditor New England Medical Gazette 
and well-known author of several books on Medicine and Nursing — their practice and use. 


1905 






HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF 
DISEASES 


By A. T. LOVERING. M. D. 


The enlightened and liberal policy of the publishers of this com¬ 
prehensive work on the practice of medicine, will be thoroughly appre¬ 
ciated by the laity for whom it is written when they take note of the 
fact that every well tested method of preventing and curing disease 
has been included in this volume. There has never been a time in 
the history of the world when both the medical profession and the 
public have possessed so many resources for the lessening of sickness 
and the lengthening of life, as now. All the important means to this 
end will be found on the pages of this book. Among the most im¬ 
portant is the treatment of diseases by remedies selected in accordance 
with what is known as ^Hhe law of similars.’’ 

More than a hundred years ago Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, a distin¬ 
guished German physician, became dissatisfied with the prevailing 
method or lack of method of using drugs. These were chosen in 
accordance with some real or fancied virtue they possessed, or in 
conformity with the fashion of the day, or to please the whim of the 
prescriber. Almost nothing was known of their actual and definite 
effect upon the organs and functions of the body. Medicines were also 
administered in enormous doses merely to deaden pain, to cause vio¬ 
lent purging or sweating and the like, and the popular and indiscrimin¬ 
ate treatment of fevers was by excessive blood letting. Now consti¬ 
pation, for instance, is a symptom of disease, and purgatives will 
remove that symptom, but the cause of it still remains; pain is a 
symptom, and morphia will deaden it, but will not cure the cause. 
A tree that is dying because of disease of the roots, will not be healed 
by cutting off the dead branches. 

Another thing that Dr. Hahnemann objected to was that medicines 
were combined then as now, so that a number of powerful drugs were 
introduced at one time into the system, with no means of forecasting 
their true effect on the living organism, however correct the com¬ 
bination from a chemist’s viewpoint. He concluded that there must. 
be a better way of selecting remedies than this hit-or-miss fashion, 

682 



PI, 7. 



12. Heart 

13. Lungs 

14. Liver 

15. Gall Bladder 

16. Hiaphragm 

7. Stomach 

8. Spleen 

9. Large Intestine 
. Small Intestine 

Appendix 
Part of large Intes¬ 
tine called tht 
Rectum 
Bladder 


1. Eyeball 

2. Main Nerve of Face 

3. Teeth and Jaws 

4. Collar Bone 

5. Main Vein to Heart 

6. Cerebrum or large 

Brain 

7. Cerebellum or 

small Brain. 

8. Beginning of Spi¬ 

nal Cord 

9. Carotid Artery 

10. Trachea or Wind- 

pipe 

11. Main Artery from 

Heart 


THE lOTERNAL ORGANS OF THE HUMAN BODY, 









4 






HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


683 


that there must be some universal law of cure. For over forty years 
Hahnemann conducted a series of experiments testing the action of 
individual remedies on the healthy human body. During these years 
he learned the definite and constant action of more than sixty reme¬ 
dies, and discovered the great truth that a remedy taken by a healthy 
person and causing, for instance, symptoms characteristic of malaria, 
will relieve those symptoms in a person ill with malaria and cure the 
underlying condition, for, as we have said, symptoms are but mani¬ 
festations of the disease itself. This fundamental truth is ‘‘the law 
of similars,’’ and is the law applied by many physicians in the selec¬ 
tion of the remedies they use, and this is what is meant when it is 
said that medicines are used homoeopathically. It is not essentially 
the strength of the medicine or the size of the dose, but its selection 
in accordance with this therapeutic law which results prove to be 
true, and to be depended upon. The method of preparation of reme¬ 
dies to be used homoeopathically, and their effective action, when 
properly chosen, because they are the right remedies, makes it un¬ 
necessary to use them in a crude form in large doses. Every intelli¬ 
gent practitioner applying the principle of homoeopathy, will give no 
stronger preparation, and no more of a remedy than is necessary to 
relieve or cure his patient. Opinions and experiences differ as to 
both strength and size of doses, but opinions and experiences honestly 
differ in all directions and in the lives of all men. It is enough to 
recognize the fundamental truth and apply its law to the best of each 
man’s abilities. 

It must be distinctly understood that the homoeopathic treatment 
of diseases includes much more than the selection of remedies as just 
explained. An allopath uses remedies after his methods, a homeo¬ 
path after his, but the skillful and well educated physician of either 
school makes use of a host of auxiliary measures to prevent and cure 
disease, such as sanitation, hygiene, diet, hydrotherapy, medical gym¬ 
nastics, electro-therapeutics, serum therapy, surgery, and many other 
resources placed within his reach through the constantly increasing 
knowledge of the cause and nature of different diseases, and the means 
of combatting them. 

In the following pages brief and concise descriptions are given of 
the various diseases mentioned, because, in the majority of instances 
these diseases are described at length earlier in the book, and extended 
repetition would be unnecessary and undesirable. More space is 
given to the enumeration of the indications of remedies, so that an 
intelligent selection can be made. To the list of remedies under each 
disease are added directions as to the general treatment. These 
directions have been made as plain, simple and practical as possible, 
and the recommendations are the results of actual professional ex¬ 
perience. When the services of a skillful physician can be obtained, 
it is true economy and common-sense to employ them in any case at 
all serious. On the other hand one may easily be so situated as to 


684 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


be thrown on one’s own resources. Under such circumstances this 
book as a whole should prove invaluable. Any intelligent person can 
apply the instructions it contains to the greatest advantage, for the 
preservation or restoration of his own and others’ health. 

Forms of Medicines for Administration. 

Remedies to be used homeopathically are prepared, when of in¬ 
soluble substances, in the form of triturations or powders which aic 
sometimes made up into tablets. Soluble substances may be pre¬ 
pared as triturations, tablets made from triturations, or in fluid form 
as tinctures, dilutions made from tinctures, or as globules, pellets or 
little pills, also cones or disks, medicated with the tinctures or di¬ 
lutions. 

Remedies are prepared on the decimal scale, as it is called, one part 
of the crude drug being added to nine parts of alcohol or finely pow¬ 
dered milk sugar, as the case may be, to make the first decimal, or 
1 X. One part of the first decimal added to nine parts of milk sugar 
or alcohol makes the second decimal, or 2 x, and so on. When the 
strength of a remedy is not specified in the following pages, the third 
decimal should be used. It will be convenient to obtain remedies 
either in the tablet form or as medicated pellets or disks; but tinc¬ 
tures and solutions can be bought, and unmedicated pellets or disks 
medicated by simply pouring on them as much of the fluid as they 
will absorb. 


Selecting and Using Remedies. 

A remedy should be chosen not because it is recommended for a 
given disease, but because the description of that special remedy is 
the nearest picture of the patient’s condition as a whole, that one can 
find at the time the prescription is made. Two persons may both 
have the grip, but one may be almost delirious from pain in the head, 
the other may have an acute influenza; one may require Gelsemium, 
the other Arsenicum Iodide, 

The symptoms, not the disease by name should be treated, and 
when in the course of a disease the picture changes, another remedy 
will be needed. Do not change a remedy, however, as long as the 
patient is improving, and when it seems desirable to administer 
another remedy, omit the giving of any for two or three hours. 

The repetition of a dose is almost invariably mentioned in connec¬ 
tion with the disease. When not otherwise specified, three pellets or 
one tablet, or disk may be understood as constituting a dose. As 
much of a remedy in powdered form may be taken as will cover the 
tip of a penknife. Five drops of a tincture, ten drops of a dilution, 
or fifteen pellets may be added to a third of a glass of water, unless 
otherwise directed, and a teaspoonful taken at one time. A medicine 
should be prepared in a clean tumbler which should be kept covered 


CARE OF MEDICINES. 


685 


with a saucer or sheet of paper. Use a clean spoon, and never one 
that has been previously used without afterwards washing it, for any 
other medicine. Keep the spoon on top of the glass, and not in the 
medicine. Keep the medicine in a cool place, and give it exactly 
when it is due. If a dose is forgotten, never double the next one. As 
the patient improves, the intervals between giving the remedy may 
be lengthened, ^. e., from once an hour to once in two hours, and so 
on. A dose two or three times a day is sufficient in chronic cases, 
and the longer a condition has continued the more time should be 
allowed for favorable results from the action of the remedy to become 
manifest. In general, it may be said that the use of tea, coffee, al¬ 
coholic beverages, or highly spiced food is hostile to the action of 
homoeopathic preparations. 

Care of riedicines. 

While it is not absolutely necessary to have a medicine chest or 
case in which to keep remedies, one or the other is a great convenience 
protecting the vials from sunlight, dust, breakage or being scattered. 
A medicine closet, drawer or special shelf may answer every purpose 
for keeping medicines together, and out of children’s reach. Every 
bottle should be plainly labelled, and in pouring out medicine always 
do so from the side opposite the label, that it may not be stained or 
loosened. Always buy homoeopathic remedies from large and well 
known pharmacies if possible, not only in order to get reliable prep¬ 
arations, but also that they may be fresh, as some medicines deteri¬ 
orate with age. Medicines can always be sent safely by mail if 
desired. One-half ounce and ounce vials are the most serviceable 
size, while two drachm vials will prove convenient in which to medi¬ 
cate pellets or disks to be carried about with one. Unmedicated 
pellets or disks can be purchased in any quantity, a half pound box 
being a favorite size. Suppositories can be ordered by the dozen, 
cerates by the ounce or more. 

Keep vials tightly corked, and do not use the cork in one for an¬ 
other, or use old corks unless they have been well boiled and thor¬ 
oughly dried. It is well to print in ink on the top of the cork the 
name of the medicine in the vial to which it belongs. Empty bottles 
should be well washed in hot water containing a little soda, then 
carefully rinsed and placed in plain boiling water; boil half an hour, 
then dry, rinse with alcohol and cork before putting them away, 
unless they are placed in a box or wrapped in tissue paper. 

In addition to a supply of medicines for internal or external use, 
it will be found an excellent investment to keep the following articles 
in an accessible place for use in emergencies or sudden illness: foun¬ 
tain syringe, bulb syringe, hot water bag, china bedpan, soft old 
linen or cotton, absorbent cotton, adhesive plaster, court plaster, 
safety pins, a few bandages, old flannel, a medicine dropper, a rubber 


686 


HOMCEOPATHIO TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


sheet, clinical thermometer and bath thermometer. A douche pan 
will be required if douches are to be taken 

General Considerations. 

Elsewhere in this book the subjects of baths, diet, medical gym¬ 
nastics, the management of the sick room, etc., are discussed at length. 
It is, therefore, unnecessary to mention them here except incidentally, 
but their importance can hardly be too greatly emphasized. Health 
is a very precious possession, and one that should never be treated 
lightly. Once lost it is often never regained, or only regained after 
much suffermg or expenditure of time and money. The observation 
of the common laws of right living will prevent a host of ailments. 
No dissipation of any of the body’s powers or functions should be 
indulged in. Pure thoughts, pure actions, plenty of work but no 
overwork, sufficient recreation and outdoor exercise, fresh air in the 
house, the daily sponge bath with friction, a reasonable amount of 
sleep m a well ventilated room, keeping the feet dry, drinking several 
glasses of water each day between meals, wearing loose and suitable 
clothing, the avoidance ot stimulants and over-eating, the cultiva¬ 
tion ot amiability are ah aids to health that nothing else equals. No 
medicines will take then place. 

Again, when one is ill good nursing is highly desirable, and in acute 
diseases especially will often be the means of turning the scales of 
life and death in the patient’s favor. A trained nurse should be se¬ 
cured it possible, sick persons often make much better progress in 
the hands of a stranger It some member of the famity must act as 
nurse she should implicitly obey the doctor’s directions, and not let 
her interest m the patient cause her to do anything contrary to the 
doctor's orders. 


Diseases of the Ear. 

Inflammation of the External Ear. 

Inflammation and swelling of the visible portion of the ear is not 
infrequent, and is usually due to injury from an ear pick or other 
instrument, to lack of cleanliness coupled with some abrasion of the 
skin; unsanitary surroundings, use of lotions containing harmful 
ingredients. Inflammation may be superficial, or affect the deeper 
tissues causing severe pain and swelling, and even little boils. 

Aconite.— Two to five drop doses every hour in the beginning of 
sudden, severe inflammation, with fever, restlessness, great pain 
locally, and burning headache, flushed face, constant thirst, or, a 
little later, when the temperature rises, the pulse grows rapid, and 
pulsation is felt in the ear, give Ferrum phos. a dose every hour. 

Belladonna.— Throbbing headache; tearing pains in the ear; much 


DISEASES OF THE EAR. 687 

congestion of head and face; mouth dry and hot and throat bright 
red; alternate chill and heat. A dose every hour. 

Hepar 5ulph.— Unhealthy condition of the skin; sticking pain in 
the ear which is sensitive to touch; itching of the entrance to the ear, 
suppuration, with thin, bad smelling pus. Give as above. 

Picric Acid.— Recurring boils of the external ear in debilitated 
cases; also acute or chronic localized inflammation and tenderness, 
with debility. Give as above; in chronic cases, three times a day. 

Calcarea Carb.— A valuable remedy in these cases in persons of 
a scrofulous constitution. The skin of the ear is thickened and red, 
and the entrance filled with cheesy pus; or there is ulceration, and 
the formation of exuberant granulations. A dose three times a day. 

In the beginning of the inflammation apply ice compresses, or paint 
the surface with tincture of Iodine. If a boil develops and pus forms, 
it must be evacuated; cleanse with a saturated solution of Boracic 
acid in alcohol, and continue the cold applications. Treatment with 
the borax and alcohol should be repeated two or three times a week 
until recovery is complete. The patient should rest, eat unstimulat¬ 
ing food, and avoid the use of alcohol in any form. 

Eczema of the External Ear. 

Eczema may be due to local cause such as insect bites, the wearing 
of earrings, irritating dust as among metal-workers, parasites from 
the scalp, also to diseases of the stomach, kidneys, intestines or 
uterus, and to rheumatism and gout. Remove the cause. 

The usual itching and sense of heat marking the beginning of 
eczema is often attended by fever in children. Small reddish pimples 
first appear, and these become watery or pustular. When they burst, 
crusts form. The acute form lasts from four to six weeks; if the 
original cause persists, eczema of the moist variety ensues. 

Arsenicum.— Dry, scaly, bran-like eruption, with itching and 
burning, worse from scratching and at night; better in warm air. 

Graphites.— Eruption with moist, sticky oozing, and the whole 
skin of the ear looks unhealthy. Rawness and soreness, especially 
behind the ears. The patient feels better in the open air. 

Mezereum.— Red, moist eruption covered with thick, hard crust; 
with intense itching extending even into the ear passage; worse at 
night and from scratching. 

Rhus. Tox.— Swelling, burning, itching and tingling of the skin, 
with watery vesicles around which the skin is red and angry looking; 
itching better from scratching. 


688 ■ HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OP DISEASES. 

Kali Mur.— Dry, scurfy eruption, obstinate cases in children, 
with indigestion, constipation, and sores at the corners of the mouth. 

A simple dusting powder of starch, oxide of zinc, lycopodium or 
rice is the best dressing for acute dry eczema; for the moist eruption 
apply oxide of zinc ointment, or one per cent, ich hyol ointment. 
Crusts should first be removed by softening them with olive oil or 
vaseline. As emphasized in the beginning, the removal of the cause 
of the affection is of great importance, also regulation of diet, and 
attention to all hygienic rules. 

Earache. 

The pressure of hardened wax or some foreign body may cause 
earache, or exposure to cold or wet, defeetive teeth, digestive disturb¬ 
ances, or the abuse of quinine. Earache may be a simple neuralgia 
or symptomatic of acute catarrhal inflammation of the middle ear. 
Douching the nose is not an infrequent cause of ear troubles. 

Aconite.— Recent inflammation from cold or cold winds; ear hot, 
very painful, and sensitive to touch. Ferrum phos. frequently gives 
even greater relief. 

Belladonna. —Severe, boring, or sudden shooting pains in the ears, 
darting from one ear to the other, with chilliness and great restless¬ 
ness. 

Chamomilla. —Stabbing, cutting, unbearable pains, especially in 
nervous children; child very fretful, and, if little, wants to be carried 
all the time. 

Pulsatilla.— Sharp, tearing, pulsating pains, worse at night, com¬ 
ing in paroxysms, increasing in severity; ringing in the ears and 
deafness; earache in highly sensitive persons, and in children of that 
type. 

Magnesia Pho5.— Purely nervous earache, with pain back of the 
ear also; worse in cold air, and from washing the face in cold water; 
better from hot application. 

Plantago. —Tearing pains like neuralgia, especially when the teeth 
are affected. 

A dose of the indicated remedy may be taken every fifteen minutes, 
increasing the intervals as the pain subsides. A hot water bag, bag 
of hops or salt heated in the oven may alleviate pain, or heat in a 
teaspoon one part of tincture of aconite, one part of laudanum to 
two parts of sweet oil, and drop two or three drops into the ear, or 
apply on absorbent cotton. Mullein oil may be used the same way. 
Steam from a radiator valve or spout of a teakettle conducted through 
soft rubber tubing to the ear often proves very soothing. The core 
of a baked onion applied to the ear will often give relief. 


DISEASES OF THE EAR. 


689 


Special attention should be paid to keeping the feet warm and dry, 
and to regulating the diet. Baths should always be followed by 
friction. 

Running of the Ears.— Otorrhcea, 

This is a symptom, not a disease in itself. It may follow acute 
catarrhal inflammation of the ear, or measles, scarlatina or diphtheria, 
and is most common in debilitated individuals, or those having a scrof¬ 
ulous constitution. There is seldom much pain. 

Mercurius Viv.— Thick, bloody or offensive discharge, with swell¬ 
ing and tenderness of the glands about the ear, especially when the 
discharge follows measles or scarlatina. 

Calcarea Carb.— Scrofulous individuals inclined to be fat, flesh is 
flabby; head sweats; white, thick, sticky discharge, tendency to 
the formation of little growths in the ear. 

Silicea.— Small amount of bad smelling, thin discharge, with 
ulceration of lining membrane of the ear or disease of the bones. 

Hepar Sulph.— Heat and discomfort in the ear which is very 
sensitive to touch; slight, sour and offensive discharge. 

A dose of the indicated remedy three times a day. The ear should 
be gently syringed with warm water, a soft bulb syringe being pref¬ 
erable that the stream of water may not be forcibly ejected into the 
ear. After syringing instil peroxide of hydrogen, dry the ear gently 
but thoroughly with small bits of absorbent cotton, which may be 
loosely wound on a toothpick, then, with a powder blower blow in a 
little boracic acid powder. 

Constitutional treatment is important; change of air; a liberal, 
nourishing, unstimulating diet, especially vegetables, milk, cream, cod 
liver oil. A good preparation of iron may be needed, and frequent 
sea salt baths with friction, also plenty of fresh air and sunshine. 


Deafness .—Hardness of Hearing, 

Deafness may be due simply to constitutional debility; to sudden 
blows or loud noises; ulceration, perforation or rupture of the ear 
drum (tympanum); accumulations of wax; inflammation of the lin¬ 
ing mucous membrane, and suppuration; foreign bodies in the ear; 
•hysteria; kidney or brain disease, paralysis of the nerve of hearing, 
etc. 

Cinchona.— Deafness with ringing, humming, roaring or ticking 
sounds in the ears; vertip; after loss of blood, or blows, the firing 
of guns, or other concussion. 


690 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


Ferrum Phos.— After catching cold, in cold, windy weather, or 
during general debility with poor blood supply; ringing the ears; 
rush of blood to the head. 

Chenopodium.— Deafness to the sound of the voice, but passing of 
vehicles are heard; annoying buzzing in the ears; progressive deaf¬ 
ness. 

Nux Vom.— Hardness of hearing, and buzzing, tingling, whistling 
noises in the ear, especially while eating, with indigestion. 

' Hydrobromic Acid. —Deafness, with pulsating ringing in the ears, 
and great nervousness. This acts as a sedative, and may be prepared 
by adding thirty drops to three tablespoonfuls of cold water and 
adding a little sugar. Take two teaspoonfuls every hour. 

Pulsatilla.— Deafness following measles, also with darting, tearing 
or pulsating pain in the ear. If there is a discharge, it is thick, yellow¬ 
ish or yellowish-green. 

Causticum —Difficulty in hearing due to inability to identify the 
sounds; confusion of hearing; words or steps re-echo in the ears. 

Phosphoric Acid.— Roaring in the ears with difficult hearing in 
nervous and debilitated individuals. 

Also Magnesia phos. for deafness, or dullness of hearing from weak¬ 
ness of the auditory nerve. Mercurius viv. catarrhal deafness caused 
by a cold or chill, or occurring in syphilitics. Calcarea carb. Deaf¬ 
ness in scrofulous persons with thickening of the lining membrane of 
the ear, and enlarged tonsils. Sulphur after the abuse of mercury, 
or in hardness of hearing due to suppressed eruptions. Belladonna 
for deafness following scarlatina. 

A dose of the indicated remedy may be given every four hours. 
The general health must be improved, and the cause of the local con¬ 
dition discovered and removed. Many cases require the skilled care 
of a specialist. Proper hygiene of the ears prevents many ear troubles. 
Never box a child’s ears, never close healthy ears with cotton unless 
going into a machine shop or other noisy place or when the entire 
body is to be submerged as in sea-bathing; never let water run into 
the ear while shampooing the hair or taking a bath; do not scratch' 
the ear or introduce pins, hair pins, pencils, etc. The excessive use 
of alcohol and tobacco injures the nerves of the ear. Do not allow 
the teeth to become or remain decayed. 

Diseases of the Eye and Lids. 
Inflammation of the ByeMAs.—Blepharitis. 

This common affection commences as a simple congestion of the lid 
border, making the lids look red and swollen. There is slight burn- 


DISEASES OF THE EYE AND LIDS. 


691 


ing and smarting, worse from cold winds, smoke, dust and a bright 
light. The lids adhere in the morning, and a sticky secretion forms 
dry scales or scabs, beneath which in pronounced cases will be found 
a raw or ulcerated surface. Pus may form, the eyelids become thick¬ 
ened and the eyelashes fall out. Lack of cleanliness; poor hygienic 
surroundings; eruptive diseases; the irritation of smoke, wind and 
dust, and late hours are the usual causes, and especially in young 
and scrofulous persons, who may or may not have imperfect vision. 

Aconite.— Acute inflammation from cold winds or dust, lids red 
and swollen, great heat, dryness, burning and sensitive to the air. 
A dose every two hours. 

Pulsatilla.— Inflammation of the lids resulting from high living or 
fat food, and when accompanied by acne of the face; profuse, bland 
discharges. Give as above. 

Hepar Sulph. —Acute inflammation, especially when suppuration 
seems imminent or has taken place; the lids throb and are sensitive 
to touch; feel better from warm applications. Give as above. 

Calcarea Garb.— Scrofulous, ^‘pot-bellied” children who sweat 
much about the head; eyelids red, swollen and hard. A dose three 
times a day. 

Mercurius Sol.— Thick, red, swollen, ulcerated lids, sensitive to 
heat or cold and to touch; prof use acrid watering of the eyes; cutting 
pains, worse at night; syphilitic persons especially. Give as above. 

Antimonium Crud.— Lids adhere on waking in the morning, burn 
on being opened; eyes dread the light; eyelids itch and burn, and are 
thickened. Give as above. 

Also Argentum niL Inflammation of the lids involving the eye¬ 
lashes, better from cold air and cold applications. Apis. Eyelids 
much swollen, red, puffy; itching of eyes and lids. ^ Graphites. 
Chronic cases in scrofulous persons subject to eczema, chiefly on the 
head and behind the ears; edges of eyelids slightly swollen, and 
covered with dry scales or scarfs; the outer corners of the eyes may 
crack and bleed on opening the lids. 

Simple cosmoline or vaseline may be applied to the margins of the 
lids to prevent adhesion, but two grains of the yellow oxide of mer¬ 
cury to two drachms of vaseline, well mixed, is even better. In 
chronic cases where graphites is indicated internally, two grains of 
the crude drug may be added to the vaseline in place of the mercury, 
for external application. Improve the general health, and have any 
error of refraction corrected. When pus forms on the lids, they may 
be cleansed with peroxide of hydrogen. 

Twitching of the Eyelids.— Blepharospasm. 

Children are often affected, especially during their early school 


692 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


years, with undue winking of the eyelids, associated, at times, with 
jerky movements of the muscles of the face. This is sometimes of 
merely nervous origin and occurs also in nervous, delicate adults. 
When from a foreign body, decayed teeth, inflammation of the eye, 
ulcer of the cornea, or errors of refraction, remove the cause, and 
institute proper treatment. When of nervous origin, resort to elec¬ 
tricity may be necessary, but most cases can be cured by one of the 
following remedies: 

Agaricus.— ^Twitching of the lids, with a feeling of heaviness in 
them, relieved during sleep, and sometimes temporarily by washing 
in cold water; spasms of the lids. The principal remedy, two-drop 
doses of the tincture, twice a day. 

Ignatia.— Constant winking of the eyelids, with spasmodic action 
of the muscles of the face In sensitive children or adults, who weep 
or are frightened easily, and are subject to headache and neuralgia. 
A dose twice a day. 

Cicuta.— Twitching or spasms of the eyelids, with tendency to 
squint. Give as above. 


stye. 

A STYE is a small, painful boil on the eyelids attended by heat, 
redness, swelling and rapid suppuration. A debilitated condition 
favors the formation of styes, especially in a scrofulous person; also, 
exposure to winds, eye-strain, chronic inflammation of the lids or of 
the covering membrane of the eyeball. In the beginning there is a 
circumscribed redness and swelling on the edge of the lid, with throb¬ 
bing pain. 

After exposure to cold winds or straining the eyes, threatened stye, 
or with general inflammation take Aconite. Pulsatilla will often pre¬ 
vent the formation of pus if given when the first signs of swelling and 
inflammation appear; especially serviceable for those of a scrofulous 
constitution. Hepar sulph. When pus forms, and Sulphur after the 
stye has healed to prevent recurrence, a dose of the latter remedy 
night and morning for a week or two. The other remedies may be 
taken a dose every three hours. 

Rest the eyes, avoid a strong light; if there is much inflammation 
the eyes may be bandaged. Hot bread-and-water poultices will 
relieve pain and tension, and bring the stye to a head when its con¬ 
tents can be evacuated. Hot fomentations, constantly renewed, 
also give much comfort. Build up the system by nourishing, simple 
food, malt and cod liver oil, and observe all hygienic rules. 

Inflammation of the Iris.— Iritis. 

The iris is the beautiful, colored, contractile membrane which is 
seen through the cornea or transparent portion of the external coat 


DISEASES OF THE EYE AND LIDS. 


693 


of the eyeball, in the front of the eye. In the center of this is a round 
opening, the pupil. The iris serves as a curtain to regulate the amount 
of light entering the eye, and aids the latter m accommodating itself 
to degrees of light by contracting and dilating the pupil. 

Inflammation of the iris may be due to catching cold, to overuse 
of the eyes, injuries, foreign bodies, scrofula, rheumatism, gout, 
diabetes or other constitutional diseases. From 60 to 75 per cent, 
of all cases are said to be due to syphilis. Acute iritis lasts from 
two to six weeks; it may become chronic. There is marked redness, 
watering of the eyes, sensitiveness to light; some pain, which increases 
and becomes very severe, and of a neuralgic character, extending 
many times to the forehead and temples or even the whole head. 
In chronic cases there is little pain; the iris is discolored. 

Aconite.— In the first stage, or, in a sudden reappearance, espe¬ 
cially when due to a cold draught of air; great heat, burning, and 
dryness of the eyes; iritis from injuries. 

Belladonna. —Early stages of iritis from a cold, or chronic in¬ 
flammation following cataract extraction; much redness, and severe 
throbbing pain in the eye and head. 

Mercurius Viv.— Especially in syphilitic cases; pains usually 
severe in the eyes, forehead and temples, worse at night and in damp 
weather; great sensitiveness to light; iris discolored; pupil con¬ 
tracted. 

Rhus Tox.— Rheumatic iritis, especially if caused by exposure to 
wet; suppurative inflammation after an operation, with puffy swell¬ 
ing and spasmodic closure of the lids; on opening them tears gush 
out; pains worse at night. 

Also Arnica in iritis from wounds. Bryonia. Inflammation, and 
watery discharge after exposure to cold in those subject to rheuma¬ 
tism; sharp, shooting pains in the eyes, through head or down into 
the face; may be soreness and aching of eyeballs, the eye sore to 
the touch. A dose of the indicated remedy every two hours in acute 
cases; three times a day, in chronic cases. 

The patient should stay in a darkened room, and preferably in 
bed to secure rest from movement of the eye muscles, as well as 
freedom from irritation by light. Avoid the use of alcohol or stimu¬ 
lating foods. A tablespoonful of hamamelis to half a cupful of water, 
applied on cloths frequently renewed and as hot as can be borne will 
often greatly relieve pain and congestion. The eye may be washed 
out twice a day with warm boracic acid solution. The instillation of 
a one per cent, solution of atrdpine is very desirable, but should be 
done under a physician’s direction as atropine is a poison. A few 
drops are dropped into the eye every two or three hours to twice or 
three times a day; dryness of the throat or flushing of the face are 
the first signs calling for its discontinuance. Small linen bags three 


69 i HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 

inches square filled with fine table salt, and heated in an oven, make 
grateful applications, if cold is preferred, use cloths wrung out in 
ice water, but do not let them get warm. Do not use ice bags. Cold 
applications are indicated immediately after wounds to the eye. 

Cataract. 

The crystalline lens back of the iris, which focusses the rays of 
light on the retina, is covered by a highly elastic membrane called its 
capsule. Any opacity of the lens or its capsule, or both constitues 
cataract. This lessening of the transparency of the lens may be due 
to old age, other diseases of the eye, injuries, excessive heat and 
light, gout, diabetes, etc., defects of the eye at birth, and other 
causes. When the fibres that make up the lens have degenerated, 
no internal remedy will restore transparency, and operative measures 
offer the only relief, but in the very beginning the remedy indicated 
in the individual case should certainly be given, and its use per¬ 
sisted in. 

Causticum.— Feeling of sand in the eyes, and pressure, Heaviness 
of the lids; burning and itching of the eyes, with desire to keep them 
closed; aversion to light; winking and twitching of the lids; flicker¬ 
ing or sparks before the eyes, and light obscured as from a thick 
fog or cloud. 

Sepia. —Especially in threatened cataract in women, eyes feel 
weak, worse toward evening, and better in the middle of the day; 
blurring of light or sudden vanishing of sight; some sharp pains in 
the eyes, with heaviness and twitching of the lids; headaches which 
are worse morning and night. 

Phosphorus.— Black, floating points before the eyes; distant ob¬ 
jects seem to be covered by a smoke or mist; can see better in the 
half light or by shading the eyes with the hand; eyes give out while 
reading. 

Iodoform.— Recommended by Dr. Norton, specialist in diseases 
of the eye at the New York Homoeopathic College and Hospital, in 
cases where there are broad lines or patches of flaky substances in 
the eye, showing a rapidly progressing cataract. 

Also Conium in cataract due to injury of the eye, and Calcar 
phos. in cataract in scrofulous and much debilitated persons, with 
much pain in the right eye and side of head. A dose of the indicated 
remedy two or three times a day. 

Squinting.— Strabismus. 

“Crosseyed” is a common term for this affection. Sometimes 
both eyes are affected, but usually only one; the strabismus may be 
intermittent or constant. It usually exists in connection with far- 


DISEASES OF THE EYE AND LIDS. 


695 


sightedness: other predisposing causes are working in a poor light 
excessive use of the eyes for near work, weakened eye muscles, dis¬ 
orders of the brain. Squinting is most frequent in children, and 
may sometimes be corrected by glasses, without resorting to opera¬ 
tive interference. Remedies are of use in squinting due to distur¬ 
bances of the nervous system. 

Cicuta.— Spasmodic squinting in children, or squinting in children 
subject to convulsions. Hyoscyamus or Belladonna in squinting in 
sensitive, nervous children or those suffering from epilepsy. A dose 
twice a day. 

Whatever refractive error of the eyes there may be should be 
corrected by glasses prescribed by a good oculist. As recovery may 
take place, with proper care of a child’s eyes, it is better not to have 
an operation performed in very young children, and wait until the 
age of ten years or even later. Never let a child use the eyes in a 
poor light, or facing a strong light. When there is squinting, all 
near work should be avoided as much as possible. 

Conjunctivitis .—Inflammation of the Lining 
Membrane of the Eyelids. 

A LIST of remedies indicated in this disease, and an outline of the 
general treatment is appended to the brief descriptions of its different 
forms. 

Catarrhal Conjunctivitis. 

The mucous membrane lining the eyelids, and which is reflected 
over the ball of the eye, is called the conjunctiva. It may become 
acutely inflamed from exposure to cold, wind, dust, or the disease 
may be due to an epidemic or to infection through a towel, handker¬ 
chief or even the fingers of a person already affected, for the discharge 
from the eyes is contagious. Catarrhal conjunctivitis may accom¬ 
pany other diseases. It is most common in the spring and fall, but 
may occur at all times of the year, and at all ages. Sometimes, but 
not always, there is inflammation of the lids, blepharitis, which has 
been already described. The white of the eye is highly inflamed, the 
lids itch and smart, eyes feel hot and heavy and as if sand was in 
them; and there is more or less bland, or partly mucous pus-like 
discharge. Acute attacks last from two to three weeks, but become 
chronic if neglected. 

There is a form of acute catarrhal conjunctivitis known as Epi¬ 
demic Conjunctivitis or Pink Eye. This is due to a small bacillus, 
and is generally communicated through the secretion from some 
affected eye. 

Purulent Conjunctivitis .—Gonorrheal Conjunctivitis. 

In infants this form is called Ophthalmia Neonatorum. The cause. 


690 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


whether in infants or adults, is the contagion present in gon:.rrheal 
or syphilitic discharges. All the symptoms present in the ordinary 
catarrhal form are seen in this, only more prominent. Special symp¬ 
toms are the elevation of the conjunctiva in a ridge surrounding the 
eyeoall, little points above the surface of the conjunctiva which bleed, 
and a thin, semi-purulent discharge, becoming pus-like, thick and 
yellow, heat and burning of the eyes, puffiness of the lids. 

Granular Conjunctivitis,— Trachoma. 

Almost everyone has heard of trachoma since so many immigrants 
reaching these shores have been sent back by the medical inspectors 
because they had this disease. It is an infectious inflammation and 
thickening of the conjunctiva with formation of granulations on the 
inside of the eyelids, and finally a pus-like discharge highly conta¬ 
gious. When the disease is abating, narrow, white, linear scars form; 
but this aflection is very obstinate, lasts months and even years, and 
relapses often occur. 

Diphtheritic Conjunctivitis .—Croupous Conjunctivitis. 

These are two more forms of the same disease, the former always 
due to infection by the specific germ of diphtheria, but this bacillus is 
also found in the croupous variety. In diphtheritic conjunctivitis the 
tissues are infiltrated, and may die; there is a purulent discharge, 
much prostration of the whole system as in diphtheria. It occurs in 
children, but is rather rare. 

The croupous form differs in that the exudation is on the surface 
of the conjunctiva, and does not extend into the tissues beneath. It 
forms a fibrinous membrane which may be removed, leaving a bleeding 
surface. Chemical or mechanical irritants and excessive heat as well 
as germs, may cause this variety. 

Scrofulous Conjunctivitis or Ophthalmia, 

This form has several other names, of less importance than the 
causes and symptoms, for it is a common disease in scrofulous or 
consumptive children, especially under bad hygienic conditions, lack 
of cleanliness and proper food. These children often have eczema, 
enlarged glands, discharge from the ears, chronic nasal catarrh, etc. 

On the conjunctiva will be noticed small, reddish elevations, sur¬ 
rounded by an area of redness; there is pain, watering of the eyes 
and aversion to light; matter forms and sometimes the elevations 
ulcerate; often the lids tend to stick together; relapses are common. 

Aconite. —In the first stage of any inflammation of the conjunctiva 
when the eves are red, burning and very painful, with great drvness 
or there may be some watering of the eyes; especially useful in 


DISEASES OF THE EYE AND LIDS. 697 

inflammation from a toreign body, in acute catarrhal conjunctivitis 
or acute aggravation of the granular form. Cold local applications 
supplement this remedy well. 

Arsenicum. —^Acute catarrhal conjunctivitis, with-ridge-like swell¬ 
ing; hot, scalding tears, burning pains worse at night; also in chronic 
cases when the discharges are thin and acrid, excoriating the eyelids 
and cheek 

Argentum Nit —Any form of purulent inflammation of the con¬ 
junctiva with very marked ridge-like swelling, profuse discharge of 
matter, and commencing haziness of the cornea, with tendency of 
the tissues to slough. 

Aurum Met. —Scrofulous ophthalmia; the white'of the eye blood¬ 
shot and ulcerated; much aversion to light; profuse, scalding tears, 
eyes sensitive to touch; a valuable remedy in trachoma. 

Mercurius Sol.— Scrofulous ophthalmia, and in purulent con¬ 
junctivitis in adults or children when the discharges are thin and 
excoriating; profuse burning, excoriating, watery flow, or thin, 
acrid, partly purulent discharges; generally severe pains worse at 
night. 

Pulsatilla.— Scrofulous, and purulent conjunctivitis; in scrofu¬ 
lous individuals, when little raised points on the conjunctiva only 
mat ter ate; in catarrhal and purulent, when the discharge is blank 
and profuse; in trachoma, with very fine granulations. Thick, 
white or yellow, bland, and generally profuse discharges are espe¬ 
cially characteristic of this remedy; pains better out of doors. 

Calcarea Carb. —Inflammation due to exposure to wet; all symp¬ 
toms worse during damp weather; catarrhal conjunctivitis in fat, 
unhealthy, scrofulous children. 

Belladonna.— Early stages of inflammation, with great dryness 
of the eyes; extreme sensitiveness to light; throbbing pains. 

Hepar Sulph. —Discharge of pus, with ulceration of the cornea; 
intense aversion to light; great redness of the eye; lids swollen, close 
spasmodically, sensitive to touch; yellowish white discharge. 

Sepia. —Recurring attacks, especially in the spring of the year, 
or cases always worse in hot weather, also in women with uterine 
troubles. 

Sulphur. —Catarrhal cases, especially chronic and in scrofulous 
children with skin eruptions; eyes worse from bathing, child will not 
have them touched; sharp, shooting, cutting pains. 

Always remove the cause of the trouble so far as possible, stop 
overuse of the eyes, protect them from exposure to light, dust, etc. 


698 


HOMOEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


Foreign bodies must be removed. In simple inflammation wear 
smoked glasses. Do not apply home-made poultices of any kind; 
they may make a simple case very serious. Compresses wet with 
ice water or with water as hot as can be borne often afford relief; 
change frequently. Cleanliness is always essential; as a wash, solu¬ 
tion of boric acid, ten grains to the ounce of warm water, can always 
be used with safety. 

Discharges from the eye must frequently be removed with little 
pieces of soft old linen or absorbent cotton, which must afterwards 
be burned. 

In purulent ophthalmia in infants, when the discharge is profuse, 
wash the eyes with warm water, dry the lids gently and with a medi¬ 
cine or eye-dropper, instill one or two drops, not more, of a solution 
of nitrate of silver, ten grains to one ounce, once a day. The same 
treatment is equally good for adults infected by gonorrheal or syph¬ 
ilitic discharges. When but one eye is affected, the other may be 
protected by covering it with a watch crystal, held in place by strips 
of adhesive or surgeon’s plaster. Remember the discharge is very 
contagious; the patient’s towels, etc. must never be used by anyone, 
and the hands of the attendant should be thoroughly washed in 1 to 
40 carbolic acid solution. For copious, pus-like discharges, frequent 
washing out of the eye with warm water containing as much boric 
acid as it will dissolve, is recommended, or use peroxide of hydrogen, 
or formalin, 1 to 2,000. 

In diphtheritic or croupous conjunctivitis strong astringents must 
not be applied to the lids: the conjunctiva may be brushed over 
with lemon juice every six hours. Keep the eyes clean with boric 
acid solution. Hot applications are better in these cases than cold. 

In all forms of inflammation where the lids tend to adhere, vaseline 
or cosmoline may be applied. 

In trachoma the affected surface may be brushed over once a day 
with the following preparation: one ounce of glycerine to which six 
grains of carbolic acid have been added. Use a camel’s hair brush. 
Cold compresses are beneficial. 

In all eye affections the general health must be looked to; simple, 
nourishing, unstimulating food taken, good hygienic surroundings 
secured, and in cases of debility some standard preparation of iron, 
arsenic and quinine used, or cod liver oil. 

Ulcers of the Cornea. 

Ulcers may follow inflammation of the conjunctiva or be caused 
by foreign bodies, or in the aged by defective nutrition. There is 
great aversion to light; watering and redness of the eye, and on the 
cornea first a grayish-yellow spot which changes to a superficial or 
deep ulcer with sloughing margins; there is more or less pain, and 
the eyes are kept tightly shut. 


DISEASES OF THE EYE AND LIDS. 699 

Rhus. Tox.— Superficial ulcer, with extreme sensitiveness to the 
light and profuse flow of tears. 

Conium.— Superficial ulceration with little or no redness of the 
conjunctiva, but intense sensitiveness to the light, and much water¬ 
ing of the eyes. 

Mercurius Sol.— Superficial or deep ulcers, especially in syphilitic 
or scrofulous individuals with profuse, burning, excoriating flow of 
tears, much pain; lids thick, red and swollen by the thin, acrid 
discharge. 

Hepar Sulph. —Deep, sloughing ulcers with severe, aching, throb¬ 
bing, stinging pains, better from warmth, worse from cold and un¬ 
covering the eye; eye sensitive to light and touch. 

Argentum Nit.— Ulcerations of the cornea in newborn infants, 
with profuse discharge from the eyes. 

Silicea.— Sloughing ulcers, and small round ulcers, slow to heal. 

Also Calcarea carb. Ulcerations in fat, flabby children with sweat¬ 
ing of the head. Sulphur, acute and chronic cases, with pus, splinter- 
Jik3, shooting pains in the eye toward morning; scrofulous individuals. 
A dose of the indicated remedy three times a day. 

Small pieces of flannel dipped in very hot water, applied to the eye 
and changed about every two minutes, the applications continued from 
ten to thirty minutes at a time, three to eight times a day will give 
much relief; also bandaging, using some pressure. 

With a medicine or eye-dropper apply atropine one grain to the 
ounce, twice a day: if the ulcer is central, or eserine, one-half grain to 
one ounce once a day, if the ulcer is near the margin and deep, 

Build up the general health and stay in the house; keep the bowels 
open; protect the eyes by smoked glasses if a bandage is not used, 
but the latter is strongly recommended. 


Rheumatic Pains in the Hyes. 

During inflammatory rheumatism, the eyes may be exceedingly 
painful, and temporary blindness may accompany the disease. 

Aconite.— When there is much soreness, pain, feeling of sand in 
the eyes, roughness and irritation. 

Apis.— Rheumatic inflammation of the left eye; the white of the 
eye looks like raw meat, redness extending over the cheek. 

Cimicifuga.— Soreness of the eyeballs on moving eyes; sensitive¬ 
ness to light and touch; intense aching pain. 

Spigelia. —Sharp, tearing pains with pressure in the eyeballs. 


700 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


Belladonna. —The eye feels too large for the socket, and as if it 
would burst; much pain and sensitiveness to light. 

Also Bryonia. Sense of pressure and heaviness in the eyes, inter¬ 
mittent pains much worse on moving the eyeballs, or opening the 
eyes. Sulphur. Dullness, spots before the eyes. Rhus. Redness, 
swelling and aching of the eyes; stiffness and soreness of the lids; 
dimness of vision. A dose of the indicated remedy three times a 
day. The remedies under ^‘Rheumatism’' should be consulted. 

Specks on the Cornea. 

Little opaque spots on the cornea may be left after scrofulous in¬ 
flammation has passed away. These may be removed by daily doses 
of Sulphur or Euphrasia. 


Watery Eyes. 

When the eyes are watery, or prone to become so, from slight ex¬ 
posure to wind or cold, the difficulty may be obviated with daily 
doses of Pulsatilla, Mercurius vivus or Lachesis. Blood-shot eyes 
will be relieved by daily doses of Euphrasia. 

Weakness of the Sight.— Amblyopia. 

The term amblyopia signifies a reduction of the normal power of 
sight which cannot be relieved by glasses, and which is not dependent 
upon any visible changes in the eye, although occasionally the term 
IS used for poor sight when some changes can be discovered. Abso¬ 
lute blindness unaccompanied by changes in the eye, has another 
name, amaurosis. 

To know the different causes of amblyopia, is to know to a certain 
extent what preventative or curative measures to take, for instance 
the excessive use of tobacco and alcohol; malaria; syphilis; some 
forms of kidney disease, hysteria, large doses of quinine; exposure 
to a strong electric light and to the glare of snow all may result in 
this disease. Blows on the head, loss of blood, and a stroke of light¬ 
ning are occasional causes. Many other causes are mentioned in 
connection with the remedies. 

Blindness to certain colors may exist from birth, or occur afterward 
from some disturbance of the nerve fibres of the eyes. 

For Simple Weakness of Sight in plethoric persons, give Bella¬ 
donna; for scrofulous individuals, Calcarea, for weak or debilitated- 
individuals, China; for nervous persons, Hyoscyamus. For those 
whose sight is impaired from biliary derangement. Sepia or Sulphur. 
For Incipient Amaurosis, Aurum, Sepi^a, Sulphur. For Complete 
Amaurosis, not incurable, give Belladonna to persons of full habit; 
Calcarea to persons who have a scrofulous tendency; Mercurius, for 
those suffering from hepatic derangement, Phosphorus, for those 


DISEASES OF THE EYE AND LIDS. 


701 


suffering from catarrhal affections; and for those subject to sick 
headache, Sepia. For Torpid Weakness of Sight, Phosphoric acid. 
For weakness of sight brought on by fine work, give Belladonna or 
Ruta. For that which occurs from old age, give Baryta curb., Opium 
or Secale cornutum. Where weakness of vision occurs after suppres¬ 
sion of the menses, or hemorrhoids, give Pulsatilla or Lycopodium. 
For that occasioned by suppression of measles, Causticum, Stra¬ 
monium or Sulphur. For that supervening upon rheumatism, give 
Belladonna, Pulsatilla or Rhus tox. For that attendent on gout, give 
Nux vom. or Colchicum. For that caused by the abuse of mercury, 
give Nitric acid. For that caused by worms, give Cina. For that- 
occasioned by diarrhoea, give Merc. viv. For that brought on by loss 
of blood, China^ For that produced by scrofula, give Arsenicum, 
Calcarea or Nitric acid. When produced by cold in the eyes. Dul¬ 
camara or Nux vomica. That produced by blows or concussions re¬ 
quires Arnica, Ruta, Euphrasia. The remedies chosen must not be 
repeated oftener than once a day. When weakness of sight is attended 
with nervous headache, give Aurum, Belladonna, Bryonia, Sepia or 
Sulphur. If by congestion of blood to the head, give Belladonna, 
China and Phosphorus. For that attendant on deafness or noises, 
give Gicuta, Nitric acid or Pulsatilla. The remedies need not be re¬ 
peated more frequently than once or twice in twenty-four hours. If 
weakness of vision is attended by gastric or abdominal ailments, give 
Cocculus, Nux vom., Ignatia or Pulsatilla. If attended by derange¬ 
ments of the womb, give Calcarea or Sepia. If by pulmonary com¬ 
plaints, give Phosphorus, Lycopodium, Calcarea and Sulphur. If by 
disease of the heart, Lachesis, Phosphorus, Pulsatilla, Sepia and 
Spiqelia. If by epilepsy, spasm or hysteria, Hyoscyamus, Opium, 
Stramonium or Sulphur. The remedy may be repeated, if necessary, 
every twenty-four hours. 

The particular indications for several of the remedies may be 
stated as follows: 

Aurum. —The upper half of the field of vision seems to be covered 
by a black body, the lower half is visible; everything is seen double, 
and one object mixed with another; sudden attacks after scarlet 
fever, or during confinement after delivery. 

Belladonna. —Dimness of vision or actual blindness; objects have 
a double rim or outline, look red; a large halo sometimes red, some¬ 
times broken into rays, appears around the flame of a candle; flashes 
of light or sparks before the eyes; pupils of the eyes dilate; eyes 
feel dry. 

Arsenicum. —A valuable remedy in loss of vision dependent upon 
the use of tobacco, or upon wasting away of the optic nerve. 

Calcarea Carb.—Farsightedness, but only one side of objects is 
visible; dimness of sight after getting the head cold; flickering, 
sparks and black spots before the eyes; light is painful. 


702 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


Causticum.— Sensitiveness to light which causes constant winking, 
flickering before the eyes as from a swarm of insects, winking causes 
the appearance of sparks of fire before the eyes even on a bright 
day; dimness and indistinct vision; as if a veil or thick cloud was 
before the eyes; transient dimness of vision on blowing the nose. 

China.— Dimness and weakness of sight in malaria, and with 
roaring in the ears after loss of blood, also blurring of objects, generally 
dilatation of the pupils, aching of the eyes on attempting to read or 
write. 

Cicuta.— Objects appear double and black, and to alternately 
approach and recede, for this reason the inclination on standing is 
to hold on to something. 

Cina.— On rising from bed all becomes black before the eyes, 
with dizziness and faintness, and unsteadiness on walking, relieved 
by lying down; yellow vision; on reading, the letters are blurred; 
eyesight better from pressure and rubbing the eyes. 

Cimicifuga.— Aching pains of the eyeballs and black specks be¬ 
fore the eyes, especially during menstruation. 

Gelsemium.— Dimness of sight and vertigo; smoky appearance 
before the eyes, with pain above them; confusion of sight, objects 
appear double but by an effort appear single; blindness. A valuable 
remedy in paralysis of the nerves, and in disturbances of vision fol¬ 
lowing apoplexy. 

Hyoscyamus.— Vision obscured; objects seem indistinct; sensation 
as if a veil were before the eyes; deceptive vision, one of two equal 
sized flames seems smaller than the other or larger; things not present 
are imagined seen. 

Lycopodium. —Especially valuable in ^^night blindness” or 
''moon blindness” caused by exposure to strong brilliant lights, a 
tropical sun or working before a furnace; evening light blinds the 
eyes; only half an object is seen; floating black spots before the eyes 
at a short distance. 

Nux Vrm.— The chief remedy for impairment of vision due 
chiefly to the use of alcohol or even to dissipation in general; bene¬ 
ficial after the excessive use of tobacco; vision cloudy, eyes cannot 
bear the daylight, and vision is obscured, especially in the morning. 

Phosphorus.— Cloudiness or dimness of vision; everything seems 
in a mist; green halo around the light of a candle; vision better in 
the morning, in twilight, and when shading the eyes with the hands- 
black floating points before the eyes; eyes give out while reading. 


DISEASES OF THE RESPIRATORY ORGANS. 


703 


Ruta.— Blurring of vision, watering of the eyes, letters seem to 
run together, these symptoms caused or made worse from reading or 
doing fine work; eyes weak, ache and burn, worse in the evening. 

Sepia.— Fiery sparks and zigzags before the eyes, with great 
weakness; vision obscured as if by a veil, better on lying down, 
worse during menstruation, and mornings and evenings. 

Siiicea.— Blackness before the eyes after a headache; letters run 
together and look pale; black spots before the eyes. 

Sulphur.— Heaviness and aching of the eyeballs when reading or 
writing, with dimness of vision as in a fog, seems better from slightly 
pressing or rubbing the eyes; both near and distant objects appear 
as if veiled. 

Veratrum Vir.— Dimness of vision, faintness, and even blindness 
on walking; vertigo and pain from the light relieved by closing eyes, 
and lying down; unsteady vision; sympathetic eye troubles after 
great nervous strain. 

A dose of the indicated remedy every night. By proper care much 
may be done to prevent or cure dimness of vision. Never work or 
read in the twilight or facing a strong light. Have any refractive 
errors corrected by glasses. Do not over-eat, or eat rich or stimulat¬ 
ing foods, or use tobacco, stimulants or any drug to excess. Avoid 
all forms of dissipation, mental or physical. 

Treatment should be begun at once for any disease such as gon¬ 
orrhea, syphilis, diabetes, Bright’s disease, etc. Consider hysteria 
a disgrace, and endeavor to control all the emotions, at the same time 
improving the general health by nourishing food, exercise out of 
doors, baths, massage and electricity. When exposed to a strong 
light or glare as when at sea, or when there is much snow, wear 
smoked glasses. Protect the eyes from high, cold winds and dust. 
Avoid late hours and overwork or excitement; don’t worry. 

Diseases of the Respiratory Organs. 
Bleeding from the Nose.— Epistaxis, 

Hamamelis 1 x,—Ten drops in one-third of a glass of water, and a 
teaspoonful taken every ten minutes will usually quickly relieve any 
ordinary attack of nose-bleed, even when bleeding has continued for 
some time, when due to a fall, blow or no apparent cause. 

Ferrum Phos.— Frequently recurring hemorrhages from the nose, 
especially in excitable young or full-blooded persons, or in delicate 
children. A dose every ten or fifteen minutes. 

Aconite.— Profuse and continued bleeding in full-blooded persons, 
or after getting over-heated, with full, rapid bounding pulse and 
feverishness; athletes after violent exercise. Give as above. 


704 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


China 1 x.— Great exhaustion, paleness and faintness from loss of 
blood; nose-bleed in weak and debilitated subjects. A dose every 
half hour or more. 

Arnica.— Nose-bleed resulting from direct injuries. A dose every 
ten or fifteen minutes. 

Ferrum Mur 1 x.— Nose-bleed during fevers or malaria. A dose 
every half hour or more. 

Erigeron.— Three-drop doses of the oil in severe nose-bleeds, 
especially if the blood is bright red, and the flow increased by every 
movement of the patient. ’ 

In a simple attack of bleeding from the nose, press upon the affected 
side, just below the bone, with the finger nail. A clot will frequently 
form and check bleeding, if this treatment is continued three or four 
minutes. Ice or ice water to the nose, forehead and back of the 
neck is serviceable. An injection of vinegar or pure lemon juice into 
the nose, or of peroxide of hydrogen will often relieve bad cases. 
Powdered tannin may be snuffed up, or a pledget of styptic cotton, 
iodoform or sterilized gauze inserted in the nostril affected. 

A noted physician having a large and successful practice, recom¬ 
mends passing a long strip of bacon rind through the nostril, and 
allowing it to remain there some time. 

Polypus in the Nose. 

Small fleshy or mucous growths in the nose occasion difficulty in 
breathing, sometimes violent sneezing, and a watery discharge which 
may become purulent. Proper treatment should be at once insti¬ 
tuted, as any interference with nasal respiration affects the health 
of the whole body, by lessening the amount of oxygen received by 
the blood through the lungs. Also mouth breathing is a prolific 
cause of disease of the respiratory passages. 

Calcarea Carb. —Rapidly developing fleshy growths in the nose 
in persons of scrofulous constitution. A dose every four hours. 

Teucrium.— Small, mucous growths in the nose in those having 
chronic catarrh; feeling as if the nose were stopped up; blowing 
and sneezing give no relief. Give as above. 

Phosphorus.— Growths in the nose that bleed easily; frequent 
blowing of the nose, with resulting slight show of blood. Give as 
above. 

Also Sanguinaria can. internally for mucous polypi that bleed pro¬ 
fusely, and powdered sanguinaria nitr. applied directly to the growth 
daily by means of a powder blower. While constitutional treatment 


COLD IN THE HEAD. 


705 


is always indicated, it is best to have the growth removed by a com¬ 
petent physician. This can be done by the use of cocaine and a 
wire snare or loop, making it a simple and practically painless opera¬ 
tion. 


Cold in the Head .—Acute Rhinitis. 

Sudden changes of temperature, and the chilling of the over¬ 
heated or sensitive body by draughts of air are the most frequent 
causes of this affection. 

Other exciting causes are damp or wet feet or clothing, irritation and 
poisoning of the lining membrane of the nasal passages by dust, 
noxious fumes, chemicals, etc., great depression of the system, 
sleeping in draughts, and sometimes indigestion. Whether a simple 
cold is infectious, has not been absolutely determined. With the 
symptoms everyone is familiar; they are well emphasized under the 
indications of remedies. 

Camphor.— ^After getting damp or wet, or being exposed for some 
time in damp, wet or foggy weather; in the very beginning with 
chilly, shivery sensations; back feels cold; sudden sneezing. A 
drop or two on sugar every ten or fifteen minutes for several doses. 

Aconite.— After exposure to cold, dry winds; standing on cold 
pavements, or being out long in cold weather especially with snow 
on the ground; give at once if there is chilliness; feverishness but 
cannot get warm; thirst; sneezing; watering of the eyes and nose; 
throat rough; whole system feels depressed. A dose every half hour, 
increasing the interval. 

Belladonna. —Follows Aconite well when symptoms become more 
marked, and with watery discharge from nose and sneezing; the throat 
is affected, feels raw and intensely sore, is a vivid red, and swallowing 
is painful; face flushed and headache in forehead and temples. A 
dose every hour. 

Arsenicum lod.— When the cold is well started and chiefly in the 
nose, though with some headache in forehead; constant desire to 
sneeze; frequent sneezing without relief; constant running of thin 
watery, acrid discharge making nose and upper lip sore; burning 
in the nasal passages and throat and some soreness. Give as above. 

Mercurius Viv. —Copious discharge of thick, acrid mucus; bones 
of the nose feel sore; frequent sneezing and swallowing of the saliva; 
perspiration; catarrhal headache. A dose every hour or two. 

Nux Vom. —Nose stopped up at night; feels stopped up in day¬ 
time; or sometimes free then suddenly obstructed; running of mucus 
in the daytime; severe headache; creeping chills are felt even if 
near the fire. Give as above. 


706 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


Sanguinaria.— Much soreness of the palate, and the back of the 
mouth, worse on the right side; throat feels as if scalded; loss of 
taste and smell; constant acrid, watery discharge from the nose; 
nostrils sore; catarrhal headache, may be deafness and dizziness. 
Give as above. 

Pulsatilla.— Thick, copious, disagreeable, greenish-yellow dis¬ 
charge, may be lumpy; loss of smell and taste, constant chilliness, 
all symptoms better out of doors; worse evenings. A dose every 
two hours. 

Consult the medicinal treatment under ^'La Grippe,’' especially 
noting the indications for Gelsemium. 

Take the indicated remedy regularly and faithfully. A cold needs 
to be followed up, and as it shifts its location, or as new symptoms 
arise, the remedy must be changed, but this does not mean a new 
remedy every five or six hours. 

During an acute attack stay in the house, it possible, and preferably 
in bed. In the beginning, at bedtime, take a hot foot bath to which 
a little mustard may be aelded, and drink a glass of hot lemonade or 
gruel. If very feverish, the diet should be light, milk, gruels and 
broths. Ordinarily a generous, but unstimulating, nourishing diet 
is called for. If unable to remain in the house, unnecessary exposure, 
draughts, and overwork should be avoided, especially protect the 
feet from dampness, and breathe through the nose if possible. 

The inhalation of the steam of two drachms of tincture of benzoin 
to a pint of water, heated to the boiling point, will soothe the mem¬ 
brane of the nose and throat. When the throat is involved consult 
the section on ^‘Inflammation of the Throat,” for the local treatment. 
Very hot fomentations applied over the forehead and eyes often give 
great relief to the pains in the head, especially when there is much 
swelling in the upper air passages. Seiler’s tablets to be used as a nasal 
douche, and as recommended on page 239, are excellent. 

Above all, preventive measures should be faithfully carried out, 
that the system may not be debilitated by frequent colds, and a fer¬ 
tile soil created for the development of other diseases such as diph¬ 
theria, la grippe, bronchitis and pneumonia. These measures include 
the cold or tepid sponge bath every morning, with friction; frequent 
bathing of the neck and chest with cold water, and subsequent brisk 
rubbing; avoidance of unnecessary wraps about the throat; outdoor 
exercise, breathing deeply through the nose, with forcible expiration; 
protection of the feet from dampness, and the abdomen from cold; 
immediate changing of wet clothes, and the avoidance of draughts and 
overheated rooms. Nourishing food, good ventilation, sufficient sleep, 
and a cheerful spirit are recommended. 

Chronic Nasal Catarrh.— C/irowic Rhinitis. 

Chronic nasal catarrh most frequently follows the acute form, 


CHRONIC NASAL CATARRH. 


707 


although injuries and irritants, syphilis, tuberculosis and extreme 
debility may be suificient causes. One form of this chronic affection 
is characterized by swelling and increase of the tissues in the nose, 
the other by their shrinking and drying up. The latter often follows 
the former, with symptoms reversed, that is, breathing through the 
nose is unobstructed, there is little sneezing, the discharge at first is 
slight, then scabs form, but finally there is a very putrid discharge 
due to the decomposition of the secretions, or to ozena, which is an 
ulceration of the nasal cavities, with loss of smell. 

Wnen the tissues swell and become thickened, nasal breathing is 
difficult, and there is a most annoying discharge which may be thin 
or thick, scanty or copious, bland or excoriating; white, discolored, 
or bloody. When it dries in the nose it causes tickling, fullness or 
pain, with dull pains in the forehead and eyes. In its simplest form 
no appreciable shrinking or increase of the tissues may be noticeable. 

Pulsatilla.— See the indications given under ^‘Cold in the Head.” 

Ammonium Mur.— Clear, watery, corrosive mucus running from 
the nose; itching in the nose; stoppage of the nostrils, in children 
preventing them from sleeping, and causing nervous starting when 
falling asleep. 

Argentum Nit.— Bloody and purulent nasal discharge; ulcers 
and erosions in the nose, covered with yellow crusts; itching; head¬ 
ache, with chilliness and sneezing. 

Calcarea Carb.— Offensive smell in the nose like rotten eggs; nose 
dry and stuffy at night, free during the day; sore, ulcerated nostrils; 
chronic hoarseness; glands in the neck enlarge; {carcarea iod. is an 
excellent remedy when the last named symptom is present, and in 
those of a scrofulous constitution) tendency to grow fat; head sweats 
during sleep. 

Aurum. —Especially valuable when there is decay of the nasal 
bones, very foul discharge; nose obstructed by crusts; nostrils 
ulcerated; burning, itching, and smarting in the nose; after the abuse 
of mercury in syphilitic subjects. 

Hydrastis.— ^Thick, yellow, sticky discharge, dropping back into 
the throat, and causing hawking; catarrhal headache in forehead; 
constipation; constant tendency to ‘‘catch cold.” 

Hepar Sulph.— Swelling and boil-like painfulness of the nose; 
sensitiveness to every draught; pus-like discharge sometimes bloody; 
catarrh of one nostril; tonsils and glands in the neck swollen and 
hard. 

Mercurius Sol_ Syphilitic ulceration of the bones of the nose, 

with profuse watery, or greenish pus-like discharge. Mercurius iod. 


708 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


Tough, white or yellowish mucus especially in the back of the nose; 
cases of long standing; also profuse, acrid, long-lasting discharges 
which excoriate the nostrils and upper lip; shooting pains at the 
root of the nose. 

Also kali hick, for tenacious, stringy, yellow mucous discharge, 
with pressive pain and obstruction of and ulceration in the nose. 
Silicea. Nasal passages dry, painful, excoriated, covered with crusts; 
nasal bones affected; discharge acrid and corroding. Graphites. 
Dry scabs in the nose; sore, cracked, and ulcerated nostrils; tough, 
lumpy, bloody, or yellow; foul discharge; fleshy persons and those 
with eczema. Sulphur. Chronic, obstinate cases, especially in thin 
people with coarse skin and hair. Alumina. Chronic catarrh in old 
people, with hard scabs, and greenish-yellow discharge. A dose of 
the indicated remedy three times a day. 

An excellent cleansing solution for douching, or syringing out the 
nasal passages is made by adding ten grains each of salt and bicar¬ 
bonate of soda to four ounces of warm water. Glycothymoline one 
part, to three or four parts of warm water is a mild and soothing 
antiseptic. Two Seiler’s tablets dissolved in from four to six ounces 
of warm water can be fully recommended. Any one of these cleans¬ 
ing solutions may be used two or three times a day. Pledgets of 
absorbent cotton wet with peroxide of hydrogen and placed in the 
nose will soften even very hard crusts; any bland oil like liquid vase¬ 
line, cosmoline or albolene may be applied with an oil spray; pine- 
needle oil and eucalyptus are also used. When there is much chronic 
swelling of the nasal tissues, surgical interference may be necessary. 

Hay Fever.—Hay Asthma.—Rose Cold. 

The pollen of plants excites attacks of this disease, which occurs 
more often in the male, and in persons of an excessively nervous 
organization. The symptoms are well described on earlier pages of 
this book, and are chiefly those of acute influenza, with those of bron¬ 
chitis or asthma in addition. May, June, the latter part of August 
and September are the critical periods for sufferers from this com¬ 
plaint, which occurs annually, and lasts from four to six weeks. 

Arsenicum lod. 2 x.— Constant inclination to sneeze, and sneez¬ 
ing which gives no relief; acrid discharge from the nose making it 
very sore, as also the upper lip; glands of the back of the mouth 
enlarged and sore; great prostration; burning and itching of the 
nose; symptoms worse after midnight; hay fever, especially in deli¬ 
cate or debilitated individuals. 

Inpecac. 2 x.— May be given in alternation with arsenicum, when in 
addition to the above symptoms there is wheezing, difficult breathing 
with great feeling of anxiety, and pressure in the chest; constriction 
and cough. 


LA-GRIPPE. 


709 


Euphrasia. —Irritation and sneezing all day, with copious, un¬ 
irritating discharge from the nose, but profuse, excoriating watering 
of the eyes, with swelling, burning, itching and redness of the lids, 
causing constant desire to rub them. 

Sabadilla.— Spasmodic and severe paroxysmal sneezing in the 
morning with excessive or slight catarrhal discharge; one or the other 
nostril stuffed up; watering of the eyes following sneezing; oppressed 
breathing, and cough at night. 

1 erpine Hydrate.— The author cannot vouch for the efficiency of 
this remedy, but it is highly recommended by good authorities in 
fifteen grain doses, in capsules, three or four times a day in the twenty- 
four hours. 

Also Naphthalin, especially where, with the inffuenza there is full 
feeling in the forehead, puffiness of the face, and much asthma. This 
remedy may also be given as a preventative, or Cepa which has im¬ 
moderate sneezing; profuse bland or excoriating discharge from the 
nose, with itching and obstruction of the nose; headache; loss of 
appetite; broken sleep; slight hoarseness; tickling in the throat and 
cough; especially if the attack is made worse by dust or the smell 
of onions. Gelsemium. For great prostration, and intense headache 
in the forehead or back of the neck, with dryness of the nasal passages. 
A dose of the indicated remedy every three hours. 

About two weeks before the attack is expected wash the passages 
of the nose and where they lead into the throat with glyco-thymoline 
or hydrozone, one to ten, using cold boiled water to dilute the remedy, 
and after ten days increasing the strength to one to four. Use a 
syringe or nasal douche. Seiler’s Tablets, two to four ounces of^water 
may be used. During an attack a ten per cent, solution of naphthalin 
or a two per cent, solution of menthol may be dropped or sprayed into 
the nasal cavities. 

Change of climate is the first thing to be thought of, from the 
country to the shore or to the Adirondacks or White Mountains, or 
take a sea voyage. Live hygienically, abstemiously, and with regu¬ 
larity; avoid excitement, and use no stimulants. 

La Grippe.—Grip.— Epidemic Influenza. 

The grip is not a disease needing much introduction to the readers 
of this book, as probably nearly every one has suffered from it. The 
first American epidemic occurred in 1655, but within the past ten 
years outbreaks, especially in large cities, have been numerous and 
serious. This is a contagious specific disease, the organism causing it 
having been identified by Pfeiffer of Berlin in 1892. Its name is very 
appropriate, being taken from the French verb gripper, to seize, which 
it certainly does both suddenly and violently. The contagion is 
probably transmitted by means of the moist accretions of the mucous 


710 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


(lining) membrane of the respiratory tract, and the period of incuba¬ 
tion is only two or three days. Although epidemic influenza mani¬ 
fests itself in several forms, there are two principal ones, the catarrhal 
and the nervous, according as the symptoms of the one or the other 
are most prominent; but, as a basis for selecting the remedy indi¬ 
cated, names are of far less importance than the careful observation 
of all the symptoms. 

Lowered vitality; damp, cold, murky weather; filth in the streets, 
and dirt and dust in the air; overwork, bad ventilation in houses, 
shops, theatres, street cars, etc., all predispose one to the disease, 
also breathing through the mouth which causes congestion of the 
sensitive mucous membrane, and allows irritating substances to pass 
to the lower respiratory tract that the hairs in the nose would other¬ 
wise strain from the air, at the same time the air is being warmed. 

The onset of grip is usually abrupt. A majority of the following 
symptoms are generally present. There is general chilliness or a 
severe chill, followed by the speedy development of coryza; feverish¬ 
ness, followed by quickly rising temperature; aching all over as if 
beaten; severe bursting, tearing headache; profound prostration 
which continues throughout the attack; much depression of spirits, 
restlessness, and sleeplessness. There may be disturbance of the 
stomach and intestines, with nausea, abdominal tenderness, and 
diarrhoea. The most agonizing pain may be in the eyeballs and at 
the root of the nose, but may be most severe in the back of the head 
and nape of the neck. Delirium may occur in the pronounced ner¬ 
vous form of the disease. Convalescence is slow. AVhen death results, 
it is generally from some complication such as bronchitis, broncho¬ 
pneumonia, cerebro-spinal meningitis. Grip often leaves the sufferer 
with such after-effects as insomnia, neuralgia, pleurisy, abscess of 
the lung, kidney or heart disease. 

Oelsemium, 1 x.— Early, often and almost invariably in the be¬ 
ginning. Chilliness, yet feverishness; heat of the head and face; 
dull headache, especially of the back of the head; great prostration; 
full feeling at the root of the nose; eyes heavy and reddened, drowsi¬ 
ness, languor; full, frequent pulse; little thirst, bruised pains in the 
back, and all over; dizziness. Ten drops of the tincture, r. e., 1 x new 
style, ^ old style, to one-half a glass of water, a teaspoonful every 
hour 

Aconite.— May be called for in the earliest stage when there is 
great restlessness; high fever; hot, dry skin, dry, violent racking 
cough. A dose every hour. 

Arsenicum lod.— Marked catarrhal symptoms, affecting the eyes, 
nose, and throat; acrid, copious, irritating discharges; great pros¬ 
tration; restlessness and thirst; desire for artificial warmth. Later 
great difficulty in breathing, with coldness, and cold sweating, fa- 


SORE THROAT. 


711 


tiguing, shaking cough, with expectoration of tough, sticky sputum; 
especially in feeble, old people without pronounced involvement of 
the lungs or bronchial tubes, but with great general prostration. Give 
as above. 

Eupatorium Perf. —Soreness and pains as if in the bones; aching 
pain in the back as from a bruise; sneezing; soreness of the eyeballs; 
eyes water. Give as above. 

Bryonia. —Bronchial catarrh; pleurisy, or pneumonia; fever, 
languor and pains all over. Give as above. 

Rhus Tox. —Rheumatic pains without much fever, but with great 
restlessness. Give as above. 

Cuprum Ars.— When there is pain and soreness in the region of 
the stomach; catarrhal diarrhoea; nausea and sometimes vomiting. 
Give as above. 

Also during convalescence, three times a day, Ferrum phos. or Arseni¬ 
cum iod. when there is great debility, and the strength returns slowly. 
Cod liver oil and malt is recommended in these cases. Zincum phos. 
when the nervous symptoms have been very marked, and there is 
nemalgia; sensitiveness of the spine; a headache that persists, and 
disinclination to use the head. Strychnia phos. Great debility; no 
appetite; unrefreshing sleep, with headache early in the day. 

In mild cases of grip as well as in severe, the patient should go to 
bed. Grip is not a disease to be trifled, with, and it is true economy 
to give up to it. Liquid diet should be given while there is fever, 
diarrhoea or any difficulty in digesting the food. Dry heat in the form 
of hot water bags, will often relieve pain in the back and elsewhere. 
Cold compresses to the head and eyes may be acceptable in the ner¬ 
vous form of the diseases. 

Preventative measures include cold sponge baths with friction; 
good ventilation; the avoidance of draughts, overwork, or the free 
use of stimulants. A liberal nourishing diet is advisable. 

Sore Throat. —Acute Laryngitis. 

The common sore throat is called laryngitis, and the acute form 
may become chronic. Draughts, getting wet or damp, over-exerting 
the voice, badly ventilated rooms, dust and noxious vapors, keeping 
on wet clothes are common causes of this affection which also may 
accompany influenza, measles, scarlet fever and other fever, and be 
excited by disturbances of the stomach and intestines. There may 
be a superficial inflammation causing chiefly hoarseness or even loss 
of voice, burning and tickling in the throat; slight cough; rawness, 
redness and more or less swelling; but the catarrhal form, which in 
children we call croup, may be very severe. 


712 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


Aconite.— In the beginning, fever; full, rapid pulse; hot, dry 
skin; throat feels rough and dry; sometimes dry cough; much rest¬ 
lessness and anxiety. When the two last mentioned symptoms are 
wanting, Ferrum phos. may be even better. A dose every hour. 

Belladonna.— Violent attack; high fever; dryness, redness and 
rawness of the throat especially in the right side; red face; throbbing 
of the arteries in the neck; inflammation and swelling of the tonsils; 
loss of voice; sleeplessness. Give as above. 

Mercurius Bin.— Constant secretion of mucus in the throat; 
frequent difficult, painful and empty swallowings; some swellings of 
the glands under and back of the jaws; perspiration, especially at 
night. A dose every two or three hours. 

Phosphorus.— Continued and great rawness, with dry cough and 
loss of voice. Give as above. 

Apis.— Dryness of the mouth, and throat; puffy swelling of the 
mucous membrane; stinging, sticking pains; swallowing painful and 
almost impossible. This condition is really edema, or swelling of the 
larynx, and apis is the first remedy to be thought of. A dose every 
hour. 

Phytolacca.— Dark red, dry, swollen mucous membrane; some¬ 
times pustular spots; pain on swallowing; swelling and tenderness 
of the glands externally at the angle of the jaws; aching in the back 
and limbs. A dose every one to three hours 

Hydrastis.— Rawness and soreness of the throat; constant hawk¬ 
ing of mucus, which drops into the throat from the back of the 
nose. Give as above. 

A cold pack to the larynx, or the application of antiphlogistine 
often relieves the inflammation quickly. For direct treatment of 
the inflamed surface, use an oil spray of liquid vaseline one ounce, 
oil of sandal wood six drops, and oil of tar three drops, or a gargle of 
twenty drops of phytolacca tincture, or a teaspoonful of common 
salt, or half an ounce of listerine to a cupful of water as near the 
boiling point as can be borne. Bathe the throat often with cold 
water, and rub briskly with a coarse towel. Rest during the attack. 
Inhalations of steam medicated with iodine, bromine or eucalyptol 
are useful. 

Chronic Sore Throat. —Chronic Laryngitis, 

The usual form of this affection is the catarrhal, following acute 
attacks or from long-continued use of the voice, inhaling dust, exces¬ 
sive smoking, mouth-breathing, or in connection with some other 
disease of the air passages such as nasal catarrh. There is hoarseness, 
especially on beginning to use the voice; a feeling of stiffness of the 


TONSILITIS AND QUINSY. 


713 


throat; tickling, itching and an uneasy consciousness of the need of 
constant hemming and hawking; hoarseness may extend even to 
loss of voice. The removal of the cause is of the greatest impor¬ 
tance. Singers, preachers and teachers are particularly liable to 
chronic laryngitis. 

Causticum.— -Hoarseness and loss of voice, always worse mornings; 
rawness and burning under the breast bone; paralysis of the vocal 
cords. This acts as a tonic to the muscles when used a few hours 
before singing or speaking. 

Car bo Veg.— ^Long lasting hoarseness, worse every evening and 
from talking, with raw feeling in the throat; dry, tickling cough. A 
dose three times a day. 

Phosphorus.— Hoarseness and loss of voice, worse in the evening; 
throat sensitive to touch, and so sore it causes pain to talk or cough; 
voice tires easily; rawness in larynx; tickling; hawking; dry, hack¬ 
ing cough. Give as above. 

Argentum flet.— valuable remedy in chronic laryngitis and 
hoarseness, especially in public singers or speakers; cough from laugh¬ 
ing or talking, with easy expectoration of white, thick mucus, like 
boiled starch. Give as above. 

Hepar Sulph. —Persons of consumptive tendencies, very sensitive 
to cold air, who perspire easily and profusely; scanty, tenacious, 
muco-purulent expectoration. Give as above. 

Kali Bich. —Hoarseness and accumulation of much tenacious 
mucus in the larynx in the morning; tickling in the larynx caused 
by coughing and clearing the throat; tickling extending into the 
mouth and ears. Give as above. 

rianganum.— Obstinate chronic hoarseness, and roughness of the 
throat, especially in the morning, in the open air, and in debilitated 
or consumptive persons; better from smoking and after raising lumps 
of mucus, though after long hawking. Give as above. 

Heated, badly ventilated rooms, crowds, smoking, the use of alco¬ 
hol, spices, rich food must all be avoided. The voice must be rested. 
Change of air, especially to that of pine forests, and to a warm, dry 
equable climate is most desirable. Do not muffle up the throat; 
bathe it often with cold water, using friction. Cleansing the nasal 
passages and throat with borolyptol, listerine, glycothymoline, diluted 
with three or four parts of warm water is advised, or use ten grains 
of bicarbonate or biborate of soda to one ounce water. 

Tonsilitis and Quinsy. 

Simple acute tonsilitis is a mild superficial inflammation due to 
cold or wet, or occurring during scarlatina, measles or some similar 


714 HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 

disease, and characterized by swelling and redness of the tonsils to 
which tenacious mucus adheres, some pain and stiffness of the jaws 
on swallowing. In a few days, as a rule, recovery takes place. In 
quinsy, or tonsilar abscess, however, the deeper tissues are involved, 
and there is suppuration. There are chills; high fever; headache; 
backache; rapid, painful inflammation of the tonsils; swelling of the 
glands of the neck; pain and difficulty in swallowing, and finally the 
formation of an abscess which bursts, or may be lanced to evacuate 
the pus. Those most subject to quinsy have a rheumatic history. 
This disease may last from a few days to two weeks. 

Belladonna. —The leading remedy, throat bright red, raw, and 
dry; swelling of the throat generally worse on the right side, painful 
to touch; flushed face; fever; headache in the forehead; throbbing 
of the arteries in the neck. 

Mercurius Bin. —After belladonna when the tonsils are a dark 
red, hard and swollen; worse on the left side; the back of the mouth 
raw and burning; grayish white patches on the tonsils, painful 
swelling of the glands under the lower jaw. A dose every two hours. 

He par Sulph. —^Tonsils and glands of the neck much swollen; 
parts very sensitive to touch; sticking, splinter-like pains or throb¬ 
bing. Give as above. 

Baryta Carb. —Comparatively mild cases, and in those very sen¬ 
sitive to cold air; frequently recurring tonsilitis, with tendency to 
suppurate. A dose three times a day. 

Kali Bich. —Copious secretion and discharge of ropy, tenacious, 
stringy mucus, with swelling of the tonsils, which are dark red; 
sharp, shooting pains. A dose every two hours. 

Also Phytolacca when tonsils are swollen and bluish; throat dry, 
swallowing difficult, and with every attempt there are excruciating 
pains through both ears. Silicea when, after abscesses form and 
open, they refuse to heal, and there continues to be some discharge. 

The sufferer should stay in a warm room, if not in bed; gargle the 
throat with a mild antiseptic, see section on ^^Sore Throat.’’ As 
soon as an abscess forms, and by its soft, fluctuating feel it seems 
ready to be opened, it should be lanced, as this will save the patient 
much pain. The general health must be improved. Cod liver oil 
is recommended, and the malt extracts. 

Diphtheria. 

Diphtheria is an acute, infectious, contagious, inoculable disease 
affecting chiefly the mucous i^^embranes of the pharynx at the back 
of the mouth, and the upper air passages, and characterized by the 
formation of a fibrinous, grayish-white membrane, in the meshes of 
which are found the Klefc-Loffler bacilli,” or diphtheria germs. In 


DIPHTHERIA 


715 


pseudo-diphtheria/’ or false diphtheria there is a membrane resem¬ 
bling that of true diphtheria, but it does not contain these germs, 
nor is the whole system so profoundly affected. False diphtheria is 
common in scarlet fever, and like the true, may also occur in ery¬ 
sipelas and measles. Membranous croup has been mistaken for diph¬ 
theria. No age is exempt, although children from one to seven years 
old are the most frequent sufferers. 

Diphtheria may occur at any time of year, but cold damp weather 
favors epidemics, and its development is encouraged by bad drainage, 
open cesspools, defective plumbing, sewer gas, damp cellars, previous 
catarrhal affections of the nose and throat, and all unhygienic sur¬ 
roundings and manner of living. The diphtheria germ possesses great 
vitality, and will remain active on furniture, walls, clothing, books, 
toys and animals for many months, and even years. Direct contagion 
usually takes place from the patient’s coughing, or from an attend¬ 
ant’s breathing the air from the patient’s mouth. 

The period of incubation or hatching of the disease after exposure 
to it is from two to ten days, and may be longer, but not as a rule. 
As diphtheria poisons the blood, there are many constitutional as 
well as local symptoms; all will be mentioned in the order in which 
they generally appear: Languor; chilliness; moderate fever, and 
there may be some pain in the head, back and limbs, with loss of 
appetite; soreness, followed by inflammation and swelling of the 
throat; the formation of an exudate upon the tonsils as yellowish 
or grayish spots which run together, form patches, and may extend 
to the roof of the mouth, soft palate, upper part of the throat, and 
even involve the nose, and the lower air passages to the bronchial 
tubes and lungs. Unlike the secretion sometimes seen in tonsilitis, 
the exudation in diphtheria is firmly adherent to the lining beneath, 
and when the membrane is torn or thrown off it leaves a raw, bleed¬ 
ing surface, and tends to reform. With the appearance of the mem¬ 
brane the breath becomes very foul, and has a peculiar, sickish odor. 
Swallowing becomes painful and difficult, and fluids may return 
through the nose; the glands under the jaws swell; breathing is 
interfered with, there is great prostration; rapid, feeble pulse; high 
fever; vomiting; frequently a rash about the face, neck and chest, 
soon disappearing. 

When the nose is affected, there is a yellowish, offensive, acrid 
discharge, obstruction of breathing, glandular swelling, and frequently 
nosebleed. 

When the above symptoms are severe, the patient’s strength may 
fail, and blueness of the skin show how much breathing is interfered 
with; the pulse grows weak; delirium or stupor may develop, and 
death follow in a short time. 

Many cases, however, recover, and in these improvement generally 
sets in bv the end of a week, characterized by the gradual softening 
and peeling of the membrane. Diphtheria may be complicated by 


716 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES 


bronchitis, broncho-pneumonia, kidney disease or bleeding from the 
nose or throat. Paralysis, especially of the throat, is common during 
convalescence, and may occur during the disease; heart paralysis is 
the most dangerous form. 

A dose of one of the following remedies may be given every hour: 

Belladonna.— Mild cases only, before exudation takes place, and 
when there is high fever; dryness of the mouth; the tonsils or throat 
bright red; much pain on swallowing, especially liquids; congestion 
of the face, and headache. 

Phytolacca.— Mild or moderately severe cases when the throat 
and back of mouth are covered with a dirty, dark, false membrane 
like wash leather; mucus is hawked up with difficulty and is stringy; 
great prostration, and severe pains in head, neck, back and limbs. 

Nitric Acid.— Yellowish or grayish-white patches on the tonsils 
and nearby parts, extending to the mouth, lips, and nose; swallowing 
very difficult as if throat were constricted; splinter-like pains; glands 
under lower jaw swollen and painful; especially useful when the nose 
is involved, and there is a very bad smelling, excoriating discharge. 

Mercurius Bin.— In cases not so bad but what they may be mis¬ 
taken for a form of tonsilitis; tongue thickly coated a dirty yellow; 
glands in the neck swollen; tonsils and opening into the back of the 
nose covered with a somewhat soft and pasty membranous deposit; 
much mucus in throat, causing hawking. 

Kali Bich.— When the deposit located as above and extending 
down the throat and up into the nose is thick, tenacious, and yellow, 
with tough, stringy mucous discharges; shooting pains from throat to 
ear on swallowing; red, raw, shining tongue, change from Mercurius 
hin. to Kali bich. 

Mercurius Cyan.— Early and great prostration; involvement of 
the larynx and swelling of the glands; extensive white, yellow or gray 
exudate in mouth, throat and nose, very foul; very rapid, weak, 
intermittent pulse. 

Baptisia.— Stupefaction and drowsiness; mind wandering, or low, 
muttering delirium; restlessness; face dusky red; throat dark red; 
tonsils and glands swollen; absence of pain. 

Apis,— Great prostration from the beginning; throat looks puffy, 
glossy, red or purple; no thirst; burning, stinging pains; exudation 
dirty gray; urine scanty. 

Arsenicum.— ^The infection of the whole system is very pro¬ 
nounced; the breath is putrid; prostration and restlessness great; 
feeble, quick pulse, dark membrane; throat badly swollen; thin, 
excoriating discharge from the nose; may be offensive diarrhoea. 


DIPHTHERIA. 


717 


Bromine.— Diphtheria of the larynx, with much constriction, and 
paroxysms of suffocation; hoarse, croupy cough, rattling in the 
larynx. 

Cantharis.— Mucous membrane of the throat dark red and as if 
blistered; severe burning pains, with rawness; blood in the expec¬ 
toration; cannot swallow, throat is so raw; urine scanty, may be 
bloody or contain albumen; passing it causes burning and smarting. 

Qelsemium.— Paralysis of the throat, tongue or larynx; some¬ 
times of the heart or muscles of the eyes, following diphtheria. A 
dose every three hours. 

Also Lachesis in malignant diphtheria in bad cases where the whole 
system is poisoned; the throat a purplish livid color; pulse feeble 
and heart failure threatened; extreme prostration, patient drowsy; 
extremities cool. A dose every half hour. If no other remedies are 
available, five to fifteen drops of a chlorinated solution of lime may 
be added to one-half a glass of water, and a teaspoonful given every 
half hour to three or four hours, according to the urgency of the 
symptoms. 

Every remedial measure should be immediately supplemented, if 
not preceded, by the administration of diphtheria antitoxin. * If in 
doubt whether the disease is diphtheria or tonsilitis, give an injection 
of 500 units for a child, 1,000 units for an adult. The average dose 
(Behring's Standard) in mild cases is 1,500 units, but in severe cases 
may be from 2,000 to 3,000 or more units. The dose varies with 
the duration and severity of the disease. Full instructions, which 
should be carefully followed out, come with all preparations, also as 
to the use of the syringe. After exposure to diphtheria a dose of 
1,000 units should be given an adult, 300 units a child, and the pro¬ 
tection thus acquired will last three or four weeks. 

The throat may be swabbed with a fifteen volume solution of per¬ 
oxide of hydrogen to dissolve the membrane and may be disinfected 
by use of potassium bichlorate, one grain to one ounce of water, used 
in a hand or steam-atomizer every two hours. When the nose is 
chiefly affected, use permanganate of potassium in the same pro¬ 
portion. 

Alcohol as a gargle, 1 to 4 or even 1 to 2 is excellent. Steam may 
be obtained from a teakettle, if one has no steam atomizer, by using 
a rubber tube to convey it to the patient. 

The patient should be isolated in an upper room, well ventilated, 
and from which ah draperies, rugs, etc. have been removed. Sterilize 
all bedding and clothes by boiling; burn all rags and cJoths used by 
the patient for the secretions; and have the patient expectorate into 
such cloths or into a cup containing carbolic acid solution, 1 to 20. 
No food should be allowed to remain in the room. The attendants 
should use an alcohol gargle; wash their hands in a carbolic solution 


71$ HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 

1 to 40, and wear no clothes which cannot be sterilized by boiling or 
baking. 

The nourishment of the patient is of great importance. Milk and 
egg; peptonized milk; koumiss; eggs raw; egg nogg; egg and coffee; 
mutton or chicken broth, oyster broth; beef peptonoids; wine whey 
and trophonine are recommended. Nutritive enemata may become 
necessary, especially if there is paralysis of the throat. Give no solid 
food at any stage even of convalescence in the latter case. If the 
heart’s action is very weak give stimulant, about half an ounce of 
wine for a dose. When the heart seems to be giving out entirely, 
give Strychnine, one-fiftieth of a grain every two or three hours, re¬ 
ducing the dose to one-hundredth of a grain as soon as the pulse 
grows stronger. 

Whooping Cough.— Pertussis. 

Whooping cough is a specific, contagious disease characterized by 
paroxysms of coughing, attended at their close by a long-drawn 
inspiration, the whoop,” which gives it its name. It is most common 
in children, but may attack adults and prove quite serious. The 
period of incubation is from seven to fourteen days, and the disease 
frequently appears as an epidemic in the winter and early spring. 

Commencing as an ordinary cold or coryza with cough, running 
from the nose, redness and puffiness of the lower eyelids, and watering 
of the eyes, it progresses for ten days or more until the cough sud¬ 
denly assumes a violent, spasmodic, paroxysmal form, with the char¬ 
acteristic whoop. The paroxysms of coughing may number any¬ 
where from three or four to fifty or sixty in the twenty-four hours. 
During one of them the sufferer cannot get his breath, and suffoca¬ 
tion seems imminent; the face is suffused, the eyes infected and 
bulging, and the tongue protrudes; sometimes there is nose-bleed or 
vomiting. The paroxysmal stage may last from two to six weeks, 
and the duration of the disease, as a whole, varies from six to twelve 
weeks. Between the attacks of coughing the patient seems well. 

The contagious principle of this disease is probably in the expec¬ 
toration, and possibly in the air from the lungs. 

The most frequent complications are vomiting; bronchitis; bron¬ 
cho-pneumonia, and collapse of the lungs; pleurisy. There may be 
bleeding from the nose and convulsions. 

Ac'^nite.— First stage, with fever, hard, dry, wheezing cough; 
burning pains and tickling in the throat. A dose every two hours. 

Belladonna. —In the beginning, sudden, violent paroxysms of 
coughing, without expectoration, worse at night; with sore throat, 
flushed face, eyes bloodshot, and sometimes nosebleed. Give as 
above. 

Ipecac.— Violent, suffocating cough, the child becoming stiff, and 
blue in the face; gagging and vomiting of mucus. Give as above. 


ACUTE BRONCHITIS. 


719 


Drosera.— Spasmodic paroxysms of hoarse, loud cough, threaten¬ 
ing suffocation; constriction of the chest; often vomiting of food or 
mucus. Give as above. 

Cuprum.— Violent paroxysms of coughing, causing convulsions, 
stiffening of the body, and loss of breath, followed by vomiting and 
prostration. Give as above. 

Corallium rubrum. —Short, quick, ringing cough; the paroxysms 
occurring in rapid succession, with extreme violence, making the face 
purple, and followed by vomiting of mucus and great prostration. 
Give as above. 

Naphthalin, 1 x. — Long and continued paroxysms of coughing, 
with inability to inspire air, so the child is almost suffocated. Give 
as above. 

Hyoscyamus.— Dry, spasmodic cough at night, aggravated by 
lying down, better from sitting up; face dark red, swollen and dis¬ 
torted; constriction of the throat; much mucus in the throat, and 
further down. 

Tartar Emet.— Severe cases where the lungs are involved and 
there is much rattling of mucus in the chest; rapid pulse, nausea, vom¬ 
iting, and drowsiness, mucus raised with difficulty, but expectora¬ 
tion gives relief, as does also vomiting. 

Isolate the sufferer from others as much as possible; let him ex¬ 
pectorate on pieces of old cotton cloth which should be burned; the 
same may be used in place of handkerchiefs, and then burned. Ven¬ 
tilation should be perfect; light weight woolen clothing worn next 
the skin; the diet should be ample but digestible and nourishing; 
exposure to cold and damp air must be avoided; nutritive rectal 
injections may be given if vomiting is excessive. Remedies which 
can be inhaled are mentioned on page 502. Mild cases should spend 
as much time as possible in the open air in fine weather. Change of 
climate is frequently beneficial. 

Acute Bronchitis. 

An acute attack of inflammation of the bronchial tubes is generally 
the extension downward of an ordinary cold, which is followed by 
tightness and oppression in the chest; more or less fever; a raw, 
scraped feeling under the breast bone; a dry, hoarse, hard cough, 
followed later by expectoration of frothy, then thick, stringy mucus, 
which may be blood-streaked, but does not look like rusty nails as 
in pneumonia. After secretion has formed, the cough is not so hard, 
but there are crackling or rattling sounds in the tubes from the mucus 
there. A simple attack lasts a week or ten days, but bronchitis may 
become chronic, or be severe in old people or delicate young children. 


720 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


Aconite. —Early in the attack; chilliness; high fever; hot, dry 
skin; short, hard tickling cough; great restlessness. 

Ferrum Phos.— ^The same symptoms, but without restlessness or 
much fever. 

Bryonia.— Heat, soreness, and pain behind the breast bone; dry, 
rough cough; labored breathing, and stitches in the chest; cough 
hurts the head and is worse in a warm room, and from moving about. 

Phosphorus.— Should not be given before bryoniaas it is seldom 
indicated until later, when there is tickling under the notch in the 
breast bone, and a very tight, constricted feeling in chest; cough 
better indoors, and worse on going from warm into the cold air. 

Kali Bich.— Especially serviceable after Aconite in bronchitis 
following influenza, when there is free expectoration of thick, yellow, 
it may be ropy secretion, with hard, deep cough, and heavily coated 
tongue; loathing of food. 

Ipecac.— Asthmatic breathing, much nausea and vomiting of 
mucus; rattling of mucus in the bronchial tubes; face livid while 
coughing; wheezing respiration. 

Tartar Emet.— Profuse secretion of mucus in the bronchial tubes, 
great rattling of mucus with the cough, but nothing is raised) great 
oppression and suffocative breathing; nausea, vomiting, drowsiness; 
face bloated or livid. Both this remedy and Ipecac are valuable in 
treating bronchitis in children, and in the aged. 

Belladonna.— Particularly useful for young children, spasmodic 
violent dry cough, with tickling in the throat; high fever. 

A dose of the indicated remedy should be given every one or two 
hours. Keep the patient in a well ventilated room, temperature 70° 
to 75° F. The air should be kept moist by a steam atomizer, boiling 
water in a teakettle or other contrivance. Apply antiphlogistine to 
the throat and upper part of the chest, and cover with gauze and 
absorbent cotton, holding all in place by a bandage. Keep the 
bowels open by injections of warm water or glycerine. Give milk, 
gruels, barley water, wine whey, broths, egg nogg, and after fever 
subsides and convalescence has begun, a light diet including custards, 
wine jelly, ice cream, blanc mange, soft-boiled eggs, minced chicken, 
sweetbreads, steak, etc. 

Persons showing a susceptibility to bronchitis should not keep their 
living rooms too warm; should have plenty of fresh air; bathe the 
throat and chest with cold salt water, with friction; and not muffle 
up the throat; breathe through the nose, and wear light weight 
woolen or linen mesh underclothes. 


CHRONIC BRONCHITIS. 


721 


Chronic Bronchitis. 

Chronic bronchitis may follow an acute attack and occurs more 
often in gouty, rheumatic, or elderly or middle-aged persons. It may 
follow other diseases. Cough and expectoration are the principal 
symptoms, although the latter is sometimes scanty. There may be a 
fetid expectoration, partly mucous, partly purulent, and this form of 
bronchitis is called bronchorrhea. Attacks of chronic bronchitis may 
recur every winter. There may or may not be any pain, but there 
is a sense of oppression, and shortness of breath. Asthma and heart 
disease may complicate chronic bronchitis. 

Tartar Emet.— Especially for old people, with suffocative cough, 
and profuse secretion of mucus difficult to raise. 

5tannum lod.— Copious, easy expectoration of thick greenish or 
grayish semi-purulent mucus, which may be lumpy, tasting salty or 
sweetish; may be oppression in the chest and short breath. 

Kali Bich.— Stringy expectoration; asthmatic breathing, worse 
about three or four o’clock in the morning; wheezy cough forcing 
the sufferer to sit up; hoarseness and burning pain low down in the 
throat; general weakness; eyelids puffy. 

Sulphur.— Refractory chronic bronchitis in rheumatic, gouty, or 
scrofulous individuals, with oppressed breathing and putrid expec¬ 
toration. 

Phosphorus.— Dry, hacking cough with pain or tightness in the 
chest; tickling in the larynx; thin, delicate persons of a consump¬ 
tive tendency. 

Also Hepar sulph. Loose cough; expectoration partly mucous, partly 
purulent; worse at night and in the early morning hours. Silicea. 
Purulent expectoration with fever and profuse night sweats in con¬ 
sumptive persons. Arsenicum, Bronchitis with disease of the lungs 
or heart, or Bright’s disease; debility; emaciation; restlessness and 
anxiety; asthmatic breathing, dropsy. 

A dose of the indicated remedy three times a day. A nutricious, 
easily digested diet is essential, attention to personal hygiene, and 
remaining indoors in cold, damp and changeable weather. A warm, 
dry climate is desirable, especially where there are pine groves. 
Read the recommendations under acute bronchitis. Syrup of tar or 
wild cherry may prove a palliative when the cough is very annoying, 
or drop doses of chloroform on sugar. The inhalation of prepara¬ 
tions of beechwood tar, creosote, or eucalyptol by means of a hot 
air inhaler purchasable at any drug store with directions for use, 
frequently gives considerable reUef. 

Asthma .—Bronchial Asthma, 

True asthma is probably of nervous origin and due to spasmodic 


722 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


contractions of the bronchial muscles, although some writers think 
it caused by inflammation or swelling of the bronchial mucous mem¬ 
brane. Whatever the cause, it is a most distressing affection; chiefly 
characterized by sudden paroxysms of suffocative breathing generally 
at night, awakening the patient from sleep. The symptoms are well 
described in earlier pages of this book under Asthma.’^ Men are 
more frequently affected than women. Irritating vapors, fog, smoke, 
dust, mental shocks and deep emotions may excite an attack, and 
affections of the nasal passages. In families of a highly nervous 
make up the disease is often hereditary. 

Arsenicum.— Paroxysms after midnight, obliging the sufferer to 
sit up at once and bend forward; painful and distressing restlessness; 
loud wheezing; dry, hard, spasmodic coughing followed by expec¬ 
toration of frothy mucus streaked with blood; great prostration after 
the attack. 

Ipecac.— ^Violent constriction of the throat and chest, with short¬ 
ness of breath and wheezing respiration; the sufferer gasps for air at 
the open window; threatened suffocation; vomiting gives relief; face 
pale; asthma with bronchitis, and loose mucus in the tubes which 
cannot be raised. 

Qrindelia.— Five drop doses of the tincture three times a day, 
when the patient is subject to asthmatic attacks, and has a nervous 
fear of going to sleep on account of breath awakening him; the heart’s 
action during an attack becomes weak and feeble, and breathing very 
difficult. 

Nux Vom.— Asthma without bronchitis, but with irritable stom¬ 
ach; coated tongue; constipation; ffatulence; for persons using much 
tea, coffee or alcohol. 

Also Aconite during an attack excited by exposure to cold air, and 
in robust persons; full, bounding pulse; heat, restlessness, and per¬ 
spiration. Lobelia. Nervous asthma; nausea; vomiting; vertigo- 
indigestion; great prostration. Sambucus. Asthma in children; 
quick, wheezing, suffocative attacks after midnight, with crying 
and profuse perspiration. The indicated remedy may be given every 
ten minutes during an attack, and three times a day during the inter¬ 
vals. Persist in its use. 

Hygienic living is essential; no hearty meals at night; digestible 
food at all times and avoidance of over-eating; change of air is fre¬ 
quently beneficial; the air of the sufferer’s room should be fresh and 
moist. 

For relief during the attack get amyl nitrite perles containing two 
to five drops, and break one in a handkerchief, inhaling the vapor. 
A cup of very strong black coffee, or the dried leaves of stramonium 
smoked in a pipe, or burning blotting paper soaked in potassic nitrate 
and then dried, are about the most effective immediate measures 


LUNG FEVER. 


723 


that can be taken. A whiff of chloroform or ether will often give 
relief. These are not curatives but palliatives, and the indicated 
remedy should be taken faithfully, and the general health improved. 

Lung Fever.— Pneumonia. 

Pneumonia is now known to be one of the infectious germ diseases, 
to which exposure to cold, unhygienic surroundings, worry and over¬ 
work, and alcoholism predispose one. Those suffering from chronic 
Bright’s disease, diabetes, rheumatism, typhoid fever, gout, influenza, 
bronchitis or diphtheria, are particularly liable to pneumonia. Pneu¬ 
monia may follow injuries, especially those of the chest. The three 
stages of this disease are congestion or inflammation, consolidation 
or hardening of the lung tissue, resolution or softening, and absorp¬ 
tion or expectoration of the products of the disease. On earlier pages 
of this book there will be found an excellent description of pneumonia 
and its symptoms. 

Veratrum Vir.— Severe and long lasting chill, rapid, full, strong 
pulse which is not lessened by pressing on the artery with the finger; 
great difficulty in breathing; rapidly rising and very high tempera¬ 
ture, throbbing headache. Must be given in the beginning when all 
the symptoms point to intense congestion. 

Aconite.— Symptoms similar to above but less severe, and accom¬ 
panied with great anxiety and restlessness, also hot, dry skin; in¬ 
tense thirst; hard, dry, teasing cough. This remedy also should be 
given early. 

Bryonia.— This remedy is especially adapted to the second stage 
when there is exudation in the lung tissue and hardening; severe, 
stitching or shooting, cutting pain between the ribs; painful cough, 
with scanty expectoration; patient holds his breath to avoid cough¬ 
ing, and feels more comfortable lying on the affected side. 

Phosphorus.— Follows bryonia well when hardening of the lung 
tissue has taken place, dry cough, with bloody mucus or rust-colored 
expectoration, great oppression or tightness of the chest; difficult 
breathing as if there were a weight on the chest;, moderate, vaguely 
localized pain. 

Sulphur.— Slow softening and absorption, little or no expectora¬ 
tion; fever; oppressed breathing; feeling of heat in the chest; flushes 
of heat; the lungs are filled with the secretions and remain hard. 

Rhus Tox.— So called ^Hyphoid-pneumonia”; lips and tongue 
dry, brown and cracked; low muttering delirium, with restlessness; 
expectoration like prune juice; emaciation, weak pulse; may be 
pains like rheumatism, and putrid diarrhoea. 


724 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


Tartar Emet.— Catarrhal pneumonia with great accumulation of 
mucus in the chest, loud rattling of mucus with great oppression, and 
very difficult breathing; loose, rattling cough, but patient cannot 
raise anything, face pale or livid. 

A dose of the indicated remedy every one or two hours. The 
patient should be in a large, well-ventilated room, temperature about 
72° F. The air may be kept moist as in bronchitis. Keep the patient 
lying down; every two hours give four to eight ounces of milk, egg 
and milk, egg in coffee, broths or gruels, or give ice cream, grape 
juice, meat juices, and plenty of water, lemonade if desired. Partial 
or complete sponge baths while the fever is high and there is much 
restlessness, are soothing. 

Apply antiphlogistine to the chest, or if that is not available, put 
on a soft cotton jacket or absorbent cotton kept in place by a swathe 
and straps over the shoulders. Do not put on poultices. For pleu¬ 
ritic pains apply several thicknesses of flannel, sprinkle the outside 
one with water, and quickly run a hot flatiron over it until it steams; 
repeat often. Use a hot water bag. When the heart’s action is 
weak give from one teaspoonful to half an ounce of brandy or whiskey, 
with water; repeating the dose as necessary. The free use of strong 
oxygen gas is strongly advocated in threatened heart failure, suffo¬ 
cative respiration, and face pale or livid. Also subcutaneous injec¬ 
tions of strychnia, 1-100 grain every three or four hours, or 1-50 to 
1-100 grain by mouth. The bowels should be kept open by daily in¬ 
jections; this is important. 


Pleurisy. 

When the pleura, that is, the membrane covering the lungs and 
lining the chest, is wholly or partly inflamed there is a sharp, cutting 
pain, worse from coughing, taking a deep breath or moving. Pain 
is generally preceded by chilliness, fever and a hacking cough. If 
the inflammation goes on, fluid is secreted in the pleural cavity, and 
presses upon the lung; this watery fluid may become purulent. The 
disease may last a few days or many weeks, is excited by cold or wet, 
and caused by germs. 

There is a form of pleurisy called 'Talse pleurisy” or pleurodymia, 
which occurs between the ribs, and is merely neuralgic from inflamma¬ 
tion of the nerves, or due to muscular rheumatism, or uterine disease. 

Aconite —^To be of service must be given early; acute pleurisy, 
coming on with chill, followed by fever; thirst; quick, rapid pulse; 
skin hot and dry; rapid respiration; great nervous restlessness; 
stitching pains in the chest; hard, dry cough. 

Bryonia.— Acute, stitching pains; worse from motion or breath 
ing; short rapid respiration. 


PULMONARY TUBERCULOSIS. 


725 


Cantharis.— Follows bryonia well when fluid has formed; heat, 
burning and stitches in the chest; difficult breathing; scanty urine. 

Arsenicum.— Much fluid in the chest; breathing difficult, but 
little pain; much prostration and weakness; restlessness and anxiety. 

Also Sulphur in chronic pleurisy when the fluid is slow to absorb. 
Phosphorus when pleurisy accompanies pneumonia or bronchitis. 
Rhus tox. Pleurisy after exposure to wet, or from straining or lifting, 
with muscular pains and great restlessness. A dose of the indicated 
remedy every one or two hours. 

In false pleurisy Bryonia or Rhus tox, may be given when the pains 
are of a rheumatic character. Cimicifuga. Neuralgic pains in the 
left side, just below the breast, and especially when there is some uter¬ 
ine trouble. Arnica. Shooting pains, or pains as from a bruise 
when moving or coughing. May be given in true pleurisy, after an 
injury to the chest wall. 

Give a dose of the indicated remedy every hour or two. The 
sufferer from pleurisy should have absolute rest in bed, and a liquid 
diet. Apply antiphlogistine or flannels wrung out in hot water and 
frequently changed. Do not use cold applications or poultices. 
Straps, three inches wide, of adhesive plaster, long enough to encircle 
the diseased side and to extend a short distance over the sound half 
of the body, may be applied just as the patient has fully let out a 
breath. Strapping limits motion, and so lessens pain. 

In false pleurisy make hot applications or take a sitz-bath. Gal¬ 
vanism is helpful. Uterine derangements should receive appropriate 
treatment. 

Pulmonary Tuberculosis .—Consumption of the Lungs. 

This is the most frequent variety of consumption, and is caused 
by the organism known as the bacillus tuberculosis, first described in 
1881 by the great scientist Koch. The disease may be acute or 
chronic, and is characterized by the formation of nodular bodies 
called tubercles, or by the production of areas of diseased tissue in 
the lungs. Wherever the disease develops, the tissues become 
cheesy or hard, and extension of the inflammation and ulceration 
may follow. Indians and negroes succumb more readily to consump¬ 
tion than white people, but the “great white scourge” is dreaded by 
the inhabitants of every part of the world. The death rate, however, 
is being lowered every year, chiefly, and this is a very important 
point, through people learning how to prevent the disease. 

Consumption is an infectious disease transmitted most often by 
inhalation, that is, the germs entering the lungs in the air breathed 
in. These germs are in the expectoration of the person suffering 
from consumption, and every time he spits, unless into a receptacle 
that is afterwards burned or that contains a strong disinfectant, he 
may be giving consumption to someone, for the sputum dries, and 


726 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


the germs enter the air as a fine dust to be breathed in at once by 
other people, or to be deposited on carpets, clothing, utensils, etc., 
and the contagion carried about, or conveyed back into the atmos¬ 
phere. The germs are very tenacious of life, and will infect a person 
long after they are thrown off by a consumptive. This is why per¬ 
sons contract consumption living in a house where someone has had 
the disease. The germs may be taken into the system by eating 
meat from an infected animal, or using a consumptive’s dishes, or 
clothes, or through the bacilli touching an abrasion on the skin or 
lips. 

People very seldom inherit consumption, but often inherit the 
tendency, that is, constitutions which offer a fertile field for the 
development of the germs. Pulmonary consumption is more com¬ 
mon between twenty and thirty, and in women than men, but no 
age is exempt. Many conditions favor its development, such as con¬ 
fining work in ill-ventilated rooms; lack of proper nourishment; 
living in damp houses or crowded tenements, under unhygienic con¬ 
ditions; bronchial affections; syphilis; alcoholism; wounds of the 
chest, or injuries to the lungs; many organic diseases, and occupa¬ 
tions such as stone cutting, coal mining, etc. 

In acute consumption, ^‘galloping consumption,” the onset of the 
disease may be sudden, with chill; pain in the side; fever; cough; 
bloody expectoration or bleeding; distressed breathing; much fever; 
night sweats; rapid emaciation; great prostration; and a semi- 
purulent expectoration in the later stages. The disease may ter¬ 
minate fatally in two to six weeks. 

^‘Galloping consumption” may affect the bronchial tubes as well 
as the lungs, and follow whooping cough, measles or other infectious 
diseases in children. These cases may recover, chronic consumption 
result, or death ensue. 

The early symptoms of chronic tuberculosis of the lungs are in 
general, slight fever; irritable pulse; emaciation; languor; capricious 
appetite or loathing of food; indigestion; sweats, and impoverished 
blood. There also develop cough-; expectoration; pain in the chest; 
bronchial catarrh; bleeding from the lungs. What is discovered in 
all these cases by examination of the chest, is described elsewhere in 
this book. Diagnosis is best confirmed by the finding of the bacillus 
in the expectoration. Early diagnosis is of the greatest importance, 
that the disease may be treated during the curable stages. 

Arsenicum.— In incipient consumption, especially when there is 
rapid loss of weight, and in ^‘galloping consumption,” with great 
prostration; rapid emaciation; hectic flush of the cheeks; fever; 
cough; interference with breathing. In the later stages Arsenicum 
iod., when the expectoration is semi-purulent; the prostration great, 
and diarrhoea present. 


PULMONARY TUBERCULOSIS. 


727 


Phosphorus.— Especially in consumption following pneumonia, 
and in tall, thin, ^‘hollow chested’' persons; young people growing 
rapidly; great debility; frequent attacks of bronchitis; dry cough; 
soreness in the larynx and trachea; long-continued hoarseness, and 
sometimes loss of voice; blood-streaked expectoration; tightness 
across the chest; hectic fever; night sweats; diarrhoea after meals. 

Calcarea Carb.— In incipient consumption in fat, fair persons, or 
in rather phlegmatic, scrofulous children who cannot eat fat; young 
girls in whom the monthly flow is too frequent and profuse, or dis¬ 
appears; free perspiration; “acid dyspepsia”; nose-bleed; sensi¬ 
tiveness to cold or damp, slight effort causes fatigue. This remedy 
in these cases has loose, rattling cough, with yellow expectoration; 
persistent hoarseness; soreness in the chest; diarrhoea. 

Iodide of Antimony, 2 x.— Three-grain doses, three times a day 
in consumption in scrofulous persons, with good appetite, but fast 
losing flesh; enlarged glands; persistent, short, hacking cough; pro¬ 
fuse, partly purulent expectoration; morning sweats. 

Nux Vom.— For. digestive disturbances when prominent; morn¬ 
ing headache; sour, or bitter taste; vomiting, or violent retching; 
neuralgic pains in stomach; constipation, with ineffectual urging. 

Sanguinaria.— “Galloping consumption,” especially when follow¬ 
ing pneumonia; hectic fever; circumscribed redness of cheeks; 
loose cough, but expectoration difficult; cough worse lying down, 
oppressed breathing; bleeding from the lungs. 

5tannum lod.— Especially when there is also consumption of the 
throat; profuse, sweetish tasting greenish or partly purulent expec¬ 
toration, flushed face; emaciation; rattling of mucus, and soreness 
and weakness in the chest; debilitating sweats night and morning; 
reading or talking cause great fatigue. 

Ferrum Phos.— Bleeding from the lungs with consumption, espe¬ 
cially in young people; fugitive pains in the chest; difficult breathing 
and palpitation; thick, frothy expectoration streaked with blood; 
may be vomiting; sensation of fullness in the stomach. Consult the 
remedies given under “Bleeding from the Lungs.” 

Also Agaricine, 1 x. one tablet at night, or repeat the dose in 
two hours, for profuse sweating, or in “galloping consumption” with 
drenching sweats where Agaricine is not effective, give Pilocarpine, 2 x. 
China, 1 x, great debility following profuse sweats, diarrhoea, seminal 
emissions, leucorrhea; weak voice; impoverished blood supply. Hav¬ 
ing selected the indicated remedy give it three times a day unless 
otherwise directed. 

The main reliance in the treatment of consumption must be placed 
in a proper mode of life under favorable climatic conditions, meaning 


728 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


an equable climate, with pure dry air, and a large proportion of sunny 
days. The patient should be out of doors practically all the time, 
sleeping on a piazza rather than in the house, even if there are many 
windows in the room and kept wide open. With rugs and hot water 
bags a patient can be kept comfortable in the coldest weather. 
Woollen underwear should be worn all the year round, but clothing 
so heavy as to cause perspiration should be avoided. Systematic 
deep breathing exercises must be performed several times a day. 
The amount of exercise must depend on the strength of the patient, 
and rest out of doors must be substituted for exercise when there is 
fever. 

The diet must be simple, generous, and nutricious, cream, milk 
and eggs especially; meat juices; white of egg; peptonized or malted 
milk; koumiss; buttermilk. Cod liver oil is valuable if it can be 
taken. Malt liquors and the red wines may be beneficial. Nourish¬ 
ment should be given every two or three hours. Cold sponge baths 
may be taken daily; alcohol baths for the night sweats. Every 
consumptive should use a spit cup which can be burned, or which 
contains a strong disinfectant, as carbolic acid 1 to 20, and can be 
thoroughly cleansed. No handkerchief should be used, but pieces of 
cheesecloth or soft cotton to be afterwards burned. Children of con¬ 
sumptive tendencies should have nourishing simple food; be out of 
doors a great deal; go to bed early; take daily cold baths with fric¬ 
tion; keep out of school if necessary and away from excitement. 
Delicate persons especially should avoid the use of alcohol, sexual 
excesses, overwork and worry. Catarrhal affections of the nose or 
throat should receive prompt attention. 

Bleeding from the Lungs. 

Bleeding from the lungs may be caused by wounds rupturing 
the lung, congestion caused by heart disease, by ulcer, cancer, yellow 
fever, scurvy, violent paroxysms of coughing as in whooping cough, 
etc., but most commonly bleeding from the lungs is associated with 
consumption. The blood is nearly always bright red and frothy, 
may simply well up in the mouth or be preceded by a slight cough. 
The attacks are generally sudden, and may be preceded by a sense of 
warmth under the breast bone, sweetish taste in the mouth, headache, 
vertigo and palpitation of the heart. There is fever, and the sufferer 
is anxious and irritable. 

Aconite.— Bright red blood; incessant, hacking cough; warmth 
in the chest; red face; great anxiety; full, bounding pulse. 

Ipecac.— Sensation of bubbling in the chest, followed by copious 
bleeding, worse on the least movement, of bright red, frothy blood; 
oppressed breathing; faintness;, nausea. 


BALDNESS. 729 

Hamamelis.— Blood dark, thin, coming into the mouth without 
effort, like a warm current. 

Millefolium, 1 x.—Bleeding not relieved by aconite; profuse flow 
of thin, bright red blood, with oppression and palpitation, but not 
much cough. 

Ferrum Phos.— Free, slight bleeding of bright red blood in deli¬ 
cate persons of a consumptive tendency or having consumption; dry, 
hacking cough with pressure on the chest. 

A dose of the indicated remedy every fifteen minutes. Let the 
sufferer assume a semi-recumbent position, with head and shoulders 
elevated, and in a cool room, which must be kept absolutely quiet. 
Do not give stimulants. In the absence of medicines put a small 
pinch of salt on the tongue. Small pieces of ice may be swallowed. 
If fainting occurs, do not attempt to revive the patient at once as 
temporary loss of consciousness is beneficial. Injections of normal 
salt solution are recommended after profuse hemorrhage, but require 
the skill of a physician. A hot water bag partly filled with hot water, 
temperature 120° F., (use a bath thermometer) should be applied to 
the back between the shoulders. 

Baldness.— Alopecia. 

Premature baldness is often caused by dandruff. Thin hair may 
be hereditary and the little hairbulbs be only imperfectly developed. 
Other causes are old age, fevers, syphilis, violent emotion, parasitic 
diseases, continuous wearing of a hat, and using a comb to the ex¬ 
clusion of a brush. One form, of baldness, alopecia areata, is thought 
by some authorities to be due to an affection of the nerves, others 
claim a parasite as the cause. In this form round or oval, limited 
patches become bare on the scalp, or more rarely in the beard, eye¬ 
brows or eyelashes. Recovery takes months and even years, and 
may never occur. 

Phosphoric Acid when the hair turns gray or flaxen early, especially 
after grief; itching of the scalp, debility. 

Arsenicum.— Hair falls out in circular patches; general health 
impaired; scalp sensative to the slightest touch. 

Also Fluoric acid when there is a syphilitic taint. 

Graphites.— Bald spots on both sides of the head, with itching, 
moist eruptions. 

Preparations containing iron and strychnia are serviceable when 
there is much debility, also cod liver oil when the body is not well 
nourished. Galvanism is helpful. 

In premature baldness the daily application of the following lotion 
is recommended: Carbolic acid, one drachm; tincture of nux vom., 
four drachms; tincture of red cinchona, four drachms, and eight 


730 


MOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OE DISEASES 


ounces each of Eau de Cologne and castor oil well mixed and well 
shaken. In alopecia areata rub thoroughl}^ into the bald spot with 
a brush at night the following: bichloride of mercury, two grains to 
half an ounce each of alcohol and water. 

Ring=*Worm on the Scalp. 

This is a highly contagious disease occurring generally in child¬ 
hood, communicable by the comb, brush or even towel used by the 
person affected. It is caused by a parasite and appears first as small, 
separate, round or irregularly shaped, reddened, scaly patches, turn¬ 
ing to little vesicles in which pus or matter appears, dries up and scales 
off. Ringwo m spreads rapidly; the hair becomes dead looking and 
brittle, breaks off unevenly; the scalp looks like goose-skin, while the 
patches often run together and may spread to the face. 

Sepia is an excellent remedy, where the sufferer is in good general 
health. Calcarea carbonica in fair, fat, or scrofulous children, with 
perspiration of head and much itching of scalp.. Sulphur in obstinate 
cases; many crusts form, with pus, itching and burning. Tellurium 
when the patches seem to come in clusters. A dose of the indicated 
remedy morning and night. 

After softening the surface for two days with olive oil, then giving 
a soap shampoo, a few diseased hairs may be pulled out at a time with 
small, short, broad-bladed forceps, and an ointment rubbed in made 
of boracic acid, fifteen grains; sublimed sulphur, fifteen grains; and 
vaseline, one ounce. A good lotion is made by adding two to five 
grains of corrosive sublimate to one ounce of water or alcohol. It 
may be used instead of the ointment. Obser^m great cleanliness; 
build up the general health with milk, eggs, cod liver oil, cream, and 
good broths. No other person should use the comb, brush, towel, 
hat, or clothes of the sufferer. Persevere in treatment and be on 
the lookout for a relapse. 

Ring-Worm of the Beard.—Barber’s Itch. 

Tinea Sycosis. 

Like ring-worms of the scalp, this is a highly contagious disease, 
generally contracted in a barber’s shop from infected soap, brushes 
or razor, or the unwashed fingers of the barber, but may be acquired 
from horses or cattle. The disease begins as reddish, rounded, 
branny patches from a pea to a small coin in size, and with a small¬ 
sized watery point in which matter forms. The nearby hairs become 
brittle and diseased. In bad cases hard, nodular patches become 
quite extensive; crusts form from the pustules, and the hair of the 
beard in the affected area can easily be pulled out. 

The remedies and other treatment given under ^‘Ring-worm of the 
Scalp” are equally indicated for ring-worm occurring elsewhere, but 


RING-WORM OF THE BODY. 


731 


when the beard is affected it should be kept shaved close to the skin. 
It must be borne in mind that having an individual cup, brush and 
razor at one’s barber’s is no guarantee of immunity unless his hands 
are thoroughly cleansed, a fresh towel used, and a separate strop. 

Ring=Worm of the Body.— Tinea Circinata. 

Like other forms of ring-worm, this also is contagious. The 
patches in the beginning are usually reddish, irregular and the size 
of a pea. In a few days they become circular, slightly reddened or 
raised on the edge. The extension of the patches rarely exceeds five 
or six inches. There is scaling, and when watery little points appear 
or pimples containing pus, crusts may form. The disease is more 
common in warm climates, and occurs most frequently on the face, 
neck, and back of the hands. There is slight itching and burning. 

Give the indicated remedy as above. Scrub each patch with spirits 
of green soap, or olive oil or castile soap and water, and apply a two 
per cent, solution of formalin. Consult the general directions under 

Ring-worm of the Scalp.” 

Blackheads.— Acne, 

Acne is an inflammatory affection of the sebaceous glands, and 
blackheads are one of its symptoms. Although the latter may 
appear on the chest, shoulders and back, they are most frequently 
seen on the face, causing great annoyance to the person afflicted. A 
description of them is given on page 155. A noted dermatologist 
says that eighty-three per cent, of all cases of acne are due to con¬ 
stipation or indigestion or to both. Other causes include uterine 
disease, cheap cosmeti s, want of cleanliness, exposure to heat or 
cold winds, some varieties of soap, debility, rich or insufficient food, 
intemperance, sexual excesses, and changes in the system at puberty. 
Few cases are incurable, but the majority require months of treat¬ 
ment which should be internal and constitutional, as well as internal 
and local. 

Antimonium Crud.— Small red pimples about the face, and on 
the right shoulder, stinging when touched; acne in drunkards with 
gastric derangements, severe thirst and white-coated tongue. 

Calcarea Carb.— Acne on the face and neck; when due to sexual 
excesses; redness of the nose in consequence of difficult or scanty 
monthly flow; persons with scrofulous constitutions or who work 
much in water. 

Hepar Sulph.— Painless pimples on the nape of the neck, fore¬ 
head and chin; crusty pimples on the face in young people; swelling 
and suppuration of glands; skin yellow and unhealthy, every small 
injury suppurates. 


732 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASB 


Nux Vom.— Indigestion with constipation; small fetid ulcers in 
the mouth and throat. Pimples on the face in persons using wine, 
liquors, tobacco, patent medicines, or coffee in excess; sedentary 
habits. 

Sepia.'— Acne on the chin, worse during the monthly flow and 
pregnancy; pimples about the genitals, legs and in the creases of 
the joints; skin dirty-yellow and scurfy; ailments following vaccina¬ 
tion or masturbation. 

Silicea. — Obstinate cases in scrofulous persons; bad-smelling foot 
sweat; constipation, symptoms worse from wine or getting wet or 
cold. 

Sulphur.— Blackheads and little black pits in the face; red, 
itching pimples on the nose, lips, around the chin, and on the fore¬ 
arm; tendency to boils; chronic cases. 

Mercurius Sol.— Indolent, bluish-red pimples, especially the lower 
extremities, in syphilitic or scrofulous persons; suppurating pimples 
as above; glandular swellings. 

Arsenicum.— Chronic cases where the skin is dry, rough and dirty- 
looking; the eruption mostly on the face and extremities; black¬ 
heads which itch and are painful. 

A dose of the indicated remedy may be taken three times a day. 
Do not eat highly seasoned food, pickles, cake, pastry, nuts, cheese, 
fried foods, hot bread, sweets, or drink beer, spirits, cocoa, chocolate, 
or much coffee. Drink water freely, especially hot water in the 
morning before breakfast. Iron and cod liver oil are indicated in 
debilitated or scrofulous persons; fresh fruits and vegetables if they 
agree. Outdoor life, and frequent thorough bathing with friction. 
Sulphur and iodide of sulphur soaps, and good tar soaps are the best. 
Shampoo the affected parts every night—after a warm sponge bath 
of the entire body—with a flannel cloth, warm water and soap. If 
the skin is sluggish and the acne chronic, use tincture of green soap. 
Dry, and apply sulphur ointment, or when there is suppuration, an 
ointment of sulphur, five per cent., ichthyol, five per cent., and vase¬ 
line, one ounce. For other local applications consult the section on 
this subject on page 176. 

Erysipelas.— St. Anthony's Fire. 

Erysipelas is an acute inflammatory disease of the skin and tissue 
beneath, caused by a germ and ushered in by debility, loss of appetite, 
headache, chilliness, coated tongue, nausea, increase of temperature 
(102 to 105 degrees), rapid pulse, and followed by continued high 
temperature and the speedy appearance of an inflamed patch gen¬ 
erally on the face or head, but may occupy a portion of the body or 
an entire limb. The affected area is of a glossy red; bright, shiny, 


ERYSIPELAS. 


733 


with marked swelling, feels hot and firm and is sensitive to the touch; 
there is pain, burning and itching. Inflammation often extends 
rapidly; watery pimples or blisters may form, and finally pus. The 
disease should subside in a week unless complications occur involving 
the brain, lungs, heart, kidneys, etc., dropsy develops or an abscess 
forms. It is now believed that the erysipelas germ always obtains 
admission to the system through some abrasion of the surface, as 
through wounds, vaccination, skin diseases, etc. Whatever dimin¬ 
ishes the vitality of the system predisposes one to the infection, also 
alcoholism and kidney diseases. 

Apis.— Much swelling; skin puffy and pale; stinging, burning, 
prickling pains, or sore, bruised feeling; skin sensitive to slightest 
touch; erysipelas of the face and scalp, with puffiness of the eyelids; 
chronic erysipelas occurring about once so often. 

Belladonna.— High fever; skin smooth, shining, bright; conges¬ 
tion of the head; sometimes delirium; severe headache; great thirst, 
dry tongue, parched lips; tendency of the inflammation to spread in 
streaks. 

Rhus tox.— Watery blisters (vesicles) on the face or body; itching, 
and burning after scratching; dark bluish-redness of the affected 
part; bruised feeling in the back and limbs. 

Arsenicum.— ^This remedy follows Rhus tox. well when the disease 
shifts from one place to another, and tends to attack internal organs; 
great restlessness and sinking of strength; skin bluish or black and 
blue; burning pains; quick, wiry pulse; grave cases. 

Cantharis.— An excellent remedy when watery blisters form, and 
in them as well as elsewhere there are fine stinging, burning pains; 
much inflammation; urine burns and is scanty or can not be passed; 
patient very restless and uneasy. 

Also Aconite in the beginning with high fever. Arnica when the 
inflamed surface is extremely tender, and painful on pressure; hot 
hard, shining, deep red and patient feels as if he could not bear the 
pain. 

Painting the affected surface with collodion will in ordinary cases 
often relieve the pain, and limit extension of inflammation. Cold water 
dressings, renewed before they become warm, are valuable. Rye flour 
or powdered starch may be dusted on as a dry dressing. A cranberry 
poultice made by mashing the raw berries with cold water to form a 
paste is a good and simple application. An ointment of lanolin 
containing twenty-five per cent, of ichthyol, or a lotion with the same 
proportion of ichthyol, or a drachm of the hyposulphite of soda to 
one ounce of water can be recommended. Isolate the patient in a 
well-ventilated room; keep him in bed, and scrupulously clean; at 
regular intervals give highly nourishing food such as milk, malted 
milk, chicken and lamb broths, meat juices, panopepton, trophonine, 


734 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


peptonized milk, plenty of water, and no alcoholic stimulants unless 
the pulse is weak, and the patient collapsed. 

The injection of about 20 c. c. of anti-streptococci serum every 
eight hours is one of the most modern methods of treatment. 

Prickly Heat. 

In hot weather the sweat glands of the skin often become congested 
or even inflamed from excessive stimulation by heat. There is an 
eruption of tiny pimples of a bright red color, sometimes with watery 
vesicles interspersed, and tingling and prickly sensations, annoying 
and, at times, unbearable. The upper part of the forehead, and the 
parts of the body covered by the clothes are most subject to these 
attacks. 

Bryonia.— Prickly heat from getting overheated either by exer¬ 
cise, working before a furnace, ironing, etc.; red rash over the whole 
body, profuse sweating on slight exertion. 

Arsenicum.— Prickly heat, with watery vesicles, burning, itching 
and crawling sensations, especially at night; general debility, indi¬ 
gestion. 

Ledum.— Red, pimply eruptions, especially on the face and fore¬ 
head; with intense itching, worse from scratching and from the heat 
of the bed; prickly heat, with sensation as if bitten by insects. 

Urtica Urens — Extremely distressing burning heat of the face, 
arms, shoulders and chest; with crawling sensations, numbness, and 
violent itching. 

Also Sulphur for scrofulous persons, and those subject to skin erup¬ 
tions, especially with watery blisters or vesicles, with much itching, 
burning and tingling, worse after rubbing and from warmth or bath¬ 
ing. Apis. —Stinging, smarting, prickling, burning or itching of the 
skin, nettle-like eruption. A dose of the indicated remedy every 
two hours. 

A bran or oatmeal bath with a little carbolic acid solution in it, 
then mopping the skin perfectly dry without rubbing, and dusting 
on subnitrate of bismuth and starch powder, or lycopodium powder 
is the best local treatment. Keep babies and young children out of 
the sun during the warmest hours of the day, do not use ice water; 
always purchase the purest soaps, and rinse the skin thoroughly after 
using. Hind’s Honey and Almond Cream is a harmless and soothing 
lotion. 

Malignant Pustule.—Anthrax. 

Wool-Sorter’s Disease. 

Men who work among cattle or sheep, dress hides, etc., are liable 
to contract this disease by inoculation or inhalation of the germ, or 
by eating diseased meat. Abrasions on the skin become infected 


MALIGNANT PUSTULE. 


735 


when handling diseased hides, rags, wool or hair, or instruments; 
flies or mosquitoes may carry the infection. The disease develops 
in from one to five days after exposure. 

The malignant pustule caused by inoculation is most apt to appear 
on the face, hands, or arms, as a small pimple with itching, smarting 
and burning pain as from the bite of an insect. Watery or bloody 
fluid forms in the pimple which is surrounded by little pimples, and 
there is swelling, also inflammation of the nearby glands. In severe 
cases there are marked constitutional symptoms, fever, prostration, 
sweat, enlarged liver, and spleen, dry tongue, and may be delirium- 
stupor, collapse and death in from four to eight days. 

There is a form called malignant edema, without pustules, but where 
the swelling is very extensive. In the internal form caused by eating 
infected meat, there are all the symptoms of acute poisoning, chill, 
prostration, headache, pain in the intestines, nausea, vomiting, and 
frequently death. Wool-sorter’s or rag-picker’s disease is charac¬ 
terized by chill, then fever with high temperature, labored respiration, 
bronchitis, pains in the back and legs, and great nervous depression. 

The indications for internal remedies are few; but internal medica¬ 
tion is of importance, and should be persisted in. 

Arsenicum.— Painful and malignant pustule, with great prostra¬ 
tion and restlessness; constant thirst, but drinking little at a time; 
depression of the nervous system, and when stomach symptoms are 
prominent with pain, nausea, vomiting and retching; mouth dry; 
tongue red; small weak pulse. Give at once in the beginning of the 
trouble, a dose every hour or two. 

Lachesis.— Bluish color of the pimple, with radiating red streaks, 
swelling about the pustule. 

Anthracinum.— Symptoms resembling those calling for Arsenicum, 
but even more intense, and apparently blood poisoning of the entire 
system. 

Rhus Tox. —Great restlessness; violent pains somewhat better 
while the patient is moving about ; burning itching around the pus¬ 
tule; vertigo; aching pains in the limbs, may be mucous diarrhoea. 

Secale. —Coldness of the skin, with clammy perspiration; pimple 
bluish, not much inflammation but tendency to sloughing; pale, 
anxious countenance, eyes sunken, and blue circles about them. 

A dose of the indicated remedy every hour. When there are pus¬ 
tules they should be cut out, and pure carbolic or nitric acid applied 
to the raw surface, or the electro-cautery may be used. If swelling 
predominates incisions may be made, or a few drops of carbolic acid, 
1 to 10, injected at the base of the swelling. Compresses saturated 
with bichloride of mercury solution, 1 to 1,000 may be applied. Stimu¬ 
lants are necessary when there is great prostration and feeble action 
of the heart; system must be well nourished. 


733 


HOMOEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


Itching of the Skin.— Pruritus, 

Pruritus is always secondary to some disturbance of the nervous 
system, occurs at all ages and in both sexes, but its aggravated forms 
are peculiar to middle life and advanced years. It frequently is a 
symptom in disturbances of the stomach, liver and intestines, in de¬ 
rangements of the urinary system and genital organs, and may be 
caused by worms in the rectum, piles, a too stimulating diet, seden¬ 
tary habits or perversion of the sexual functions. Pruritus is common 
in gouty and rheumatic persons. Itching of the anus is one of the 
most distressing forms' 

Arsenicum.— Crawling, burning sensations; intolerable itching of 
the genitals; itching of the anus, with burning, or an eruption emit¬ 
ting a small drop of watery fluid; chronic cases. 

Mercurius Viv.— Itching as from fleas; may be pleasant, voluptu¬ 
ous itching, or burning or tickling; itching of the genitals; of the 
anus with moisture, burning and smarting, worse at night. 

Pulsatilla.— Pruritus in women during monthly flow or pregnancy; 
itching as from ants. 

Sulphur.— Severe itching and burning of the anus, keeping the 
patient awake at night. 

Rhus Tox.— Itching, redness, swelling and tingling of the .parts. 

Nux Vom.— Itching after stimulating food and alcohol, with indi¬ 
gestion; sexual organs especially. 

A dose of the indicated remedy every four hours. Regulate all 
the habits especially the sexual life, and exercise and diet. Scratching 
is most harniful, and temporary relief may often be obtained by press¬ 
ing firmly on the surface or by gently drawing over it an oiled or wet 
cloth. TOien the skin is free from abrasions alternate hot and cold 
douching, or even the cold salt water sponge will improve its tone. 
A simple application is made by adding one ounce each of hyposul¬ 
phite of soda and glycerine to three ounces of water. Lotions con¬ 
taining carbolic acid are probably the most effective, and may be 
obtained at any drug store. The long continued application of even 
a weak solution of carbolic acid may cause gangrene of the skin. 
Always use a dusting powder after drying the skin. A saturated 
solution of boric acid, or the compound tincture of benzoin may be 
painted on the genitals. The general health should be improved; 
organic diseases receive appropriate treatment, and the garment 
worn next the skin should not be of wool. 

Cancer of the Skin.— Epithelioma. 

Epithelioma is distinctly the product of long continued irritation, 
generally changing some primary benign condition to one of malig¬ 
nancy. Thus a wart, pimple, hardened gland, or a circumscribed 


FELON. 


737 


excoriation as of the lip from a pipe or cigar may after some years 
become the starting point of a cancer. Nearly three-fourths of all 
cancers of the skin occur on some part of the head or face, most fre¬ 
quently after forty years of age, and more often in men than in women. 

When occurring without any previously existing affection, an epi¬ 
thelioma is first noticeable in the form of a few greasy scales, a papery 
crust covering three or four shallow ulcers, or a hard bluish nodule 
varying in size. It may be superficial or extend quite deeply into the 
tissues; occur on the genitals, extremities, on the lip or any part of 
the face and head; may be indolent or of rapid growth; curable or 
incurable, but usually the outlook is serious. 

Remedies that may be given internally are Thuja for warty growths 
with the symptoms given under Warts”; Arsenicum in undoubted 
malignancy, with itching and burning pains, ulceration, and depres¬ 
sion of the whole system. Nitric acid. Bluish-red, nodulated, round¬ 
ish ulcer; bleeding easily; unbearable burning pain worse from eating 
and drinking; cancer of the mucous membrane especially. Petroleum. 
Nodules on wrists, hands, arms, feet and legs; pimples in the folds of 
the genitals. Conium or Causticum recommended to prevent horny 
excrescences assuming a cancerous character. A dose of the remedy 
selected twice a day. 

Local treatment should be promptly instituted, so promptly, 
indeed, that warts, fissures, erosions, or other abnormal conditions 
of the skin should never be neglected or allowed to persist, with the 
always present possibility that degenerative changes may take place. 
Internal remedies will improve the general condition, and supplement 
other measures, but the x-rays or the knife should be resorted to as 
early as possible. The results of treatment of superficial forms of 
cancer, especially by the x-rays, are very encouraging, and in very 
large cities leading surgeons and specialists in skin diseases have the 
necessary apparatus. Do not try cancer cures,’’ but go to a quali¬ 
fied practitioner, whether allopath or homeopath. Treatment by the 
x-rays is painless, and the skin less liable to be badly scarred than 
when the knife is used. Caustics are frequently used to destroy 
cancer of the skin, but we cannot recommend their use by the laity. 
Growths are also cauterized by means of electricity. 

Whitlow.—Felon.— Paronychia. 

A “run round” of whatever degree is an exceedingly painful affec¬ 
tion. It affects the end of a finger or thumb causing inflammation 
and swelling, and excruciating pain, especially when the covering of 
the bone is involved. Pus may form, the nail be affected and come 
off. One run round may be followed by others. 

Hepar Sulph. —Give early before suppuration occurs, when there 
is redness, tenderness, and more or less swelling; or after suppuration 
is established. A dose every two hours. 


738 


HOMOEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


Silicea. —most valuable remedy; especially in bad cases with 
the bone involved; burning, tearing, sticking pains better from warm 
applications, worse from cold; suppuration; slow-healing. A dose 
every three hours. 

Fluoric Acid. —Bone felons, with offensive discharge in persons 
subject to skin eruptions; pain and other symptoms better from cold 
applications, worse from warm. Give as above. 

A felon, accompanied by the characteristic hammering, throbbing 
pains, may sometimes be aborted by the following simple treatment: 
Pour one-half pint of boiling water on a handful of fresh wood ashes, 
making a strong lye. Thrust the finger into the lye which must be 
as hot as can be borne. After a few minutes remove the finger, and 
apply compress wet with the hot lye. Repeat the treatment in three 
or four hours, if necessary. An excellent application relieving in¬ 
flammation and swelling is antiphlogistine. Plaster it on, cover with 
absorbent cotton, and renew daily. Free incision should be made 
with a sterilized lancet as soon as pus forms, and the wound cleansed 
with an antiseptic such as peroxide of hydrogen or listerine. It is 
well to keep the hand in a sling; the hand should be higher than the 
elbow. 


Warts. VerruccB. 

Common warts consist of a pin-head to bean-sized circumscribed 
elevation of the skin due to excessive growth of little end expansions 
of vessels and nerves in the skin. The precise cause of these warts 
is unknown, but in many instances they seem to be contagious. 
There are other kinds of warts, those in old people, may be due to 
changes in nutrition of the skin, or may precede the development of 
cancer of the skin. Venereal warts are due to specific infection, and 
warts in tuberculosis to the bacillus of that disease. Fig warts are 
excrescences shaped like a fig. The common warts here referred to 
may often be cured by the use of the indicated remedy; this will not 
interfere with local treatment. 

Thuja. —Wart-shaped excrescences here and there, especially on 
the hands and genitals, but may appear about the head and ears; 
warts after gonorrhea; come in groups or crops; seed warts or fig 
warts that are moist or suppurate. 

Nitric Acid.— Warts especially on the arms, head, neck and nose; 
moist, bleeding, inflamed; cauliflower warts; m^y be hard and horny 
or large and fleshy; burning, pricking or painful; fig warts that split 
or crack. 

Antimonium Crud.— Flat, horny warts in fair, fleshy, children. 

Causticum. —Small, horny or hard old warts, may occur all over 
the body; may be large and fleshy, painful, stinging, inflamed and 
moist; warts on the nose, face or hands. 


INFLAMMATION OF THE GLANDS OF THE GROIN OR ARMPITS. 739 

A dose of the indicated remedy three times a day. When taken 
internally, thuja may be used as a lotion also, twenty drops of the 
tincture to a cupful of water. Warts may be removed by the knife, 
electro-cautery, nitrate of silver, pure nitric acid or other caustic. 
Venereal warts should be kept clean, washed with a solution of perox¬ 
ide of hydrogen, dried thoroughly and kept dusted with calomel 

Inflammation of the Glands of the Groin 
or Armpits. 

While inflammation of these glands is most common in persons of 
a scrofulous constitution, swelling, soreness and even suppuration 
may be due to other causes. Glandular enlargement may accompany 
the eruption in measles, or be present in hereditary syphilis, typhus 
fever, scarlet fever, tuberculosis, during the change of life, and in 
disease of the blood with impoverishment of the blood supply, great 
disturbance of nutrition, and more or less enlargement of the spleen. 
Sometimes injuries to the upper extremities cause inflammation of 
the glands under the arms, and to the lower extremities of the glands 
in the groin. Consult the remedies given under Scrofula.’’ 

Belladonna.— Enlargement and hardening with heat and redness 
of the glands under the arm, especially in women at the change of 
life; also, during scarlet fever. 

Alumina.— Swelling of the glands or a gland in the groin in gon¬ 
orrhea, with yellowish discharges from the male organ, and itching 
and burning along the urinary passage. 

Carbo Animalis. —^Enlargement of the glands of the groin and 
armpits, feel hard like a stone, especially in syphilitics. 

Conium.— Stony hardness of the glands, with little or no pain, 
after a contusion or bruise, or in enlargement and hardness of the 
glands in persons with scrofula or cancer in the family. 

Also Hepar sulph., Calcarea carh., Iodine, Sulphur, etc., as given 
under Scrofula,” and Silicea when glands have broken down and 
discharged matter, yet feel hard and are slow to heal. Mercurius. 
Enlarged glands in syphilitic or scrofulous persons, with or without 
suppuration. Phytolacca. Inflammation and swelling of the glands, 
with rheumatic pains; may be ulceration. A dose of the indicated 
remedy three times a day. 

When pus forms in an enlarged gland it should be evacuated, and 
the wound cleansed with an antiseptic wash such as listerine and 
water, 1 to 4, or corrosive sublimate 1 to 1,000. Gauze wet with 
tincture of calendula, 20 drops to a cupful of water, may be used as 
a dressing, and covered with oiled silk and a bandage. When the 
glands are merely sore and inflamed, antiphlogistine inakes a most 
excellent application. In syphilitic eases a mercurial ointment may 
be applied. 


740 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


Scrofula. 

Science tells us that scrofula is a form of tuberculosis caused by 
the same variety of rod-shaped cell called a bacillus. The form of 
scrofula to which this section refers is that manifested by swelling 
of the glands imder the jaws, in the neck, groin, and under the arms. 
For a detailed description see page 529. Infection may take place 
through the tonsils, the lining membrane of the nasal passages, or 
through abrasions of the skin. It is most often poorly nourished 
children and adults who are affected, especially those living under 
unhygienic conditions. Sometimes the glandular trouble accompanies 
consumption of the lungs. 

In children of a scrofulous constitution humors and sores on the 
skin are common, healing is often slow, and recurrence frequent. 
Remedies used homeopathically are of great value, because correcting 
the constitutional condition which favors the development of the 
disease locally. 

Calcarea Carb. —Enlarged glands in plump, fair-skinned individu¬ 
als; tendency to grow fat; take cold easily, feet damp and cold; 
perspire profusely. 

Baryta Carb.— Painful, hard swelling of the glands under the jaw 
or in the back of the neck, especially after influenza; in children sub¬ 
ject to inflammation and swelling of the tonsils, and who develop 
slowly mentally. 

Hepar Sulph.— Enlarged glands which tend to suppurate, and 
break down; skin unhealthy, even slight injuries are slow to heal, 
and matter forms. 

riercurius Viv. —Scrofulous somewhat emaciated individuals, espe¬ 
cially children, with large heads; limbs cold and damp; oily, offensive 
perspiration of the head; enlarged glands suppurate and discharge 
pus. 

Silicea. —A valuable constitutional remedy when the bones as well 
as the glands often seem to be affected; sour or offensive perspiration 
at night; sensitiveness to cold air; large head and distended abdomen; 
glands suppurate, and a thin discharge persists. 

Also Iodine when glands are enlarged and hard, especially in dark¬ 
haired, sallow, thin persons. Sulphur as a constitutional remedy 
in dark-complexioned individuals, with dry skin subject to eruptions, 
sores, cracks, itching and burning; slight injuries are slow to heal. 
A dose of the indicated remedy may be given three times a day. 

Plenty of fresh air; sunshine; nourishing, digestible food, and hy¬ 
gienic surroundings are indispensable. Cod liver oil is both a food 
and a medicine, and may be given by mouth and also rubbed into 
the skin daily after bathing. Change of air is frequently beneficial. 


VARICOSE VEINS 


741 


Children of a scrofulous constitution should not be allowed to eat 
sweets, fried food, pastry, cake, pork, griddle cakes, or to spend 
much time indoors. 


Varicose Veins. 

Swelling of the veins near the surface, especially of the legs; 
with relaxation of the walls, and a more or less permanent distention 
with the accumulated blood is familiar to all. Tight garters, tight lac¬ 
ing, constant standing, pregnancy, hereditary tendency, and impaired 
circulation from debility or other diseases are common causes. A 
vein may burst causing severe bleeding, or ulceration may result. 
Medical treatment is valuable as a preventive or curative measure, 
but occasionally must be supplemented by surgical interference. 

Hamamelis.— Especially in acute cases; veins inflamed, painful 
or dilated, and soreness is conspicuous. 

Pulsatilla.— ^Varicose veins occurring during pregnancy; soreness 
and stinging pains. 

Fluoric Acid.— This remedy is recommended by several good 
authorities as producing shrinkage in the size of the affected veins. 

When there is acute inflammation of a vein. Arnica is suitable, and 
later if the veins are blue and livid, with threatened ulceration and 
burning pains, Carho veg. should be taken. A dose of the indicated 
remedy morning and night. 

Bathe the affected part with Hamamelis, and at night apply cloths 
wet with the same and covered with oiled silk. For the leg an elastic 
stocking will be found of great service, or bandaging with a rubber 
or woolen bandage. Keep the limb elevated. If the skin is broken, 
apply hamamelis cerate; if hemorrhage occurs, the sufferer should lie 
down and the affected part be elevated, while bleeding is controlled 
by pressure and cold applications. 

Boil.— Furunculus. 

This is a small, circumscribed, painful tumor, which begins in the 
form of a pimple and increases in size until as large sometimes as a 
walnut. A boil differs from a simple abscess in having a core of dead 
tissue, around which the inflammation develops. Modern science is 
of the opinion that this disease is due to the invasion of a micro¬ 
organism, which, entering some tiny gland in the skin sets up changes 
causing death of nearby tissue, and irritation with inflammation. 
One boil is frequently followed by another in persons in ill health 
from anxiety, overwork, unwholesome food, lack of exercise, etc. A 
boil may be very painful before pus forms, and the tumor softens and 
breaks down, discharging matter and the hard core. 

Belladonna.— If the boil is hard, red and painful, a dose of Bella-' 


742 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


donna every hour will often relieve pain and prevent the formation 
of matter. 

Hepar sulph.— Pulsating pain indicating suppuration. The boil 
will come more quickly to a head through the use of this remedy 
every two hours. 

Arnica.— An excellent remedy to be taken three times a day for 
a week or two after having boils, to prevent their recurrence. 

Sulphur as a preventive is sometimes more effective, especially 
in persons subject to skin eruptions. 

Silicea.— Boils that come in crops are slow to heal and have a 
thin, watering, bad-smelling discharge or thick pus; also, for the 
hard spots left by boils. 

In its earliest stage a boil can be aborted by introducing a pointed 
stick of nitrate of silver, and working it thoroughly round; this is, 
of course, very painful. The galvano-cautery is also used. The 
injection of two or more drops of carbolic acid (95 %) will frequently 
abort a boil. Never use a knife on a boil until it is thoroughly ripe. 
In the very beginning spread antiphlogistine over the affected area 
only, and cover with gauze or cheese cloth, and absorbent cotton. 
This will often prevent suppuration, if available, and is superior to 
poulticing. When a boil is opened by knife, all pus and dead matter 
should be removed, peroxide of hydrogen, or corrosive sublimate 
1 to 1000, used as a wash, and cheese cloth wet with one of these 
antiseptics applied, or with calendula tincture twenty drops to a 
cupful of water. Do not poultice after opening a ripe boil, or the 
formation of more boils will be encouraged. 

CarhvLncX^..—Anthrax, 

A GOOD description of carbuncle will be found on page 588. A 
carbuncle is a malignant boil, much harder to heal than a simple 
boil, and seems to affect the whole system. Spring and summer are 
the seasons of the year when boils or carbuncles are most likely to 
develop, and in debilitated people, or persons who make a sudden 
change in their diet or habits, undergo prolonged fatigue, or those 
having kidney disease or recovering from long continued illness. 

Arsenicum.— Large, painful, malignant carbuncles; cutting, burn¬ 
ing pains, worse after midnight, relieved by heat; great prostration 
and restlessness, much thirst for small quantities of water at a time. 
A dose every two hours. 

Belladonna.— Smooth, bright-red swelling, skin drawn tight; 
throbbing pain; patient drowsy but cannot sleep; head and face 
congested; some fever. Give as above. 

Bryonia.— ^Especially recommended to hasten suppuration. Give 
as above. 


ABSCESS. 


743 


Crotalus.— The affected part is bluish, and often surrounded by 
many small pimples; the skin is very sensitive, with burning, throb¬ 
bing pains. Carbuncles which slough; are very offensive. A dose 
every four hours. 

Silicea.— To check excessive suppuration, promote healing, 
lessen the hardness of surrounding tissue, and improve the constitu¬ 
tional condition. A dose three times a day. 

Do not poultice a carbuncle. Inject two or three drops of car¬ 
bolic acid (95%) into each of its openings or in several places, and 
apply ice bags. If the patient is not suffering from kidney disease, 
and the carbuncle increases in size, spray the surface with ethyl 
chloride or inject a few drops of cocaine (4%) to produce insensi¬ 
bility of the part, then open the carbuncle freely with a sharp knife 
that has been sterilized in boiling water. The incisions should cross 
each other. All pus and diseased tissue should be scraped out; the 
wound treated as recommended for a boil. Improve the general 
condition by a diet of milk, eggs, cod liver oil, beef juice, broths, 
fresh fruits and vegetables, out-door life, frequent bathing, etc. 
Always look for the cause of boils or carbuncles, and remove it. 

Abscess. 

Acute abscess may be said in general to be a localized inflammatory 
condition, characterized by chills, increase of pulse and temperature, 
redness, heat, pain, swelling, the formation of pus with a tendency 
to point and discharge matter spontaneously unless prevented by 
dense tissue structures. A chronic abscess rarely exhibits these 
symptoms, but forms an indistinct tumor, sometimes difficult to diag¬ 
nose and often requiring surgical treatment. Abscesses may result 
from falls; blows; wounds where dirt, nails, slivers of wood, etc., 
enter or remain in the injured part. They sometimes are caused by 
diseased bone; they may accompany other diseases, or depend upon 
constitutional conditions. 

Belladonna.— Surface bright red, swollen and tender to the touch; 
the swelling forms suddenly and develops rapidly. A dose every two 
hours. 

Mercurius viv.— After pus has formed, and to bring abscess to a 
head; throbbing, stinging pains. Do not give it before pus forms; it 
follows Belladonna well. Give as above. 

Silicea.— Continued suppuration after abscess has broken or been 
lanced; slow healing; offensive discharge. Chronic abscess or ab¬ 
scess of the bone. A dose every four hours. 

Calcarea carb.— A good constitutional remedy for those of a 
scrofulous constitution, or ill nourished; fair complexion; tendency 
to grow fat; small wounds suppurate; skin eruptions occur fre¬ 
quently; perspire easily. 


744 


HOMCEOPATHIC TKEATMENT OF DISEASES. 


If any foreign body like a sliver of wood is present, remove it. 
Spread antiphlogistine one-eighth of an inch thick over the abscess. 
An abscess should be opened with a sharp, sterilized knife as soon as 
it points, and the cavity thoroughly washed out with listerine and 
water, 1 to 4, or carbolic acid and water 1 to 40, or peroxide of hydro¬ 
gen. Drainage tubes of soft rubber perforated with small holes, are 
put in the cavity to allow pus to escape. Gauze wet with an anti¬ 
septic, or with calendula tincture (see Boils) makes a good dressing. 

Iodoform, one part to nine parts glycerine, makes a good emulsion 
to apply to the cavity of a chronic abscess, after washing with an 
antiseptic solution. This stimulates healing. Persons subject to 
abscesses should eat no rich or spiced foods, use no stimulants and 
avoid all excitement of the passions. 

Ulcers. 

People of low vitality, of bad habits or inheriting some constitu¬ 
tional defect are most liable to ulcers. There are many different 
kinds, e. g., the irritable ulcer, red, inflamed, with painful ragged edge; 
the varicose ulcer, with much distension of the nearby veins, and swell¬ 
ing; indolent ulcer, slow to head; scrofulous and syphilitic ulcers. 
A bruise, burn or boil may excite the formation of an ulcer. The 
ulcers occurring within the body will not be referred to here. 

Arsenicum. —Intense burning, shooting pains; bloody or thin, 
acid discharge; superficial, raw looking ulcers that bleed readily. 

Kali Bich. —Deep ulcers on the leg, with hard bases and overhang¬ 
ing edges. 

Hecurius Sol. —Syphilitic ulcers, superficial, flat, and enlarging 
rapidly, with thin, corroding, offensive discharge of watery pus. 

Nitric Acid. —Ulcers irregular in outline, tending to dip downward 
deeply; often show profuse granulations; bleed at the slightest 
touch, sticking, burning pains; excellent for syphilitic ulcers after 
taking toomuch Mercury. 

Garbo Veg. —^Varicose ulcers with burning pains; skin mottled and 
small blood-vessels enlarged; in indolent ulcers surrounded by spots 
like black and blue spots, with thin, corrosive, burning discharge, and 
hard borders; in cancerous ulcers. 

Lachesis. —Skin about ulcer pimply, mottled, blistered, dark-blue 
or purple; ulcers extend superficially, threatens to involve veins; 
discharge scanty; the skin may become cold and feel dead; disagree¬ 
able odor like a grave. 

Sulphur. —Especially useful for chronic ulcers in scrofulous people; 
excessive itching, with burning pains; thick yellow, or thin offensive 
discharge. A dose three times a day. 


CHILBLAINS. 745 

The symptoms given under “Abscess/’ page 743, for Calcarea carb 
should be read. 

Simple ulcers most frequently occur on the arm or leg; when located 
keep the limb at rest and elevated. Keep the ulcer clean and apply 
gauze or soft cotton cloth wet with calendula tincture, twenty drops 
to a cupful of water, cover with oiled silk and lightly bandage. A 
chronic callous or indolent ulcer should be well scraped and stimu- 
lated by the application of nitrate of silver; a varicose ulcer requires 
support of the veins by a rubber bandage or elastic stocking. Sloughs 
formed by dead tissue must be removed, and the surface of the ulcer 
washed with an antiseptic, see treatment of “Abscess,” page 580. 
Pure carbolic acid or nitrate of silver may be applied to an irritable 
ulcer. All hygienic rules must be observed, and only digestible food 
eaten. 

Chilblains. 

This common affection affects the fingers and toes, causing reddish 
or bluish swelling, soreness or inflammation; intense burning and itch¬ 
ing. The skin may break down, and a suppurating sore result. Chil¬ 
blains are most common in the winter time, and in those with lessened 
vitality or of a scrofulous constitution. 

Agaricus.— Itching, burning, redness of the toes or fingers with 
swelling and great soreness. One of the most useful remedies in the 
author’s experience. Should be taken internally and applied exter¬ 
nally also. A dose every three hours. 

Arnica.— Hard, shining, unbroken skin; pain and itching of the 
parts. Give as above. 

Arsenicum.— Burning, stinging pains, with ulceration; lack of 
vitality; feet easily chilled; heels as well as toes affected. Give as 
above. 

Belladonna. —Much inflammation; skin bright-red; throbbing 
pains; swelling. A dose every two hours. 

Sulphur.— Chronic cases; much itching, worse from warmth; the 
ffected part a bluish red. A dose three times a day. 

Agaricus tincture may be applied to the affected parts; note the 
symptoms indicating the remedy. Kerosene gives relief in many cases, 
also olive oil and turpentine, equal parts. When the skin shows a 
tendency to blister, apply tincture of cantharis, one part to six parts of 
soap-liniment. 

Remedies must be supplemented by measures to improve the 
patient’s condition both general and local. Take outdoor exercise 
regularly; wear easy boots; bathe the feet daily with cold salt water, 
applying brisk friction afterward, snow may be used in place of water; 
wear woolen or other heavy stockings, no tight garters, and keep 
away from the fire; eat simple, nourishing, unstimulating food; no 
alcoholic beverages, 


746 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


Liver Spots.— Maculce. 

Maculae exhibit a wide variation of color from a rosy pink to a 
chocolate brown or black, are usually without depression or elevation, 
occur in patches on the face or elsewhere, and although commonly 
called liver spots, may be due to any cause resulting in congestion of 
the arteries or veins, to the escape of the coloring matters of the blood 
into the skin, or to freaks of pigmentation. They may occur in the 
course of measles, yellow fever, cancer, impoverished blood, uterine 
disorders, and many other conditions besides derangements of the 
liver. A^en due to the latter cause the patches are frequently yellow¬ 
ish brown, and appear on the face. 

Sepia.— Men, but especially women having a yellow, or dirty 
yellow-brown blotched skin; who are inclined to sweat especially 
about the genitals, armpits and back; suffer with hot flashes; head¬ 
aches in the morning, awaken stiff and tired, and are subject to di¬ 
seases of the sexual organs. There may be biliousness, constipation, 
sediment in the urine. 

Chilidonium.— Yellowish-brown patches in those having affec¬ 
tions of the liver, with jaundice, yellow-coated tongue; bitter taste 
in mouth; pain under right shoulder blade; shooting pains in region 
of the liver; clay colored or yellowish stools. 

Nux vom. and Sulphur are frequently helpful. Give a dose of the 
indicated remedy night and morning until the color fades and the 
spots disappear. Tea, coffee and alcohol are forbidden, also sugar, 
much fat in any form, new bread, cake, pastry and fried foods. Lean 
meat and green vegetables are allowed, also fruits sparingly. Water 
should be drunk freely, baths taken daily, and exercise in the open 
air 

ScMYyy—Scorbutus. 

The cause and symptoms of scurvy are well given on page 530. 
While medicines occupy a secondary place in the treatment, they 
are nevertheless of value in cases which do not respond promptly to 
changes in diet, habits and surroundings. 

A form of scurvy called scorbutus occurs in infants and may be 
mistaken for rheumatism because there is much pain about the knees 
and legs on motion. But in scorbutus the characteristic symptoms 
of scurvy are present, the black and blue spots, extreme debility, 
swelling of the gums, which bleed easily, etc., but it is usually the 
severe pain in the legs which first attracts attention in infants. 

Mercurius Viv.— Scurvy with ulcerated gums; mouth waters con¬ 
stantly; bad breath; puffy tongue; tenderness over the stomach, 
and diarrhoea. 

Muriatic Acid.— Great muscular debility, feeble action of the 


ITCH. 


747 


heart, the patient slides down to the foot of the bed absolutely help¬ 
less; ulcers in the mouth, the lips raw and cracked. 

Nitric Acid.— Extensive ulceration of the gums; gums white, 
swollen and bleeding; ulcerated spots on the inner surface of the 
cheeks; foul breath; profuse flow of saliva; blisters and ulcers on 
the tongue; tearing, stitching pains; great weakness. 

Natrum Mur.— ^An excellent remedy in cases with dry, yellowish 
skin; emaciation, debility; sore mouth; ulcers on the tongue and 
gums; bad breath; headache as if the head would burst; fever blis¬ 
ters on lips; often palpitation of the heart. 

Also Arsenicum or Lachesis when the whole system is badly involved, 
and the sores and ulcers threaten to become gangrenous; the pains 
are severe and burning; the face pale and sunken. China or Ferrum 
phos. may be given during convalescence, especially after loss of blood 
and when the patient’s recovery is slow, and debility marked. A 
dose of the indicated remedy may be given three times a day. 

The general treatment of scurvy is well outlined on page 531. 
Infants should be given fresh cow’s milk; cream; beef-juice; orange 
or lemon-juice, and if the child is over one year, bread and butter 
and baked potato. 


Itch.— Scabies. 

Small pimples first appear between the fingers, in the bend of the 
wrists or elbows, the groin, under the arms or, in women, the breasts, 
and about the ankles in children. The face is not affected. The cause 
of the disturbance is the itch-nute or acarus. A good description of 
this parasite will be found on page 167. The local treatment is of 
special importance in these cases, but internal remedies also should 
not be neglected. 

Sulphur.— ^The leading remedy; tingling, itching, burning and 
soreness after scratching; worse when warm in bed; rawness of the 
surface; glandular swellings. 

riercurius Viv.— Itching all over, and especially in the bends of 
the elbows, if some of the pimples contain pus; worse at night in bed, 
cannot sleep for the itching; diarrhoea. 

Arsenicum.— Inveterate cases; eruption in the bends of the knees; 
burning and itching; symptoms better from external warmth. 

Croten Tig. —Itching and painful burning, with redness of the skin; 
formation of watery pimples, and pimples containing pus; drying 
up and scaling off of pimples. 

The patient should soak in a warm bath fifteen minutes, then be 
rubbed all over with soft soap and a flesh brush, to break up the 
burrows made by the itch-nute. Wash off the soap, thoroughly dry 
the surface and rub in sulphur ointment, strength 20 per cent. Do 


748 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


this at night, and have fresh bed linen, also in the morning put on 
new underclothes. Everything worn previously or used on the bed 
should be baked or boiled for an hour or two. Renew the ointment 
the second and third night, and the fourth night take a warm bath, 
dry the skin and dust on talcum powder; change the underclothing 
and bed linen again, and treat that discarded as above. The treat¬ 
ment may be repeated in a week if necessary; it is not advisable to 
use such measures so continuously as to set up a bad inflammation 
of the skin. 


Nettle Rash.—Hives.— Urticaria. 

Urticaria is an inflammatory affection of the skin characterized 
by the formation of whitish and pinkish elevations attended by more 
or less intense itching. They may be few or many; appear and dis¬ 
appear suddenly; be irregular in shape, the size of a pea, bean, or 
even egg, or extend lengthwise, and the eruption be repeated for 
days or months. Many times drawing the finger-nail or a pencil over 
the spot where the wheals have been, will produce a white line which 
becomes elevated and red, and shortly disappears. The eruption 
may occur anywhere, but generally on covered parts of the body. 
The cause is most frequently some digestive disturbance, the irrita¬ 
tion of indigested food or the absorption of toxins. The following 
foods may produce hives: lobsters, crabs, mussels, cheese, sausage, 
pork, nuts, strawberries, oat-meal, mushrooms; also such drugs as 
quinine, copaiba, cubebs, chloral, the coal tar products, or salicylic 
acid. 

Arsenicum. —Scarlet elevations, especially on the face and neck, 
the size of a half dollar; intense burning; intolerable itching, better 
from external heat, worse from cold and scratching; irritability of 
the stomach. 

Apis Mel.— Sudden appearance of long, pinkish-white blotches, 
raised above the skin, stinging and burning; also sudden stinging 
sensation over whole body, passing off after sleep; all symptoms 
aggravated by heat, ameliorated by cold water. The arms, feet, 
nape of neck and palm of hands are favorite locations with this 
remedy, which is also especially indicated in acute cases. 

Urtica Urens.— Nettle rash preceding or accompanying rheuma¬ 
tism; itching swellings all over the fingers; intense burning; raised 
red blotches, or fine stinging points, or a pale rash provoking con¬ 
stant rubbing, disappearing at night and reappearing in the morn¬ 
ing; especially after eating shell-fish; may appear each year about 
the same time. 

Calcarea Carb.— Chronic cases; white, elevated hard eruption 
disappearing in the cold air, or elevated red stripes on the skin, 
itching and burning intensely after rubbing. In children inclined to 
grow fat or during dentition. 


SHINGLES. 


749 


Also Pulsatilla when the hives are of gastric or uterine origin; after 
eating fat pork, fruits, buckwheat cakes, pastry, etc.; burning, itch¬ 
ing rash, worse from warmth. Nux vom. Nettle rash with headache, 
vertigo and constipation; after the use of drugs or stimulants. Rhus 
tox. when hives accompany ague or rheumatism, or come on after 
getting wet in persons subject to rheumatism, itching all over the 
body. A dose of the indicated remedy every three hours. 

First find out the cause and remove it; empty the stomach and 
bowels of all irritating contents, and regulate diet, exercise, bathing 
and all other habits. Sleep on a firm mattress, with only light weight 
bed-clothes, and in a well ventilated room. Wear soft underclothing. 
Baths medicated with sea-salt, aromatic vinegar, alcohol, cologne, 
camphor, or boric acid sometimes alleviate the symptoms. One of 
the most easily prepared effective applications is starch mixed with 
cold water and boiled until about the thickness of mucilage; while 
still boiling add one drachm of zinc oxide and two drachms (teaspoon¬ 
fuls) of glycerine; stir well and let cool, then apply to the affected 
surface. Warm vinegar and water may allay itching, or cream, one 
ounce to which one-half drachm of chloroform has been added. After 
applying a lotion, take up the excess gently with absorbent cotton 
or gauze, do not rub the spot; after drying, apply talcum or other 
dusting powder. Isolated spots in mild cases may be painted with 
flexible collodion. 

Shingles.—Herpes Zoster.— Zona. 

This painful disease of the skin due to injury or irritation of the 
nerves, is characterized by the formation of grouped pin-head to pea¬ 
sized vesicles or watery pimples, along the course of a nerve, preceded, 
accompanied or followed by neuralgic pains in the part affected. A 
marked feature is that the eruption is almost invariably confined to 
one side of the body. It often forms a semi-girdle about the chest 
or abdomen, thus obtaining the name of Zona, but may follow the 
course of a superficial nerve on any part of the body. Sensitiveness 
of the skin, or pain, and slight fever generally precedes the appearance 
of the vesicles which attain maturity in from three to seven days, 
then dry up, form crusts, and scale off; one group may be followed 
by another. The disease may last from ten days to three weeks, 
and rarely occurs but once in a lifetime. It is serious only in the 
aged, and in the greatly debilitated. The chief causes are exposure 
to cold, damp weather; injury to some nerve, certain poisons, and 
diseases. In some cases it is now thought to be an infectious disease. 

Arsenicum.— Tendency of the vesicles to run together, with 
intense burning of the blisters; worse after midnight and from cold 
applications; in persons much debilitated, not well nourished, as 
feeble, old people. 


750 


HOMOEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


Strychnia.— Much prostration; great sensitiveness and soreness 
of the skin, with severe neuralgic pains; headache; lack of appetite. 

Rhus Tox.— Small burning vesicles, with redness of the skin; 
rheumatic pains during rest; symptoms worse in cold weather; 
shingles brought on by getting wet when overheated. 

Graphites.— Zoster on the left side; large blisters from the spine 
round to the naval, burning when touched; worse indoors, better in 
the open air; in fair individuals, rather stout, and having a dry skin. 

Consult the remedies mentioned under “Nettle Rash” and “Neu¬ 
ralgia.” Give a dose of the indicated remedy every three or four 
hours. It is desirable to keep the vesicles unbroken, and to this 
end they may be painted with collodion containing ichthyol, one 
drachm of the latter to one ounce of the former; or one-half ounce 
of collodion containing two grains of morphia sulph., when the pains 
are severe. Ordinary dusting powders of starch, talcum, or oxide of 
zinc make a good dry dressing, the surface being covered with ab¬ 
sorbent cotton filled with the powder, and kept in place by a light 
bandage. Galvanism is often highly beneficial for neuralgic pains 
persisting after the eruption has disappeared. 

Eczema.—Salt Rheum.— 

Eczema is a non-contagious, inflammatory disease of the skin occur¬ 
ring in many different forms, the commonest of which are described 
on page 166. That occurring on the face of infants is frequently 
called “milk crust.” Chronic eczema is known as “salt rheum.” 
The causes of eczema are both internal and external, and include 
indigestion, constipation, general debility, rheumatism, diseases of 
the kidneys, scrofula, teething, diseases of the uterus, the use of 
soaps containing too much alkali, irritation of the skin by chemicals, 
friction, scratching or parasites, over-feeding, especially in children, 
unhygienic surroundings. To learn the cause should be to endeavor 
to remove it. Eczema may coexist with any other skin affection, or 
be the expression of some disease of an organ or the whole system 
which must first be cured. 

Rhus Tox.— Redness of the skin, quickly followed by the formation 
of vesicles, the watery contents changing to pus; the skin is often 
puffy; burning and itching worse at night and in cold weather. 

iTezereum.— Scrofulous cases, in which hard, thick crusts form, 
crack and ooze pus; pimples often form about the part mainly 
affected. 

Arsenicum. —Red or white pus-filled pimples, or painful and 
black, with burning and itching on the scalp, forehead, cheeks, arms, 
shoulders and upper part of the chest; thick crusts form which have 
well-marked scars. 


ECZEMA. 


751 


Natrum Mur.— Cracks and fissures of the lips, chapping of the lips; 
fever blisters; cold-sores; chapped hands, skin rough and dry. In 
the very beginning of a cold-sore apply camphor or pure alcohol. 

Mercurius.— Eczema with suppuration, the pustules run together 
and discharge an acrid humor, or remain sore, bleed easily and are 
painful to the touch; itching and burning worse in bed; the sufferer 
sweats easily. 

Sulphur.— Dry, thick yellowish scabs all over the body, especially 
on the scalp; painful to touch; great itching; aversion to washing. 

Calcarea Carb.— Heat, thirst and loss of appetite accompany the 
eruption which is often on the head, and extends to the face; white, 
chalky-looking crusts; especially in scrofulous children. 

Also Sepia, with itching pimples on the chin; eczema of fingers with 
the formation of little ulcers. Silicea, pimples filled with pus all 
over the body, do not suppurate or dry up, sensitive to touch; chronic 
eczema in persons subject to eruptions and swelling of the glands. 
A dose of the indicated remedy may be given every three or four 
hours. 

Much attention must be paid to the general condition. Omit 
from the diet sugar, cake, pastries, fried food, cheese, shell-fish, salt 
fish or meats, pickles, nuts, tomatoes, rhubarb, and all stimulants. 
Cod liver oil is well adapted to scrofulous or debilitated individuals, 
also a good preparation of iron. A liberal, wholesome diet, including 
cream, butter and other fats is necessary, and the drinking of at 
least three pints of water a day. Alkaline mineral waters are recom¬ 
mended. Exercise especially of the muscles of the arm and trunk 
should be systematically taken. Let blood purifiers” alone; 
they frequently aggravate the trouble. Soap and water is harmful 
in most cases of acute (recent) eczema, and rubbing and scratching 
will undo all the good remedies and applications can effect. Protect 
the parts from all irritation, and keep as quiet as possible. When 
water must be used, soften it with borax, bran or soda. Olive oil, to 
which has been added one per cent, of carbolic acid, may be applied 
to soften crusts, but dressings soaked with oil should not be kept on 
many hours at one time lest the skin be weakened and macerated. 
When there is no discharge a very fine dusting powder such as zinc, 
talcum, starch, rice-flour, or lycopodium may be applied.^ A good 
lotion which may be applied, and the skin then gently dried before 
using a powder, is prepared by combining two scruples of carbolic acid, 
one drachm of oxide of zinc and two drachms of glycerine with enough 
limewater to make one-half pint in all. Tar or zinc ointment will be 
found helpful in many cases of chronic eczema. 


752 


HOMOEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


Small Pox.— Variola. 

It is not uncommon for those living far away from towns and 
cities to be obliged to care for cases of smallpox. The disease is well 
described in earlier pages of this book. Vaccination is the surest 
preventive known and should be immediately repeated when a 
person has been exposed to infection, even although previous inocu¬ 
lation has given satisfactory results. 

Tartar Emet.— The leading remedy; it reduces the fever, and the 
pustules run their normal course; is also useful when there are lung 
or stomach complications. Given early it mitigates the severity of 
the disease. 

Belladonna.— High fever; ‘severe local symptoms; throbbing of 
the arteries in the neck; eyes bloodshot; aversion to light; sore 
throat; pain in the back; difficulty in getting any sleep, or in passing 
urine. 

Mercurius Viv.— When the eruption contains pus;^tongue moist 
and swollen; throat ulcerated; breath foul; great thirst and flow of 
saliva; diarrhoea. 

Arsenicum.— Bad cases; great prostration with tendency to hem¬ 
orrhages; eruption dark; skin blue; small, frequent pulse; thirst; 
burning heat; great restlessness. 

Rhus Tox.— When the eruption is watery, and runs together; 
burning and itching; or when patient has many of symptoms like 
typhoid fever (which see) and is much exhausted. 

Also Sulphur when the eruption is drying up. Bryonia when the 
eruption is delayed or suddenly disappears. Phosphorus. Bloody 
pustules, hard, dry, exhausting cough, with pain, or rawness in chest; 
bronchitis; bleeding from the limgs; frequent fain tings. A dose of 
the indicated remedy every one or two hours. 

While the general treatment is quite fully given on page 160, it 
may be said by way of emphasis that the patient should strictly 
isolated and quarantined, in a darkened, well-ventilated room; 
should be often sponged with alcohol or tepid water; gargles (see 
^inflammation of the Larynx’’) used for sore throat, and the face 
anointed, after careful cleansing, with fresh lard and charcoal, vase¬ 
line, almond oil or sweet cream to prevent pitting. The pustules 
should not be broken or irritated. 

A new method of treatment, the Finsen red light treatment, has 
proved successful in several cases, and consists chiefly in placing the 
patient in a room to which no light is admitted that is not first fil¬ 
tered through red glass or other material that will effectively shut 
out the chemically active rays of light. Treatment should be begun 
at the earliest possible moment, and is said to prevent suppuration 
and scarring. 


DISEASES OF THE DIGESTIVE ORGANS. 


75.3 


Diseases of the Digestive Organs.— Toothache. 

Plantago. —Great sensitiveness of the teeth, and feeling of elonga¬ 
tion; pain worse from cold air or contact; neuralgic form. A dose 
every ten minutes, if necessary. 

Chamomilla. —^Toothache from a draught, suppressed perspiration, 
or mental emotions, jerking, shooting, tearing, intolerable pains, 
affecting the whole side of the face; worse after eating, from warmth, 
and at night; especially in children. A dose every fifteen minutes 
to an hour. 

Mercurius Viv.— Decayed teeth, with tearing pains extending to 
the glands and ears; worse from cold food or drink; cool, damp air, 
or the warmth of the bed. A dose every one or two hours. 

Belladonna.— Drawing, cutting, or shooting pains in the teeth, 
face and ears; worse at night, in the open air, or when lying down. 
A dose every fifteen minutes to on'fe or two hours. 

Pulsatilla. —Throbbing or digging pains, extending from the de¬ 
cayed tooth to the eye; worse at night, in a warm room, from warm 
drinks or food. Better in cold air and from cold drinks. Toothache, 
especially in quiet, sensitive women. 

Decayed teeth should be filled at once, whether belonging to the 
permanent set or not. A pledget of cotton wet with plantago or 
creosote may be placed in a cavity to relieve pain. 

Inflammation of the Tongue. 

Inflammation of the tongue begin swith great congestion, redness 
and swelling. The tongue may protrude beyond the teeth, and is 
tender and painful; a grayish-white secretion forms on the surface; 
the tongue becomes dry, cracked and ulcerated; chewing and swal¬ 
lowing are difficult. Burning the tongue, chemicals or the bites or 
stings of insects may cause this affection. The disease may be acute 
or chronic. 

Belladonna.— Tongue red, smooth, slimy with intense heat, pain 
and swelling. Later on give Mercurius sol. if the tongue is covered 
with a slimy coating, and is swollen and flabby, with much watering 
of the mouth. Hepar sulph. when suppuration occurs, with sharp, 
splinter-like pains. 

Arsenicum.— Tongue dry, burning, cracked and ulcerated, espe- 
- dally if the inflammation is chronic. A dose of the indicated remedy 
may be given every two hours in acute cases; three times a day, in 
chronic. 

Rinse the mouth frequently with some mild antiseptic, listerine or 
glycothymoline, one to four. Ice in the mouth is generally grateful. 
The diet should be liquid, and nourishment should be given by rectal 
injections if necessary. 



754 


HOMCEOPATHIC TKEATMENT OF DISEASES. 


Stomatitis .—Canker and Thrush. 

There are many kinds of inflammation of the mouth, the simple, 
the aphthous, where little ulcerated patches form; the putrid, which 
is even more severe than the aphthous, and affects the gums causing 
them to shrink, ulcerate, and recede from the teeth; the parasitic, 
called thrush, and caused by a parasitic plant or fungus; the gan¬ 
grenous or cankerous, causing sloughing in bad cases. 

Canker generally appears first, as little, hard sore spots on the inner 
surface of the lips, cheeks, or gums; these may ulcerate, and when 
on the cheek it may be perforated in from three days to a week. 
Severe cases often result in death. Canker occurs most frequently in 
feeble, sickly children, but may affect adults. 

Borax.— Irritable stomach; mucous membrane of mouth shriv¬ 
elled; red blisters on the tongue; may be easily bleeding, ulcerated 
patches; thirst; sometimes vomiting. 

Mercurius Sol.— Ulcerative sore mouth; gums ulcerated and bleed; 
foul breath; watering of mouth; tongue swollen, and shows prints 
of the teeth which may be loose. 

Sulphuric Acid.— Mouth very sore; recurrence or extension of 
sore spots or ulcers; watery, greenish diarrhoea. 

Arsenicum. —Great debility and prostration; mouth reddi$h blue; 
tongue red and blistered; bad breath; gums swollen and bleeding; 
emaciation; disease resists treatment. 

Also Sulphur. Blisters on the tongue and in the mouth ; great dry¬ 
ness; feeling of heat and burning; irritable stomach; diarrhoea. 
Kali chlor. Mucous membrane of the mouth red and swollen; gray¬ 
ish ulcers, foul breath; tough, stringy saliva. A dose of the indi¬ 
cated remedy every three or four hours. 

In simple catarrhal inflammation of the mouth or where there are 
ulcerative patches, washing the mouth frequently with ten grains of 
boric acid to an ounce of water is recommemled. For the curdy 
spots in thrush which can be brushed off, but which rapidly reform, 
use a wash of bicarbonate of soda, one drachm to one ounce of water. 
A baby’s mouth should be washed before and after nursing; plain 
boiled water may be used, or the above named wash. When there 
is extensive ulceration with great foulness use one part peroxide of 
hydrogen to ten parts water. Another excellent mouth wash con¬ 
sists of three grains of potassium chlorate to an ounce of water. Ab¬ 
solute cleanliness; light, nourishing food; pure air; sunshine; warm, 
but not excessive clothing are absolutely essential, also hygienic sur¬ 
roundings. Persistent ulcerative spots or ulcers may have to be 
cauterized with nitric acid. 


PHARYNGITIS. 


755 


Pharyngitis. 

Between the back of the mouth and the esophagus, or cana^ .ead- 
ing to the stomach, is the portion of the throat called the pharynx. 
This is liable to the same inflammatory conditions from cold or exten¬ 
sion of disease from nearby parts. There is chilliness, dryness and 
soreness of the throat, with constant desire to clear it, and the tonsils 
and palate may be swollen. Cough, swelling, and tenderness of the 
muscles of the neck may occur, and although an acute attack may 
pass off in two or three days, the condition may assume a chronjc 
form. Consult the remedies under ^^Sore Throat.” The first three 
will be called for in the order there given. The other remedies are 
equally valuable when called for. 

Also Capsicum. Chilliness down the back; the palate feels longer 
than it should; the throat sore, smarting and biting. Gelsemium. 
The back of the mouth dry, irritated and burning; the tonsils in¬ 
flamed; burning in the esophagus. Hepar sulph. The throat feels 
scraped, and as if a fish bone had stuck in it. Argentum nit. Chronic 
pharyngitis; palate and back of the throat dark red; much thick, 
tenacious mucus, which has to be hawked up, rawness and scraping 
in the throat. Nux vom. Throat raw, sore, rough as if scraped, in 
the morning, when swallowing, or on inhaling cold air; voice hoarse; 
has to clear the throat constantly, especially in the morning; indiges¬ 
tion or disorders of the liver. 

A dose of the indicated remedy every one or two hours in acute 
cases; three times a day in chronic cases. The observance of hy¬ 
gienic laws is essential. Local treatment will be found under ^^Sore 
Throat.” 

H icco ugh. — Singultus. 

Hiccough may accompany serious diseases, such as inflammation 
of the kidneys, liver or stomach. Generally, however, it is but a 
symptom of indigestion from improper food, or a spasmodic mani¬ 
festation of simple nervousness or hysteria. 

In ordinary acute cases due to indigestion, give Nux vom., a dose 
every fifteen minutes. Moschus or Ignatia in hiccough accompanying 
hysteria. Arsenicum. Hiccough after eating, and in malarial cases 
hiccough instead of fever at the hour fever should appear. Pulsa¬ 
tilla. Hiccough when smoking, or after eating rich or fat foods. 

Holding the breath sometimes gives temporary relief, sipping 
water, or taking a little sugar or lemon juice. 

Dyspepsia.— Indigestion. 

The causes and symptoms of dyspepsia are described at length in 
the first part of this book. It should be especially noted in this 
connection that indigestion may be of nervous origin, or due to an 


756 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


inflammation of the lining membrane of the stomach, gastritis. So 
far as possible find and remove the cause, and select the remedy in 
accordance with the general condition of the patient, and not from 
the stomach symptoms alone. 

Headache is often of sympathetic origin, and due to indigestion, so 
also is pain and palpitation of the heart, heartburn or water brash, 
dizziness and blurred vision. 

Nux Vom.— Distress in the stomach, coming on an hour or so after 
meals; sour, or bitter taste in the mouth; flatulence; distention of 
stomach; hiccough; sour risings; heartburn; nausea; sometimes 
vomiting; palpitation of the heart. Indigestion, especially in dark¬ 
haired, nervous, energetic, irascible persons, and those of sedentary 
occupations, with tendency to constipation or piles, also after using 
patent medicines, cough syrups, etc.; nervous dyspepsia. A dose 
three times a day. 

Sulphur.— Follows Nux well, especially in chronic cases, with 
constipation and piles; canine hunger, flatulence, and desire for 
sweets. A dose morning and night. 

Bryonia.— Indigestion, in warm and wet weather, and in bilious 
and rheumatic persons, with constipation; bitter taste and bitter or 
sour risings; nausea, or bilious vomiting. A dose every four hours. 

Pulsatilla. —Indigestion from pork, pastry, ice-cream or ice-water, 
with sour risings; heartburn; furred, white tongue; nausea and 
flatulence, especially in lymphatic persons with fair hair and com¬ 
plexion and easy disposition. Indigestion from exposure to wet or 
cold. A dose every four hours. 

Arsenicum.— Burning pains with anguish; painful distention of 
the stomach; nausea or vomiting excited by eating or drinking; 
very thirsty but can drink but little at a time; water seems to dis¬ 
agree; rapid prostration. A good remedy after the excessive use of 
ice-water or tobacco. A dose every three hours. 

Antimonium Crud.— Tongue heavily coated white; catarrh of the 
stomach; loathing of food, constant nausea and tendency to vomit. 
Indigestion from overloading the stomach with fats, sweet things, 
sour wines, etc. Give as above. 

Lycopodium. —Great flatulence; excessive hunger, but a small 
quantity of food fills the patient up; sour taste in mouth, and sour 
eructations. Indigestion after eating starchy foods, and chronic cases 
with liver troubles or gout. Give as above. 

Carbo Veg. —When Nux vom. has not given relief, and after the 
abuse of rich food or stimulants; great flatulence; aversion to meat, 
fat foods and milk; acrid risings; heartburn; sensitiveness and burn¬ 
ing in the stomach. Indigestion from salt or spoiled meat or fish. 
Give as above. 


BLEEDING FROM THE STOMACH. 


757 


Also Ignatia when indigestion follows grief, hysteria or great ner¬ 
vousness; weak, empty, sinking feeling in stomach; frequent sighing, 
and melancholy. Ipecac. Tongue clean, constant nausea and incli¬ 
nation to vomit; after ice-cold food or drinks, pastry, pork. Cin¬ 
chona. Indigestion, following loss of blood, exhausting diarrhoea, or 
from malarial influences, with fullness and distention of stomach, 
flatulence, and drowsiness after eating. A dose three times a day. 

The general advice given in the corresponding section in the first 
part of the book is very good. In acute attacks always empty the 
stomach of irritating substances by provoking vomiting, as with 
tepid water or tickling the throat with a feather. Then give it rest, 
especially if there is vomiting. White of egg, Vichy and milk, and 
light gruels are generally borne best in acute cases. All errors of 
diet, constipation and mode of living must be rectified. Consult the 
sections on ^^Constipation’’ and ^‘Headache.” 

Bleeding from the Stomach. 

Blood from the stomach is generally dark, often clotted, and fre¬ 
quently mixed with food. It may be vomited or spit up in ulcer or 
cancer of the stomach; be due to injuries, or many diseases such as 
typhoid fever, smallpox, yellow fever, scarlet fever or diphtheria. It 
may also first have been swallowed from the nose or throat. 

Ipecac. —Sudden attacks, with pale face; nausea; vomiting of 
blood; great faintness; oppressed breathing; feeble pulse. A dose 
every fifteen minutes. 

Hamatnelis. —^Thin, dark blood; fulness and gurgling in the ab¬ 
domen; patient tremulous, weak, and cold; quick pulse; profuse 
perspiration. Give as above. 

Also Arsenicum in recurring bleeding from the stomach when the 
patient has an ulcer or cancer; constant nausea and retching; great 
thirst for water often and in small quantities; quick, thread-like 
pulse; much anxiety. A dose three times a day between attacks. 

Turpentine, the first solution, in drop doses on sugar is highly 
recommended in bleeding from the stomach due to injuries. Arnica 
may be given in these cases if turpentine is not available or effective. 
Phosphorus. Bleeding from the stomach; blood with mucus, black 
or like coffee grounds; persons who bleed easily. 

Bits of ice may be swallowed; the patient should remain in bed, 
and the room be kept quiet; an ice bag may be applied to the spine, 
and ice cold compresses to the stomach; nourishment must be given 
by rectal injections only. 

Nausea and yomiting.— Sea-Sickness. 

Nausea and vomiting are symptoms of some derangement of the 
stomach or of disease elsewhere in the body, and also may occur 


758 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


during pregnancy. Consult the section on ^‘Indigestion/^ where will 
be found the indications for the application of Nux vom.j Pulsatilla, 
Bryonia, Ipecac, and Arsenicum. 

With the nausea and vomiting of sea-sickness and car-sickness 
nearly everyone is familiar. While there may be no cure for sea¬ 
sickness always to be depended upon, the writer is confident much 
may be done to prevent and mitigate this affliction, for such it is to 
most travellers. 

Nux Vom.— A dose three times a day, several days before sailing. 

Cocculus, 6 X. — Great nausea, vomiting, or inability to vomit; 
faintness, giddiness, palpitation of the heart; sea-sickness, especially 
from passive motion of the vessel, as when there is a swell on. A 
dose every hour or two; should follow nux. 

Also Ipecac. Persistent nausea with frequent, free, copious vomit¬ 
ing. Apomorphia, 3 x. Ordinary sea-sickness, with vomiting when¬ 
ever the head is raised. 

Let the sufferer stay on deck, have plenty of warm wraps and a hot 
water bottle; persist in eating but do not take soups or gruel; coarse, 
simple, solid food, little and often, is by far the best; coarse, stale 
graham bread and an underdone chop, or rare steak and pilot bread 
are suggested. Strong, boiling hot tea without milk or sugar, or 
coffee may be taken, or iced champagne. It is well to drink a cup of 
tea and eat a cracker before leaving one’s berth in the morning. A 
strip of flannel pinned tightly about the abdomen gives a feeling of 
comfort and support. 

Looseness of the Bowels.— Diarrhoea. 

The very old and the very young are most liable to attacks of 
diarrhoea. Its causes are for the most part avoidable; improper or 
too much food, exposure to cold, wet or dampness, as sitting on the 
cold ground; cold drinks or ices taken when heated; tainted foods; 
impure drinking water; excessive emotion. Other causes are sudden 
changes in temperature; exposure to sewer gas or working among 
chemicals; the retention of irritating substances in the intestines. 
The symptoms are familiar to all, and are mentioned under the 
remedies. 

Aconite.— ^After cold or damp, or checked perspiration, frequent, 
scanty, loose, green stools with straining; fever, and restlessness. 
Ferrum phos. instead when fever and restlessness are slight, and 
diarrhoea follows checked perspiration. 

Podophyllum.— Early morning diarrhoea, frequent, painless, pro¬ 
fuse, yellow, watery stools, preceded by retching and vomiting; pro¬ 
trusion of rectum during stool; also diarrhoea during teething. A 
dose every two hours. 


CHRONIC DIARRHCEA. 


759 


Aloes.— Involuntary, bloody, jelly-like, mucous stools, preceded 
by pain and rumbling in bowels; morning diarrhoea, followed by great 
weakness. A dose every two hours. 

Mercurius Cor. —Stools slimy, bloody or black, with great urging 
and straining—a never get done” feeling; cutting, pinching pains; 
colic before stool. A dose every hour. 

Chamomilla.— Very useful for children, especially during teething 
and from taking cold; green, watery stools smelling like rotten eggs, 
with colic. 

Sulphur.— Diarrhoea some hours after midnight, or driving patient 
out of bed early in the morning; pappy, greenish-yellow, fetid, slimy 
stools. 

Caprum Ars. —Crampy, collicky pains; restless tossing; straining 
of the rectum and bladder; violent, greenish or grayish stools. 

Veratrum Alb.— Violent, painful, watery, copious discharges, with 
profuse perspiration, followed by great prostration. 

Gelsemium.— Diarrhoea in nervous subjects, excited by depressing 
emotions or stage fright.” 

China.— Painless, watery, sour diarrhoea, or stools containing un¬ 
digested food; evacuations mostly at night; pinching colic; also when 
there is great exhaustion following diarrhoea. 

Arsenicum.— Small, watery, foul, mucous or bloody discharges, 
with much burning in the rectum; rapid exhaustion; thirst; restless¬ 
ness. 

Also Colocynth. Diarrhoea with severe colic, relieved by bending 
double. Bryonia. Diarrhoea in hot weather; brown, thin stools, 
W’orse in the morning on moving about. Ipecac. Greenish, mucous, 
yeasty stools, with colic and constant nausea. 

A dose of the indicated remedy every one or two hours. Perfect 
rest in bed is essential in acute cases; no food for twelve hours, then 
only barley water; arrowroot, flour or rice gruel, later mutton broth, 
thickened with rice or cracker crumbs; the return to the usual must 
be gradual. A hot-water bag to the abdomen is grateful. 

Chronic Diarrhoea. 

Chronic diarrhoea may follow an acute attack, accompany other 
diseases, or develop in camps, prisons, etc. from bad hygiene, ex¬ 
posure, fatigue and improper food. In the beginning the sufferer 
may seem in fair health, but very slight causes excite looseness of 
the bowels; diarrhoea may alternate with constipation. The size of 
the stools is frequently indicative of the extent and severity of the 
disease, usually the amount is from two to four ounces. 


760 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


The indications given for Mercurius cor. and Arsenicum under 
^‘Looseness of the Bowels’’ should be read. Pus, blood and much 
mucus may be present in the stools when the former remedy is called 
for. Under Arsenicum in chronic cases there is little or no straining, 
the stools are frequent and variable in character, and worse after 
food and exercise; great prostration and emaciation. China follows 
this remedy well. Aloes is serviceable with yellow stools passed 
unintentionally when making water or emitting gas; slight colicky 
pains; dull headache in forehead. Sulphur. Early morning diar¬ 
rhoea with excessive emaciation and prostration. Calcarea carh. 
Chronic diarrhoea in scrofulous persons, or fat, plump children, with 
clay-colored, sour, undigested stools; head sweats during sleep. Any 
of the remedies mentioned under ^‘Looseness of the Bowels” may be 
required for cases with corresponding symptoms. A dose of the 
indicated remedy may be given three times a day. 

The cause of the trouble must be sought, and removed if possible. 
Even in mild cases as much rest as possible should be taken, especially 
before and after meals; fruits and vegetables must be omitted 
from the diet as a rule; milk, plain, peptonized or malted is excel¬ 
lent; warm baths and cold sponge baths are beneficial and neces¬ 
sary; gentle friction and massage of the extremities tend to lessen 
congestion of internal organs. 

Dysentery. 

Dysentery is often a serious affection and may be fatal. Its 
chief characteristic symptoms are griping pains in the abdomen, 
followed by scanty stools of mucus and blood, accompanied by much 
straining and often ineffectual urging to stool. An extended descrip¬ 
tion of the disease in both its acute and chronic form, is given in the 
early part of this book. Dysentery is probably a germ disease and, 
in many cases, capable of being transmitted from one person to an¬ 
other. The causes mentioned under ^‘Looseness of the Bowels” favor 
the development of dysentery; it is also very common in hot climates. 
Mild, catarrhal or mucous cases last from five to ten days; more 
severe ones from three to four weeks; the epidemic, tropical form may 
result fatally or merge into the chronic form, or recovery be slow 
and tedious. 

Mercurius Cor.— Stools frequent, slimy, scanty, composed of 
offensive mucus tinged with blood, or containing shreddy matter like 
the scrapings of hog’s intestines, with severe, cutting, griping, ab¬ 
dominal pains, persistent urging to stool, and straining; flabby, 
coated tongue; burning and urging in the bladder and rectum. 

Arsenicum.— Severe cases, with much exhaustion; stools of thick, 
dark green mucus, or dark, bloody, watery; very offensive; burning 
pain in the rectum, which is sore and raw; feeble pulse; great thirst, 
but for only a little water at a time. 


CHOLERA MORBUS. 


761 


Belladonna.— Violent fever; retention of urine; nausea; vomiting; 
scanty, bloody, slimy stools, with urging and straining; spasmodic, 
clutching pains, marked stomach symptoms; abdomen distended, 
hot and painful. 

Cantharis.— Blood streaked, mucous stools like scrapings of the 
bowels; cutting and burning in anus; straining in bladder as well as 
in bowels. 

Aloes. —Loud gurgling in abdomen; fullness and weight before 
stool, faintness after stool; bloody, jelly-like mucous discharges. 

Colchicum. —Dysentery in the autumn; transparent, jelly-like 
mucus or bloody mucus containing white particles; griping colic 
before stool with much urging; pain better after a movement; great 
prostration; aversion to the smell of food. 

Nux Vom. —Violent urging; pressing pain in the back and loins, 
the back feels broken; great heat and thirst, with red face; the pains 
and urging cease with the evacuation. After the abuse of diarrhoea 
mixtures. 

Also Ipecac. Green, frothy, mucous stools; violent colic and 
urging; loathing of food; nausea and vomiting. Capsicum. Fre¬ 
quent, mucous stools mingled with dark blood; cutting colic; draw¬ 
ing pains in the back; great thirst, but after every drink shivering. 
Nitric acid. Chronic dysentery, especially when the bowels are ul¬ 
cerated and there is pus in the discharges; green or bloody mucous 
stools, very foul; much urging during stool and exhaustion after¬ 
wards. Sulphur. Chronic, obstinate cases, slimy, blood-streaked, 
stools; worse in the early morning. A dose of the indicated remedy 
every hour or two in acute cases, and three times a day in chronic. 

Absolute rest in bed in a sunny, well-ventilated room is of the 
greatest importance; the patient should use a bed pan containing a 
little disinfectant, and the evacuations should be disinfected before 
being emptied out. For the urging and straining the intestines may 
be flushed out with a four-quart injection of hot water, temperature 
about 110 using a fountain, not a bulb syringe, and letting the water 
run in gently, or give a rectal injection of two or three ounces of boiled 
starch to which ten to twenty drops of laudanum have been added. 
Hot sponge baths are soothing, also a flannel binder about the ab¬ 
domen, or hot fomentations to the abdomen, or a partly filled hot 
water bag. The nourishment may be the white of egg; hot milk, 
plain, peptonized or malted; hot, thin gruels of rice, arrowroot, corn¬ 
starch; soda water and milk or barley water may be given, and in 
some chronic cases beef juice may be well borne or scraped raw beef. 

Cholera Morbus. 

In cholera morbus there is moderate diarrhoea; nausea with ab¬ 
dominal pains; and gas in the stomach and bowels, or the attack 


762 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


comes on suddenly with colicky pains, vomiting, diarrhoea, with fre¬ 
quent and copious evacuations, and, in severe cases, great prostration; 
cold, clammy sweat; voice husky; blueness of the skin,, and pulse 
small and feeble. Response to the indicated remedy is generally 
prompt. Consult the section on ^‘Asiatic Cholera’’ for the indica¬ 
tions for Veratrum alb., Camphor, and Arsenicum. Cuprum may be 
needed in severe cases. Also Podophyllum, when the vomiting and 
pain are not severe, or are entirely absent, and the stools are profuse, 
watery, yellow, and of an offensive odor. Ipecac. The milder class 
of cases, with green discharges, and the nausea and vomiting much 
more severe than the other symptoms. A dose of the indicated 
remedy every fifteen minutes to one hour. 

Liquid diet and rest in bed during the acute attack; large, hot 
rectal injections three or four times a day with a fountain syringe; 
cold drinks in small quantities only; hot applications to the abdomen, 
or a hot bath. 

Preventive measures include avoidance of unripe or overripe fruit, 
of stimulants or large quantities of ice water, getting in a draught. 
When over-heated, sitting on damp ground. Wear a flannel binder 
about the abdomen if subject to bowel troubles. 

Cramps or Neuralgia of the Stomach.— Gastrodynia. 

The symptoms of this affection are intense, griping, agonizing 
pain in the stomach usually extending to the back, with belching of 
gas, faintness, and intermittent pulse. Pressure on the stomach is 
well borne. The attack lasts from a few minutes to half an hour of 
more. Sometimes the paroxysms subside very slowly. True neural¬ 
gia of the stomach is of nervous origin. 

Nux Vom.— Persons of sedentary habits suffering from over¬ 
work, constipation, irregular eating, excesses in tobacco, alcohol, 
tea or coffee; griping, clawing pains especially in the morning. 

Fowler'S Solution.— One to three drop doses three times a day, for 
burning neuralgic pains of the stomach, radiating in different direc¬ 
tions, and occurring in debilitated persons with impoverished blood. 

Argentum Nit.— Gnawing pains which come on and depart slowly, 
especially in weak, emotional delicate women; pain much worse from 
eating; pressure and bending double gives some relief; indigestion 
between the attacks. 

Cuprum Ars. —Severe, tormenting contracting pains in and about 
the stomach; loss of appetite; hiccough; nausea, especially in those 
suffering from nervous dyspepsia. Give as early in the attack as 
possible. 

Also Belladonna for attacks appearing and passing off suddenly, 
pressing, drawing, cutting, wrenching pains in the stomach, causing 


CANCER OF THE STOMACH. 


763 


patient to bend backward and hold his breath; periodical attacks, 
with trembling, especially at night. 

Take- a dose of the indicated remedy every ten or fifteen minutes 
during the attack, and three times a day in the intervals. Apply 
over the stomach during pain, flannel wet with chloroform and 
alcohol, equal parts. In very acute and distressing attacks, ten drop 
doses of Chloroform may be taken internally. The bowels should be 
kept free; simple digestible food taken in small quantities; solid 
food must be eaten slowly, thoroughly masticated; do not eat when 
tired; avoid worry and overwork; cheerfulness, change of air and 
surroundings are important. 

Cancer of the Stomach. 

Cancer of the stomach is a disease stealthy in its approach, its 
early symptoms being simply those of indigestion, with great acidity, 
flatulence, loss of appetite, and foul breath; then the general health 
is undermined, the sufferer loses flesh and strength; gnawing, burn¬ 
ing pains develop, with vomiting after eating or some hours later, 
depending upon the location of the cancer. As the disease progresses 
there is bleeding, which darkens the color of the vomited matter, 
causing the coffee ground’’ vomit; the skin becomes earthy and 
waxy in appearance; the pulse small, weak, and quick, and respira¬ 
tion is quickened; the ankles swell; emaciation increases, also pros¬ 
tration; the tongue is pale and heavily coated. The disease is not 
common in persons under forty, and runs its course in from two 
months to two years. Treatment must be directed toward making 
the patient as comfortable as possible. 

Arsenicum.— Frequent vomiting; intense, burning, cutting, shoot¬ 
ing pains often accompanied by throbbing. 

Conium.— Violent vomiting of ^‘coffee ground” vomit; pressing, 
burning, stitching or cutting pains in the stomach, extending up 
through the chest; trembling of the limbs; exhaustion and faint¬ 
ness. 

Carbolic Acid, 2 x.— Vomiting, pain and frequent slight hemorrhages; 
great acidity of the stomach; very foul breath. 

Kreosotum.— Nausea and retching, with much saliva in the mouth; 
everything tastes bitter; burning in the mouth; tongue coated white; 
face pale or blueish; great prostration. 

Also Nux vom. for the vomiting of sour mucus; bitter, sour eructa¬ 
tions; pressure and fullness in the stomach, with much wind, and 
gas in the bowels; scraped, raw feeling from the mouth to the stom¬ 
ach. Kali hich. where much ropy, glairy mucus is vomited, with 
burning in the pit of the stomach; tongue coated thick, yellowish- 
white, or smooth, red and cracked. Argentum nit. Violent belch- 


764 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


ings of gas; vomited matter stains bedding black; violent neuralgic 
pains in the stomach, with throbbing, and painful swelling. 

The sufferer must be made as comfortable as possible, and in the 
later stages of this disease probably nothing will relieve pain except 
opium or its derivatives; perhaps morphine is the best form in one- 
eighth grain doses, combined with five grains each of bicarbonate of 
soda and subnitrate of bismuth. Nourishment should be given every 
three hours, predigested liquid foods being borne best as a rule, such 
as malted or peptonized milk; other foods are allowable if desired; 
it may be necessary to give nourishment by the rectum. Washing 
out the stomach is of importance when vomiting is severe, but must 
be done by a physician. Sipping iced champagne or swallowing 
small pieces of ice may relieve vomiting. Operation may benefit 
some cases. 

Cancer of the Liver or of the Intestines. 

To give a separate section to each of these subjects is unnecessary, 
because neither physician or layman can treat these cases with any 
expectation of curing them. A few facts about this dreaded disease 
are of especial interest, for instance, that cancer of the intes¬ 
tines is very rare, constituting only from four to eight per cent, of 
all cases of malignant growth, that in the beginning there are no ab¬ 
solutely constant symptoms, even pain may be absent for a long 
time, or again a vague pain may be persistent and worse at one spot. 
Constipation and diarrhoea may occur in alternation, and, in the later 
stages of the disease, the stools contain blood, pus, and a fluid having 
a very foul, putrid odor. The patient’s countenance has the waxy, 
pinched appearance characteristic of cancer; emaciation takes place, 
and death ensues in from six months to three years. Often the loca¬ 
tion of the cancer can be determined on examination. 

Cancer of the liver follows in frequency cancer of the uterus and 
of the stomach, is more common in men than women, and in the 
latter generally follows cancer of the breast or uterus. A dull, boring 
pain and tenderness, with enlargement are the most constant symp¬ 
toms; jaundice occurs in about one-half the cases, but may be slight. 
Death occurs in from three to fifteen months. 

In both cancer of the liver and cancer of the intestines, the reme¬ 
dies given under ^‘Cancer of the Stomach” may be used to relieve 
the pain and stomach symptoms, especially Arsenicum, Conium, and 
Nux vom. The diet may be the same recommended in the section 
referred to, broths and lean meats being also permissible. As the 
disease progresses some form of opium becomes a necessity, and 
should not be withheld. Operation in some cases, especially in cancer 
of the rectum, prolongs life. 

Inflammation of the Liver. 

There are various forms of inflammation of the liver, acute and 
chronic, from simple congestion to the formation of abscesses. The 


765 


INFLAMMATION OF THE SPLEEN. 

excessive use of alcohol is the cause of some of the most serious 
anectums. In acute cases there is generally a drawing sensation on 
the right side in the region of the liver, slight chill, fever; headache, 
indigestion, even to nausea, and vomiting; jaundice; scanty urine; 
sometimes hiccough; weakness and loss of fiesh. 

Aconite. May be given early when there is a decided chill, 
followed by high fever, with unbearable, stitching pains in the region 
of the liver; nervousness, anxiety, and restlessness. 

Belladonna.— Early in the attack, with throbbing and oppressive 
pain in the region of the liver, extending to the shoulders; worse 
on motion; nausea; retching; vomiting; continued fever; moaning 
and starting in sleep; congestion of the head. 

Nux Vom. —Enlargement and hardening of the liver, shooting, 
pulsating pains; great tenderness in the region of the liver; feeling 
of pressure in the abdomen and chest, with short breath; constipa¬ 
tion; inflammation from excess of stimulating food or alcohol. 

Mercurius Viv. —Fullness over the liver; soreness and swelling; 
pricking, burning, pressive pains, worse on motion; clay-colored or 
yellowish-green stools; tongue coated yellow; bad breath; patient 
cannot lie on right side. 

Bryonia. —Acute, sharp, stitching pains, worse by motion; coated 
tongue, with bitter taste; severe headache and constipation. 

Cheiidonium. —Chronic congestion; constant pain under the 
inner angle of the right shoulder blade; sallow skin; yellow-coated 
tongue; dull headache; constipation; fullness in region of the liver. 

Also Sulphur in chronic cases, with constipation or early morning 
diarrhoea; frequent weak, faint spells, with flashes of heat. Podo- 
phyllix. Feeling of fullness in the right side, with acute pain in one 
spot; much biliousness; diarrhoea; bitter taste; jaundice; protru¬ 
sion of the membrane about the anus. Hepar sulph. when, in ab¬ 
scess of the liver much pus has formed. Arsenicum when, in cases 
of abscess, there is much poisoning of the whole system; great pros¬ 
tration; dry, brown tongue; restlessness, and irritability of the 
stomach. A dose of the indicated remedy every two hours in acute 
cases; three times a day in chronic. 

The diet must be liquid, especially skimmed milk and milk, while 
there is fever; hot fomentations or antiphlogistine may be applied 
to the affected region; an abundance of pure water should be taken. 
During convalescence eat mostly fruits, fresh vegetables, cereals and 
milk. If pus forms during inflammation of the liver the abscess 
should be opened promptly. 

Inflammation of the Spleen. 

The spleen, being an associate purificatory organ with the liver, is 
liable to similar affections. When inflamed, it is manifest by pain in 


766 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


the left side, below the ribs. The same remedies that affect the liver 
will also affect the spleen. For congestion of the spleen caused by 
running, immoderate laughter, etc., China, a single ordinary dose, 
will answer. 


Jaundice. 

Jaundice is not a disease but a symptom of disease, calling atten¬ 
tion to the fact that there is some interference with the work of the 
liver, that the bile is not being properly manufactured, or that it 
cannot flow freely through the bile ducts because of gall stones, 
swelling of the lining membrane, pressure from growths, etc. Other 
organs may be diseased, or pregnancy or fever may cause jaundice, 
also some poisonous substances. The most noticeable condition 
caused by jaundice is the yellowness of the skin, eyes, tissue and 
excretions of the body. For a more extended description see page 331. 

Mercurius Viv.— Complete jaundice; skin very yellow; thickly 
coated, flabby tongue; nausea; vomiting; diarrhoea; loathing of 
food; pain in the region of the liver; urging to stool; scanty, dark- 
red urine. 

Chelidonium.— Yellowness of the eyes and skin; pain in the liver 
and right shoulder; bitter taste; tongue clean; stool white; urine 
dark red; distention and pain in the region of the liver. 

China.— Malarial jaundice; oppressive headache; liver swollen 
hard and tender, with spasmodic, stitching pains; capricious appetite 
or ravenous hunger; dingy, yellow complexion. 

Chamomilla.— Jaundice, especially in children; white of the eyes 
and face yellow; green, watery diarrhoea, with colic; bitter taste and 
bitter vomiting; also, jaundice following a fit of temper. 

Also Nux vom. in the beginning if the attack seems due to the use 
of stimulants or errors of diet; indigestion; constipation. Aconite. 
Fever; stitches in the liver; yellow skin; scanty, dark urine; clay- 
colored stools; local pain. Podophyllin. Enlargement of the liver, 
with severe pain; scanty, dark-yellow urine; nausea and vertigo; 
clay-colored stools; especially when there are gall stones. 

Hot applications may be made to relieve pain; much water and 
skimmed milk should be taken; in acute cases a diet mostly of milk, 
in chronic cases, broths, oysters, fish, vegetables and fruits; a warm 
bath daily; fresh air at all times. Cheerfulness and amiability 
assist recovery. 


Gall-Stones. 

It is stated that about one-tenth of all persons have gall-stones, 
but many who have them are never aware of the fact. Gall-stones 
are formed in the gall bladder from the bile; occur oftener in women 


GALL-STONES. 


767 


than in men, vary in number from one to a thousand or even more, 
and in size from that of a grain of sand to a hen’s egg. Increasing 
age, high living, irregular habits, a sedentary life, an excess of starches 
and fats, and whatever retards the flow of the bile favors their forma¬ 
tion. When gall-stones pass from the gall bladder in the ducts, and 
are to»j large to move freely, they cause a sudden, agonizing, cutting, 
tearing or shooting pain on the right side of the abdomen, which 
spreads over the abdomen and to the right chest and shoulder; the 
muscles of the abdomen are cramped and tender; there is nausea 
and vomiting; profuse sweat; a small, feeble pulse; cool skin; pale, 
distorted, anxious face; sometimes even fainting, chills, and convul¬ 
sions from the excruciating pain. There may be great tenderness 
over the gall bladder, jaundice, and a temporary rise of temperature 
to 102 or 104 degrees. The paroxysm lasts from an hour or two to 
several days, with remissions, ceasing as the stpne passes into the 
intestines. 

Berberis.— Violent sticking, digging, tearing pain in the region 
of the gall bladder. Give at the time of the attack, and also after¬ 
ward, for pain, soreness, and burning. 

Chelidonium.— As an aid to the expulsion of the stones, and to 
prevent their formation; much jaundice, especially of the forehead, 
nose, cheeks, and whites of eyes; bitter taste when eating or drinking, 
tongue coated yellow; pain in the region of the liver, and in right 
shoulder 

China. —One of the most useful remedies to prevent the recur¬ 
rence of gall-stones and. overcome the conditions they have caused. 
A physician of large experience recommends that six pills be taken 
twice a day until ten doses have been taken; then six pills every other 
day, till ten doses are taken; then every third day to the same ex¬ 
tent, and so on, until a dose is taken only once a month. 

Also Colocynth during the attack, for griping, cutting, tearing pains, 
bending the patient double; feeling in the abdomen as if the intes¬ 
tines were being squeezed between stones. Nux vom. between 
attacks for biliousness and symptoms of indigestion mentioned in 
the sections on “Dyspepsia,” and under “Inflammation of the Liver.” 
Unless otherwise specified, a dose of the indicated remedy every 
fifteen minutes during a paroxysm, and three times a day between 
the attacks. Two tablespoonfuls of olive oil to one of glycerine, 
taken two or three times a day for several days is very helpful in pro¬ 
curing the painless passage of gall-stones. In severe paroxysms of 
gall-stone colic a few whiffs of chloroform may be given, or morphine 
in one-eighth grain doses, but the use of the latter should be avoided 
if possible. Hot fomentations should be applied over the liver or 
hot baths taken. From two to four quarts of distilled or mineral 
water should be drunk daily; vegetables and fruit eaten freely; all 


768 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


stimulants and excess of sweet or starchy foods avoided, and much 
time spent out of doors. Surgical interference is called for when 
there are repeated and very severe attacks of colic, or a greatly dis¬ 
tended gall bladder, with attacks of pain and fever. 

Constipation. 

The number of persons troubled with constipation is very large, 
yet it is a difficulty removeable in most cases. Its causes indicate 
this, the most usual ones being, neglect of nature’s calls; overeating; 
insufficient exercise; drinking too little water; eating improper foods; 
taking purgatives. Among other causes are weakness of the abdomi¬ 
nal muscles from too much fat; the pressure of tumors; derange¬ 
ments of liver; excessive nervousness, debility, or hysteria. Con¬ 
stipation may ultimately cause diarrhoea, ulceration or distention of 
the bowels, headache and indigestion. 

Nux Vom.— Ineffectual urging to stool; irregular and incomplete 
action of the bowels; headache; nausea; bad taste in the mouth; 
indigestion; especially serviceable for those who have used stimu¬ 
lants, purgatives, highly spiced food, or who lead a sedentary life. 

Bryonia.— Large, hard, dry browm stools, passed with great diffi¬ 
culty; bitter taste in the mouth; tongue heavily coated white; 
pressure after eating as if from a stone; no urging to stool; irrita¬ 
bility; headache; especially in those of a rheumatic tendency. 

Sulphur.— Feeling of heat, fullness and discomfort in the rectum, 
ineffectual urging; stools hard, and accompanied by itching and pres¬ 
sure in the rectum; habitual constipation, especially in scrofulous 
persons or those having hemorrhoids. 

Opium.— Complete inaction of the bowels; stools of dry, hard, 
round, black balls; headache, dizziness, and drowsiness; constipation 
from lead poisoning, and during acute diseases. 

Hydrastis.— Indigestion; pain in the liver; hard stools coated 
with mucus; habitual constipation, especially after the continued use 
of laxatives; gone feeling in the stomach; headache in the forehead; 
belching of gas. 

Lycopodium.— Ineffectual urging to stool, owing to contraction of 
the rectum, which protrudes during stool; stools hard, and small, 
with a feeling that much remains; gas in the bowels and rumbling. 

Also Collinsonia when constipation is due to piles, with sharp, 
sticking pains in the rectum. Alumina.— Even the passing of a 
soft stool requires great straining; stools hard and knotty, like sheep 
dung, with cutting pains at the entrance of the rectum (anus), fol¬ 
lowed by blood; constipation from blood poisoning. A dose of the 
indicated remedy night and morning. 


PILES. 


769 


The excessive use of purgatives irritates and inflames the lining 
membrane of the bowels, and torpor follows the unnatural activity 
induced by them. If constipated, avoid pastry, white and fresh bread, 
cake, fried food, cheese, hearty meals, stimulants and much tea or 
coffee. Eat coarse bread, fresh meats (rare mutton and beef), ripe, 
juicy fruits and vegetables, stewed prunes, figs, etc. Drink plenty 
of water, a glassful in the morning before breakfast, and eat an orange 
then. Keep the skin clean and active walk, run, ride horseback, 
play golf and bal manage the abdomen; wear the clothing loose, 
and be prompt in answering nature’s calls. In obstinate constipa¬ 
tion a teaspoonful to a tablespoonful of pure olive oil may be taken 
by mouth before breakfast. 

While the excessive use of mechanical measures to empty the 
bowels is to be deprecated, the bowels may require a thorough empty¬ 
ing in the beginning, and a small injection of eight ounces of olive 
oil may be given, followed in an hour by an injection of hot water 
by means of a fountain syringe, a soft rubber tube being introduced 
as far as it can easily be passed. Useful laxatives are the mineral 
waters, such as Carlsbad and Hunyadi. 

Pi Ies.— Hemorrhoids . 

Pressure of accumulated fecal matter in constipation interferes 
with the free flow of blood in the rectum. The veins become dis¬ 
tended in little lumps in which the blood partially coagulates. These 
little lumps are called piles, and may be wholly within the rectum 
or protrude from it, may be bleeding or ‘‘blind” piles; the latter do 
not bleed. They vary in color, and are often very painful. Indolent 
habits, luxurious living, sedentary pursuits, the free use of stimulants, 
patent medicines, cathartics, diseases of the liver and sexual excesses 
favor the appearance of hemorrhoids. 

i^sculus.—Large, purple, painful piles, like ground nuts, with 
itching and burning; dryness, heat, and severe, pricking pain in the 
rectum; constant aching pain in the back; stools hard and dry; 
accompanied by protrusion of the rectum. 

Nux Vom. —Blind or bleeding piles, from abuse of stimulants, use 
of highly spiced foods, or sedentary habits; bleeding, burning and 
protrusion of piles; weight in abdomen; pain in small of back; 
constipation. 

Sulphur.— Blind or bleeding piles, with stinging, burning, and 
soreness about the anus; protrusion of the rectum; itching and 
straining, after blood-streaked stools. Can be used following Nux, 
or in alternation, i. e., Nux in the morning, Sulph, at night. 

Collinsonia.— Old, obstinate, blind, or bleeding piles, with a feel¬ 
ing in the rectum as if sand or sticks had lodged there; severe, stick¬ 
ing pains; chronic constipation. Stools lumpy and light colored. 


770 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


Hatnamelis.— Profuse bleeding piles; burning, itching, rawness, 
and soreness of anus; discharges of dark blood; weakness and pain 
in back. 

Aloes.— Piles, with flow of hot, blackish blood; constant bearing 
down in the rectum; protrusion of piles which are hot and tender, 
better from the application of cold water. A dose of the indicated 
remedy morning and night. 

Open air exercise is desirable; avoid the use of coffee, spices, alcohol, 
tobacco, highly seasoned or rich food, and over-eating; eat vegetables 
and fruits; drink plenty of water; take cold baths, and sleep on a 
firm mattress; mental and physical excesses must be avoided; be 
prompt in attending to nature’s cal s. 

Suppositories of cocoa butter, intended for insertion in the rectum 
where they slowly dissolve and lubricate and medicate the surface, 
can be obtained from large pharmacies, especially Boericke & Tafel, 
Philadelphia, or Otis Clapp & Son, Boston. These suppositories con¬ 
tain hamamelis, sesculus, aloes, hydrastis, or collinsonia, and are to 
be selected in accordance with the indications given under these 
remedies. Hydrastis is to be chosen when there is great relaxation of 
the mucous membrane of the rectum, and copious mucous secretion. 
A suppository may be inserted at night and in the morning, also after 
each stool. 


Diseases of the Organs of Circulation. 

Inflammation of the Membranes of the Heart. 

Simple endocarditis or inflammation of the lining membrane of 
the heart is always associated with some other affection, chiefly with 
rheumatism. Pain in the region of the fifth rib, sometimes extending 
down the left arm, a feeling as if the heart were being squeezed, 
oppressed breathing and palpitation are the commonest symptoms, 
and when the inflammation is of a malignant form they are all much 
more pronounced, with increase of temperature, and many symptoms 
like those accompanying typhoid fever. It is a difficult disease to 
diagnose, and a layman can only go by the general symptoms. 

Pericarditis, or inflammation of the membrane covering the heart, 
has symptoms similar to those just given, and though the pain is 
very distressing in some instances, it is often felt more as a sense of 
uneasiness or oppression. In pericarditis, with secretion of a serous, 
watery fluid there may be chill, fever, pain, rapid breathing, nausea 
and vomiting, or sometimes in children, no early local symptoms, 
but, after a week or two of failing health, slight fever, shortness of 
breath and increasing pallor, fluid will be found to be present. There 
is then bulging of the chest, rapid, weak .pulse; a dusky, anxious 
countenance; difficult breathing, and later, if pus forms, there will 
be erratic chills, sudden rise in temperature; cold sweating; rapid. 


DISEASES OF THE ORGANS OF CIRCULATION. 771 

feeble pulse; diarrhoea; great prostration, and muttering delirium. 
The physical signs in these diseases are given on pages 314 and 315. 
Both endocarditis and pericarditis have a chronic, as well as an acute 
form. If a remedy is well selected in accordance with the majority 
of the symptoms present, it will act effectually whether the prescriber 
is able to say whether the case is one of endocarditis or pericarditis. 

Aconite. —Acute cases, especially when complicating acute rheu¬ 
matism; there may or may not be fever; great anxiety; restlessness; 
pain about the heart extending into left arm, and if rheumatism is 
present, pain and swelling of the joints. 

Spigelia. —Pain and violent action of the heart are its chief 
characteristics; violent palpitation; severe stitching or stabbing pains; 
great oppression, the least motion almost producing suffocation; 
irregular pulse; no effusion. 

Veratrum Vir.— Very violent, forcible action of the heart in full 
blooded, non-rheumatic patients, with full, bounding, but not neces¬ 
sarily a quick pulse. 

Colchicum.— Acute rheumatism where there is sudden shifting 
of the disease to the heart, with severe, tearing pains in the heart; 
thread-like pulse, small and rapid; great oppression, and difficult 
breathing. 

Bryonia.— Pericarditis complicating pleurisy or pneumonia, and 
in rheumatic endocarditis with inflammation of the valves causing 
valvular murmurs; intense headache in forehead or back of head, 
worse on the slightest motion. 

Arsenicum.— In pericarditis, with effusion of fluid; restlessness 
and anxiety; suffocative attacks; violent and irregular palpitation; 
cold surface; thirst; fear of death; also in endocarditis when the 
case is serious, with the above symptoms, and great prostration. 

Also Digitalis in the later stages of inflammation, with feeble, 
irregular, fluttering, intermittent or very slow pulse, much worse on 
changing position; feeling as if the heart stood still; lips blue; great 
anxiety, but no restlessness. Belladonna in the early stage with 
great congestion; flushed face; bounding pulse; throbbing arteries 
in the neck, especially in children. 

Rest and quiet in bed should be enjoined; the use of flannel blankets 
instead of cotton sheets; or a light cotton jacket or flannel shirt; a 
light, nutricious diet without tea or coffee; no stimulants unless 
heart’s action is feeble, then whiskey, brandy or strychnine, 1-100 of 
a grain; hot, light compresses placed above flannel over the heart, 
an occasional warm bath, temperature 100°; do not let the patient 
make any exertion. 


772 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


Hypertrophy and Dilatation of the Heart. 

Hypertrophy is an enlargement of the heart by actual increase 
of the muscular structure causing thickening of the walls of the heart. 
Dilatation consists of an increase in the size of one or more of the 
cavities of the heart, with either thickening or thinning of its walls. 
Both affections are common, and often co-exist. Any condition 
which prevents the heart from doing its work is a cause of enlarge¬ 
ment, as over-exertion, making the heart work too hard; over¬ 
excitement; excesses in food or drink; sexual excesses; diseases of 
the valves; weakening of the heart by poor nutrition, infectious 
diseases, etc. In hypertrophy, the weight of the heart may be in¬ 
creased from the normal, about nine ounces in men and eight ounces 
in women, to even forty or fifty ounces, but rarely above twenty 
ounces. 

The symptoms and physical signs are given in the larger section 
on diseases of the heart, earlier in the book. Attention is called to 
the fact that the following remedies should be consulted in cases 
where it is known that there is valvular disease of the heart, that is, 
where the valves do not close properly. 

Aconite.— Hypertrophy of the heart with acute attacks of violent 
palpitation, with great anxiety and restlessness; pulse hard and 
strong; constriction of the chest, difficult breathing. 

Digitalis, 1 x.— Heart’s action weak; pulse small, weak, irregu¬ 
lar and intermittent; feeling of anxiety about the heart; oppressed 
breathing as if there was a “want of air”; faint, sinking feeling in 
the stomach; especially valuable in bad cases where the valves are 
affected, and there are dropsical symptoms. Five drops several 
times daily. Strophanthus may be used in its place when digitalis 
does not give satisfactory resiffts, or where it disturbs digestion. 

Cactus.— Constriction of the heart as if bound by an iron hand; 
palpitation of the heart day and night, worse when waking, and when 
lying on left side, brought on by any excitement; sometimes acute 
stitching or shooting pains. 

Arsenicum lod.— Suffocative attacks on slight exertion; pain 
about the heart; weak heart action; rapid, irregular pulse; general 
weakness, prostration, and restlessness; nervous irritability; espe¬ 
cially in chronic cases, with disease of the arteries. 

Also Arnica in cases due to over-strain and over-fatigue. Rhus 
tox. in hypertrophy of the heart, without valvular disease; in rheu¬ 
matic subjects who have over-exerted themselves. A dose of the 
indicated remedy every half hour to three or four hours. 

The rest treatment is very desirable in these cases, and at least 
the avoidance of all excitement and worry; no tea, coffee or alcohol, 
rich or fried foods, or effervescing drinks; avoid an excess of fat, 


PALPITATION. 


773 


sugar or starch in the diet; eggs, milk, fish, rare beefsteak, chops, 
well cooked fruit and the lighter vegetables are allowable; do not 
make any quick movements, as to catch a train; retire early; rest 
before and after meals; do not over-eat; quiet walking is the best 
exercise; no active games are permitted; fresh air is essential; keep 
the bowels and skin active. 

The Bad Nauheim or Schott method of treatment is highly recom¬ 
mended. 


Palpitation.—Weak Heart.— Anemia. 

Many times in connection with indigestion, convalescence from 
long sickness, working or studying too hard, and getting run down, 
palpitation of the heart or irritable heart will be an annoying condi¬ 
tion when there is no change whatever in the heart’s structure. At 
puberty, with impoverished blood, and at the change of life the same 
condition may be present. Tobacco, alcohol, sexual excesses, and 
excitement are frequent causes of palpitation. While the treatment 
is largely hygienic, remedies will greatly aid in restoring the normal 
tone of the system. 

Ferrum.— Bloodless subjects; palpitation, with feeling of oppres¬ 
sion about the heart; full, soft pulse; frequent flushings of the face, 

Nux Vom.— Palpitation from indigestion; worse after eating; 
from highly seasoned foods, tea, coffee, tobacco and alcoholic liquors; 
sedentary habits; too much study or too close application to busi¬ 
ness. Consult the symptoms under “Dyspepsia.” 

Glonoine.— Violent palpitation or fluttering; pulsation felt over 
the entire body; from working before a furnace or being out in the 
sun. 

Also Aconite when palpitation is caused by fright or shock, with 
anguish and anxiety. Moschus. Hysterical palpitation. Ignatia. 
Palpitation from grief or suppressed emotion; melancholy; excessive 
tea-drinking. China. After long illness, exhausting diarrhoea or 
monthly flow; much flatulence. Spigelia. Violent, nervous palpi¬ 
tation, with irregular, tremulous action of the heart; oppressed 
breathing, and sharp, shooting pains. Coffea. After great joy or 
other excitement: sleeplessness. A dose of the indicated remedy 
every fifteen minutes to two or three hours. 


Neuralgia of the Heart .—Angina Pectoris. 

Breast-pang is a familiar name for this affection which is charac¬ 
terized by paroxysms of intense pain in the heart, under the breast 
bone, to the left and usually extending into the left shoulder and 
down the left arm. Frequently angina is associated with some 
organic disease of the heart or arteries, but often nothing of the kind 


774 HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 

can be found. True angina occurs more often in men than in women, 
and after the age of forty. The paroxysms seem to be excited by 
cold, violent exertion, mental excitement, indigestion, the excessive 
use of tobacco, and last from a few seconds to two or three minutes 
or even longer. The pain is excruciating, and accompanied by a 
horrible sense of suffocation; the face is pale, cold, and clammy, 
the expression one of agony and terror; the pulse varies, and may 
be feeb’e and irregular, and death may ensue or the attack pass off 
with belching of gas or vomiting. Attacks simulating true angina 
occur in hysterical persons, but the pain is less intense, more diffused, 
and lasts longer. 

Aconite, 1 x.— Attacks following exposure to cold, with intense 
anxiety, coldness, pain at the heart radiating in every direction, 
with numbness and tingling. 

Arsenicum, 3 x.— When the disease is of purely nervous origin, 
with debility and prostration, severe suffocative attacks; feeble and 
irregular pulse. A dose three times a day between the paroxysms. 

5pigelia, 2 x.— Violent palpitation; severe stabbing stitches in 
the region of the heart at every beat; irregular pulse; tendency to 
faint. 

Cactus, 2 X. —Sensation of great constriction, as of an iron band 
about the heart; irregular action of the heart; palpitation; pain in 
heart shooting down left arm to the finger tips. 

Amyl nitrite perles, containing three to five drops each can be 
obtained at any large pharmacy, and one may be crushed in one’s 
handkerchief, and the vapor inhaled to relieve the pain, etc., of a 
severe attack, or the inhalation of oxygen will give relief. In mild 
attacks frequent doses of the indicated remedy may be given, and 
its use continued three or four times a day for weeks at a time to 
improve the constitutional condition. The general health must be 
improved by all hygienic and dietetic measures. The spinal ice bag 
applied to the middle of the back for forty minutes, once a day, 
has proved curative; electricity is beneficial. During an attack the 
clothing should be loosened, and hot fomentations applied over the 
heart. 

Diseases of the Qenito-Urinary Organs.— Syphilis. 

Inflammation of the Bladder.— Cystitis. 

Cystitis may be either acute or chronic, and, when chronic, usually 
occurs quite independently of any acute attack, thus differing from 
other diseases. The cause is infection by a special germ, but certain 
agencies favor its development, such as exposure to cold or wet, 
retention of the urine, injuries to the bladder, certain irritating 


DISEASES OF THE GENITO-URINARY ORGANS. 775 

drugs, inflammation of nearby parts, foreign bodies in the bladder, 
etc., and in women in chronic cases, pressure from a displaced uterus. 

Pain, pus and frequency” are called the three leading symptoms 
of acute cystitis. This disease is described at length elsewhere in this 
book, so it may be said briefly that an acute attack may be preceded 
by chills and fever; that the pain is a constant dull ache or sharp, 
agonizing pain in the region of the bladder; that pus soon appears 
in the urine, and that there is frequent urging to pass water, which 
does not flow freely but only drop by drop. 

In chronic cases the pain and urging are not so severe, but still 
there is frequent and difficult urination for weeks or months, with 
headache, backache, legache, debility, and loss of flesh. 

Aconite.— Chilliness and then much fever; dry, hot skin; full 
pulse; thirst and restlessness; constant desire to urinate; urine hot, 
dry, scanty. 

Cantharis.— Burning heat in bladder; burning and cutting pains, 
so severe that the patient screams aloud; constant desire to urinate, 
with almost ineffectual straining; urine passes in burning drops. 

Terebinthina.— Much irritability of the bladder not relieved by 
cantharis; bloody urine passed drop by drop; sensitiveness over the 
region of the bladder; slimy, bloody sediment to urine. 

Belladonna.— Region of bladder very sensitive; urine hot and 
red; involuntary dribbling of urine; great nervous irritability. 

Apis.— Especially useful in inflammation of the bladder following 
the use of cantharides, camphor, or other drugs; urine pale straw 
color, or scanty and red, with brick-dust sediment; pain and burn¬ 
ing before and after passing water; much straining. 

Mecurius Cor.— Especially in gonorrheal cases or where there is 
much straining in the rectum as well as in the bladder; sudden, 
irresistible desire to urinate, and perspiration while passing water; 
scanty, bloody urine containing white shreds, or dark, flesh-like 
pieces of mucus. 

Chimaphilla.— Useful in both acute and chronic cases, with high- 
colored, scanty, offensive, turbid urine, containing ropy or bloody 
mucus; much mucous sediment; great straining before and after 
urinating, difficulty in beginning to urinate; constipation. 

Also Pulsatilla^ especially in chronic cases in women having catarrhal 
troubles; frequent, ineffectual urging, with cutting pain and urging; 
slimy sediment; cystitis after exposure to cold. Cannabis sativa. 
Gonorrheal cystitis with urging every few minutes, and burning and 
straining worse after urinating; the whole length of the urinary 
passage burns and smarts. Boracic acid. Five grain doses three or 


776 


HOMOEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


four times a day in chronic cases, where there is great desire to uri¬ 
nate, and can not pass a drop, or frequent urination at night as well 
as in day time, with much smarting afterward. Nux vom. Espe¬ 
cially in cases occurring in those of sedentary habits, who have indi¬ 
gestion and constipation; painful, ineffectual urging to urinate; 
urine passes in drops, with tearing pain in the passage; urine pale, 
and later thick, whitish, or may be reddish, with sediment like brick- 
dust. A dose of the indicated remedy every hour in acute, and every 
three hours in chronic cases. 

Absolute rest in bed is most desirable and essential, also the free 
use (three pints or more a day) of distilled or pure spring water, 
and a glassful of Vichy before each meal; hot sitz baths; hot fomen¬ 
tations over the bladder; washing out of the bladder in chronic cases; 
a largely milk diet; the avoidance of tea, coffee, alcohol, salty and 
spiced food, pork, lobster, cheese, beans, fried foods, pastry, and 
acid fruit. 

Sufferers from chronic cystitis should take two to four warm tub 
baths weekly, besides the daily warm sponge bath, and should wear 
a flannel band about the abdomen. In women, diseases of the uterus 
and ovaries must receive proper treatment; vaginal injections of 
boracic acid and hot water, a dram to the quart, may be taken every 
other day.. A good physician should be consulted so that local 
treatment of the bladder may be instituted. The bowels must be 
kept open.* Cod liver oil should be taken when there is much debility 
and loss of flesh. 


Retention of Urine and Strangury. 

Dr. E. L. Keyes, consulting surgeon to Bellevue Hospital, New 
York, states that, in his opinion, 95 per cent, of all cases of retention 
of urine are due to stricture of the urethra (the passage from the 
bladder through which urine is .voided), to contraction of the bladder, 
or to enlargement of the male gland called the prostate. The effect 
of retention of urine is congestion of the bladder in its straining 
efforts to empty itself, and as this condition increases and extend^^, 
congestion of the kidneys also, making them extremely susceptible 
to infection. The treatment must be directed chiefly to removing 
the cause. 

Strangury is the passing of urine drop by drop, with much urging 
and straining, and may be due to inflammation of the urinary organs 
or passages, or to obstruction. 

Arnica.— Retention of urine from exertion; urine retained, with 
aching and pressing in bladder; constant ineffectual desire to pass 
water, or urging, with involuntary dropping of urine; urine dark, 
scanty, with brick-dust sediment; after wounds. 


SUPPRESSION OF URINE. 


777 


Belladonna. —Retention of urine, which passes only drop by drop; 
difficult, scanty urination, with urging pain, and heat along the 
urethra; paralysis of the bladder muscles. 

Hyoscyamus.— Paralysis of the bladder; frequent, scanty, diffi- 
cult, or involuntary urination; retention of urine. 

Veratrum Alb. —Urine not secreted, or if secreted is only partially 
evacuted, with pain and burning along the urethra; greenish urine. 

Consult the remedies given under ^‘Cystitis,’’ especially CanihariSj 
which is a very valuable agent in these cases, and Aconite in suppres¬ 
sion or retention from exposure to cold. Also Camphor. Urine 
passed drop by d op, with great urging; retention or slow emission of 
red, thick urine having a musty odor; inflammation caused by the 
use of cantharides, turpentine, or other drug cold extremities. 
A dose of the indicated remedy every fifteen minutes to one hour. 

Refer to the general directions in the section on ^ Cystitis. ” Hot 
baths and applications over the bladder, especially with flannels 
wrung out in very hot water and a few drops of turpentine sprinkled 
on them, are indicated. The urine must be withdrawn by catheter 
if it cannot be passed naturally. The unskilful or careless use of 
the catheter or any other instrument is a fruitful cause of wounds of 
the mucous membrane, and subsequent infection by pus germs. 

Suppression of Urine. 

In suppression of urine, no urine is made by the kidneys. This is a 
serious symptom and may occur in old people, and in the course of 
other diseases at almost any age. The remedies mentioned under 
retention of urine may be consulted, but in all cases the cause of the 
condition, and all the associated symptoms must be taken into con¬ 
sideration. In suppression from long continued exposure to cold 
Aconite should be given, especially with pressure in the bladder or 
stitches in the region of the kidneys. Arsenicum for suppression in 
the course of diseases of the kidneys or heart, with poisoning of the 
whole system from the absorption of waste products, dropsy, and 
great prostration and exhaustion. Stramonium. Suppression during 
high fever and delirium, neither urine nor fecal matter from the bowels 
is passed. Pulsatilla. Suppression in little girls or in women with 
uterine disorders, with frequent, ineffectual urging to urinate and 
cutting pains. 

Hot baths, hot applications over the kidneys and bladder, and hot 
drinks are recommended; give the sufferer large quantities of dis¬ 
tilled water or Vichy or Poland water, and injections of hot salt 
solution into the bowels. 

Incontinence of Urine.— Enuresis. 

Adults as well as children may be subject to this annoyance. Of 
the causes in children mention has been made under “Wetting the 


778 HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 

Bed.’’ In adults incontinence of urine may be diie to piles, cracks 
in the rectum or worms; defective eyesight; paralysis of the bladder 
from repeated neglect to empty it when full; weakness of the bladder 
from wounds or uterine troubles, and frequently, great nervousness 
or a highly neurotic temperament; sexual excesses or unnatural 
practices may cause irritability of the bladder. For treatment con¬ 
sult the action just referred to. 

Blood in the Urine.— Hematuria. 

Wounds, congestion of the kidneys, Bright’s disease, stone in the 
bladder, smallpox, scurvy, ulcers, and sometimes malaria account 
for blood in the urine. Blood in the urine may be detected by adding 
to the urine a drop or two of tincture of guaiacum and two drops of 
ozonic ether; at the junction of the two fluids a blue line forms, 
which becomes diffused through the ether. The cause must always 
be sought, and remedied when possible. Blood in the urine is only 
a symptom, and all the symptoms and the general condition must be 
taken into account in selecting a remedy. 

Aconite.— Blood in the urine especially in inflammation of the 
bladder and urethra; scanty, dark, scalding hot urine, passed drop by 
drop. 

Cantharis.— Violent, cutting, pressing, crampy pains in the 
bladder, extending into the kidneys and urethra; urine passed drop 
by drop, with burning pain before, during and after urination; urine 
red or dark colored as if mixed with blood. 

Nux Vom.— Blood in the urine after alcoholic excesses, highly 
seasoned foods, or strong medicines; from indigestion with constipa¬ 
tion; suppression of monthly flow; full feeling with pressure in the 
abdomen, loins, and region of the kidneys. 

Terebinthina.— One of the best remedies when this symptom is 
present; blood mixed with urine, forming a dirty, reddish-brown or 
blackish fluid, or a coffee-ground-like sediment; burning, drawing 
pains in the kidneys; pressure in the bladder, extending up into the 
kidneys when sitting, disappearing when walking about; pressing 
and straining in the .bladder when sitting before urination, passing 
off when walking; burning in the bladder, worse while passing water. 

Also Arnica after injuries to the urinary organs. Arsenicum. Very 
painful urination, scanty secretion, burning pain in the urinary organs; 
bladder seems paralyzed; great anguish and restlessness; bloody 
urine especially in infectious and septic diseases. 

Qravel or Stone. 

The composition of the different varieties of urinary deposits is 
described at length elsewhere in this book. Gravel or stone may 
form in the kidneys or bladder, and in passing through the tubes 


GRAVEL OR STONE. 


779 


from the kidneys to^ the bladder, or from the bladder to its outlet 
may cause severe pain and tenderness. When the stone is from the 
kidneys, the paroxysm of pain is called renal colic; it radiates down¬ 
ward into the groin or bladder, and along the inner side of the thighs. 
The pain may be so severe as to cause nausea and vomiting; sweat; 
rapid, feeble pulse and even fainting. There is frequent and painful 
urination, from reflex irritation. When there is stone in the bladder 
which passes into the urethra there is frequent urination, with pain 
and sudden stoppage of the stream of urine. The directly curative 
treatment of gravel or stone is surgical, and should not be postponed. 
Remedies will, of course, be resorted to for the alleviation of pain 
and other symptoms, and especially for the constitutional condition 
favoring the formation of stone. 

Berberis.— Renal colic with sharp, stitching pains, with red sedi¬ 
ment in the urine which is dark red or yellow in color, becoming turbid; 
burning all along the urinary passages; severe pain in the hip. 

Lycopodium. —Dull pain, better on passing urine; renal colic, 
especially of the right side; scanty, high colored urine, smelling like 
ammonia, with red, sandy deposit, sometimes whitish; itching in the 
urethra before and after passing urine. 

Arsenicum. —Pain in the kidneys with the occasional passage of 
gravel; scanty urine passed with difficulty; suppression or retention 
of urine; sometimes blood in the urine. 

Sarsaparilla. —Urine passed with difficulty, and containing mucus, 
pus, gravel and small stones, urine slimy, flaky; clayey or sandy. 

Pareira Brava.— Four or five drops of the tincture at the first 
warning of the attack of renal colic, especially if the attack begins 
with pain in the genitals, followed by straining in the bladder and 
rectum; severe pains in the groins extending down the thighs; parox¬ 
ysms occurring usually from 3 to 6 a. m.; urine smells of ammonia, 
and is passed with difficulty drop by drop. 

Also Cannabis sat. Tearing, jerking, stitch-like pains along the 
urethra, and feeling of soreness; burning while urinating, but espe¬ 
cially afterward. Belladonna. Spasmodic, cramp-like pains; high- 
colored urine, with brick-dust sediment; pains come on suddenly 
and radiate in different directions. Nux vom. Renal colic with 
intense backache, and pains extending into the genital organs, and 
down the leg. A dose of the indicated remedy every fifteen minutes 
during an attack; three times a day between paroxysms. 

While one of these remedies may give relief in mild cases during 
an attack, it is chiefly toward correcting the constitutional condition 
favoring the formation of stone, that they are to be directed. A 
few whiffs of chloroform or ether will relieve the agonizing pain of 


780 HOMOEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 

a severe paroxysm; hot baths are helpful; a hypodermic of mor¬ 
phine, J grain, with atropine sulph., 1-20, or suppositories of opium 
and belladonna may be used. 

Free drinking of rain water or distilled water is the best preven¬ 
tive of the formation of gravel or stone; meat should be eaten spar¬ 
ingly; green vegetables, salads and fruits freely; milk is an excellent 
food, also fish; avoid alcohol, spices, tea, rhubarb, onions, tomatoes, 
spinach and sorrel. Exercise out of doors is recommended, but must 
not be excessive; the bowels and pores of the skin must be kept 
open. 


Diabetes Mellitus. 

Diabetes may occur apparently alone or associated with affections 
of the liver, pancreas, nervous system or lungs. Men are attacked 
about three times as often as women, and the disease is rare under 
thirty years of age. It is characterized by a copious secretion of 
urine loaded with sugar, and by a progressive loss of flesh and 
strength. 

The early symptoms are frequent, and excessive urination, great 
thirst and emaciation, later dry, harsh skin; itching; voracious 
appetite; constipation; normal or subnormal temperature; impair¬ 
ment of the sexual powers and the eyesight, and there may be drench¬ 
ing sweats; the amount of the urine increases to from four to forty 
pints. Acute cases last from eight to ten weeks; chronic cases from 
one to five years, but may continue ten or fifteen. Persons engaged 
in literary occupations inducing mental fatigue and sedentary habits 
and members of the well-to-do” class, or those suffering from gout, 
syphilis, malaria, and ^'high living” are especially subject to diabetes. 

Phosphoric Acid, 2 x. — This remedy is of the first importance in 
the treatment, especially in the early stages, of cases of nervous origin 
resulting from overwork, worry or sexual excesses; rapid loss of flesh; 
emaciation; much sugar in the urine. 

Uranium Nitrate.— Best adapted to cases with marked failure of 
the digestive functions from the beginning. 

Arsenicum.— Great thirst; restlessness; anxiety;, debility; op¬ 
pressed breathing; rapid loss of flesh and strength, waxy look to 
the skin; and may be eruptions, swelling of the legs, and in the ad¬ 
vanced stage, diarrhoea, carbuncles and gangrene; all symptoms 
worse at night. 

Plumbum lod.— Diabetes especially in gouty individuals, with 
crystals of uric acid in the urine, and small amounts of albumin; 
low spirits, anguish and melancholy; dimness of vision; mouth dry; 
tongue dry and cracked; some fever; skin dry; gangrene. 


ACUTE bright’s DISEASE. 


781 


Also Nux vom. for indigestion, with much irritability. Lactic acid. 
Copious and free urination of light colored urine containing sugar; 
voracious appetite; thirst; nausea; constipation; food sours in the 
stomach, and much burning, hot gas is raised; skin harsh and dry. 
Podophyllum. Light-colored stools with fullness and soreness in the 
region of the liver; tongue heavily coated white; head heavy and 
aches in the morning; blurring of vision. Lycopodium. Flatulency; 
full feeling after eating; pressure over the liver; constipation; uric 
acid crystals in the urine. Creosote. Diabetes complicated by con¬ 
sumption, with cough, expectoration, flatulency, and rapid ema¬ 
ciation. 

A dose of the indicated remedy every two or three hours in acute 
cases; twice or three times a day in chronic. Alkaline waters, such 
as Vichy, Carlsbad and Marienbad may be used freely, also rain water 
and distilled water. Diabetics may eat eggs, cheese, shell fish, salt 
and fresh fish; fowl and game, ham, bacon, mutton, sweetbreads, 
kidneys; salads; olive oil, butter, cream, cod liver oil, bone marrow; 
sauerkraut, lettuce, sorrel, mushrooms, watercress, spinach, chicory, 
celery, cucumbers, tomatoes, lemons, sour cherries, gooseberries, 
strawberries, oranges, and nuts except chestnuts; gluten bread, bran 
bread, rusk, and almond bread; glycerin or saccharine should be 
used to sweeten tea or coffee; no alcoholic beverages; meat soups 
are allowable; a milk diet is beneficial in some cases. 

Daily bathing, fresh air, sunshine, freedom from care and worry, 
and the wearing of flannel all the year round are recommended. 
Directions for the detection of sugar in the urine are given on page 
373 . 


Acute Bright’s Disease .—Acute Nephritis. 

This is an acute inflammation of the kidneys frequently brought 
on by exposure to cold and wet, especially if after the use of alcoholic 
beverages, or occurring in connection with scarlet fever or other 
infectious diseases, pregnancy, skin diseases, or may be caused by 
many vegetable and mineral poisons. Sometimes no cause is dis¬ 
coverable. Acute cases last from a few days to five or six weeks; 
the longer the duration of the case the worse the outlook; suppression 
of the urine is the most unfavorable symptom. 

Generally the onset of this disease is sudden, with slight swelling 
or puffiness of the face, but this may be preceded by chilliness, fever 
with nausea, and persistent vomiting; dull pain over the kidneys 
extending downward; frequent desire to urinate, and diarrhoea; 
much debility. As the disease progresses there is full, quick pulse; 
twitching of the muscles; drowsiness, and may be much dropsy. 

Aconite.—In the early stages in cases resulting from exposure to 
cold and damp, with high temperature, full, rapid pulse, dry skin, 
great restlessness, dark, scanty urine. 


782 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


Belladonna.—In the early stages, especially in children, with 
flushed face, throbbing arteries in the neck, bounding pulse; hot, 
but moist skin which steams when the bedclothes are raised. 

Apis.—Much dropsy, with no thirst; whitish, waxen, transparent 
look to the skin; scanty urination; albumen in the urine; more 
especially when this condition follows scarlatina or accompanies 
pregnancy. 

Cantharis.—Burning pain in the loins; severe vomiting; mental 
stupor; constant desire to urinate but passes only a few drops of 
turbid, bloody urine; suppression of urine. 

Terebinthina.—Acute cases resulting from infectious diseases, or 
exposure to cold; burning, drawing pains in the region of the kidneys; 
scanty, bloody urine, passed drop by drop; general dropsy; suppres¬ 
sion of urine. 

Also Mercurius cor. when, with scanty urine containing albumen 
and much irritabilit/y of the bladder, there is diarrhoea with much 
colic and straining; difficult breathing, and puffiness of the face and 
feet. Phosphorus when there is consumption of the lungs, or heart 
disease, or ulceration of the bones, with wasting and nervous exhaus¬ 
tion. 

A dose of the indicated rem.edy every three hours. Rest in bed, 
quiet and warmth are essential in the general treatment; flannel 
blankets may be substituted for cotton sheets, and canton flannel or 
flannelette nightdresses used; milk, buttermilk and gruels are the 
best foods, with koumyss, rice, vegetable soups without onions, grape 
juice; distilled or carbonated waters in abundance, lemonade, espe¬ 
cially hot. A hot pack for an hour, consisting of a blanket wrung 
out in hot water and wrapped round the patient, with a dry blanket 
and a rubber sheet on the outside, may be given every other day, or 
a hot tub bath to increase the activity of the skin. 

Chronic Bright’s Disease.—C/iromc Nephritis. 

Gout, lead poisoning, chronic alcoholism, and an inherited tendency 
are the chief causes of one variety of the chronic form; prolonged 
exposure to wet and cold, pregnancy, scarlatina, acute nephritis, 
and some authors add malaria. The symptoms resemble those of 
the acute form, but develop more insidiously, with even greater 
general debility, headache, indigestion, lassitude, nausea and drowsi¬ 
ness. In the first named variety dropsy is infrequent except toward 
the last,, with failing heart. The quantity of urine may be much 
increased for quite a long while. It contains a large amount of 
albumen. The duration of the disease is from one to twenty years. 
Consult the remedies given under Acute Bright’s Disease,” espe¬ 
cially Cantharis anp Mercurius cor. 


INFLAMMATION OF THE URETHRA. 


783 


Plumbum.—Loss of appetite; frontal headache, worse from men¬ 
tal application; oppressed breathing, worse at night; swelling of the 
ankles, dry skin, even after exercise; colicky pains; obstinate con¬ 
stipation; abdomen drawn in; skin pale, rapid emaciation and de¬ 
bility; absorption of the waste matter into the blood, causing a 
tendency to convulsions. 

Phosphoric Acid.—Frequent, profuse, watery or milky urine, 
depositing a sediment; great debility and loss of flesh; mental ex¬ 
haustion. 

Arsenicum.—Much dropsy; restlessness, thirst, anxiety, rest¬ 
lessness, worse at night, and must lie with the head high; iopsy of 
the chest, puffiness about the eyes, and swelling of the feet and 
limbs. 

Also Kali iod. in syphilitic cases, five to ten grain doses three times 
a day. Digitalis when with dropsy and difficult breathing there is 
a weak, irregular pulse. A dry, warm climate, and much rest in bed 
are desirable; a warm tub bath daily, continued for from ten minutes 
to half an hour; daily inhalations of oxygen gas; small quantities of 
food, as recommended for acute cases, and at frequent intervals; 
the securing of free movements of the bowels by the use of saline 
laxatives. To increase the flow of urine when dropsy is excessive, 
twenty or thirty drops of Apocynum cannabinum may be given every 
three hours until the desired effect is obtained. 

Inflammation of the Urethra. 

Exposure to wet and cold and local injuries may cause inflamma¬ 
tion of the urethra, but the most common cause is infection by the 
germ called the gonococcus of Neisser at the time of impure sexual in¬ 
tercourse, the disease resulting is called gonorrhea. This affection is 
fully described on page 404. The principal symptom following burn¬ 
ing heat, tenderness and puffiness at the entrance to the urethra, 
is a catarrhal discharge soon changing to thick, purulent matter; 
there are painful and persistent erections, and owing to the swelling 
of the lining membrane of the urethra, the urine may be passed in 
spurts or drops, or as a twisted or forked stream. Symptoms appear 
between the first and fourteenth day after exposure; generally from 
the third to the seventh. The disease is highly contagious, and when 
transmitted from a man to a woman causes many and serious diseases 
of the pelvic organs. 

Qelsemium.—Drop doses of the tincture every three hours early 
in the acute stage; moderate discharge; smarting and burning at 
the entrance of the urethra, and not much pain. 

Cannabis 5ativa.—Smarting, burning, stinging during urination; 
constant urging; copious, thin discharge; foreskin swollen and pain¬ 
ful, urine passed drop by drop, pains extending into the scrotum, 
with dragging in the testicles. Drop doses of the tincture. 


784 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


Cantharis, 2 x.—Extension of the inflammation toward the blad¬ 
der; passage of blood or bloody urine; inflammation of the bladder. 
See indications for Cantharis under that heading. 

Hercurius.—Free greenish and purulent discharges worse at 
night; dark purplish swelling of the parts; inflammation of the fore¬ 
skin; thickening of the walls of the urethra so that the stream of urine 
is much diminished in size; painful erections. Give Mercurius cor. 
instead when, with the above symptoms there is great urging to 
urinate, burning and scalding. 

Also Aconite in the very beginning, if inflammation of the urethra 
is due to exposure to cold and wet. Arnica when caused by wounds. 

Copaiva.—Gonorrheal inflammation, with constant desire to urinate; 
painful, bloody urination; profuse, yellow, purulent discharge; pain¬ 
ful erections. Capsules containing five minims or drops; one three 
times a day. 

A dose of the indicated remedy every two or three hours, unless 
otherwise specified. Immersion of the male organ frequently and 
as long as possible in water as hot as can be borne is recommended 
in acute inflammation. A five to ten per cent, watery solution of 
ichthyol makes a satisfactory injection. Treatment by injections is 
best pursued, however, under the advice and direction of a compe¬ 
tent physician, and only such should be consulted. For painful 
erections, keep the bowels, especially the rectum free; sleep -on a 
hard mattress, with light bed coverings and in a cool room, and use 
suppositories of opium, one grain and camphor two grains. The diet, 
especially during an acute attack, should be light and unstimulating; 
no stimulants, tobacco, or effervescing drinks; avoid tea and coffee; 
refrain from sexual intercourse; take frequent sponge baths; drink 
water freely between meals; be very careful not to infect the eyes; 
a “gonorrhea bag” should be worn with a little cotton in it which 
should be frequently changed. 

Inflammation of the Testicles.— Orchitis. 

Inflammation of the testicles may occur in the course of gonorrhea, 
one or both being involved, and unless inflammation is checked, 
becoming exceedingly painful and badly swollen. 

Aconite.—In the very beginning when there is much congestion 
of the parts, with general feverishness. 

Pulsatilla.—Drawing, stretching pains, from the abdomen, 
through the spermatic cords, into the testicles; swelling of the testi¬ 
cles, with soreness and tearing pains; swelling of the right side of 
the scrotum. This remedy is doubly indicated when the above symp¬ 
toms are associated with those enumerated under “Inflammation of 
the Urethra.” 


SYPHILIS. 


785 


Clematis.—Follows Pulsatilla well, when the testicles are inflamed, 
swollen and painful, sensitive to touch, and one or both drawn up; 
interrupted flow of urine, with burning, especially when beginning 
to urinate. 

Hamamelis.—Severe neuralgic pains in the testicles; intense sore¬ 
ness and swelling; pain running down the spermatic cords into the 
testicles. 

A dose of the indicated remedy every two hours. Hot fomenta¬ 
tions of hamamelis to the parts will relieve pain, or a tobacco and 
flaxseed poultice made light and as hot as can be borne. Support 
the scrotum by a square cloth folded diagonally, and the corners 
fastened to a waist band; when the swelling has partially subsided, 
apply ichthyol, ten per cent, in vaseline, or compress the testicle by 
strapping with straps of adhesive plaster. Avoid constipation, 
sexual excitement, alcoholic beverages, highly seasoned food, tea, 
coffee and tobacco. A light diet, and rest in bed are beneficial. 

Syphilis. 

This loathsome disease is described at length on pages 394 to 432. 
If curable, it is not to be eradicated in a few months. The sufferer 
owes it to himself and to the community to put himself under the 
care of a competent and conscientious physician, and scrupulously 
carry out his instruction. It will very likely be necessary to con¬ 
tinue treatment for three years if the sufferer is a man, four years if 
a woman. No greater crime can be committed than to marry while 
uncured. 

Phytolacca.—In the first stage, with enlargement of the adja¬ 
cent glands; headache; sore throat; syphilitic rheumatism and bone 
pains, worse at night and in damp weather; also, after eruptions and 
ulcerations occur. 

riecurius Sol. or Vivus, 2 x.—For mild cases without much 
glandular enlargement; syphilitic fever; pains at night; red, flat 
and scaly eruption especially on the palms of the hands; lining mem¬ 
brane of the throat a darkish-red. 

riecurius Prot, 1 x.—When the glands are badly swollen, and the 
case proves a stubborn one; falling of the hair; throat very sore, 
or give Mercurius bin, 2 x when, with the above symptoms, the ton¬ 
sils are badly swollen and very sore. 

Mecurius Cor, 3 x.—Rapidly spreading, creeping ulcerations with 
ragged edges, eating into the tissues; inflammation of the eyes; 
redness and burning of the mouth and palate, attempting to swallow 
liquids or solids often causes spasms of the throat; syphilis of internal 
organs. 


786 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


It is better not to begin taking any form of mercury until skin 
eruptions appear. 

Kali lod.—Most useful in the third stage of syphilis, when the 
poison seems to have soaked into all the tissues, and where ulcera¬ 
tions of the skin and mucous membranes are extensive and extend¬ 
ing; scrofulous, debilitated conditions; violent headache, with hard 
lumps on the head; eruptions on the face, scalp, chest and back that 
leave scars; foul breath; sore throat; fetid, greenish discharge from 
nose; ulceration and decay of the bones; gnawing, burning, boring 
pains worse at night. 

Nitric Acid.—A valuable remedy when a case has been so mis¬ 
managed as to have been saturated with mercury or potassium; 
offensive, corroding discharges from ulcers and sores; splinter-like 
pains; scaly eruptions; deep, bleeding cracks at the corners of the 
mouth; foul breath; ulcers bleed easily; ulceration of the genitals, 
of the nostrils and throat. 

A dose of the indicated remedy three times a day. Cleanse the 
sores with a mild antiseptic, as bichloride of mercury 1 to 2,000 or 
1 to 3,000, and dust with calomel, aristol or iodoform, or protonu¬ 
clein (special). As local treatment must be followed up for a long 
time, and changes made as indicated, the advice of a competent 
physician is highly desirable. Drink no alcoholic beverages; refrain 
from sexual intercourse or excitement; do not use tea, coffee, tobacco, 
spices or rich or indigestible food; take alkaline or sulphur baths; 
live out of doors as much as possible, and exercise or work in the open 
air; keep the mouth and teeth clean. 


Diseases of Infants and Children. 

Red Qum. 

In extreme infancy red gum is due to congestion of the sweat 
glands from hot weather, an overheated room, or to too many clothes, 
but may occur later during teething. Small red or white pimples 
appear on the face, neck or arms, or less frequently over the entire 
body. Each pimple has a semi-transparent spot in the centre, but 
no fluid escapes when it is pricked; these pimples have a hard, 
^‘shotty’' feel, and bleed a little on being scratched. 

Antimonium Crud.—Is to be thought of when the child has indi¬ 
gestion, vomits milk after nursing, and refuses to nurse again; tongue 
coated white; mucous discharge from the bowels. 

Borax.—Red eruption on the cheeks and around the skin; sore 
mouth, with great heat and dryness and blisters. 


CHAFING. 


787 


ChamoiniIIa.--Red rash on cheeks and in the folds of the skin, 
with sweating; irritability, peevishness; child sleepy but cannot 
sleep. 

Give a dose of the indicated remedy every three or four hours. 
The principal treatment must be hygienic, with reference to diet, 
bathing, and fresh air. 


Chafing. 

To prevent chafing of a baby's skin, keep it clean, but never rub 
it roughly, or dress the child so that the clothing causes irritation. 
Never let wet diapers stay on a child, or put on diapers that have 
been dried without washing after using. Do not use dusting powders 
to excess, but if the surfaces are abraded anoint with calendula or 
hamamelis cerate, or plain or carbolized vaseline. 


Crying. 

In young children crying is a symptom worth considering, and by 
no means always indicates that a child is hungry, therefore do not 
anticipate the feeding-hour, but give a drink of water, and try to 
discover what other reason there may be for the evident discomfort. 
Constant crying until exhausted, and after a short nap beginning 
again indicates pain, especially colic or earache (consult the section 
on “Colic"), while hoarse crying on awakening after sleep in a child 
not given to crying may portend croup; a sharp, distressing crying, 
with cough and effort not to cough, 'suggests lung trouble, and in 
brain affections the cry is sudden, sharp, piercing, and paroxysmal. 

When no cause is discoverable, and the child seems simply fretful 
and uneasy, and wants to be carried all the time, give a dose of Chamo- 
milla every hour for three or four doses, or Coffea when the child is 
merely very nervous and excitable, and cannot be put to sleep. 

Endeavor to discover the cause; it may be only tight or too much 
clothing; chafing; wet clothes; an ill placed pin; thirst; too much 
light, noise or excitement, or, in nursing infants, mental or physical 
disability in the mother, especially indigestion or temper. 

riilk Crust.— Eczema. 

The most common form of eczema in infants is that known popu¬ 
larly as milk crust, a term properly belonging to eczema of the face, 
but sufficiently descriptive of the frequent extension to the scalp, 
the treatment being the same. The first symptoms are redness and 
itching, then the formation of small pimples which rupture and exude 
a sticky fluid; this drying, forms a crust, with a raw surface beneath. 
The same fruption may appear in the folds of the groins or joints, 
with intolerable itching. Indigestion causes many cases of eczema in 


788 . HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 

infants. They should never be put to the breast whenever they cry, 
but be fed at regular intervals; improper food is another cause, also 
lack of cleanliness and hygienic surroundings; irritating soap or 
neglect to rinse the soap off. 

Rhus Tox.—Eruption on a raw, excoriated surface, exuding a thin, 
sticky, offensive serum, which forms thick crusts; especially on the 
face and scalp; burning and itching worse at night. 

Graphites.—Moist eruption, with thick crusts on raw, inflamed 
surfaces, which exude a thick, sticky serum; much soreness, especially 
behind the ears; itching and redness; symptoms worse from scratch¬ 
ing and at night. 

Hepar Sulph.—Moist, rather thick, yellowish exudation in fair, 
plump, or scrofulous children. 

Calcarea Carb.—Children of the above type, with eruption covered 
with thick, greenish-yellow crusts, formed from the gummy, yellowish, 
pus-like secretion; intense brnming, itching; painful cracks in the 
skin. 

Arsenicum.—Burning, itching eruption, painful after scratching; 
crusts surrounded by an inflamed, painful border; pain and itching, 
worse at night, and from cold and scratching, but better from warmth; 
hair falls out; child thirsty. A useful remedy, also, in chronic cases 
when there are fine, branny scales on a dry, white skin. 

Sulphur.—Bad-smelling, purulent oozing forms thick crusts which 
bleed easily; much itching with burning. 

A dose of the indicated remedy every three hours. Consult also 
the section on Eczema” in this part of the book. An infant, or 
small child should be fed regularly in small quantities food that is 
nourishing and digestible; should be kept scrupulously clean, and be 
out of doors much of the time in suitable weather; regulate the 
bowels; do not allow powder to cake on the skin; remove crusts by 
the application of warm, soft water or with warm olive oil; the 
latter is an excellent emollient, or carbolized vaseline may be applied, 
and when inflammation is slight, equal parts of fine starch and oxide 
of zinc, or buckwheat or rye flour may be dusted on. Itching is an 
annoying and even distressing symptom in these cases; peroxide of 
hydrogen, one part to three parts water alleviates this, or one-half 
to one drachm carbolic acid and an ounce of glycerine to a pint of hot 
water. Mittens may be tied on a child’s hands to prevent scratching. 

Teething .—Disturbances of Dentition. 

Just before the teeth begin to make their appearance there is a 
noticeable increase of saliva which dribbles from the mouth and is 
called drooling. The baby rubs the gums, sucks his lips, and con- 


CONVULSIONS. 


789 


stantly moves his jaws, thus indicating the cause of his uneasiness. 
The gums will be found swollen and cushiony, and hot and tense just 
before a tooth comes through. 

Sometimes there is feverishness, great irritability and crying. There 
may be stomach and bowel disturbances, inflammation of the middle 
ear, sometimes catarrh of the respiratory organs, and often nervous 
symptoms, even convulsions. 

Aconite.—Feverishness; heat; redness; pain; restlessness; swollen 
gums. 

Chamomilla.—Fretfulness; child wants to be carried about con¬ 
stantly; nothing pleases; diarrhoea, with loose green or frothy stools. 

Belladonna.—Face red, eyes bright, child excited, nervous; con¬ 
vulsive movements and moaning in sleep; starts up suddenly when 
waking. 

Calcarea Carb.—A valuable remedy in cases of slow or late denti¬ 
tion, with looseness of the bowels, weakness and emaciation; sour 
smell; milk disagrees. 

Silicea.—Tardy teething in rickety children; teeth seem ready to 
come through, but do not. 

A dose of the indicated remedy every one to three hours. Bathe 
the child in tepid water twice a day; give pure, moderately cool 
water to drink often; keep the child out of doors, but not exposed 
to the wind or direct rays of the sun; if there is diarrhoea, consult the 
remedies in that section. 


Convulsions.— Fits, 

Convulsions may be due to teething, worms, cold or heat, indi¬ 
gestion, suppressed eruptions, irritation from the accumulation of 
secretions about the genitals, epilepsy, improper feeding, constipa¬ 
tion, fright or serious diseases of the brain. Although the child is 
apt to be irritable and languid for a few days previous, the condition 
often goes unnoticed, and the attack comes as a complete surprise. 
As convulsions in children are always attended by danger, prompt 
and intelligent treatment is of great importance. 

Belladonna.—Face bright red and intensely hot; the child sud¬ 
denly becomes rigid, stiffens out, and foams at the mouth; between 
convulsions the child starts and twitches, cries out suddenly or moans 
incessantly. 

>Ethusa.— Convulsions in children suffering from summer com- 
plaints; spasm berins in the fingers and toes, the former clinched 
and the latter drawn in; bending of the body backward. CMprwmhas 


790 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


much the same symptoms, with rigidity of the jaw, causing the 
child to bite the spoon when medicine is given; especially indicated 
when eruptions in fevers disappear suddenly 

Nux Vom.—Convulsions from indigestion or excessive ill-temper, 
or in nursing children when the same conditions exist in the nurse; 
spasm renewed on slightest touch, jar or motion. 

Chamomilla.—Extreme sensitiveness, great irritability; one cheek 
red, the other pale; restlessness, moaning, and twitching of the muscles 
of the face; diarrhoea. 

Also China in convulsions due to worms or intestinal irritation 
from other causes; Glonoine, when brought on by exposure to heat, 
as the hot sun; Ignatia spasms following grief, punishment or sup¬ 
pressed anger; Opium after fright, with labored breathing, stupor, 
and face dark red; Stramonium, suppressed eruptions, where the 
child shrinks from everybody and is frightened, and the room has to 
be kept dark, as light aggravates the spasms. 

Place the child at once in a warm bath of a temperature of about 
100 degrees, applying a sponge wrung out in cold water to the head. 
The bath should last from three or four minutes when the child is 
much exhausted, to from ten to fifteen minutes in ordinary cases. 

After the bath put the child in a warm bed. If the convulsions 
are due to constipation, give a rectal injection or dose of castor oil; 
if to swollen gums during teething, have them lanced; if the genitals 
require attention, do not allow them to be neglected. 

Snuffles or Coryza. 

Infants and young children often take cold easily in cold or damp 
weather, begin to sneeze and snuffle, with running of mucus from the 
nose or a stuffed condition, and sometimes feverishness and flushed 
face. Always treat such condition in the very beginning. 

Camphor.—A drop on sugar, repeat every half hour for three doses, 
when there are signs of having taken cold after getting wet, or after 
exposure in damp, foggy weather. 

Aconite.—Feverishness and sneezing in cold, dry weather, or after 
exposure to high winds or draughts. 

Arsenicum lod.—Running of mucus from the nose, which reddens 
the nose and lip; constant sneezing. 

Nux Vom.—Nose stuffed up, or one nostril free, the other obstructed; 
difficult breathing; dryness of the nose, then running from the nose, 
followed by stuffiness, and so on; constipation. 

Belladonna.—Considerable feverishness and flushing of the face, 
with sore throat which is bright red. 


MUMPS. 


791 


A dose of the indicated remedy every hour. Accustom the child to 
being out of doors, but put a veil over the face of young children in 
very cold, windy weather, or when there is much dust. When the 
child has inherited syphilis, Mercurius sol. twice a day will be helpful. 

Mumps,— Parotiditis . 

From two to ten years of age children are most liable to contract 
this disease, which is a contagious, acute inflammation of the glands 
secreting the saliva, lasting from five to seven days in mild cases, 
in others, two weeks with swelling of the glands elsewhere in the 
body. The symptoms are well described on page 256. Mumps 
generally pursue a mild course, but may be complicated by swelling 
of the breasts in the female, and of the testicles in the male; the 
ears, kidneys, and brain are also sometimes involved, but this is rare. 

Belladonna.— Bright red, shining swelling, especially of the gland 
under the jaw on the right side; throbbing headache, red face and 
eyes; shooting, cutting pains. 

Mecurius Sol.— Parts swollen but pale and the left side affected; 
little fever; considerable pain; alternate heat and chills; nightly 
thirst; night sweats; mouth waters; breath offensive; tongue flabby 
and shows the marks of the teeth. This remedy follows belladonna 
well. 

Rhus Tox. —Dark red swelling, with much puffiness of surrounding 
tissues. 

Pulsatilla. —^This is the first remedy to be thought of when in¬ 
flammation of the breasts or testicles occurs. 

Also in the very beginning when there is much feverishness and 
restlessness a few doses of Aconite maybe given, and later when it 
seems as if matter might form, with sticking, splinter-like pains, 
give Hepar sulph. A dose of the indicated remedy every three hours. 

It is best even in mild cases to keep the patient in his room, and 
in bed if the attack is severe. Broths, milk, egg nog, and other 
light and easily swallowed foods may be given. Belladonna oint¬ 
ment may be applied externally, or biniodide of mercury, five grains 
to one ounce of lard or vaseline. Hot compresses or cold applica¬ 
tions may prove soothing. 

A bandage should be applied to support the testicles or the breasts 
if they become swollen. 

Enlarged Tonsils .—Chronic Tonsilitis. 

Enlargement of the tonsils in children should never be neglected, 
as the condition tends to become chronic; causes breathing through 
the mouth which is very harmful to the general health, and makes 
a child susceptible to catarrhal affections of the respiratory organs 
and to serious diseases such as diphtheria. 


792 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


Baryta Carb.— Inflammation and ulceration of the tonsils upon 
the slightest exposure to cold or damp weather; the glands of the 
neck under the jaw and behind the ears often enlarged and hard. 
Baryta iod. instead in long standing cases, where there is excessive 
hardness and constant swelling. These remedies are especially 
useful for children nearing puberty. 

Calcarealod.— Enlarged tonsils, especially in scrofulous children; 
tonsils full of little holes or pockets containing cheesy matter. 

Mecurius Bin.— Enlarged tonsils, with chronic nasal catarrh, 
greenish-yellow mucus dropping back into the throat. 

A dose of the indicated remedy three times a day. The tonsils 
should be cut out if the persistent use of other measures for one or 
two months is followed by no improvement. Build up the general 
health with malt or iron preparations, the hypophosphites, and 
especially cod liver oil; daily baths of moderately cold salt water, 
with brisk friction of the entire body; exercise out of doors, fresh 
air and sunshine in the house; paint the tonsils daily with tincture 
of iodine one part to four parts water. 

Croup. 

Membranous Croup .—Membranous Laryngitis. 

In a large proportion of these cases the same germ is found which 
is characteristic of diphtheria, still there are cases in which it is 
absent, therefore membranous croup is a name answering for all as 
diphtheritic croup would not. 

This disease rarely occurs after seven years of age, and usually 
not before a child is a year old; when not due to the diphtheria 
germ it is not contagious. Cold, damp winds favor its development. 
A hoarse croupy cough generally precedes the formation of any 
membrane, or simply hoarseness or huskiness. The cough occurs 
at night and has a ringing, brassy sound; there is wheezing, whistling 
respiration, and great difficulty and distress in breathing as soon as 
the membrane forms; the child’s face turns red or purple, and he 
clutches at his throat while trying to cough, but the paroxysms for¬ 
tunately do not last long except in bad cases. Croup ordinarily 
runs its course in from five to ten days, but may terminate fatally in 
from twenty-four to forty-eight hours. 

Aconite.— In the early stages, with hoarseness and huskiness of 
the voice, or hard, ringing cough. It relieves congestion in the 
throat, and may prevent the formation of membrane, or at least 
lessen its amount. A dose every half hour, and it may be given in 
alternation with one of the other remedies. 

Kali Bich. 1 x.— Gradual and insidious onset, at first only slight 
difficulty in breathing, which increases; hoarse voice, constant 


SPASMODIC CROUP. 


793 


paroxysmal cough; tonsils and throat red and swollen; membrane 
forms; tough, stringy mucus in the mouth; offensive breath. Five 
grains in a third of a glass of water. A teaspoonful every fifteen 
minutes to one hour. 

Iodine.— In the early stage when aconite has only partially re¬ 
lieved; hot, dry skin; very dry, violent cough in paroxysms; great 
pain in the throat; sawing respiration; hoarseness, and partial or com¬ 
plete loss of voice. Give as above. 

Hepar Sulph.— Air breathed in with difficulty, but expelled 
easily; loose cough, but no expectoration; stitching pains from 
ear to ear, and feeling as if something was in the throat; all symp¬ 
toms worse after midnight or towards morning. Give as above. 

Tartar Emet.— Bad cases, child almost choked by the membrane 
which is tough and firm. One-half grain of the crude drug in half 
a glass of water. A teaspoonful every fifteen minutes until pieces 
of membrane are coughed up, or the cough begins to grow moist 
and loose. 

Ipecac.— Convulsive evening cough; free secretion of mucus 
in the bronchial tubes, threatening suffocation. A drop of the tinc¬ 
ture every half hour to every one or two hours. 

In the treatment of croup moist air is essential. Cover the patient’s 
bed with a tent made of a sheet and convey the steam from a tea¬ 
kettle or steam atomizer within this confined space. Pans of hot 
water may be kept on a stove or on radiators, and steam obtained 
by putting hot flatirons in the water if there is not fire enough. Lime 
may be slacked in the room, and cloths wrung out in boiling water 
hung up. Hot cloths applied to the throat are helpful. Bichromate 
of potash, one grain to the ounce, may be used to spray the throat. 
In all cases of membranous croup, the injection of 1000 units of 
diphtheria antitoxin is strongly recommended, as there is at least a 
strong possibility of the diphtheria bacillus being present. 


Spasmodic Croup .—Laryngismus Stridulus. 

Many know this form of croup under the name “False Croup.” 
It is simply a nervous spasm of the throat, generally occurring in 
children under two years of age who are poorly nourished, have 
rickets or have some bowel or stomach trouble. The attack comes 
on suddenly and often very violently; the child holds his breath, 
grows livid in the face, and distress in extreme suffocation may even 
occur or the tack end in convulsions. Fortunately the disease is 
not nearly so dangerous as it looks. Remember that the general treat¬ 
ment must be inaugurated at once, and is as important as any drugs. 


794 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


Aconite.— ^Attack excited by cold, dry air; spasm of the larynx 
(windpipe) and suffocative breathing; short, dry, hard, metallic 
cough. A dose every fifteen minutes during the attack, then every 
one or two hours. 

Spongia.— Rough, crowing, barking cough; wheezing, whistling 
respiration; great difficulty in breathing. May be alternated with 
aconite. 

Sambucus.— Sudden waking after midnight, child sits up in bed, 
turns blue, gasps for breath; quick, wheezing respiration, suffocative 
cough, with crying. Give as above. 

Belladonna.— Child very nervous and excited; even a sip of 
water causes spasm; skin hot and dry, and throat painfully dry. 
Give as above. 

A weak solution of Chlorine in water, so weak that the odor is just 
perceptible, is a most efficient agent. A teaspoonful every fifteen 
minutes or at long intervals. 

Dash cold water on the child’s chest, or immerse the child for a few 
minutes in a warm bath, temperature 90° F. Keep the child in a 
half lying down position, and draw the tongue forward. To prevent 
recurrence of attacks improve the child’s nutrition by a digestible 
nourishing diet; do not give it too much food at one time; the cloth¬ 
ing shou d be light weight woolen; exposure to cold, damp air or 
draughts must be avoided; have the child out of doors a great deal 
in mild, pleasant weather; cod liver oil is an excellent reconstructive; 
sponge baths must be frequently given with friction but gently so as 
not to excite a spasm. 


Simple Fever. 

Feverishness is quite common in children and often in delicate 
women of a nervous temperament, and does not invariably usher in 
any acute or serious diseases. The following remedies may be given as 
indicated, a dose every half hour or hour, and should be administered 
as soon as possible to prevent further development. 

Aconite.— Feverishness after exposure to dry cold or cold winds, 
and after perspiration has been checked by draughts; getting wet 
while heated. 

Arnica.— After wounds or hard physical labor or excessive exer¬ 
cise; feverishness, with bruised sore feeling; desire to lie down but 
keeps shifting about for a soft place in vain. 

Belladonna.— Feverishness after having the hair cut, riding in 
a cold wind, going to dances or other excitement; face bright red; 
ieyes bright and pupils dilated; restlessness and throbbing headache. 


CHICKEN POX. 


795 


Ignatia.— General depression and prostration, with feverishness, 
headache as of a nail in the side of the head; loss of appetite; yawn¬ 
ing and sighing; after grief, bad news, shame, or mortification, and 
for children after having been scolded or punished. 

Qelsemium. —Feverishness and often high temperature in hyster¬ 
ical women, with -vertigo; weakness and trembling; chilliness; 
bursting pressive headache; exhaustion after slight effort. 

Bryonia. —Feverishness in rheumatic or irritable individuals, 
after taking cold or getting heated in summer; profuse perspiration 
even from slow walking; headache, as if the head would burst on 
stooping; feeling of dry, burning heat inside and desire to keep quiet. 

Pulsatilla. —Feverishness following any indiscretion of diet, as 
eating pastry, ice cream, pork or sausage, or at the monthly flow, 
especially in mild, gentle, fair women without much force of character. 

Rhus Tox.— After getting wet, straining a single muscle, keeping 
on wet clothes, going in swimming in too cold water, sleeping in a 
damp bed; constant desire to move about. 

A dose of the indicated remedy every one or two hours. 

Chicken Pox.— Varicella, 

Of all the eruptive fevers, chicken pox is the mildest, but it is 
highly contagious, and few children who are exposed to it escape 
it. The most susceptible age is from one to five years, and one attack 
is usually protective. The eruption may appear without any pre¬ 
liminary symptoms, or there may first be slight chill, fever, lassitude, 
nausea and loss of appetite. Small raised spots, averaging the size 
of a pea, appear first on the chest and back, or on the forehead, face, 
and scalp, develop a watery fluid, dry up by the third day, turn into 
yellowish or brownish crusts and drop off in a few days. Fresh crops 
appear during the first two or three days, but cease in about a week. 
To distinguish between small pox and chicken pox bear in mind 
that small pox is ushered in by pronounced chill, high fever, vomit¬ 
ing, intense headache and backache, followed by,the eruption of small 
red points, which, as they enlarge, feel like fine shot under the skin. 

But few remedies are needed in chicken pox. Aconite for chilliness, 
heat, thirst and restlessness. Belladonna, Headache, sleeplessness; 
eyes very bright, and face much flushed. Rhus Tox, If the erup¬ 
tion is extensive, with much itching and burning. 

Keep the child warm in bed, on a light or liquid diet, in a warm, 
well-ventilated room free from draughts; keep him separate from 
other children, give a tepid sponge bath every day. 

Scarlet Fever.— Scarlatina. 

The disease germs of scarlet fever remain active months and years, 
and may be retained by books, clothing, letters, etc. It is evident 


796 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


how necessary it is that every precaution should be taken to prevent 
infection in this way. On page 157 will be found a description of 
the symptoms of scarlet fever and its characteristics distinguishing 
it from measles. The most important complication is inflammation 
of the kidneys, and the next most common, inflammation of the 
middle ear with formation of pus. 

Belladonna.-— Perhaps the most important single remedy in scarlet 
fever, and chiefly called for by the smooth, scarlet redness of the 
skin, sore throat, high fever and head symptoms. We find marked 
nervous excitement and disturbance of the circulation, with throbbing 
of the arteries; face bright red; eyes infected; sometimes delirium; 
burning hot skin; pulse full, or small and quick; throat and tonsils 
inflamed and swollen; tongue white, with red points; bright scarlet^ 
smooth rash. 

Qelsemium.— Early in the disease when the patient is languid, 
quiet and much prostrated; dizziness; aching in the back and limbs. 

RhusTox.— Small fine eruption, containing small red points or 
vesicles and of a darker color than the belladonna eruption, with 
dark mottled eruption; high temperature; swelling of and some¬ 
times discharge from the glands under the lower jaw; brownish 
deposit on lips and teeth; restlessness; delirium. 

Bryonia.— Tardy development or suppression of the eruption; 
face red; lips dry; tongue brownish; great thirst, and drinking 
much at a time; disinclination to move, and pain on moving; espe¬ 
cially useful when fluid forms in the chest ov/ing to involvement of 
the covering of the lungs. 

Arsenicum.— Delayed eruption in malignant scarlatina, or the 
rash suddenly turns pale or livid, and is interspersed with small spots 
like flea bites; tongue dry, brown, cracked or blackish and smooth; 
great prostration and restlessness; also with putrid sore throat; 
scanty urine, and involuntary, loose movements. Not a remedy 
for the early stages. 

Also Aconite in the very beginning with characteristic high tem¬ 
perature, and full pulse; great anxiety and restlessness; do not 
give after the eruption appears. Apis. — Burning, stinging pains 
in the throat, with swelling; smooth eruption; drowsiness; great 
restlessness and nervousness; early prostration; scanty urine. 

A dose of the indicated remedy every one or two hours. 

The sick room should be well ventilated and kept at a temperature 
of about 70° F. Do not let the patient sit up until several days after 
his temperature has become normal. Milk is the best nourishment 
while fever continues, or milk with beef peptonoids, malted or pep¬ 
tonized milk: later broths, white of egg, fruit juices, and afterward 
custards, dropped eggs, blanc mange, etc. Plenty of water to drink 


MEASLES. 


797 


at all stages; sponge baths two or three times a day if there is much 
fever, or a wet pack; inunctions of lard, olive oil or cocoa butter 
alleviate itching, and prevent the scattering of scaly particles when 
the eruption begins to dry up. Cloths used to receive expectora¬ 
tion, etc., should be burned; bed clothes and other clothes disin¬ 
fected. The use of oxygen for inhalation in malignant cases is recom¬ 
mended by reliable authorities. 

At the conclusion of a case everything in the room must be disin¬ 
fected, scrubbed with disinfectant or burned. Do not rely on the 
burning of sulphur in the room, but cleanse everything with bichlo¬ 
ride of mercury 1 to 1,000, then have the walls repainted or repapered. 

Measles. 

This highly contagious disease is described at length elsewhere, 
and is usually of a mild type, but it should be remembered that if 
neglected or improperly treated, serious complications such as bron¬ 
chitis, pneumonia, inflammation of the eyes, ears or throat may occur, 
and the future health or even life itself be endangered. The disease 
develops in from seven to fourteen days after exposure, and no age 
is exempt from an attack. 

Aconite.— In the beginning, with fever, dry, hot skin; full, fre¬ 
quent pulse; much thirst and restlessness; red, watery eyes, sensi¬ 
tive to the light; dry, hoarse or even croupy cough, gritting of the 
teeth. 

Gelsemium.— In the beginning when fever is moderate, the pulse 
soft, and the patient quiet and languid; aching in the back and limbs; 
desire to be let alone. 

Pulsatilla.— Marked catarrhal symptoms, with little fever; 
thick, yellow, bland discharge from the nose; eyes water and are 
red; loss of appetite; coated tongue; bad taste in the mouth; may 
be vomiting and pain in the stomach. 

Euphrasia.— Eyes and nose much affected; hot and burning 
watering of the eyes; copious bland discharge from the nose; hoarse¬ 
ness and dry cough. 

Veratrum Vir.— High temperature, and full, strong pulse, with 
delayed eruption; convulsions. 

Tartar Emet.— Measles complicated with bronchitis; with wheezing, 
rattling respiration, and profuse discharge of mucus; difficult breath¬ 
ing. 

Also Belladonna in the early stage when the fever is high; face 
flushed; eyes bright and pupils dilated; throbbing headache; sore 
throat; starting in sleep or cannot get to sleep. Bryonia .—Tardy 
eruption; dry, painful cough; soreness of the limbs and body; hard, 
bursting headache; oppressed breathing; stitches in the chest. 


798 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


Arsenicum. —Bad cases much prostrated, with too early or sudden 
disappearance of the rash; quick, small pulse; constant craving 
for a httle cold water; restlessness; vomiting and diarrhoea. A 
dose of the indicated remedy every hour. 

The patient should be isolated in a weh-ventilated room free from 
draughts and of an even temperature of about 70° F. and the light 
partially excluded. If there is high fever, give cool sponge baths, 
otherwise a warm sponge bath daily, and anoint the skin with car- 
bolized vaseline or cocoa butter. Use a shade for the patient’s eyes 
or a screen whenever there is a bright light in the room. Liquid 
diet during fever; disinfection of all discharges, and absolute clean¬ 
liness; fumigate the room when the case terminates. 

Colic. 

It has been truly said that some children seem to have been born 
colicky; usually, however, colic is due to indigestion or constipa¬ 
tion, and, in nursing infants, to indigestion in the nurse or excessive 
emotion. Worms or obstruction of the bowels may cause colic, 
and, in older children, eating unripe or decayed fruit or drinking 
large quantities of cold water. 

The principal symptoms in infants are sudden waking out of sound 
sleep with sudden paroxysm of spasmodic crying, drawing up and 
then straightening of the legs, clenching of the hands, jerking of the 
feet, tossing and contortion of the whole body, and often flatulence, 
with distention or retraction of the abdomen. Steady, gentle pres¬ 
sure often temporarily relieves. 

Chamomiiia. —Colic with flatulence; passing wind does not re¬ 
lieve; distended abdomen, sensitive to touch; contractive pains; 
greenish diarrhoea, smelling like rotten eggs. 

Nux Vom. —Colic, flatulence, constipation; colic following the 
administration of soothing syrups or other drugs. 

Colocynth.— Apparently severe, cramp-like pains, worse every 
five or ten minutes; great restlessness; moaning; twisting and 
doubling up of the body. 

Pulsatilla.— Flatulent colic with nausea, vomiting, and green, 
watery, slimy diarrhoea. 

Plumbum.— ^Violent colic, with drawing in of the abdomen; 
rumbling in the bowels; obstinate constipation. 

Do not give gin, brandy, paregoric or soothing syrups. Put the 
child in a hot bath, or apply hot compresses to the abdomen; give 
hot water to drink; inject hot water into the rectum, or if the rec¬ 
tum is packed with hard fecal matter, inject an ounce of warm olive 
oil; rub the abdomen gently and put on a flannel binder; omit or 
reduce the nourishment during the attack. 


CHOLERA INFANTUM. 


799 


Cholera Infantum. 

Bottle-fed babies in hot weather, and under unhygienic conditions 
are particularly liable to suffer from this disease, which is charac¬ 
terized chiefly by the suddenness of its onset, with violent vomiting 
and diarrhoea. The frequent profuse discharges rapidly become 
watery, colorless and bad smelling; while the vomited matter, at 
first containing food, soon consists of mucus or watery fluid and bile 
and everything is vomited as soon as taken. There is great thirst, 
a pale, pinched, drawn look to the face, and rapid emaciation. Death 
may occur in a few hours, or improvement set in within a day, the 
cessation of vomiting being one of the first hopeful signs. High 
temperature and a very rapid, feeble pulse is found in these cases, 
with coldness of the skin and extremities. 

Veratrum Alb. —Vomiting and purging, especially the latter, 
followed by great 'prostration; cold sweat on the forehead; severe colic, 
stools profuse and watery; great thirst; feeble, weak pulse. 

Ipecac. —Copious, watery, green stools of blood and mucus, with 
constant nausea, vomiting and colic. 

Arsenicum .—Extreme restlessness, unquenchable thirst for small 
quantities of water, great prostration; stools dark, watery, offensive, 
worse after eating or drinking and after midnight; extremities cold; 
face pale. 

Mecurius Dulcis.— Lessening of the fever, but continuance of 
the diarrhoea with griping pains; much mucus in stools, and some¬ 
times blood, with much urging. 

Podophyllum,— Stools profuse, painless, watery, with meal-like 
sediment; gagging and retching without vomiting. 

Cuprum.— Green, painful, frequent but rather small stools; 
retching, violent but fruitless attempts to vomit; tendency to con¬ 
vulsions from the beginning; eyes sunken, with blue rings about 
them; colic and cramps. 

A dose of the indicated remedy every hour. Refer to the remedies 
mentioned under ^‘Asiatic Cholera,” especially Camphor. 

Let the stomach rest absolutely for twenty-four hours. Warmth 
and stimulation are essential in collapse; wrap the child in hot 
flannels, and put hot water bottles in the bed, being careful not to 
burn the sufferer. If there is no coldness of the skin and extremities, 
but much fever and restlessness with the stomach and bowel disturb¬ 
ance, keep the child in a cool place, well ventilated and out of draughts; 
give frequent sponge baths, and plenty of water to drink that has 
been boiled. The stomach should be thoroughly emptied in the 
first place, in children over two years of age, by giving large drinks 
of boiled water, or the stomach may be washed out by passing a soft 


800 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


rubber tube into it. Hot injections may be used to flush out the 
bowels. Do not give milk, but begin with barley water and cream, 
or raw beef juice, or unsalted, strained chicken or mutton broth at 
intervals of four hours, and in amount from one-fourth to one-half 
the quantity usually taken. Fresh air is essential, and a change of 
air, especially to that by the sea, is beneficial. A binder of soft 
flannel about the abdomen is to be recommended. 

In simple diarrhoea consult the list of remedies and general treat¬ 
ment under “Looseness of the Bowels.’’ 


Jaundice in Children. 

In early infancy simple jaundice is due to a distension of the blood 
vessels of the liver which quickly passes away as the bile passes off 
more freely. The yellow hue of the skin, and the pearly look to 
the whites of the eyes will be easily recognized. In little children 
jaundice is not infrequent after catching cold, the liver being con¬ 
gested, and other symptoms such as chilliness, moderate fever, head¬ 
ache, sometimes vomiting and diarrhoea or constipation developing. 

Aconite or Ferrum phos. may be given for symptoms of congestion 
due to exposure to cold or checking of perspiration. Nux vom. when 
overfeeding is the cause. Ipecac. Congestion with much nausea and 
vomiting. Mecurius sol. Tongue heavily coated white, and shows 
the imprint of the teeth; constipation, and the stools may be gray 
and pasty. Give a dose of the indicated remedy every three or four 
hours. Consult the remedies mentioned under “Jaundice,” especially 
Chamomilla, China and Cheiidonium. 

Great care should be exercised in feeding children old enough to 
have a mixed diet; an excess of meat and starchy foods should be 
avoided; fresh fruits and vegetables given judiciously; no tea, coffee, 
pastry or fried foods or fresh bread. The last meal of the day should 
be light; all the habits of the child should be regular, and the bowels 
and skin kept active. Plenty of not too cool water should be drunk 
between meals. 


Retention of the Urine in Young Children. 

Exposure to cold or catching cold, or extreme nervousness may 
cause temporary retention of urine in young children, when there is 
no organic trouble. One of two remedies is all that will usually be 
called for: Aconite in retention from cold, with crying and restless¬ 
ness, or Belladonna in full-blooded, excitable children, with spasm 
of the neck of the bladder, and passing of water drop by drop, with 
great difficulty and urging. Consult the section on “Retention of 
Urine and Strangury” for other remedies, and for the general treat¬ 
ment. 


WETTING THE BED. 


801 


Wetting the Bed .—Nocturnal Enuresis. 

Ordinary cases in children are of nervous origin, from impover¬ 
ished blood; hysteria; too long a foreskin or adhesion of the foreskin 
in little boys, or in girls of the clitoris, or lack of cleanliness about 
these parts and the accumulation of a white, cheesy secretion called 
smegma. Other causes are worms; masturbation; cracks in the 
rectum; eczema; irritation of the bladder from acid urine due to 
improper food or drink. Some children seem to have a constitutional 
weakness. 

Causticum. —Especially useful in boys and women, according to 
Cowperthwaite, when no special cause is discoverable, and urine 
passes in the first sleep, or on coughing, sneezing, or the slightest 
excitement in daytime. 

Belladonna.— When wetting the bed at night seems to be a habit; 
restless sleep, and sudden starting from sleep, especially in nervous, 
excitable children. 

Equisetum. —An excellent remedy in constant nightly wetting of 
the bed in children; also in weakness of the bladder, and dribbling 
of urine in old men, or in the insane 

Benzoic Acid.— Irritable bladder, with dribbling of high colored, 
strong smelling urine. 

Sulphur.— Long standing, chronic cases, where no special cause is 
assignable; pale, lean children, with large abdomen, fond of sugar 
and highly seasoned food and averse to being washed. 

Also China or Santonine when the patient has worms. Pulsatilla. 
Wetting the bed, especially in little girls; profuse flow of pale, watery 
urine; dribbling of the urine while sitting or walking. Gelsemium 
when there is partial or complete paralysis of the neck of the bladder, 
or extreme nervousness; inability*to hold the urine when excited as 
from stage fright.” These remedies should be given in the tincture 
or first decimal, a dose three times a day. 

The bowels must be kept open; any discoverable cause of the 
affection removed; stimulating food and drinks, and excitement of 
every kind avoided; early hours kept; a firm mattress, with only 
light bedding used; much out-door exercise taken, and a daily cold 
sponge bath; the bladder must be emptied regularly; the last meal 
of the day be light, and little, if any water drunk in the evening. 
Electrical treatments may sometimes be taken to advantage 

Night Terrors and Sleeplessness. 

Highly organized or debilitated children are most subject to night 
terrors; enlarged tonsils or growths in the nose are frequent causes, 
and sometimes indigestion. The attacks usually begin between the 


802 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


appearance of the first and second sets of teeth, and rarely later 
than the eighth year. They occur during the first three or four 
hours after going to sleep, with sudden starting up, or screaming, 
and inability at first to recognize parents or friends. 

Although the cases mentioned may favor sleeplessness, indigestion 
is probably the most prominent one; excitement is another common 
cause, also lack of regularity in the child’s habits, constipation, 
worms, chafing, poor ventilation, and too little out-door life. 

Aconite.— Sleeplessness, and great restlessness and tossing about; 
anxious, vivid dreams, waking with a start; nightmare. 

Belladonna. —Expecially for excitable children, who get sleepy on 
going to bed, but start up as in a fright when just falling asleep; 
waking at night full of fear; moaning and tossing about in sleep. 
One of the most generally useful remedies. 

Hyoscyamus.— Sleeplessness from excessive nervous excitement; 
restless sleep; starting from fright; deep sleep with convulsive 
movements; waking with a cry. 

Nux Vom. —Much yawning and sleepiness during the day; sleepy 
in the early evening, but not on going to bed; wakes before daylight 
and stays awake a couple of hours, then goes to sleep and is awakened 
with difficulty; especially children having indigestion or constipation, 
and who sleep mostly lying on the back. 

Chamomilla.— Fretful, irritable babies and children who whine, 
kick or scream, and are hard to please; moaning, starting up, crying, 
tossing about and talking in sleep. 

Calcarea Carb.— Fair, plump children, easily tired; sleepy and 
weary during the day; fall asleep late in the evening, or stay awake 
for hours; have bad dreams, and are hard to arouse in the morning. 

Also Gelsemium for nervous children who sleep fitfully all night, 
but grow more and more wakeful and restless, and have bad dreams 
after midnight; sleeplessness from nervous irritation. Refer as well 
to the remedies mentioned in the section on ^‘Sleeplessness.” 

Secure good healthy surroundings for the child day and night; a 
quiet, well-ventilated darkened room; a firm mattress, light weight 
bed clothing, hair pillowq regulate the diet; give a warm sponge 
bath at night; do not let a child indulge in rough play or sit up late 
m the evening; do not make babies or little children “show off” at 
any time, or stimulate them to be constantly observing things; regu¬ 
larity as to sleep, feeding and exercise is important, all abnormal 
conditions, worms, constipation, eye defects, throat and nose affec¬ 
tions must be remedied; to be sure the child is cared for by an in¬ 
telligent, conscientious person. 


RICKETS. 


803 


Rickets.— Richitis. 

Rickets is a chronic disease of nutrition, and while the only 
important anatomical changes are found in the bones, it must be 
remembered that it is not a bone disease, but one affecting almost 
every tissue and organ in the body. It occurs most commonly be¬ 
tween the ages of six months and two years^ in cities, especially in 
children fed on sweetened condensed milk and proprietary foods. 

In the first place there are often disturbances of the stomach or 
bowels; the child tires easily; seems sensitive to handling; teething 
and walking are delayed; the head becomes larger and flattened on 
top; the lower part of the face peaked; the chest prominent (pigeon- 
breasted) ; and the front ends of the ribs feel lumpy like large beads; 
the long bones of the extremities grow soft and bent, and there is 
much perspiration of the head, face, neck, and chest; there may be 
irritability, sleeplessness, and twitching of the muscles. 

Improper food and surroundings; bad air; dampness; lack of 
cleanliness, sunshine and exercise, and inherited constitutional 
weakness, are predisposing causes. 

Calcarea Phos.— Fat, fair, flabby children; sallow, earthy com¬ 
plexion; teething and walking delayed; constant sour perspiration, 
especially during sleep; neck thin and weak, and head held up with 
difficulty; abdomen distended; may be sour vomiting, especially of 
milk, and diarrhoea; feet damp and cold. 

Silicea.— Copious perspiration, especially of head; enlarged ab¬ 
domen; child emaciated and scrawney; tenderness of body and sore¬ 
ness of head to touch; tendency to enlarged glands and lumps on 
head; small wounds heal with difficulty 

Sulphur.— Voracious appetite; milk disagrees; emaciation; con¬ 
stipation, or early morning diarrhoea; tendency to skin eruptions; • 
child sleeps in cat naps; detests water and being bathed; sour, 
copious night sweats. 

Phosphoric Acid.— Frequent, persistent, copious diarrhoea, pre¬ 
ceded by rumbling of flatus in the bowels. 

Ferrum Phos.— Tenderness of the limbs, and pain on motion; 
great debility, paleness and weakness; bronchitis, and bronchitis 
with pneumonia. 

Kali lod.— Syphilitic children, with enlarged glands; swelling of 
the bones; hard lumps on the head, decaying teeth; tearing, darting 
pains in the legs and arms; great emaciation; fretfulness and irrita- 
bility. 

A dose of the indicated remedy every three hours. If the child is 
breast fed, and the mother’s milk poor, get a wet nurse, or if the baby 
is over five or six months old, try feeding with sterihzed milk and 


804 


HOMOEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


barley water, or peptonized milk; give ten or twelve drops of cod 
liver oil once or twice a day; avoid patent foods; the expressed juice 
of raw beef, strained chicken and mutton broth, the white of egg, 
and, if the child is over a year old, a small quantity of finely scraped 
raw beef may be given to advantage. Fresh air, sunshine, sponge 
baths, light weight woolen underwear, freedom from dampness are 
essential. Do not let the child walk, and do not handle him more 
than is necessary. Deformities should be treated early by a good 
surgeon. 


Marasmus .—Extreme Emaciation, 

This also is a disease due to faulty nutrition, and characterized by 
a steady loss in weight, great debility, drumstick legs, and claw-like 
hands; the face is pinched and old; eyes large and prominent; skin 
wrinkled; vomiting excited by the slightest cause, and there are skin 
eruptions or sore mOuth; complete loss of appetite. 

The remedies and general directions given under ^‘Rickets” are 
adapted to this disease, but two or three drugs may be mentioned in 
addition. 

Arsenicum.— Undigested stools, and diarrhoea or vomiting the 
minute the child begins to eat or drink, worse after midnight; rapid 
emaciation; skin harsh and dry, and often yellowish and tawny; 
much restlessness and moving about as if in distress; constant thirst, 
but drinking little; bad cases where child looks like a mummy, and 
stomach symptoms are very marked. 

China.— Child much exhausted by vomiting and diarrhoea, and 
becomes drowsy; coldness of the face and body; belching of gas. 

AntimoniumCrud.— Fretfulness, crying when washed or touched; 
or lies quiet and pays no attention to anything; mouth sore; white 
coated tongue; nausea and vomiting; much sweating; first diarrhoea, 
then constipation. A dose of the indicated remedy every three hours. 

Worms. 

Tape worms are found more often in adults than in children, the 
latter being most subject to pin or thread worms, occurring in little 
balls in the rectum, or round worms, which multiply in the small 
intestine; are reddish brown and four or five inches long. 

Worms may be suspected when there are the following symptoms: 
loss of appetite or ravenous hunger; disturbed sleep; great restless¬ 
ness; picking at the nose; bad breath; lassitude; dark circles round the 
eyes; indigestion; straining at stool. 

China.— Pin worms, with picking at the nose; canine hunger, or 
variable appetite; hard, distended abdomen; mucous stools, often 
mixed with worms; colicky pains in the bowels; great itching of 


DISEASES OF WOMEN. 


805 


the anus; milky urine, often passed involuntarily at night; livid 
circles about the eyes; restlessness, and grinding of the teeth in 
sleep. A dose three times a day. 

Teucrium, 1 x.— Pin worms, with much irritation and itching of 
the anus; picking at the nose; offensive breath; capricious appe¬ 
tite; straining at stool; colicky pains in the abdomen; disturbed 
sleep. Give as above. 

Santonine.— Symptoms similar to the teucrium when round 
worms are suspected. One or two doses morning and night for adults 
or half a grain for children. 

Mecurius Cor.— Slimy, tenacious, mucous stools, with pain and 
distended, hard abdomen; excessive secretion of saliva. A dose 
morning and evening for a week. This remedy corrects the condi¬ 
tion of the bowels favoring the development of worms. 

Should the above mentioned remedies not prove effective, three 
to fifteen grain doses of Naphthalin, repeated three times a day will 
be found serviceable. The fluid extract of Spigel a in one to two 
drachm doses is also a good vermifuge. One of the best remedies 
is pumpkin seed. Take the fresh seeds, hull them, beat to a paste 
with powdered sugar, and dilute with milk. Two doses fasting may 
be taken, and follow with half an ounce of castor oil. 

When a child has pin worms apply lard or petroleum to the anus 
daily, and insert within the folds of the rectum. All underdone 
vegetables and meats, especially pork, pastry, sweets and stimu¬ 
lants should be avoided, and salt used freely. 

Diseases of Women. 

Chlorosis. — Green Sickness. 

At puberty, or the age when the girl becomes a woman, delicate 
or excessively nervous children, or those living under bad hygienic 
conditions, or studying too hard, may develop a condition called 
chlorosis, characterized by impoverishment of the blood; greenish 
pallor of the skin; palpitation; headache; indigestion; nosebleed; 
irritability; an appetite for chalk, slate pencils, etc. 

Ferrum.— Great pallor of the face, with occasional sudden red 
flushes, with dizziness; palpitation of the heart; neuralgia of the 
stomach; chilliness; headache; feverishness towards night; absence 
of the menses, or when the flow is established it is too profuse. 

Pulsatilla.— Suppression of or scanty menses; girls of a mild, 
gentle, tearful disposition; chilliness; feels uncomfortable in a 
warm room, better in the open air; tremulousness; may be drawing, 
tearing, shifting pains, worse at night, with sleeplessness. 


806 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


Sulphur.— Rush of blood to the head, with cold feet; pressive 
headache in the morning; loss of appetite, with feeling of fullness 
in the stomach after eating a little; constipation; oppression of 
the chest; palpitation, especially at^ night; frequent flushes of heat; 
night sweats and great prostration and weakness. 

Calcarea Carb.— Scrofulous cases, with tendency to obesity and 
enlargement of the glands; morbid craving for chalk, pickles, etc., 
acidity of the stomach; the girl takes cold easily, and tires readily. 

Also Phosphorus in debility following too rapid growth, masturba¬ 
tion or depressing mental influences; great weakness and prostra¬ 
tion; palpitation; night sweats. Graphites, Scanty menstruation; dry, 
harsh, rough skin; constipation; acrid leucorrhea. Consult the rem¬ 
edies under St. Vitus’ Dance” when there are pronounced nervous 
symptoms. 

A dose of the indicated remedy three times a day. Fresh air, 
sunshine, exercise, early retiring, simple nourishing food, physical 
and mental rest, salt water baths, pleasant surroundings, cheerful 
companionship, normal action of the bowels, proper clothing, and 
freedom from excitement are essentials in the treatment of these 
cases. 


Inflammation of the Vulva and Vagina. 

The lining membrane of the external genitals called the vulva, 
is continuous with that of the passage leading to the uterus, known 
as the vagina. It is a mucous membrane resembling the lining 
membrane of the throat, and like the throat subject to inflammation 
and catarrh, the latter being the result of the former. Inflammation 
of the vulva or vagina may be due to germs, irritating discharges, 
lack of cleanliness; worms, masturbation; sexual excesses or to 
irritation from the urine in diabetes. There is dryness, heat, red¬ 
ness, itching, swelling of the parts, followed by a watery and later 
by a creamy discharge. The latter is called leucorrhea or the whites. 

Aconite.— Vulva or vagina dry, hot and sensitive. Belladonna 
may be given when, in addition to the above symptoms, there is 
a bearing-down feeling as if the organs in the pelvis were being forced 
from the vulva; swelling of the external genitals; fever and headache; 
pains worse on motion. 

Cantharis.— Swelling and irritation of the vulva; violent itch¬ 
ing in the vagina; inflammation of the urethra, and difficulty in 
passing urine. 

Also Mercurius cor. —Thin, watery, blood-tinged discharge; in¬ 
tense inflammation of the external parts. Kreosotum. —Soreness, 
smarting and swelling of the external parts which are hot and hard; 
itching in the vagina; yellow, offensive, acrid discharge; burning 
on passing water. Sepia .—Great dryness of the vulva and vagina. 


LEUCORRHEA. 


807 


which are painful to the touch; itching eruption on the vulva, with 
redness and swelling; much weight and bearing down in the lower 
abdomen (pelvis); yellow, milky, excoriating discharge, and es¬ 
pecially before the menstrual flow. A dose of the indicated remedy 
every two hours in acute cases, three times a day in chronic. Con¬ 
sult the remedies given under ‘‘Leucorrhea.” 

The cause of the inflammation must be sought and removed. In 
cases due to gonorrhea, treatment under the care of a competent 
physician should be at once instituted. Absolute cleanliness is 
necessary, and in simple inflammation a douche of tepid water one 
to four times a day, should be followed by a medicated douche. For 
a raw, excoriated surface, two to four teaspoonfuls of fluid extract 
of calendula to a pint of tepid water; when there is a profuse secre¬ 
tion, partly mucous, partly purulent, substitute hydrastis; when 
itching is very trying and there is biting and smarting or an offensive 
discharge, use ten to thirty drops of kreosotum to a pint of water. 
The external genitals should be dried and soft pieces of old cotton 
or linen on which vaseline, calendula or hammamelis cerate had been 
spread, should be placed between the labia to prevent irritation 
when walking; or dust on powdered corn starch or calendulated 
boracic acid if there is no discharge, but only heat and burning. Ab¬ 
stain from sexual intercourse; eat unstimulating food; take daily 
baths; keep the bowels open, and live out of doors. 

Leucorrhea.— Whites. 

Leucorrhea is a catarrhal discharge from the lining mucous mem¬ 
brane of the vagina, neck or body of the uterus, due to want of clean¬ 
liness, sexual excesses, gonorrhea or syphilis, inflammation of the 
organs of generation, new growths, general debility, or may occur 
in the course of other diseases. This discharge may be slight or 
profuse; thin, glairy, thick, lumpy, or stringy; watery, milky, yel¬ 
lowish, greenish, bloody, or purulent; odorless or very offensive; 
bland or excoriating and accompanied by heat, burning and intense 
itching of the genitals. There may be no pain, but lassitude, indiges¬ 
tion, headache, dizziness, faintness, nervousness, or hysteria. 

Pulsatilla. —Thick, white or creamy discharge, especially in cases 
of delayed or scanty monthly flow; the external parts swollen, but 
painless; indigestion; nausea; chilliness; frequent, profuse flow of 
urine. 

Calcarea Carb.— Profuse, milk-like, or yellowish discharge; monthly 
flow too early and profuse; soreness and swelling of the vulva; scrof¬ 
ulous or debilitated women, very sensitive to cold, with constant 
cold, damp feet; acid stomach. 

Hydrastis. —Yellow, sticky discharge, often offensive and with 
shreds of mucus or membrane in it; chronic cases, especially in 
those having liver or stomach trouble. 


808 


HOMOEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


Sepia.— Pressure and bearing down in the lower abdomen; sting¬ 
ing pains in the ovaries; discharge thick, creamy, yellowish, may 
be bland or excoriating; leucorrhea especially before the monthly 
flow, during pregnancy, or at the change of life. 

Alumina.— Profuse, yellow, acrid, corroding discharge, with 
burning in the genital organs, the parts being corroded and inflamed; 
worse before and after the monthly flow; sluggish bowels, and scanty 
movements, passed with difficulty. 

Also Helonias when there is a whitish discharge, with white parti¬ 
cles in it; heat, itching and swelling; dragging in the uterus; great 
debility and prostration; melancholy; especially for nursing mothers 
or after any great strain on the system. China and Ferrum are both 
serviceable remedies in’ leucorrhea in women much debilitated and 
run down, with impoverished blood and indigestion. A dose of the 
indicated remedy three times a day. 

The general directions under ^‘Inflammation of the Vulva and 
Vagina” should be followed. In addition to the recommendations 
for douches, may be mentioned the use of boracic acid, one even table¬ 
spoonful to a quart of hot water, or plain cold water. Never use a 
bulb syringe, but a fountain syringe, and always lie down to take 
a vaginal douche. 

Displacement of the Uterus. 

The uterus swings free in the pelvis, that is, it has no bony attach¬ 
ments, but is supported by ligaments. It is therefore easily tipped 
or bent out of its normal position, or may sag downward as in “fall¬ 
ing of the womb.” A few of the commonest causes of displacements 
are falls or jumping, lifting heavy weights, constipation and strain¬ 
ing at stool, excessive exercise, standing constantly, tight clothing, 
letting the bladder remain full, general debility, tumors and child¬ 
bearing. Local treatment under the care of a skilled physician 
should always be instituted in connection with the use of remedies. 
The latter will be most effective in the early treatment of displace¬ 
ments due to injuries or child-bearing, and in recent cases in those 
who will abstain from sexual intercourse. The general condition 
of the patient must always be taken into account. 

Nux Vom.— Sensation of pressing down toward the genitals, 
especially in the morning; monthly flow dark, and too early and 
profuse, with nausea, chilliness and attacks of faintness; constipa¬ 
tion; indigestion. 

Sulphur.— The general symptoms are important, such as heat 
on the top of the head, with cold feet; burning of the soles of the 
feet, and cramps in the calves of the legs and soles of the feet at night; 
also thick, dark excoriating monthly flow, too late, too profuse and 
too brief, with burning in the vagina and stomach. 


INFLAMMATION OF THE UTERUS. 


809 


Sepia.— Falling of the womb, with bearing down and strong 
pressure in the pelvic organs; vagina hot, dry, and painful to the 
touch; hot flushes; irritability of the bladder; bearing down sen¬ 
sations, better on lying down, worse on sitting up, and especially 
when walking. 

Belladonna.— Recent displacements, with great local congestion, 
and pressure downward as if everything would fall out; back aches 
as if broken; burning, throbbing, cutting pains in the pelvis; monthly 
flow too early, and too profuse, or thick, dark and offensive. 

Also Ferrum in cases where there is great debility, with impov¬ 
erished blood; head congested, face fiery red; flatulence and no appe¬ 
tite; feeling of pressure on the chest. A dose of the indicated remedy 
three times a day. 

Inflammation of the Uterus. 

There are many different names for inflammations of the uterus, 
depending on the location, and the tissues involved. It is difficult 
for anyone but a physician to distinguish clearly between the different 
parts affected, in any event it is the symptoms as a whole that are 
to be considered and prescribed for. In metritis there is inflamma¬ 
tion of the body of the uterus; in endometritis and endocervicitis 
of the lining membrane of the uterus and neck of the uterus. 

These diseases may be acute or chronic, and are caused by infec¬ 
tion during or after labor, abortion, or operations; gonorrhea; ex¬ 
posure to wet or cold during menstruation; sexual excesses; the 
extension of inflammation from nearby organs; uterine tumors, dis¬ 
placements or tuberculosis. 

Inflammation of the neck of the uterus may be followed by ulcera¬ 
tion; and of the body of the uterus, when occurring in childbed, by 
puerperal fever and peritonitis. Leucorrhea is a common symptom 
in endometritis, and treatment is given under that section. Consult 
also the section on ^‘Child-bed Fever’’ for remedies for acute inflam¬ 
mation of the body of the uterus. In all inflammations Aconite^ 
Belladonna and Veratrum vir. are generally called for. 

Nux Vom .—K frequently indicated remedy with bruised pain in 
the neck of the uterus; frequent desire to urinate, with pain, scald¬ 
ing and burning; constipation; frequent and ineffectual urging 
to stool; much pain in the small of the back; headache, fullness and 
pressure on the forehead; pain and distention in the abdomen, 
symptoms worse after 3 p. m. 

Sulphur.— Chronic cases that get better for awhile under the 
indicated remedy, then cease to improve; also when there are fre¬ 
quent flushes of heat, passing off in a little perspiration and faint¬ 
ness; heat on the top of the head; feet burn; “cat naps” at night; 
weak, faint spells frequently during the day; may be yellow, excoriat¬ 
ing leucorrhea. 


810 


HOMOEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


riercurius Cor.— Ulceration of the neck of the womb, especially 
in cases due to syphilis or gonorrhea; profuse greenish, yellow, or 
purulent discharge; smarting and itching of the vagina; easy per¬ 
spiration; much sensitiveness to draughts of air. 

Hydrastis, Calcarea carb. and Sepia should be referred to under 
^^Leucorrhea,” also secale under Profuse Flow of Blood from the 
Uterus.” A dose of the indicated remedy three times a day. 

Local treatment is generally indispensable in these cases. Good 
hygiene; rest in bed during the monthly flow; perfect cleanliness; 
sitz baths; copious hot water vaginal douches (see ^^Leucorrhea”), 
simple nourishing food, absolute sexual rest, and perseverance in 
treatment are essential. During acute attacks of abdominal pain, 
hot water compresses sprinkled with turpentine, and frequently 
changed, will give much relief. 

Inflammation of the Ovaries. 

Pus germs, or the germs of gonorrhea or tuberculosis may cause 
inflammation of the ovaries which may be acute or chronic. In 
an acute attack there is fever, rapid pulse, agonizing pain in the 
region of the ovary, extreme sensitiveness on pressure; and if treat¬ 
ment does not arrest inflammation, pus forms, and life itself is endan¬ 
gered. In chronic inflammation there is constant pain, especially 
before and after the monthly flow, on having a movement of the bow¬ 
els, and from any sudden jolt or jar. The monthly flow is profuse, 
prolonged, and painful, and changes occur in the structure of the 
ovary. 

Aconite.— Early in acute cases with fever, restlessness, cutting, 
darting pains; the abdomen hot and sensitive to touch; painful 
urging to urinate; especially inflammation following sudden suppres¬ 
sion of the monthly flow from cold. 

Belladonna.— Acute stage; face and head much congested; 
throbbing in the arteries of the neck and abdomen; severe clutching, 
clawing, stabbing or throbbing pains in region of the ovaries, es¬ 
pecially on the right side, with great local sensitiveness; cannot 
bear the least jar; high fever and thirst. The leading remedy in 
acute cases whether mild or severe. 

Bryonia.— Cases of moderate severity in rheumatic women, 
with stitching pains, worse on coughing, deep breathing or motion; 
shooting pains extending to the hips; tongue coated white. 

Cantharis.— Stitching, pinching pains in the ovaries; difficult 
urination; frequent urging to pass water; bloody urine; violent 
pains in the bladder. 

Apis.— Acute or chronic cases, especially in the right side; burn¬ 
ing, stinging pains worse at time of monthly flow; urging to urinate; 
scanty urine and swelling of the feet. 


PAINFI'L MENSTRUATION. 


811 


Also Macrotin in hysterical or rheumatic cases, in the latter when 
rheumatism seems to shift to the ovaries; shooting pains, with bear¬ 
ing down sensation; irregular, delayed or suppressed monthly flow; 
great nervousness at that time, and pains under the breasts. Conium. 
Chronic cases; hardening and enlargement of the ovaries, with cutting 
pains; soreness and swelling of the breasts before the monthly flow, 
which is scanty or absent; acrid leucorrhea causing burning; sour 
stomach and pain in the stomach. Pulsatilla .—Suppression of the 
menstrual flow, with nausea, chilliness, pressure on the bladder and 
rectum; violent pains making patient cry. A dose of the indicated 
remedy every hour in acute cases, every three or four hours in chronic. 
Consult the remedies under ^‘Painful Menstruation,’’ ^‘Profuse Flow 
of Blood from the Uterus,” and Cessation of Menstruation.” 

In acute cases while there is fever and much inflammation the diet 
should be liquid; hot douches should be given frequently; hot hop- 
bag, hot water bag, dry hot bran-bag, hot compresses wet with hama- 
melis and water, frequently changed, may be applied to the abdomen. 
Rest in bed is essential in all cases, especially during menstruation; 
the bowels must be kept open, and sexual excitement of any kind 
avoided. 

Painful Menstruation— Dysmenorrhea. 

Painful menstruation may be neuralgic or ovarian, or due to 
inflammation of the uterus, the casting off of the inner membrane 
or obstruction by small growths, contraction of the passages, con¬ 
gestion from getting the feet cold or wet, mental shock, the result of 
heavy clothes, lacing and many less frequent causes. 

Vibernum, 1 x.— Spasmodic dysmenorrhea; excruciating, colicky 
pains in the lower part of the abdomen, coming on suddenly, pre¬ 
ceding the monthly flow, lasting for hours; bearing down and ach¬ 
ing, and much nervousness. 

Cimicifuga. —Severe pains in the back, down thighs and through 
the hips; hysteric spasms, cramps, and tenderness of the lower part 
of the abdomen; dysmenorrhea in rheumatic cases. 

Caulophylium. —Spasmodic dysmenorrhea; bearing down pains; 
normal or scanty flow, in patients subject to rheumatism of the small 
joints; sympathetic spasms of the bladder, rectum, or bowels. 

Belladonna. —Paroxysms of severe, dragging, pressing pains in 
the pelvis from six to twenty-four hours before menstruation; the 
flow bright red, too early and profuse; inflammation of the ovaries; 
face red and bloated. 

Chamomilla.— Neuralgic dysmenorrhea; drawing pain from the 
lower part of the back forward; griping, pinching, labor-like pains 


812 


HOMOEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


in the uterus, followed by discharge of large clots of blood; excessive 
irritability and impatience; frequent desire to urinate. 

Also Cocculus in menstrual cohc from gas in the intestines; disten¬ 
tion of the abdomen; sharp, cramp-Uke pains; headache and nausea 
as in seasickness; scanty, irregular, painful flow. 

Xanthoxylum.— The flow too early and profuse, with pains from 
the ovaries down the front of the thighs; nervous, easily startled, 
hysterical women; neuralgic dysmenorrhea; headache and full feel¬ 
ing in head. Consult the remedies under ^‘Absence of the Menses,’’ 
and ^‘Profuse Flow of Blood from the Uterus,” especially Pulsatilla, 

The indicated remedy should be given every fifteen minutes to 
one hour while the symptoms are acute during the monthly flow, 
and three times a day between the periods. Hot applications to the 
abdomen and spine, and rest, preferably in bed, are indicated. The 
following are important recommendations: Avoid late hours; tea, 
coffee and alcohol; violent exercise, wet or damp feet; tight, insuffi¬ 
cient or too heavy clothing, or thin-soled boots; dancing while men¬ 
struating; sexual excesses at all times. Eat simple, nourishing 
food; bathe daily; take moderate out of door exercise; secure good 
ventilation; be amiable. 

Absence or Suppression of the Menses.— Amenorrhea. 

The menstrual flow may be suppressed from various causes, the 
most common ones, perhaps, being getting chilled or wet. Cold 
baths, sea bathing, acute and chronic diseases, checked perspiration, 
a sea voyage, mental shock, tuberculosis, hemorrhages, pregnancy, 
lactation, and sexual excesses, occasion absence of the menses or 
amenorrhea, as it is called. 

The resulting symptoms, in addition to lassitude, general debility, 
throbbing headache and indigestion, may be pain in the abdomen 
and small of the back, constipation, nervousness, nausea and lack 
of appetite. Vicarious menstruation, i.e., hemorrhage from the 
nose or spitting blood, may occur v/hen the menses are absent. 

Pulsatilla. —Delayed, suppressed or scanty; hysterical symp¬ 
toms; nausea and vomiting; palpitation of the heart; loss of appe¬ 
tite; lassitude, chilliness; headache; pain in abdomen or loins. A 
dose every two hours. 

Cimicifuga.— Headache, nervousness, sometimes hysteria; pain 
in left breast and side; rheumatic tendency; neuralgia of the uterus, 
pains dart from side to side; the flow irregular, delayed or suppressed 
from mental emotions. 

Calcarea Carb.— Delayed menstruation in scrofulous girls, who 
are fleshy, lack muscle, have a fair complexion, perspire easily about 
the head, have cold, damp feet, and are of a consumptive tendency. 


PROFUSE FLOW OF BLOOD FROM THE UTERUS. 


813 


Aconite.— This is an invaluable remedy for sudden suppression 
of the menstrual flow from a chill, fright or vexation, with conges¬ 
tion of the head or chest, anxiety and great restlessness, especially 
in full-blooded young women. 

Also Ferrum .—Delayed appearance of first menses, with debility, 
languor, palpitation, indigestion, leucorrhea, sickly complexion, 
puffiness of the face or ankles. Graphites .—Delayed or tardy men¬ 
struation with scanty, pale flow; constipation; tendency to skin 
eruptions. Belladonna .—In very full-blooded persons, with pres¬ 
sure and throbbing in the head; much bearing down in the lower 
abdomen; nosebleed. 

A dose of the indicated remedy every two or three hours during 
menstruation or when the menses are due; three times a day in the 
interval between periods. Consult the recommendations under 
^‘Painful Menstruation.’’ Build up the general health if there is de¬ 
bility with nourishing food, milk, cocoa, malt extracts, cod liver oil, 
an outdoor life, and otherwise good hygiene. Hot foot baths or hot 
sitz baths are recommended, also mental as well as physical rest. 
In delayed appearance of the menses in young girls, leave them alone 
as long as they seem perfectly well, and let them live out of doors 
and hygienically. Never hesitate to consult a physician when there 
is ill health. Change of climate is often beneficial, also electricity. 

Profuse Flow of Blood from the Uterus.— Menor¬ 
rhagia and Metrorrhagia. 

The first of these long names is applied to too profuse flow of blood 
at the monthly periods; the second, to discharge of blood between 
the menstrual periods. Common causes of metrorrhagia are tumors 
and growths of the uterus, retention of the placenta after abortion, 
inflammations of the uterus; and of menorrhagia, general debility, 
heart disease, other diseases such as malaria or congestion of the 
liver, and incipient tuberculosis. 

The remedy, whatever the cause, must be chosen in accordance 
with the majority of the symptoms; and whatever remedies are 
used, the most important part of the treatment is the removal of 
the cause of the condition whenever possible. 

Calcarea Carb.— Too early and profuse menstruation, lasting too 
long, in scrofulous women, or where there is poor nutrition, and much 
debility; milk-like leucorrhea, with itching and burning; feet feel 
cold and damp; profuse monthly flow in nursing women. Calcarea 
Phos .—May be substituted, for young girls having frequent attacks 
of headache, and too frequent and too profuse menses. 

Trillium. — ^‘Bleeders” who menstruate every fortnight, the flow 
lasting six or seven days, blood bright red at first, then pale; yel¬ 
lowish leucorrhea during the interval. 


814 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


Nux Vomica.— Too soon, too long and too profuse; stops for 
a day or two, then returns; irritability; nausea in the morning, 
with chilliness, attacks of faintness, and pressure towards the geni¬ 
tals; sedentary habits. 

Belladonna.— Much congestion; blood bright red; pressive pains 
in the abdomen; face flushed and bloated; flow too early and profuse. 

China.— Excessive flow, followed by much exhaustion, headache 
and ringing in the ears; heaviness of the head; weak pulse; fainting; 
twitching of the muscles; cold extremities; after great loss of blood. 

Crocus.— Dark, stringy blood in black clots, worse from least 
motion; earthy yellow face; debility and palpitation; especially 
in young women. 

•Ipecac.— After labor or miscarriage; continuous flow of bright 
red blood; the patient is cold and pale; also when monthly flow 
is too early, profuse and of bright red blood, which clots readily. 

Also Secale in hemorrhage from uterus following abortions or labor, 
when the uterus does not contract; uninterrupted flow of dark blood; 
worse from motion; also in inflammation of the uterus with profuse 
flow. A dose of the indicated remedy every two hours, or every 
fifteen minutes in hemorrhage following labor or abortions. 

A careful examination of the uterus should be made by a skillful 
physician, that the cause of the trouble may be removed if possible. 
Surgical interference may be necessary. Rest in bed should be 
taken at the monthly periods when the flow is profuse. Live hygien- 
ically, and take a generous, nourishing diet including milk and eggs. 
A hot water bag to the spine is recommended. Six quart douches 
at a temperature of 115° may be taken twice a day; to the last quart 
a tablespoonful of powdered alum may be added. All local treat¬ 
ment, however, is best undertaken under a physician’s direction. 
Sleep on a firm mattress, with light coverings; take a daily cold 
salt water sponge, avoid over-exertion, lifting anything heavy, tight 
clothing, excessive emotion, especially worry. 

Cessation of Menstruation.— Climacteric. 

Between the ages of forty and fifty, most frequently about the 
age of forty-five the menstrual flow occurs less often and diminishes 
in amount, finally ceasing altogether. This is the normal, phy¬ 
siological change in women denoting the close of that period of her 
life during which she should be able to bear children. 

A profound readjustment of the nervous system takes place which 
goes on even after menstruation ceases. When the process is not 
normal, many complications may develop, such as cancer, inflam¬ 
mation of the uterus, fibroid and other tumors, derangements of 
the nervous system, obesity, etc. 

It is very advantageous for a woman to be under the observa¬ 
tion of a good physician during the change of life. Under the best 


CESSATION OF MENSTRUATION. 


815 


of conditions there are many annoying symptoms which homeo¬ 
pathic remedies will greatly relieve; these symptoms are mentioned 
below. 

Cimicifuga. —Restless and unhappy state of mind; the patient 
feels grieved and troubled, is irritable and cannot sleep; sinking 
sensation in the stomach; pain in left side; fullness and dull aching 
in top of head. 

Lachesis. —Hot flushes;” burning sensation on top of head; 
profuse flowing; fainting spells; vertigo; flatulence; may be pain 
and tenderness in left ovary; patient nervous, anxious, and talkative. 

Sanguinaria.— Change of life in women who flow profusely; 
vertigo, rush of blood to the head, with buzzing in the ears, and 
flushes of heat; headache in paroxysms, beginning in the back of 
the head, passing over the right eye; headache with nausea and 
chilliness, sometimes bilious vomiting; better in the open air, from 
lying down and from sleeping; acrid, bad-smelling leucorrhea. 

Sepia —Palpitation of the heart, in evening, in bed with beating 
of all the arteries, also during digestion; flushes of heat at night as 
well as in daytime; much prostration and faintness in the morning 
during menses; pain in the small of the back when walking; irritabil¬ 
ity; darting pains in head from left eye backward; derangements 
of the liver and stomach; liver spots on the skin and yellow saddle 
across the nose. 

Qelsemium.— Headache with rush of blood to the head; heavi¬ 
ness, fullness and dizziness; dimness of sight; drowsiness; bruised 
feeling and throbbing in the head; may be nausea and vomiting; 
uterine neuralgia. 

Also Amyl Nitrite for the hot flushes not relieved by Lachesis; much 
throbbing in the ears, intense fullness in the head, choking, constricted 
feeling in the throat. Coffea or Passiflora are indicated in cases where 
there is marked nervous excitement, with sleeplessness owing to 
great activity of the mind, and alertness of all the senses. A dose 
of the indicated remedy three times a day. 

Every effort should be made to favor the normal action of the 
principal organs of the body, the skin, stomach, liver, bowels, kid¬ 
neys, heart, etc. Frequent warm baths are highly beneficial; much 
fresh air and moderate exercise are necessary; a simple, rather 
abstemious diet is recommended; loose clothing; no excitement; 
early hours; restraint of all passions, and the avoidance of stimulants. 

Any noticeable increase in the frequency or amount of the men¬ 
strual flow is good and sufficient reason for immediately consulting 
a physician; malignant or other disease may be present, and if so, 
it is of the highest importance that early treatment be instituted. 
It cannot be too strongly emphasized that the time for a woman to 


816 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


prepare for a normal climacteric is through all her menstrual life, 
especially by avoiding wet or damp feet, excitement and overexer¬ 
tion during the monthly flow, and by pure and temperate living at 
all times. 

Labor.—Parturition. —Morning Sickness and 
Other Ailments. 

Among the derangements of the system during pregnancy, none 
is more common than nausea and vomiting, or morning sickness 
so-called, because these symptoms appear most frequently on first 
rising in the morning. With some women this difficulty lasts but a 
few weeks; in others, for several months. The distress may be 
slight or severe, sometimes threatening life itself, as in the form known 
as Pernicious Vomiting.” 

Arsenicum.— ^Vomiting after eating or drinking, with faintness 
and excessive prostration; much thirst for small quantities of water, 
vomiting as soon as taken; very pale, white look; uneasiness and 
restlessness. 

Cocculus.— Intense nausea; scarcely able to get up in the morn¬ 
ing; yellow-coated tongue, with aversion to food; worse from driv¬ 
ing or being on the water. 

Nux Vom.— Sickness every morning; bitter, sour risings; vomit¬ 
ing of sour mucus and food; excessive nausea with feeling as if vom¬ 
iting would relieve; great depression of spirits; constipation; neural¬ 
gia of the stomach, with cramp-like pains. 

Ipecac.— Constant nausea, never any let up; vomiting of bilious 
matter, undigested food, and large quantities of mucus; disgust for 
food; empty retching; pinching pains in the pit of the stomach; 
diarrhoea; neuralgia of the stomach with nausea. 

Pulsatilla.— Especially when vomiting comes on in the evening 
or night; capricious appetite, longing for beer, acids, wine, etc.; 
nothing tastes good; absence of thirst; loss of taste, or bitter, fatty, 
sour or saltish taste; eructations. 

Sepia.— Feeling of emptiness in the pit of the stomach; aver¬ 
sion to meat; nausea in the morning; bitter, saltish taste in the 
mouth; constipation; eructations tasting like bad eggs; disgust for 
all kinds of food; vomiting of food and bile. 

Cuprum.— ^Violent vomiting of frothy mucus, sometimes green> 
relieved by drinking cold water; intense coppery taste; profuse 
salivation. 

Phosphorus. —Sour eructations and sour vomiting; very weak 
feeling in the abdomen; constipation, with narrow, long, hard, dry 
feces, or profuse watery diarrhoea; patient sleepy all the time. 

Also Sulphur. — Profuse salivation, the taste of which causes 
nausea and vomiting; flashes of heat; cold feet; ^'cat naps” at 


LABOR AND OTHER AILMENTS. 


817 


night; aversion to meat; feels full after eating a little; ravenous 
hunger or complete loss of appetite. Colchicum .—Excessive nausea 
caused by the smell of food; extreme aversion to the odor or mention 
of food. 

A dose of the indicated remedy may be given three or four times 
a day. It will be noticed that these remedies cover the annoying 
symptoms of aversion to food, neuralgia of the stomach, acidity, 
constipation, diarrhoea, and the excessive secretion of saliva. Other 
ailments of pregnancy, such as sleeplessness, debility, neuralgia, 
headache, leucorrhea, itching of the skin, varicose veins, hysteria, 
etc., have been discussed at length previously, and should be con¬ 
sulted for the treatment. Additional remedies for the other condi¬ 
tions will be found under the appropriate headings such as ^Consti¬ 
pation,” ^‘Diarrhoea,” “Indigestion,” etc. 

Careful regulation of the diet; bathing and exercise; the avoid¬ 
ance of worry, excitement, sexual intercourse, tight clothing and 
late hours form essential parts of the treatment. 


False Pains. 

As pregnancy nears its close, many women are troubled with 
false labor pains which often mislead them into thinking that labor 
has begun, or is about to begin. The strain on the abdominal mus¬ 
cles and other tissues may cause them, or rheumatism or irritation 
elsewhere as constipation, indigestion, etc. False pains are gen¬ 
erally constant, and when they are not, return at irregular intervals; 
may be feeble one time, and strong another, then feeble again. True 
labor pains occur at regular intervals, increase in strength, and cause 
the uterus to contract forcibly. 

Caulophyllum.—A most helpful remedy for spasmodic pains in 
various portions of the abdomen below the stomach; irregular pains, 
flying in all directions. 

Clmicifus^a.—Especially in hysterical women or those subject 
to rheumatism; pains in the lower abdomen shooting from side to 
side; nausea; sleeplessness. 

Nux Vom.—Pains in those used to rich or highly spiced food, stimu¬ 
lants, or a life lacking sufficient exercise; constipation; pain in the 
back preventing turning over in bed, and making the sufferer get up 
and walk about; worse about 4 A. m. 

Also Atropia for neuralgic pains, appearing and ceasing suddenly; 
worse from the slightest jar, back feels as if it would break. Pul¬ 
satilla .—Pain in the ovaries, especially at night; a close, warm room 


818 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


feels very oppressive; patient wants to walk about after sitting 
a short time, and craves cool air. A dose of the indicated remedy 
every one or two hours. 

Hot fomentations of hamamelis to the abdomen are very soothing, 
also belladonna or hamamelis cerate gently rubbed into the abdomi¬ 
nal muscles. Lying down in a perfectly quiet room is beneficial to 
nervous patients. Noise, confusion and excitement should be avoided. 


After-Pains. 

When the child is delivered the uterus should, and generally does, 
contract promptly. By this means the after-lDirth and clots are 
expelled, hemorrhage is prevented, and the return of the uterus 
to its usual size hastened. Sometimes the contractions of the uterus 
causes much pain, and there is also always some soreness of other 
muscles concerned in the expulsion of the child. These after-con¬ 
ditions are greatly relieved by the appropriate remedy. After-pains 
do not cause a rise of temperature, rapid pulse, and distention and 
tenderness of the abdomen, thus distinguishing them from inflamma¬ 
tion of the peritoneum which does. 

Arnica.—Unless some other remedy is plainly indicated Arnica 
should be given immediately after labor to prevent pains, and relieve 
the sore, bruised feeling in the muscles. A drop of the tincture in 
a teaspoonful of water every half hour to one or two hours. 

Caulophyllum.—Especially suitable after protracted and exhaust¬ 
ing labor, with spasmodic pains across the lower part of the abdomen 
extending into the groins. Give as above, but should not be ad¬ 
ministered in cases where there is much flow of blood. 

Pulsatilla.—After pains too long, or too violent, or causing faint¬ 
ness, pains worse towards evening, in mild, tearful women; symp¬ 
toms better if the room is cool. A dose every one or two hours. 

Nux Vom—^Aching pains which cause frequent desire for move¬ 
ment of the bowels, with feeling of something in the rectum; soreness 
in the uterus so that there is a dread of being moved or touched for 
any purpose; irritability; patient wants to be well covered and 
have the room warm. Give as above. 

Also Belladonna when the pains are of a severe, forcing character 
as if everything would be forced out of the vigina; pains that come 
and go suddenly; the least jar of the bed distresses patient greatly. 
A dose every half hour to one or two hours. Gelsemium is also highly 
recommended. 

In case clots are retained in the uterus, pressure with the hand 
over that organ will favor their expulsion. Hot applications of 


LABOR AND OTHER AILMENTS. 


819 


arnica in water are soothing. Half a teaspoonful of calendula tinct¬ 
ure to half a pint of hot water injected in that passage, and sterile 
gauze wet with the same may be applied to the vulva. 

Difficult Urination. 

After labor there may be retention of urine or difficulty in urinat¬ 
ing. The tendency to this condition can be lessened by encouraging 
a woman to make water as often as she has the slightest inclination 
before labor. The bladder will then not require to be emptied for 
several hours, during which the normal control of it may be regained. 

Hyoscyamus.— Nervousness and irritability; desire to urinate, 
but bladder seems to be paralyzed. 

Belladonna.— Retention of urine, or great difficulty in passing 
even a small quantity of urine; sensitiveness of the bladder to pres¬ 
sure, and pain on being jarred or moved. 

Other remedies may be consulted under ^‘Retention of Urine.” 
A dose of the indicated remedy every half hour. 

While it may be necessary to draw off the urine by a catheter, 
this should be avoided if possible. Pouring warm water over the 
genitals may start the flow of urine, or the sound of water running 
from a faucet or poured from a pitcher may stimulate the action of 
the bladder. A woman should make one or two attempts at least 
to urinate within the first six or eight hours after delivery, as a greatly 
distended bladder renders evacuation of its contents more difficult. 

Sore Nipples. 

Friction of the child’s mouth in nursing, the softening action of 
the milk on the skin, or exposure to cold while the nipples are moist 
or warm not infrequently causes soreness, abrasions, cracks or at least 
sensitiveness of the nipples. These conditions should receive prompt 
attention otherwise ulceration may result, and even abscesses form. 

Agaricus— Much itching and burning of the nipples which look 
very red; especially for women with the above symptoms who are 
subject to chilblains. 

Graphites.— The nipples seem to have little vesicles on them 
which ooze a thick, glutinous fluid, forming acrust, or are painful, 
inflamed, cracked. 

Mercurius Viv. —The nipples feel very raw and sore; the glands 
in the neck are enlarged; the gums sensitive, and the teeth sore. 

Phytolacca. —Sore and fissured nipples, with intense suffering 
on putting the child to the breast; pain seems to start from the 
nipple and radiate over the whole body. 

Also in the very first days of nursing give Arnica if the nipples feel 
sore and bruised. Calcarea Carb .—Ulceration of the nipples, and 


820 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


discharge of pus, especially in fair, fleshy women, who perspire easily. 
Sepia. —Deep, very sore cracks and cracks across the crown of the 
nipples. A dose of the indicated remedy every two hours. 

Prevention is an essential part of treatment, and proper care of 
the nipples during the last months of pregnancy will do much to 
save subsequent discomfort. Pressure of the corsets or clothing 
must be avoided; during the last month or two apply frequently 
alcohol and water equal parts, with ten per cent, of alum added; 
draw out flat nipples daily. 

During nursing wash the child’s mouth with boracic acid solu¬ 
tion; wash the nipples with calendula and water after every nurs¬ 
ing, and dry thoroughly. When there are slight cracks, apply hy- 
drastis powder or a solution of alum or tannin; excoriations may 
be painted with compound tincture of benzoin; deep cracks touched 
with one to five per cent, nitrate of silver, then covered with a film 
of absorbent cotton sealed with collodion. Always wash off any 
preparation before giving the child the breast. A rubber shield may 
be used to protect the nipples. 


Inflammation of the Breast.—Broken Breasts.— 

Mastitis. 

Inflammation of the breasts is commoner in blondes than brunettes, 
and occurs in five to six per cent, of nursing women. ^^Poor health” 
is a predisposing cause, also congestion of the milk glands, and ex¬ 
coriations of the surface allowing infection by bacteria or germs. 
The inflammation may be superficial or involve the deeper structures 
of the breast. In severe cases chill, high temperature, and pain 
are marked symptoms, as well as heat, tenderness, pain, swelling, 
hardness and even suppuration in the affected breast. 

Bryonia. —Breasts heavy, hot, hard and painful, but not very 
red; breasts gorged with milk; stitching, drawing pains; patient 
feels sick on sitting up even in bed; great thirst for large quantities 
of water; lips rough and dry; constipation, with dry, burnt looking 
stools. 

Belladonna. —Heavy, swollen, hot and painful breasts, with 
red streaks running like the spokes of a wheel from a central point; 
tearing pains; fever; waking suddenly or starting up in sleep. 

Phytolacca —Chill; fever; marked hardness and sensitiveness 
of the breast from the beginning; nipples tender; caked breast; 
hard, painful lumps in the breasts; pain during nursing extending 
from the breast throughout the body. 


LABOR AND OTHER AILMENTS. 


821 


Hepar Sulph.— When pus forms; sharp stitching pains; breast 
very sensitive to touch; faintness from pain; free perspiration 
without relief. 

Mercurius Viv.— Breasts swollen, hard and painful; feel sore 
and raw; the milk is poor, and baby refuses to nurse; soreness of 
the teeth, gums and tongue. 

Also Phosphorus in inflammation with night sweats; breasts red 
in spots or streaks, with hard lumps; small openings with watery, 
offensive, ichorous discharge. Silicea. —Ulcers that constantly dis¬ 
charge and refuse to heal; the substance of the breast seems to be 
discharged with the matter formed. A dose of the indicated remedy 
every one to three hours. 

As soon as hardness appears or any sign of swelling or heaviness 
the breast should be supported by a bandage. Too much milk may 
be withdrawn by the breast pump or massage; hardness relieved 
by massaging with olive oil, stroking toward the. nipple. Hot fomen¬ 
tations of flannel wet in phytolacca tincture and hot water, a drachm 
to a pint, or antiphlogistine warm, will relieve inflammation. To 
prevent engorgement of one breast, the child should nurse from 
both. The general health must receive attention. 


Milk Fever. 

Within the first two or three days after labor the secretion of 
milk in the breasts is established, and often with some constitutional 
symptoms such as feverishness, increase in the pulse rate, general 
sense of discomfort, more or less distention of the breasts. This 
condition is known as milk fever, and quickly subsides in normal 
cases with the fre'e flow of the milk. 

Aconite may be given in the beginning for the feverishness, or 
Bryonia when the milk is secreted slowly, and the breasts seem much 
engorged, with a tendency to inflame. As a rule no other remedies 
will be required, but Pulsatilla, Asafoetida, Belladonna, or Calcarea 
Carh., may be called for, the indications for these remedies being 
given under ^‘Scanty or Excessive Secretion of Milk.” 

Scanty or Excessive Secretion of Milk. 

Too little milk may be due to excessive nervousness, grief or fright, or 
to poor nutrition of the mother. Attempts to increase the flow of milk 
should not include the resort to alcoholic stimulants, but should be 
directed to improving the general health by an abundance of simple, 
nourishing food, especially milk, and by good hygiene, plenty of 
sleep, fresh air, etc. 

Too much milk may be due to excessive activity of the digestive 
functions in robust women of great vitality, or may equally occur 


822 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


in ''run down” women. In the latter case the milk is poor, thin, 
and will not nourish the child. Excessive lactation often occurs 
when nursing is prolonged unduly, and when conception takes place 
while a woman is still nursing her baby. Headache, vertigo, insom¬ 
nia, debility, emaciation, etc., result. 

Calcarea Carb. —Poor milk, although profuse in quantity in fair, 
fleshy or flabby women; also scanty milk supply in women of the same 
type, inclined to too frequent and profuse menstruation, and with 
cold, damp extremities. 

Pulsatilla.— Often called for when there is too little milk in mild, 
tearful women apparently in good health, or when the milk is pro¬ 
fuse, thin and watery; feverishness but no thirst; fatty, rich food 
disagrees; the patient craves cool air. 

Belladonna.— Scanty milk supply; breasts large and heavy; 
headache; eyes red; face flushed; no sound sleep, but a half-waking, 
half-sleeping condition. 

Sulphur.— Excessive secretion of milk in poorly nourished, low- 
spirited women, who complain of frequent weak faint spells. 

Also China .—Scanty milk in women who have lost much blood, 
or who are greatly debilitated, with flatulence, indigestion, dizziness, 
and ringing in the ears. Asafoetida .—Excessive sensibility and ner¬ 
vousness; sometimes hysteria; lack of milk, although breasts are 
enlarged, and veins distended. A dose of the indicated remedy 
every three hours. 

As has already been said, the general nutrition must be improved 
when there is a scanty milk supply; a strong decoction of the castor 
oil plant, applied warm to the breasts seems to stimulate the secre¬ 
tion of the milk. Excessive secretion of milk also calls for attention 
to the general health. When the milk is of poor quality the child 
must have a wet nurse or be weaned. A moderately firm bandage 
put on over absorbent cotton, should be applied to the affected breast 
to secure compression and give support. 

Bleeding After Labor.— Post-Partum Hemorrhage. 

While it may be reasonably assumed that the average woman in 
labor will have the attendance of a physician, it is by no means 
uncommon for a woman to give birth to a child without having medi¬ 
cal aid. Serious hemorrhage following labor is fortunately not the 
rule, but the exception, nevertheless when such an emergency arises 
the attendant must be prepared to act promptly and effectively. 

The local treatment recommended is of the greatest importance, 
but should be supplemented by internal medication which will pre¬ 
vent a recurrence of excessive flowing. 


LABOR AND OTHER AILMENTS. 


823 


Ipecac, 3 x— Constant flow of bright red blood; cutting pains 
about the navel; constant nausea and vomiting; the patient feels 
cold; is very pale; gasps for breath; complains of dizziness and 
headache; every effort to vomit causes blood to flow with a gush. 
The leading remedy. 

China.— The uterus does not contract; flow not so bright as that 
calling for ipecac, but very profuse; also paroxysmal discharge 
of clots of dark blood; coldness and blueness of the skin; yawning; 
faintness; dizziness; ringing in the ears. 

Secale.— Hemorrhage of dark blood in debilitated women; slight¬ 
est motion aggravates the flow; strong contractions of the uterus, 
every gush of blood being preceded by a contraction or by bearing 
down pains; patient prostrated, and takes little note of her con¬ 
dition. 

Sabina.— Dark blood, with blackish clots, mixed with watery 
blood; painless loss of blood after miscarriage or normal labor; pain 
in small of back extending round to the lower part of the abdomen; 
uterus does not contract. To be thought of when ipecac is not in¬ 
dicated. 

See also Trillium and Belladonna under Profuse Flow of Blood from 
the Uterus.” A dose of the indicated remedy every ten minutes to 
one hour. 

The bone above the external genitals is called the pubic bone or 
the pubes. Above this will be felt the uterus, and by placing the 
hand on it after labor, muscular contractions should be felt. When 
the uterus is relaxed, however, and bleeding is going on, grasp it 
firmly with the right hand, with a sort of kneading pressure. This 
will aid it to contract and expel blood clots, etc. Dip the hand first 
in cold water if there is time. If there are clots in the vagina, gently 
insert the other hand and remove them. The following directions 
should also be followed: remove pillows from under the patient’s 
head; lift up the foot of the bed two or three inches and rest it in 
chairs; put cloths wrung out in ice water over the abdomen and 
change them frequently; if bleeding persists, push a lump of ice the 
size of a hen’s egg well up in the vagina, or if ice is not at hand, fill 
a bulb syringe with vinegar and inject it into the vagina, or give a 
copious hot douche, two or three quarts with a fountain syringe, 
temperature 115° to 120°, determined by a hath thermometer. Putting 
the child to the breast frequently stimulates contraction of the uterus. 
Perchloride of iron, one ounce to ten ounces of water, may be used 
as a final resource, to be given after the hot water douche. 

Child=Bed Fever .—Puerperal Fever. 

The introduction of septic germs into the wounds of the birth 
canal during or after labor causes a dangerous condition known as 


824 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


puerperal fever. The hands of the physician or nurse, unclean in¬ 
struments or cloths most frequently convey this infection. The 
disease is described at length earlier in the book. The most conspicu¬ 
ous early symptoms are chill, free perspiration, rapid pulse of 100 to 
140; rise of temperature, 102 to 104 degrees; often bad-smelling lo¬ 
chia, as the discharge from the uterus is called, and pain in and tender¬ 
ness of lower abdomen. 

Aconite. —Chill, followed by high fever, with hot, dry skin; quick, 
hard pulse; mouth and tongue dry; great thirst; may be vomiting; 
urine scanty, red and hot; cutting, burning, shooting pains in the 
lower abdomen, which is hot to the touch, and very sensitive to 
slightest pressure. 

Veratrum Vir.— Give early when there is nausea and violent 
vomiting, with empty retching; much congestion of the head; full, 
hard pulse; may be substituted for Aconite. 

Belladonna.— Intense congestion; rush of blood to the face and 
head; painful retching and vomiting; abdomen so sore, sensitive 
and painful the weight of the bedclothes cannot be borne or the slight¬ 
est jar or motion; vaginal discharge suppressed; painful bearing 
down in the pelvis; eyes red; throbbing headache and delirium. 

Bryonia. —Peritonitis, with stitching, cutting pains in abdomen? 
worse from slightest motion; lochia suppressed; great thirst; cut¬ 
ting pains in the stomach, with distention, and sensitiveness to 
pressure. 

Arsenicum— Sudden sinking of strength; cold, clammy per¬ 
spiration; constant thirst and vomiting; diarrhoea; burning pain 
in the abdomen; great anguish and restlessness; rapid prostration. 
A dose every half hour. 

Veratrum Album. —Serious cases, sudden and rapid in their de¬ 
velopment and with threatened collapse and speedy death; violent 
vomiting and diarrhoea; suppressed lochia; icy cold extremities; 
face pale, sunken, cold; cold perspiration. A dose every fifteen 
minutes to one hour. 

Consult the remedies in the section on ^^Inflammation of the 
Uterus.” A dose of the indicated remedy every one or two hours 
unless otherwise specified. The local treatment is outlined on page 
409, but these cases require the service of a competent physician 
whenever obtainable. 

Suppression of the Lochia. 

The lochia are the genital discharges which follow labor, are more 
or less bloody for four or five days, and contain shreds of tissue, then 
become more watery, and finally creamy like an ordinary vaginal 
discharge. The lochia last from two to four weeks in normal cases. 


LABOR AND OTHER AILMENTS. 


825 


From some disturbance of the system the lochia may be suppressed, 
or become offensive, with general symptoms showing that an abnor¬ 
mal condition exists. Prompt treatment is desirable, also when 
the discharge continues so long as to affect the general health. 

Aconite.— Suppression of the lochia, or a too scanty discharge, 
occurring soon after confinement, with distress in the abdomen, 
chest and head; feverishness, with thirst; much uneasiness, anxiety, 
and restlessness; suppression from fright. 

Belladonna. —Offensive lochia which feel hot in passing; flushed 
face; pain in the uterus, and great sensitiveness to touch or any 
jar; drowsiness, but no sound sleep; bad dreams; may be delirium. 

Bryonia. —Suppression of the lochia, with sensation as if the head 
would burst; worse from the slightest motion; thirst for large quan¬ 
tities of water at a time; mouth and lips very dry. 

Nux Vom. —Scanty and offensive lochia in women accustomed 
to highly seasoned food, coffee and wine, with constipation; irrita¬ 
bility of the bladder. 

Pulsatilla. —Scanty or suppressed lochia with failure of milk 
in the breasts; feverishness, but no thirst. 

Also CaZcarea carb. when the lochial discharge is milky, and lasts 
too long in women who ordinarily menstruate profusely. 

Rhus Tox.— Thin, offensive, ichorous, persistent lochia causing 
much exhaustion; shooting pains up the rectum; much restlessness 
at night. Cimicifuga .—Suppression of the lochia from cold or emo¬ 
tion. Colocynth.—Suppression from anger; suppression with violent 
colic. 

A dose of the indicated remedy every three hours. The vagina 
should be cleansed twice or three times a day by hot water douche, 
see section on ^‘Leucorrhea.” 

Milk Leg .—Phlegmasia Alba Dolens. 

Two or more weeks after delivery, there may be pain and swelling 
in one of the lower limbs preceded by a chill. The cause may be an 
extension of the inflammation from around the uterus through the 
lymphatics, or some clot in the pelvic veins. Whatever the cause, 
which is not always discoverable, the limb becomes swollen, tense, 
hard, white, glistening, and the veins distended like hard, irregular 
cords, with frequently a lumpy feel. An abscess or gangrene may 
follow. 

Aconite.— Fever; high temperature; rapid pulse; restlessness; much 
thirst. 

Belladonna.— Cutting pains, or sharp, shooting pains, aggravated 
by the least jar or motion; fever with burning thirst; throbbing 
of the arteries in the neck; eyes bloodshot. 


826 


HOMOEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


Pulsatilla.— Pale swelling in the foot and limb; suppression 
of milk; no thirst; bad taste in the mouth, especially after sleeping; 
the sufferer craves fresh, cool air. 

Hamamelis.— Inflammation of the veins about the uterus, extend¬ 
ing to the veins of the leg. 

Also Arsenicum when there is much pale swelling; burning pains; 
great restlessness, every motion causing a feeling of exhaustion; 
thirst for frequent sips of cold water. A dose of the indicated remedy 
every one or two hours. 

The leg should be kept at rest in a horizontal position, and elevated 
on cushions so as to be slightly higher than the thigh. Hot applica¬ 
tions of hamamelis and water should be made, covered with ab¬ 
sorbent cotton and oiled silk, or apply ichthyol and glycerine, 1 to 
4, twice a day. Not until inflammation has wholly subsided should 
massage be given or a bandage or elastic stocking used. The latter 
is then advisable until all swelling has disappeared. Keep the bowels 
open, and drink plenty of soft water. 

Surgical Diseases. 

Concussion of the Brain. 

Concussion is a sudden interruption of the functions of the brain 
owing to a blow or other mechanical injury. It is more than proba¬ 
ble that in most cases of concussion injury is received by the brain 
tissue. Slight concussion may cause the patient to lose his balance 
and fall, become pallid, confused, and giddy, possibly be nauseated 
and vomit, but after a period of rest he will gradually recover. In 
more severe injury the injured person will fall and lie quietly, the 
heart’s action will be feeble and fluttering, the skin cold and clammy 
and unconsciousness ensue, from which he can be at least partially 
aroused as a rule; urine and feces may be discharged involuntarily, 
sometimes convulsions ensue. Returning consciousness, which usu¬ 
ally takes place within twenty-four hours, is generally accompanied 
by vomiting; but stupor, called coma, or meningitis may occur, 
or eventually abscess of the brain, epilepsy, or insanity. 

Arnica.— This remedy takes the first rank in concussion of the 
brain,‘^as it seems to act directly upon the lacerated brain tissue and 
ruptured blood vessels; there is aching, soreness, vertigo and nausea 
if the patient is conscious; in unconsciousness the feces and urine 
may be passed involuntarily. A dose every hour. 

Opium. —The injured person is in a profound stupor, but can be 
aroused for a moment by being spoken to in a loud tone of voice, 
then relapses into his former condition; extremities and face bluish 
or livid; loud, labored respiration, and coldness of the skin. Give 
as above. 


SPRAINS AND STRAINS. 


827 


Camphor.— When opium fails, and there are signs of collapse; 
cold hands and feet; cold, clammy sweat; trembling tongue, and 
trembling of the hands when raised; retention of the urine; weak 
pulse. A dose every fifteen minutes to one hour. 

Put the patient in bed as soon as possible, without any pillow; 
surround him with hot water bags, taking precautions against pos¬ 
sible burns; apply mustard plasters to the calves of the legs; do 
not give alcoholic stimulants, but if a stimulant is necessary a ten 
drop dose of aromatic spirits of ammonia in water. 

Severe jars of any kind or a hard blow on the head may produce 
very serious injury. At first there is only a general bruised feeling 
and lameness, but often this does not wholly pass away or else returns 
whenever the person is tired, and there may be trembling of the limbs, 
general prostration, and often the eyes look somewhat dull and 
sunken. 

It will prevent much future trouble in these cases if, when no in¬ 
jury to the bones of the spine or any organ is discoverable, Hypericum 
in five or ten drop doses of the tincture is administered at once, twice 
or three times a day. 

When there is any local inflammation or congestion, as may hap¬ 
pen when concussion is from a blow. Arnica may be given. 

Rest, treatment by electricity or massage are helpful in these cases 
when the symptoms show a tendency to become chronic. 

Sprains and Strains. 

In a sprain there is a sudden wrench or twist of the tendons or liga¬ 
ments, with frequently complete or incomplete rupture of some of 
their fibres. A strain may be more or less severe, and affect the mus¬ 
cles in any part of the body. A sprain may be complicated by a 
fracture or dislocation; generally a broken bone can be detected by 
touch, but when there is a fracture in the ankle of the articulating 
surface of one of the ankle bones it cannot be discovered by touch. 
This explains many cases of stiff joints after sprains. 

The pain of a strain is instant and severe, and often attended by 
faintness; then follows swelling, with discoloration later on and 
weakness and stiffness on the part. Often the patient cannot bear 
any weight on the injured limb for several days, or even move it, 
without pain. 

Arnica.— Recent sprains or strains, with a bruised appearance 
and bruised, sore feeling; swelling and puffiness. 

Rhus Tox. —When the tendons are injured; especially when the 
joints feel stiff and paralyzed, either from sprains, over-lifting or 
over-stretching; lameness, stiffness and pain on first moving after 
rest, better on continued motion; trembling in the limbs. 


828 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


Calendula. —In place of Arnica, for patients peculiarly sensitive 
to the latter drug, and in whom it causes skin eruptions. 

Ruta. —Lameness after sprains, especially of the wrists and ankles; 
fluid in the joints due to strains; especially after sprains and strains 
in persons subject to rheumatism. A dose every three hours. 

A dose of the indicated remedy every one or two hours. Immerse the 
injured part in water as hot as can be borne for half an hour, then 
apply gauze or cheese cloth wet in arnica or calendula tincture, 
cover with absorbent cotton and bandage firmly, exerting an even 
pressure. When it is impossible to keep the injured limb at rest, 
splints should be applied, or the joint strapped with straps of adhe¬ 
sive plaster. After swelling and inflammation subside, massage with 
arnica or calendula oil is highly beneficial, and friction and passive 
motion of the parts to prevent stiffening of the joint. WLile inflam¬ 
mation arid swelling continue, the limb should be elevated. Use cold 
salt water baths with friction for a weak back or weak ankles; bandag¬ 
ing the latter may be required for support. 

Fractures and Dislocations. 

After the reduction of a dislocation, and to alleviate pain and 
soreness, compresses wet with arnica or calendula tincture and water, 
one to ten, may be applied. Arnica may be given internally, or 
when fever and restlessness follow the breaking or dislocation of 
bones. Aconite will prove serviceable. 

There are two remedies very helpful when the ends of broken bones 
are slow in uniting, one of these is Calcarea phos. especially suited to 
fair, fleshy persons of a lymphatic temperament, and to those of a 
scrofulous tendency; there is no formation of new bone cells or tissue 
about the ends of the bones. Symphytum is another excellent remedy, 
especially in fracture of the knee pan or of the thigh bone, or where 
some disturbance of nerve nutrition or of the nervous system is the 
apparent cause of lack of union. 

Although the subject of fractures and dislocations is ably discussed 
elsewhere, emphasis is again laid on the important point that a person 
with a broken arm or leg should not be moved without some support 
being given to the injured member. If there is no board or similar 
substitute to which the broken limb can be fastened, bind a leg to its 
fellow, or place an arm in a sling. A fracture where the soft parts and 
large blood vessels are uninjured, may often be made a complicated 
one by carelessness in moving the patient. 

Wounds. 

A CLEAN-CUT wound is termed incised; one made by some pointed 
instrument, punctured; one with ragged edges, lacerated; one caused 


WOUNDS. 


829 


by bruising the parts as with* a blunt instrument, with little or no 
abrasion of the surface, contused. 

Aconite. —High fever; full, rapid pulse; restlessness and anxiety 
following injuries, and accompanied by inflammation of the parts. 
It takes the place of the old method of bleedingand is far superior 
to it in relieving congestion. 

Calendula.— Torn, ragged wounds, or when a portion of the flesn 
has been torn away; to prevent suppuration, and hasten healing. 

Arnica.— Bruises; black and blue spots; contused wounds, with 
effusion of blood to the surface; bruised sore feeling; injuries where 
clots form; congested or black eyes, etc. 

Hypericum.— Punctmed or crushed wounds; gunshot wounds; 
crushed finger or lacerated wounds of the fingers or toes; severe, 
constant pain indicating injury to the nerves; also a preventive of 
lockjaw in wounds of the sole of the foot or palm of the hand as from a 
nail. 

A dose of the indicated remedy every one to three hours. A slight 
cut chould be washed in cold water, and a small piece of calendulated 
court plaster applied when the bleeding ceases. If bleeding continues, 
use styptic cotton. 

Deeper cuts should be washed clean with gauze or soft cotton cloth 
freely wet with some antiseptic such as listerine and water, one part 
of the former to four or five of the latter, or bichloride of mercury 
1 to 2,000, and narrow strips of adhesive plaster applied to hold the 
lips of the wound together; cover with a pad of styptic or absorbent 
cotton, and bandage firmly. In changing a dressing, soften the old 
one with an antiseptic wash; remove gently, and make an entirely 
fresh application. 

In case of a wound made by a rusty nail, encourage bleeding by 
placing the injured part in warm water; dress with a pad of lint or 
gauze wet with ten or fifteen drops calendula or hypericum tincture 
to an ounce of water, and bandage. 

Bleeding from Wounds,— Hemorrhage, 

Bleeding from wounds requires prompt local treatment. Arnica 
or Calendula may be given internally, but no remedy given in this way 
lessens the necessity for immediate attention to the wound itself. 
After there has been excessive hemorrhage China is recommended 
as an admirable remedy for the debility, faintness, dizziness and nausea 
caused by the loss of blood. 

Bleeding from a vein can be checked by a stream of cold or very 
hot water; by ice, pressure, and elevating the part. Blood from a 
vein is dark, and flows steadily; hlood from an artery is bright red, and 


830 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES 


s'purts out in jets. In the latter case, lose no time. If a limb is in¬ 
jured, grasp it firmly above the wound, i.e., on the side nearest the 
heart; apply at this point a knotted handkerchief, or a strong strip 
of cloth, bringing the knot over the artery. To tighten this impro¬ 
vised tourniquet, insert a stick in the knot and twist it about, once 
or twice. Summon surgical aid. Water at 120° F. is of great value 
on bleeding surfaces. Powdered alum or tannin will also arrest bleed¬ 
ing. 


Contusions.— Bruises. 

Bruises may often prove very painful, and a blow on a portion of 
the body but slightly protected by soft tissues, such as the skin, may 
injure the bone itself, and set up an inflammation in the tissues cover¬ 
ing it. Cold applications may be made to an ordinary contusion, 
and if possible before any discoloration takes place. To ice cold 
water add one-tenth the amount of tincture of arnica or calendula, 
or use as a lotion a solution of chloride of ammonium, five grains, 
to one ounce of alcohol. Extract of witch hazel, as hamamelis is 
popularly called, is soothing and healing. Do not make ice cold 
applications to very severe contusions as there is danger of deaden¬ 
ing the skin; hot applications are better, and the lotion mentioned 
above. Do not allow wet compresses to become dry. 

A blow on the breast does not cause cancer as many persons sup¬ 
pose, but it does render the tissues susceptible to degenerative changes 
so that abscesses or tumors may develop. Compresses wet with 
tincture of conium and water, the same strength as arnica lotion, 
should be applied. This is a valuable remedy taken internally in 
swelling, soreness and pain in the breasts, and when hard lumps 
form. 

A kick or blow on the shin should be promptly treated, and when 
the bone feels sore, Ruta should be taken internally, and applied 
externally also. 


Injury to a Nerve. 

There are several injuries a nerve may sustain that will call for 
special treatment. A nerve may be divided by wounds; lacerated 
in fractures; compressed by dislocations, tumors, new growths of 
bone tissue where the ends of a broken bone are uniting, or by faulty 
postures. It is of great importance to find out the cause of inflam¬ 
mation of a nerve, because unless that is removed no remedy can 
be expected to cure the condition. 

Arnica.— In simple injury, especially at an early stage, and when 
in the nature of a bruise or compression. A dose every two hours. 


SHOCK. 


831 


Hypericum. —In chronic cases or cases due to lacerated wounds, 
with intolerable excruciating pain showing that the nerves are severely 
injured, or after punctured or crushed wounds, or in acute pain after 
surgical operations, especially amputations, when no easing of the 
dressings seems to give any relief. 

Arnica, hypericum or calendula tincture may be applied as a lotion 
externally, twenty drops to half a cupful of water, in connection with 
the use of the same remedy internally. Calendula externally should 
be substituted for arnica in torn, ragged wounds. 

Shock. 

After bad accidents, falls, wounds, fright, or following surgical 
operations, shock to the nervous system is a common and dangerous 
condition. The symptoms are those given in the indications for 
the following remedies. Those for Aconite will be found under “ Burns 
and Scalds.” 

Veratrum Album.— Face cold and sunken; cold sweat on the face, 
and all over the body; pulse rapid or slow; feeble, irregular, inter¬ 
mittent, hardly to be felt. 

Car bo Veg.— Face blue, body cold, especially below the knees 
to the feet; cold sweat on the limbs; pulse intermittent and thready. 

Camphor.— Sudden and rapid prostration, with tendency to 
collapse from shock; icy coldness of the body; very weak pulse. 

If there is bleeding from a wound it should be arrested, as directed 
under Wounds.” The patient should be covered with blankets; 
the head kept low; hot water bottles or hot bricks placed near the 
body, care being taken to avoid burns; a small quantity of whiskey 
or brandy given by mouth if the patient can swallow, or hot black 
coffee, or twenty drops of aromatic spirits of ammonia, or strychnia 
1-50 grain. Subcutaneous injections are absorbed more rapidly. 

Bites and Stings of Insects. 

The best remedy to use both internally and externally is ledum, 
especially for mosquito bites, a drop of the tincture in a teaspoonful 
of water every half hour internally; one part tincture to ten parts 
water externally. If there is much puffiness and swelling, with 
persistent itching, try Apis. ^ . 

Remove the sting if possible. This may generally be accomplished 
by pressure with a key, the hollow barrel of which should be placed 
over the sting. Apply lint or absorbent cotton soaked in ledum or 
ammonia. If nothing else is at hand, cover the bite with a piece 
of raw onion, or wet fresh clay or earth. Oil of pennyroyal or spirits 
of camphor rubbed on the face and hands will often drive away mos¬ 
quitos. 


832 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


Wry Neck.— Torticollis. 

From exposure to draughts or damp weather, the muscles of one 
side of the neck may contract rheumatism, and become hard, rigid, 
very painful on motion, and sensitive to touch; the head may be 
drawn to one side. This condition is rheumatic torticollis, and 
there are other forms, one existing at birth when there is shorten¬ 
ing of the muscles on that side of the neck, and others due to diseases 
of the nervous system, injury to the parts, etc. The treatment 
suggested is chiefly for rheumatic torticollis. 

Aconite.— From a draught or chill; tearing pains in the nape of 
neck, extending to shoulder, worse on motion; especially for recent 
cases. 

Bryonia.— Painful, stiff neck, worse from touch or motion, in 
rheumatic subjects or in damp weather. 

Cimicifuga.— Fixed, voluntary position of the head; rheumatic 
pain and stiffness in muscles of neck and back; sensitiveness of spine. 

Dulcamara.— From damp, cold, and wet; pain in the nape of 
the neck, as after lying with the head in an uncomfortable position. 

A dose of any of the above mentioned remedies every one or two 
hours. Also Gelsemium in wry neck, with muscular pains from the 
spine to the head and shoulders; bruised sensation; congestion of 
the spine; prostration and languor. Strychnia Phos .—Nervous 
cases, with much debility, impoverished blood, and digestive disturb¬ 
ances. A dose three times a day. 

In rheumatic torticollis, wear a flannel about the neck; running a 
hot iron over several layers of flannel is beneficial, or friction using 
a lotion made of equal parts of capsicum and glycerine. 

Goitre.— Bronchocele. 

Goitre is an enlargement of the thyroid gland in the neck not de¬ 
pendent upon inflammation of malignant formations. The tumor 
that formas may be on one or both sides, is not painful or tender, 
and varies in size under different bodily conditions. The disease 
occurs more often in women than in men, and in localities where the 
water is impregnated with lime salts. Breathing and swallowing 
may be interfered with in some cases. 

Iodine.— Recent and soft goitres especially. This is the leading 
remedy, and the affected part may be painted with the tincture. 

Spongia.— Thyroid gland swollen and hard with suffocative 
attacks at night. 

Also in goitre in syphilitic persons Mercurius lod. or Kali lod. will 
be found useful. A dose of the indicated remedy two or three times 


HERNIA OR RUPTURE. 


833 


a day, and its use persisted in for months. Galvanism has benefited 
many cases in young persons. Boiled or soft water should be drunk. 
Surgical interference may be called for, or injections of iodine, or 
the introduction of the electric needle. 

Hernia or Rupture. 

The different forms of hernia are described at length earlier in the 
book, with the treatment commonly resorted to by skillful practi¬ 
tioners of all schools. Medicines are of secondary importance in 
these cases, and local treatment should never be neglected. There 
is always the danger that a simple protrusion of the bowel may become 
irreducible, and strangulation and even gangrene take place. 
Internal remedies are helpful in infantile hernia, and in cases where 
there is constriction due to inflammation or spasmodic contraction 
of the muscles. 

Aconite.— Strangulated hernia; inflammation, with burning pain 
in the affected part; vomiting of bile; great anxiety and cold sweat. 

Belladonna.— Intense local inflammation, the tumor being ex¬ 
ceedingly sensitive to the touch. 

Nux Vom— Feeling of weakness in the abdomen on rising in the 
morning; constipation; strangulation, with vomiting or nausea, or 
both; indications of approaching gangrene with green or yellowish- 
green spots on the tumor. 

Also Plumbum when Belladonna and Nux have failed to relieve 
the above symptoms, and there is intense pain. 

It may be emphasized that attempts at reduction of a hernia should 
always be gentle, not continued more than fifteen minutes, and never 
made if gangrene is suspected; also that the part of the intestine 
that came out last is to be reduced first. A well fitting truss should 
always be applied to even a rupture that gives no discomfort. Men 
who are stout, or whose work is very laborious, and who have any 
weakness of the abdominal walls, should wear an elastic abdominal 
band or belt. 

Inflammation of the Joints .—Synovitis and Arthritis. 

Inflammation may attack only the lining membrane of the joint 
cavity, the synovial membrane, or it may affect the bone, these parts 
having the most blood vessels which, in inflammation, become highly * 
congested. A strain, a wound, or exposure to cold may be the excit¬ 
ing cause of inflammation, while gout, rheumatism, syphilis or tuber¬ 
culosis frequently precede joint disease. 

In simple acute cases there is redness, heat, pain on motion of the 
affected joint, a hard swelling which later on becomes filled with 


834 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


synovial fluid; the latter contains material that may form bands 
of fibrous matter which will make the joint stiff. An acute attack 
may pass into the chronic form, especially in gouty or rheumatic 
persons. 

In infective cases, as in rheumatic and gouty arthritis, the con¬ 
dition is more serious, for suppuration may take place, intense pain 
and tenderness, adhesions and deposits form, and even after acute 
symptoms subside, the joints remain swollen, enlarged and mis¬ 
shapen. 

Arnica. —To be given at once after any injury to a joint, and a 
weak lotion of the tincture to be applied externally. 

Aconite. —Acute cases, with moderate swelling, much redness 
and heat, pricking pain, high fever, with great restlessness. 

Belladonna.— Joints bright red and swollen; cutting, drawing 
pain, skin very hot to the touch; great sensitiveness to touch or 
pressure, but can bear firm pressure better than light touch; high 
fever. 

Bryonia.— Joints pale red, swollen, stiff, with stitching pains on 
the slightest motion; effusion of fluid; follows well after the pre¬ 
ceding remedies. Apis may be given instead of Bryonia in scrofulous 
persons, with sharp, stinging pains, effusion, and much pale swelling 
of the joints. 

Pulsatilla.— Erratic, shifting, tearing pains in the joints, and 
nearby parts, relieved by pressure, and generally better from cold. 

Also Iodine or Calcarea Carb .—In cases of scrofulous makeup, 
tending to become chronic. Sulphur following the remedies given 
above to hasten absorption of the fluid in the joints. 

Rest in bed is necessary, and keeping the affected joint quiet. 
Apply a flannel bandage, exerting moderately firm pressure. If 
there is a great deal of effusion, the fluid may have to be drawn off 
by an aspirator needle, and carbolic acid or boracic acid solution 
injected. Painting the joint with iodine or ichthyol will be bene¬ 
ficial. 

White Swelling .—Tubercular Arthritis. 

Infection of the joints by the tubercle bacillus may take place at 
any age, but is most common in young people. There is dull pain, 
worse by motion or jarring; tenderness on pressure; more or less 
swelling, and exudation of fluid; the joint grows rigid, the muscles 
above and below waste away, the skin becomes white and shining. 

Calcarea Phos.— ^This is a valuable remedy in these cases, with 
crawling, tingling pains; progressive emaciation, weakness, and 
debility; symptoms better from rest and lying down; the swelling 
is white and waxy, and has a boggy or putty-like feel. 


BURNS AND SCALDS. 


835 


5ilicea.— White swelling, with suppuration, and openings into 
the joint discharging pus or thin, offensive matter. 

Also Sul'phurm long lasting cases, which make no progress; stick¬ 
ing, drawing pains in the joints; cramp-like pains in the legs. Mer- 
curius .—Especially in cases where there is a syphilitic taint, with 
tendency to complete destruction of the joint; aching, stabbing 
pains, worse at night and from warmth; free perspiration which 
does not relieve the pain. A dose of the indicated remedy three 
times a day, and its use persisted in. 

The constitutional treatment is of the greatest importance in these 
cases. The system must be built up by an abundance of simple, 
nourishing food, cod liver oil, the malt extracts and hypophosphites; 
life out of doors must be sought; good ventilation indoors; bodily 
cleanliness, and warmth. The local treatment required is fre¬ 
quently surgical. 

Burns and Scalds. 

Aconite.— A valuable remedy immediately after bad or exten¬ 
sive burns, when there is intense restlessness, anxiety and fear of 
dying from the injury; the pulse being hard and frequent. 

Cantharis.— Superficial burns, and when there is superficial 
ulceration; burns with great redness of the skin as in erysipelas; 
spasms in children after being burnt. 

Urtica Urens.— Superficial burns, with intense burning, biting and 
crawling sensations. 

Rhus Tox.— Deeper burns and scalds, causing many blisters, with 
tendency to mat ter ate. 

A dose of the indicated remedy every half hour to one or two hours. 
Superficial burns or scalds, in which the effect of the heat has extended 
only to the superficial layer of the skin, may be treated by the appli¬ 
cation of soft cotton cloth or absorbent cotton saturated with a solu¬ 
tion of bicarbonate of soda, one drachm to one ounce of water, or 
with tincture of urtica urens one part to twenty parts water. A 
thick paste made of bicarbonate of soda and olive oil is an excellent 
application. Blisters may be evacuated by using a needle, which 
should first be cleansed in boiling water or the flame of a lamp, then 
allowed to cool. When pus forms, cleanse the surface with peroxide 
of hydrogen; iodoform or boracic acid may afterwards be used as a 
dressing. Calendula water and calendula oil are among the best 
healing applications. Consult the section on Shock” for furthe^r 
remedies and treatment for the general condition. 

Caries.—Necrosis .—Death of Bone. 

In caries the bone dies cell by cell; in necrosis the bone dies as a 
whole, that is a considerable portion of its structure softens, swells, 


836 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


and mortifies. In ulceration or death of the bone an abscess forms 
and opens on the surface, discharging pus or other offensive matter. 
The treatment is chiefly surgical, but remedies are of great service in 
improving the constitutional condition. 

Silicea.— Sticking, burning pains; then offensive ichorous dis¬ 
charge; much proud flesh; abscess openings which do not heal; 
discharge of particles of dead bone; hard lumps following suppura¬ 
tion. 

Arnica.— Bruised, sore pain in the bones, skin red, hot, and 
swollen, tender and sore on pressure; better from warmth; disease 
of the bone following a fall or blow; should be given early. 

Also Aurum with inflammation and ulceration of the bones; horri¬ 
bly offensive discharge; syphilitic cases. Calcarea Phos. —Ulcera¬ 
tion of bones in fair, flabby persons of a scrofulous constitution. 

Mercurius Viv.— Constant aching in the bones, sweating and 
exhaustion; swelling of the bones; abscess in the joints. 

A dose of the indicated remedy three times a day. Surgical advice 
must be sought in these cases. Rest, drainage and the removal of 
diseased tissue are essential. 

Bed Sores. 

Bed sores are due to pressure, especially on a bony portion of the 
body, generally from lying much in one position. The skin grows 
red, and if pressure is not relieved there will be increasing congestion 
and eventually ulceration. The principal remedy to be taken in¬ 
ternally is Arsenicum. The symptoms of bad cases may be found 
under Gangrene” for both Arsenicum and Lachesis. 

Preventive measures are highly important. In order to prevent 
bed sores, tuck the bottom sheet in tightly on all sides; keep it smooth 
and free from wrinkles and crumbs. Bathe the parts night and 
morning, where pressure comes, with equal parts of alcohol and water; 
dry the skin thoroughly, dust on a little powdered starch. If the 
surface shows much redness, or signs of breaking down, use boric 
' acid or calendula in powdered form, instead of starch. 

Remove pressure by frequently changing the patient’s position; 
by rubber rings, and other air cushions and pillows. Never permit 
a patient to lie on a feather bed if it can by any means be avoided. 
Cleanse a bad bed sore with peroxide of hydrogen or use as a wash 
fluid extract of calendula, a teaspoonful to half a pint of water pre¬ 
viously boiled. Sterilized gauze may be used as a dressing. 

QangrenQ.—Mortiiicntion. 

Gangrene or death of the soft tissues, may be moist or dry, the 
latter being due to arterial disease where the supply of blood to the 


BUNIONS. 


837 


part is cut off, the skin shrivels, becomes pale, white, semi-trans- 
lucent, with specks of a bluish mottled hue, then grows opaque, dark, 
and mummified. Dry gangrene is most often seen in the aged, or in 
thin, scrawny, emaciated persons, or those having syphilis or scrofula. 

With moist gangrene there is always more or less decomposition; 
the part is engorged with blood from some obstruction to circula¬ 
tion; the skin is dark and livid, the tissues soften and break down. 
This condition may occur in diseases of the heart or kidneys, during 
fevers, after injuries or surgical operations, long continued intemper¬ 
ance, privation, etc., also from pressure as in bed sores, extreme 
cold. The whole system is affected in cases of gangrene, as will be 
seen from the symptoms mentioned in connection with the remedies. 

Arsenicum.— When the invasion of the disease is sudden, and 
particularly in dry gangrene in old persons; much burning pain, 
felt even during sleep, with great and increasing prostration; also 
in extreme cases with impending collapse, diarrhoea and sweating; 
anxiety; much thirst, but drinks little; pulse small and thready. 

Lachesis.— Great putridity of the diseased part; bloody, putrid, 
thin discharge; patient’s system saturated, as it were, with the poison; 
pulse irregular and weak; skin cold; temperature may fall below 
normal (which is 98.5°); torpor or delirium; gangr'enous part black, 
foul, blistered. 

Secale Cor.— Painless, dry, chronic gangrene; gangrenous part 
cold, bluish, and may be blistered; numbness of the limbs; debility 
and restlessness; particularly useful in tall, scrawny women, without 
muscular development or who are feeble and bloodless. 

A dose of the indicated remedy every three hours. The patient 
should stay in bed and receive all the concentrated nourishment he 
can digest, broths, milk, egg nogg, meat juice, coffee and egg, raw eggs, 
soft boiled or poached eggs, scraped beef, etc. The affected part should 
be kept at an even temperature; powdered willow charcoal may be 
used in superficial cases. The services of a good surgeon should be 
secured. As a wash, use peroxide of hydrogen, or bichloride of mercury 
1 to 5,000. In severe cases moist corrosive sublimate gauze or moist 
iodoform gauze may be used as a dressing; dressings should never 
be too moist, or allowed to remain many hours without being changed. 

Bunions. 

A BUNION often becomes not only large, but also sensitive and 
painful. Well fitting, easy shoes and stockings not too small are 
necessary. Surgical interference may be necessary. Compresses 
wet with calendula may be applied at night, covered with absorbent 
cotton or oiled silk, and held in place by a light bandage. 


838 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


Antimonium Crud— Skin hard, horny, smooth, and slightly discol¬ 
ored; pricking sensations in the part, or no feeling at all; often callous 
spots on the soles of the feet, sensitive on walking; the nails split 
or grow out of shape. 

Apis. —Inflamed bunions, which seem to fluctuate under the 
fingers; biting, stinging sensations; the skin thin and reddened. 

Arsenicum. —Dark color, generally bluish, with much fluid in the 
part, and intense burning; better from warm applications. 

Silicea.— ^Hard, bony enlargement; sticking pains or much itching; 
feet smell bad; ingrowing toe nails; may be offensive foot sweat. 

Sulphur.— Feet burn but are cold to the touch; patient wants 
to keep them uncovered; hard or soft inflamed bunions, with crawl¬ 
ing sensations; aching, sticking pains in the toes. 

Diseases of the General System and Miscel- 
laneous Diseases, 

Asiatic Cholera .—Epidemic Cholera. 

This germ disease is well described on page 362. The symptoms 
to be especially emphasized as characteristic are vomiting alternat¬ 
ing with painless diarrhoea, the stools becoming like rice water, and 
very frequent and sudden; excruciating cramps in the calves of the 
legs and abdomen with knotting of the muscles; the face grows old 
as if by magic, pinched, blue, and sunken; the tongue cold and bluish; 
the eyes glassy; pulse thready and weak; voice hoarse; skin of a 
clammy coldness; then comes a partial or complete cessation of 
vomiting, an entire collapse of the vital forces, and death. Recovery, 
however, may and often does take place, and under no treatment 
more frequently than the intelligent and prompt use of homoeopathic 
remedies. 

Camphor.— Early in the attack; immediate prostration; body 
cold; voice husky; face pinched and blue; skin shriveled; anguish 
and distress at the pit of the stomach, and burning in the bowels; 
watery diarrhoea, sometimes slight; may be some vomiting. Two 
or three drops in sugar every five or ten minutes, at the same time 
rubbing camphor on the neck, chest and abdomen until reaction takes 
place. 

Veratrum^Alb. —Cases marked by excessive vomiting and purg¬ 
ing, with violent abdominal pains; eyes sunken, with blue rings around 
them; cold sweat on the forehead, very profuse, flaky, frequent, rice- 
water evacuations; violent colic, especially about the navel. Five 
drops of the tincture every fifteen minutes, increasing the intervals 
as patient improves. 


TYPHOID FEVER. 


839 


Arsenicum. —Sudden and great prostration; anguish; violent 
thirst, with vomiting of least quantity of liquid; difficult breathing; 
burning in stomach; pulse small and vanishing; burning distress 
in the region of the stomach; collapse. Give as above. 

Cuprum.— Coldness and blueness of the skin; cramps of the 
muscles of the legs and thighs; unconsciousness; gurgling in throat, 
stomach and bowels; cessation of diarrhoea. Give as above. 

Also when the patient is extremely ill, and fails to respond to the 
above remedies give Carho Veg. if the body is cold; skin bluish; breath 
cool; cold sweat on limbs; thready pulse frequently losing a beat. 
Hydrocyanic Acid 3x, with practically no pulse; respiration slow, 
deep and gasping, taking place at long intervals. A dose every 
five or ten minutes. 

The patient must be placed in a warm bod, and surrounded by hot 
water bottles, or hot bricks, flat irons or even stove lids wrapped in 
flannel. Rub the body and especially the extremities with hot 
flannel, rubbing toward the heart; give hot milk by rectal injec¬ 
tions, but nothing by mouth except ice, champagne or lemonade; 
have the room warm but well ventilated. 

During convalescence the return to a solid diet must be very gradual; 
begin with milk, thin gruels, and strained broths; no solid food until 
the stools are no longer liquid, and begin to look natural. 

Disinfect all the stools or vomited matter with carbolic acid solu¬ 
tion one to twenty; boil all soiled clothing, if it is not first soaked 
in a disinfectant; keep the patient’s dishes, etc., separate. The atten¬ 
dant should disinfect his hands frequently, and two or three times 
a day take drop doses of Camphor. 

The prevention of cholera includes the use of boiled drinking water; 
avoidance of uncooked fruits or vegetables; absolute cleanliness 
of person, house, yards and streets; good drainage; clean and cov¬ 
ered cesspools; regular habits; the avoidance of all stimulants, over¬ 
work, worry, or exposure in chilly, damp weather, or to night air or 
crowds. 

Typhoid Fever. 

Although typhoid fever occurs in all countries and in all climates, 
it is more common in.the temperate zones, and in the summer and 
autumn, being frequently called Autumnal fever.” It is contracted 
by taking into the system the typhoid bacillus or germ; this has a 
great vitality, and lives for months in the ground, in water or in a 
cake of ice, and multiples rapidly in milk. More men are affected 
than women, and in the young the disease usually runs a shorter 
course. 

In the beginning there is slight headache, chilliness, languor, thirst, 
loss of appetite, constipation, and often nosebleed, sometimes diar¬ 
rhoea. A few days later fever develops, and pulse and temperature 


840 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


increase a little every day; the skin is hot and dry; thirst and ill- 
feelings increase, and the abdomen becomes more or less disturbed 
and is sensitive to pressure. Successive crops of rose-colored spots, 
like flea-bites, appear on the abdomen, beginning about the eighth 
day; inflammation of patches in the bowels leads to ulceration, and 
may cause death of the tissues, perforation of the intestines, peri¬ 
tonitis, hemorrhage and death, or death may result from pneumonia. 
In bad cases there is loud muttering delirium, with picking at the bed 
clothes; the teeth and gums are covered with a brown, sticky deposit 
called sordes. 

Bryonia.— Early in the disease debility, languor, loss of appetite; 
tongue coated white; wandering pains in the limbs; dry, burning 
heat; also later in the disease when there is great thirst; dryness 
of the mouth; distended abdomen sensitive to pressure; dark colored 
urine; shooting pains in the chest, with cough; hurried, labored 
respiration; apathy; drowsiness; picking of the bed clothes. 

Baptisia.— Dry mouth; coated tongue which shows impress of 
teeth; loss of appetite; nausea; flatulence in and tenderness of 
abdomen; dusky red face, and delirium following above symptoms; 
yellow, offensive stools; cordes on lips and tongue. 

Rhus Tox.— May follow Bryonia or Baptisia. Mind dull and 
clouded; muttering or active delirium; tongue brown and dry, with a 
red tip; lips, teeth and gums covered by a brownish deposit; much pros¬ 
tration; pulse weak and slow; muscular soreness and stiffness of 
the extremities; abdomen bloated; copious, yellow, involuntary, 
evacuations. This remedy is most often indicated as the symptoms 
given show in the second and third weeks. 

Terebinth, 1 x.— Bleeding of the intestines, with tenderness of the 
abdomen; great distention and accumulation of gas; red, glossy 
tongue; mouth dry; great prostration and emaciation; offensive 
stools; bloody urine; may be bed sores. Drop doses every fifteen 
minutes. 

Hyoscyamus.— Marked nervous symptoms; great nervousness; 
low, muttering delirium; sleeplessness; involuntary discharges from 
the bowels; picking at the bed clothes; gritting of the teeth; jerk- 
ings, trembling; rose spots on the chest and abdomen; cold extremi¬ 
ties. 

Also Belladonna, with great congestion of the head, red face, pupils 
of the eyes dilated, active delirium. Hyoscyamus may relieve this 
delirium if Belladonna does not. Muriatic Add. —Extreme prostra¬ 
tion; patient stupid and unconscious, sliding down in bed; low, 
muttering delirium; involuntary discharges from the bowels, and 
bladder; picking at the bed clothes. Hamamelis, 1 x.—Dark, pitch- 


TYPHUS FEVER. 


841 


like blood from the bowels; bruised, sore feeling in the lower part 
of the abdomen. Ten drops every half hour. Unless otherwise 
specified give the indicated remedy every one to two hours; put 
twenty drops in half a glass of water; teaspoonful doses. 

Good nursing is of the utmost importance in typhoid; the patient 
must be put to bed, and not allowed to get up on any pretense; keep 
some disinfectant in the bed pan, and disinfect the urine and stools 
with chloride of lime, six ounces to one gallon of water; protect the 
mattress with a rubber sheet; change the bed linen often, disinfect 
it and boil for half an hour; bathe the patient after each movement 
of the bowels with bichloride of mercury 1 to 2,000; cool sponge 
baths may be given every three hours, and should last twenty minutes, 
during which the skin should be exposed to the air; gas in the bowels 
may be relieved by passing a long rectal tube into the lower bowel. 

While fresh, unskimmed milk is the best food (six ounces every 
two hours) with a teaspoonful of lime water if the stomach seems 
acid, peptonized milk, buttermilk, koumyss, matzoon, or white of 
an egg with water may be used as substitutes; strained mutton broth 
may be given, or meat juice if milk is not well borne; give plenty of 
pure water; rectal injections of nourishment if food is not retained 
by the stomach; during convalescence give broths; scraped beef; 
milk toast; blanc mange; wine jelly; soft egg; the soft part of 
oysters; steak to chew; baked potatoes, exercising with great dis¬ 
cretion; no solid food of any kind if temperature goes over 100°. 
Brandy or sherry may be given for weak, irregular pulse, and delirium 
with much prostration; strychnine for heart failure, 1-50 to 1-100 
of a grain. Persistant constipation may be relieved by soap and 
water injections. 

Typhus Fever.—Putrid Fever .—Ship Fever. 

Typhus fever is a highly contagious disease, due to a specific poison 
and developing especially where hygienic conditions are bad, as in 
overcrowded camps, prisons, hospitals, tenement houses or locali¬ 
ties. It resembles typhoid fever but differs from it in many symp¬ 
toms, typhus having a sudden onset; delirium from the first; high 
temperature on the second or third day (104° to 107°), which continues 
high; small, slightly elevated eruption called ^‘mulberry rash,^’ 
which persists; slight emaciation, and a duration of about two weeks, 
typhoid lasting from three^ to six weeks. The symptoms generally 
appear in the order given; severe chill or chills; vertigo; bad head¬ 
ache; muscular pains; loss of appetite; pain in the back; profound 
prostration; fever, with rapidly rising temperature as given above, 
which continues without remission during the first week. The measly- 
like eruption giving the skin a mottled look, appears by the fourth or 
fifth day; the pulse becomes rapid and feeble, and in the second 
week may reach 140 beats a minute; respiration is rapid; delirium 


842 


HOMOEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


occurs, or stupor, the patient conscious but appearing unconscious; 
the teeth and tongue are covered with the same deposit as in typhoid 
fever, and there is muttering, and picking at the bed clothes. Death 
may occur from exhaustion, and from complications. Convales¬ 
cence is generally slow. 

Baptisia.— Face flushed, dark red;* mouth and tongue dry; putrid 
breath; sensitiveness on right side of abdomen; constipation; sweat 
on forehead and face; great prostration, livid eruption, stupor; this 
is the chief remedy, especially during the first week. 

Belladonna.— During the second week if headache is intense, 
and there is much nervous excitement with delirium, throbbing of 
the arteries in the neck, and jerking and sudden starting up, give 
Belladonna or Stramonium if the delirium is so violent as to threaten 
to exhaust the patient’s strength. 

Phosphoric Acid.— During the second week when patient lies in 
a stupor or stupid sleep; when aroused is fully conscious, but shows 
stupor, indifference, a don’t care condition”; no excessive pros¬ 
tration; maybe copious, frequent diarrhoea, preceded by rumbling 
in the bowels. 

Arsenicum.— Great prostration; thirst; burning sensations; sordes 
on teeth and tongue; watery, yellowish diarrhoea, or stools contain¬ 
ing blood, slime or pus; high fever; sometimes inability to pass 
urine. 

Under ^‘Typhoid Fever” read the indications iov Rhus Tox, Muri¬ 
atic Acid and Hyoscyamus. A dose of the indicated remedy every one 
or two hours. Opium may be thought of when the patient lies in a 
state of torpor from which he cannot be aroused, with heavy labored 
breathing; face flushed a dark red; full, slow pulse. 

Follow the general treatment outlined under ^‘Typhoid Fever.” 
Fresh air is very essential; keep the windows wide open, and pro¬ 
tect the patient with blankets. Every noise should be hushed. 
Use baths to reduce the temperature; give nourishment regularly 
and persistently in small quantities, and treat heart failure as under 
^‘Typhoid Fever.” The patient must be strictly quarantined, and 
disinfectants used freely. 

Yellow Fever. 

This disease is well described on page 524. Its chief character¬ 
istic symptoms are chill, fever of from 103° to 105°; headache; severe 
backache; flushed face; eyes suffused; vomiting; albumen in the 
urine; then after two or three days a temporary subsidence of the 
symptoms for twenty-four hours, followed by signs of collapse; skin 
cold and yellow; weak pulse; black vomit”; black stools: bleeding 
from nose, or stomach or bowels; dry, brown tongue. 


ACUTE INFI^AMMATION OF THE PERITONEUM. 843 

Camphor.— Drop doses of the tincture every ten minutes when 
the onset is marked by severe chills, and signs of collapse. 

Aconite.— After reaction from chill; fever; burning heat; dry 
skin; full, hard, and rapid pulse; violent thirst; red face; headache; 
restlessness; prostration, and vomiting. 

Belladonna.— Headache; face bright red, shining and swollen; 
throbbing of arteries in the neck; pain in the stomach, with nausea 
and vomiting; violent delirium. 

Bryonia. —When disturbances of the nervous system subside, 
and the stomach symptoms become prominent; splitting headache; 
eyes red and sparkling; tongue coated yellow; lips parched, dry, and 
cracked; great irritability and vomiting. 

Also Arsenicum. —Small, tremulous pulse; skin cold; cold, clammy 
perspiration; rapid prostration, and vomiting of brownish matter 
mixed with mucus. Veratrum Alb .—Acute pains in the stomach 
and abdomen; violent vomiting; skin cold; cold perspiration; small, 
weak pulse; collapse. A dose every fifteen minutes to half an hour 
in serious conditions calling for either Arsenicum or Veratrum. A 
dose of Aconite, Belladonna, or Bryonia may be given every one or 
two hours. 

The patient must remain in bed, and use a bed pan containing 
disinfectant, see ^‘Typhoid Fever.” Liquid diet; rectal injections 
of nourishment if the stomach will not retain food; iced champagne 
or stimulants if there is danger of heart failure. Evacuations, cloth¬ 
ing, etc., must be disinfected. Early treatment and good nursing 
are of the greatest importance. 

Yellow fever germs are conveyed by mosquitoes, and persons in 
hot latitudes should always be protected from their bites by netting; 
should lead temperate lives; eat moderate quantities of wholesome 
food; bathe regularly, and avoid the use of stimulants. 

Acute Inflammation of the Peritoneum. 

Acute Peritonitis. 

Inflammation of the lining membrane of the abdomen may be 
limited or general, and may be due to exposure to cold, to the exten- 
tion of inflammation of some organ in the abdominal cavity, to 
wounds, tuberculosis or consumption of the intestines, and often 
occurs after childbirth. Consult the section on page 345 for a de¬ 
tailed description of the disease. The chief characteristic symp¬ 
toms are sudden onset with chill; sharp, cutting pains; fever, the 
temperature rising to 102° to 104°; great tenderness over the bowels, 
with distention from gas; hiccough; nausea and vomiting, con¬ 
stipation; face pinched and anxious; rapid, wiry pulse. The great 
tenderness and sensitiveness to the slightest touch, and increase of 


844 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


severe unbearable pain by coughing or taking a deep breath, the high 
fever, and the position the patient assumes lying on his back with 
his knees drawn up show that the pain is not simple colic but either 
local or general inflammation of the peritoneum, and, it may be, of 
the bowels also. The course of acute peritonitis is very rapid, and 
the mortality is great. Death may ensue in from forty-eight hours 
to a week or two, or the disease assume a chronic form. 

Aconite.— Inflammation from cold or exposure, and should be 
given early; hot, dry skin; great restlessness; high fever; hard, 
full, frequent pulse; shorty quick breathing; abdomen hot, hard, 
swollen, and sensitive; great thirst. When peritonitis follows 
childbirth, and Aconite is called for, there are the symptoms given, 
also suppression of the flow of milk, and of the discharges of the womb 
and vagina; sharp, cutting pains, worse from pressure or lying on 
right side. 

Belladonna.— Face flushed; throbbing of the arteries in the 
neck; great anxiety; the eyes shining and protruding; painful dis¬ 
tention of the abdomen, with much heat and burning; sudden shoot¬ 
ing, darting, colicky pains, worse from slightest contact or motion. 
After confinement when the discharges are hot and offensive, or 
suppressed, and there are violent after-pains. 

Bryonia.— Follows either of the above remedies well, but Aconite 
best; splitting headache; shooting, cutting pains in the bowels, 
worse from slightest motion; great thirst for quantities of water; 
lips and mouth very dry; constipation; limpid exudation in the ab¬ 
dominal cavity. 

Merctirius Cor.— Follows Belladonna particularly well when the 
acute inflammation results in the formation of purulent fluid or 
exudation; creeping chills; skin cold and covered with perspiration; 
foul breath; flabby, coated tongue; disturbed and painfully sensi¬ 
tive abdomen; mucous stool with urging, and violent burning and 
cutting pains, weakness and emaciation; swelling of the feet. 

Veratrum Album.— Nausea and vomiting, with cold sweat; much 
diarrhoea; slow breathing; small and weak pulse; great restlessness, 
anxiety and exhaustion, in fact collapse. 

Arsenicum.— Sudden sinking of the strength; restlessness; thirst 
for small quantities of water at a time; vomiting; violent burning 
and cutting pains in the abdomen; vomiting, and sometimes diarrhoea; 
the whole system is involved from absorption of the poisonous prod¬ 
ucts of the inflammation: all symptoms worse after midnight. 

Also Rhus Tox when peritonitis occurs in the course of the fever. 
Cantharis in extreme cases with scanty urine passed with great diffi¬ 
culty and a few drops at a time; great prostration. 


CHRONIC PERITONITIS 


845 


Sulphur.— During convalescence to hasten the absorptions, and 
supplement the action of other remedies. A dose of the indicated 
remedy every half hour to one or two hours, according to the severity 
of the symptoms. 

Good nursing is essential in these cases, and the removal of all 
sources of disturbances to the patient. Liquid nourishment in small 
quantities may be given every two hours, milk being best, hot or cold, 
plain, malted, peptonized or with Vichy water; soups or broths are 
sometimes more acceptable; beef juice and beef peptonoids are per¬ 
missible; a return to solid food during convalescence should be 
cautious and gradual. Flannel compresses wrung out in nearly boil¬ 
ing water, and with a few drops of turpentine sprinkled on them 
before applying to the abdomen are recommended; cover them with 
oiled silk or dry flannel; renew frequently; cold compresses may be 
substituted for hot applications if preferred, but must not be allowed to 
become warm, or, saturate a linen cloth with one drachm of turpentine 
to one ounce of melted lard or olive oil. The bedding should be 
light, and pressure may be prevented by the introduction under them 
of a ^‘cradle”; something similar may be improvised by using barrel 
hoops cut in halves. Bits of ice may be swallowed to relieve thirst, 
but should not be allowed to dissolve in the mouth when there is 
vomiting. Hot rectal injections are frequently beneficial. 

Chronic Peritonitis. 

The chronic may follow the acute form, with thickening of the 
membranes, the formation of fibrous adhesions, and often the persis¬ 
tence of the effusions, so much exudation being present in some cases 
as to cause dropsy; obstinate constipation may alternate with 
diarrhoea; pain and tenderness vary in degree; the general health 
may not be much impaired or there may be much disturbance of the 
stomach and bowels, with great emaciation. Consult the remedies 
mentioned under the acute form. 

Apis. —Soreness of the bowels and abdominal walls; pain in the 
abdomen on pressure, touch and on standing; pain extending up¬ 
wards; swelling of the abdomen and legs. 

Calcarea Carb.— Abdomen hard and distended, with drawing pains 
or cramp-like pains, and feeling of painful pressure in the lower bowels. 

Sulphur.— Distention of the abdomen and great sensitiveness to 
touch, with fullness as if from much wind; bruised pain in the muscles, 
and griping pains about the navel; much gas passes from the rectum, 
and smells like rotten eggs; worse at night.^ 

Also Silicea in chronic, obstinate cases with alternate constipation 
and diarrhoea; stools very offensive; abdomen distended and hard; 
cutting and pinching pains; much gas with rumbling in the abdomen. 


846 


HOMOEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


Arsenicum lod. Much prostration and emaciation; sweats and ten¬ 
dency to diarrhoea, and many of the symptoms given under Arsenicum, 
in the previous section. A dose of the indicated remedy three times 
a day. 

The general treatment must be conducted along the same lines as 
in acute cases; absolute rest; light, nourishing diet; fresh air; gentle 
exercise if able, such as short drives or rides in a boat or wheel chair 
but not to the point of fatigue; frequent tappings of the abdomen 
if large quantities of fluid collect. 

Inflammation of the Bowels. 

Such cases may be recognized by heat, tenderness and distention 
of the abdomen; small, wiry and rapid pulse; obstinate constipation; 
excessive thirst, often severe pain and vomiting; drawing up of the 
knees as the patient lies on his back, and many other symptoms 
resembling those of peritonitis. In fact it is often very difficult for 
the non-professional to distinguish between the two conditions. It 
is of the less importance because the treatment general and special 
is practically the same, and the reader should consult the remedies 
given under acute and chronic inflammation of the peritoneum, as 
inflammation of the bowels also may be acute or chronic. Aconite, 
Belladonna, Bryonia and Mercurius Cor, are the remedies specially to 
be thought of, and Cantharis when the bladder is involved. 

Prevention is an important part of the practice of medicine, so let 
the reader remember some of the common causes of inflammation of 
the bowels that they may be avoided so far as possible; exposure to 
cold and damp; eating unsuitable or tainted food; neglect of a hernia 
or rupture resulting in strangulation of the intestine; the excessive 
use of purgatives; neglect to have diseases of other organs properly 
treated. Other causes, such as wounds and typhoid fever, it may not 
be possible to avoid. In acute cases the diet should be light, and 
local application may be made as described under Acute Inflamma¬ 
tion of the Peritoneum.^’ 


Painter’s Colic. 

In lead or painter’s colic, where lead has been absorbed into the 
system, there are violent, painful contractions of the abdominal 
muscles, a retraction or hollowing of the abdomen, and obstinate 
constipation; sometimes a blue line may be traced about the gums. 
A very good extended description of this condition is given on page 
355. 

Opium.— Violent griping and cutting in the abdomen; pressive 
pain in the abdomen, as if the intestines would be cut to pieces; 
constipation; abdomen hollowed in; pulse full and slow; retention 
of urine. 


FEVER AND AGUE. 


847 


Platina. —Pressing, bearing down pain in the abdomen, extending 
into the groin; pain so severe it causes screaming and constant change 
of position while seeking relief. 

Also Aluminaj with spasmodic pains in the stomach and chest, with 
difficult breathing, or pain pressing down into the groins. A dose of 
the indicated remedy three times a day. 

Workers in lead should wash their hands often, and always before 
eating, take frequent warm baths, and drink plenty of milk and large 
quantities of soft water; drink no liquors; lemonade is an excellent 
beverage. Change of occupation should be made whenever possible 
when affected by lead. Copious injections of warm water are beneficial. 

Fever and Ague .—Intermittent Fever, 

There are severe forms of malarial fever described in detail on page 
522, all characterized by three stages, the cold, the hot, and the 
sweating. 

In the cold stage the patient has a severe chill, the face becomes 
pale, pinched and anxious; the teeth chatter, the body shakes, the 
rapidity of the perspiration and pulse is increased; while the urine 
diminishes and is passed frequently. When fever appears, the skin 
is burning hot; the face flushed; thirst is extreme; headache severe; 
pulse full, rapid and bounding; temperature high; urine scanty and 
high colored. In the last stage the patient generally perspires freely, 
the temperature falls and the attack is over for that time, after lasting 
several hours. If the disease persists, enlargement of the liver and 
spleen may result. Marshy districts are most prolific of chills and 
fever, but the wind may carry the disease inland. General debility, 
intemperance and exposure at night to the germ-laden air, favor its 
development. Defective drainage and sewerage may prove fruitful 
causes. The malarial parasite may be conveyed by the anopheles, a 
species of the mosquito, after the mosquito has become infected by 
feeding on the blood of a person having malaria. 

Chitlinum Sulph. —Recent cases in marshy districts. Paroxysm 
preceded by headache, hunger and palpitation. Each stage well 
marked; first, severe chill, with violent shivering and aching pains, 
then fever, no thirst; yellow, sallow face. Attack occurs every 
second day. 

Arsenicum.— ^After excessive use of Quinine, or in chronic cases 
with one stage absent, usually the chill, or with the chill and fever 
intermingled; urgent thirst throughout; pulse small and feeble; 
prostration, nausea, pains in the stomach and bowels; dropsical 
swellings. 

Ipecac. —Backache; short chill; long fever; nausea and vomit¬ 
ing predominate; tongue coated yellow; difficult breathing. 


848 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


Natrum Mur.— Chill, 10 to 11 a. m., beginning in the feet or small 
of the back; thirst; bursting headache; nausea and vomiting; nails blue. 
In the second stage heat, with violent headache and thirst followed 
by profuse perspiration which gives relief. 

Eupatorium Perf.— Thirst several hours before the chill, continu¬ 
ing during the chill and heat; short chill, the hot stage protracted, 
and sweat slight; back aches as if it would break during the chill and 
hot stage; lips and nails blue. 

Also Veratrum Alb. when coldness of the skin; cold, clammy per¬ 
spiration are marked, also great thirst especially during chill and 
sweating; profound prostration; vomiting and diarrhoea, with griping, 
and pains in the back and loins. 

Capsicum.— When chill begins in the back, with thirst; worse 
after drinking; chill is followed by sweat, or by heat, with sweat and 
thirst. A dose of the indicated remedy every one to three hours. 

The general health must be improved by nourishing food, cod liver 
oil, malt extracts, iron, etc.; cold sponge baths taken; light weight 
woolen underwear worn; night air and irregular living avoided; 
sleep in an upper room if in a malarial district. 

Bilious Remittent Fever. 

This is a somewhat severer form of malarial disease than the inter¬ 
mittent, but is milder in the northern than in the southern states,, 
where it more frequently occurs. The fever does not intermit, but 
continues right along although there are marked remissions of its in¬ 
tensity. Remittent may follow intermittent fever. Mild cases may 
last a week or two, but severe and badly treated ones, several weeks. 
Its symptoms and course are given on page 520. 

Gelsemium.— Great languor and muscular weakness; head con¬ 
gested; face flushed; chilliness; full, quick, soft pulse; dull pain 
in the head, back and limbs. 

Pulsatilla.— Whitish coating on the tongue; bitter risings and 
vomiting; chilliness; no thirst; especially serviceable in cases that 
drag along, and seem to make no progress towards recovery. 

Ipecac.— Indigestion; headache; yellow or white coated tongue; 
bitter taste, vomiting and constant nausea. 

Aho Belladonna if the attack begins with a severe chill, with vomiting 
and retching; violent fever, worse at night. Consult the remedies 
under Fever and Ague,” also the general treatment. 

Rheumatic Fever .—Inflammatory Rheumatism. 

Exposure to cold and dampness, or wet weather may cause rheu¬ 
matic fever in those of lowered vitality. There is languor; chill or chilly 


CHRONIC INFLAMMATORY RHEUMATISM 


849 


sensations; fever; rapid pulse; soreness and stiffness of the joints, 
most frequently of the knee, ankle or wrist; profuse acid sweats; 
scanty urine. The temperature may rise as high as 103° or 104°. 
The attack may last from a few days to several weeks, and the acute 
form may become chronic. One attack predisposes to another. The 
heart may be more or less seriously affected. 

Aconite.— The leading remedy full, strong pulse; great thirst, 
anxiety and restlessness; the affected parts red, swollen and exceed¬ 
ingly sensitive; later, high fever; shooting, tearing pains. 

Bryonia. —When the disease is established; intense, local in¬ 
flammation; joints pale or dark red, and exceedingly painful, worse 
by contact or the slightest motion; face flushed and hot; loss of 
appetite; tongue a dirty white; sticking pains in chronic cases. 

Rhus Tox.— A valuable remedy, especially when the patient is 
impelled to move the parts, regardless of pain; fever; great restless¬ 
ness; parts red and swollen, but better on continued motion; pains, 
drawing, tearing, burning; little swelling in chronic cases. 

Pulsatilla.— Shifting, violent, drawing and jerking pains; chilli¬ 
ness; not much fever, redness or swelling; rheumatism in women 
with menstrual disorders. 

Colchine 2 x. —Acute attacks, with much swelling and severe 
pain; fever; irritability; sensitiveness to touch; shifting pains. Six 
tablets in half a glass of w^ater, one teaspoonful every three hours, 
omitting or lessening the strength of the medicine if disturbances 
of the stomach or bowels arise. 

Chronic Inflammatory Rheumatism. 

Pain is the most prominent symptom, generally worse on motion, 
which may relieve stiffness. There is tenderness of the joints, with 
crackling, some swelling and redness. This form of rheumatism 
is most common between the ages of forty and sixty. 

Bryonia, Rhus Tox. and Pulsatilla are often called for. They are 
described under ^‘Rheumatic Fever.’' 

Calcarea Carb.— Swelling of the joints worse with every change 
of the weather; after working in water, or when rhus has only par¬ 
tially relieved. 

Dulcamara.— Chronic cases from living in damp rooms; working in 
cold, damp places, ice houses, etc. 

Ledum.— Obstinate rheumatism, especially of the lower extremi¬ 
ties, and smaller joints; stitching, tearing, rapidly shifting pains, 
and bruised soreness in the muscles. 


850 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


Also Mercurius sol. especially in syphilitics, with tearing pains; 
profuse perspiration, which gives no relief, worse at night and in cold, 
damp air. Kalmia. —Wandering pains, especially in rheumatism 
of the chest and the upper part of the body, or affecting the heart; 
little or no fever or swelling. Sulphur. —Pains worse at night; feet 
burn; drawing, tearing pains in the limbs or back; nape of the neck 
lame and stiff. A dose of the indicated remedy three times a day. 

Water must be taken freely, lithia and medicinal alkaline waters 
being indicated; milk is an excellent food; meat and stimulants are 
to be-avoided. Massage of the affected joints is useful, also dry 
heat and galvanism. Turkish baths are frequently beneficial. Mod¬ 
erate movements of the affected joints should be persisted in. Sweets 
and starchy foods should be used sparingly. 

Lumbago is rheumatism of the back for which Bryonia, Rhus Tox., 
Sulphur and Cimicijuga, already described, are most frequently indi¬ 
cated. Sciatica or neuralgia of the sciatic nerve is treated of in 
another section. 

Gout is a near relation of rheumatism in many of its symptoms, 
and is a general disorder of nutrition characterized by an excess of 
uric acid in the blood. It is well described in the section on the 
allopathic treatment of this disease. 

Colchicine, one-grain doses every one-half to two hours is a most 
helpful remedy while the pain is severe, and may be given twice a 
day between the attacks. This remedy is very valuable when the 
joints are becoming deformed, especially these of the fingers, with 
slight, sticking pains, and sometimes redness. Lithium Benzoicum 
1 X.— Gout with high-colored, strong smelling urine. Nux Vom. be¬ 
tween the attacks is valuable in correcting constitutional conditions 
due to the use of stimulating foods or beverages, ^‘high living,” also 
Pulsatilla after rich foods, sweets, pastry, etc. 

Dropsy. 

Dropsy of the abdomen is so common and dependent upon so many 
diseases that a separate section is given to it. There are many other 
local accumulations, as dropsy of the brain or hydrocephalus, in which 
Apis or Helleborus may prove serviceable; the latter remedy when 
there is effusion of fluid, with the patient in a state of stupefaction 
or insensibility, from which it is extremely difficult to arouse him; 
there is rolling of the head from side to side; boring of the head into 
the pillow; sudden screams; grinding of the teeth; sometimes sup¬ 
pressed urine. 

In dropsy of the chest or of the heart, Jahorandi, Digitalis, Arseni¬ 
cum or Helleborus when there is the characteristic stupefaction and 
mental torpor, and when dropsy there or elsewhere in the body follows 
scarlatina or other eruptive diseases. Apis when there is great suf¬ 
focation, the patient not being able to lie down, and feeling as if he 


DROPSY OF THE ABDOMEN. 


851 


were going to die; exudations in pleurisy. There is also ovarian 
dropsy, dropsy of the scrotum called hydrocele, and general dropsy or 
anasarca, well described on page 391, and in which any one of the 
remedies above mentioned may be indicated, especially'^Arsemcwm 
and A'pis. 

These conditions are dependent on diseases of the general system 
or of certain organs, and require the skilled care of a physician. Most 
of the remedies named in this section are described fully under 
'^Dropsy of the Abdomen.’^ The treatment for ovarian dropsy and 
hydrocele is surgical. 

Dropsy of the Abdomen.— Ascites. 

Ascites is an accumulation of serous fluid in the abdominal cavity . 
There is generally some history of disease of the liver, lungs, heart or 
kidneys. Enlargement of the abdomen begins from below and ex¬ 
tends symmetrically upward, and pressure on the abdomen reveals 
a peculiar wave-like impulse of the fluid from one side to the other. 
Often swelling of the lower extremities follows, a diminution of the 
amount of urine and constipation. When there is heart or lung 
disease, the dropsical condition is general, and usually there is also 
water in the chest. 

Apocynum.— Especially when dropsy is dependent upon diseases 
of the liver or kidneys, and there is scanty urine; great thirst; irrita¬ 
bility of the stomach. Five drops of the fluid extract three times a 
day; if it causes nausea it can be diluted and injected into the rectum. 

Digitalis.— Great anxiety and oppression; suffocative spells; 
sudden sensation as if the heart stood still; pulse feeble, fluttering, 
irregular, intermittent, or extremely slow; any motion, especially 
rising from a bed or chair, causes the pulse to become rapid, weak, 
and jerky; sometimes the face grows livid and there is faintness. 
This remedy is specially useful in dropsy dependent on heart disease, 
and may be given the same as Apocynum. 

Arsenicum.— Ascites as part of a general dropsy, secondary to 
disease of the heart or liver, sometimes of the kidneys; pale, earthy, 
or sallow countenance; great debility, with faintness on the slightest 
motion; great thirst but drinks but little; sensation of burning heat 
all through the body, while the skin is cool; urine scanty and 
high-colored; emaciation; great prostration. 

China, 2 x.— Dropsy in great debility, with impoverished blood, 
or after exhausting discharges; dropsy due to enlargement of the 
liver or spleen, especially from malarial poisoning; great debility: 
poor blood; diarrhoea and fermentation after eating; hunger; thirst; 
scanty urine containing a whitish or yellowish-red deposit. 


S52 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


Apis.— An important remedy, especially in general dropsy; skin 
whitish, waxy, transparent; eyelids puffy and swollen; scanty urina¬ 
tion; no thirst; also in the dropsy accompanying heart disease, 
Bright’s disease, pleurisy, etc. 

Jaborandi.— Especially useful when dropsy is due to disease of 
the heart or kidneys; it produces copious perspiration, rapidly with¬ 
draws the water from the blood, and causes active reabsorption of 
the effusion. Five grain doses of the powdered leaves or tincture three 
times a day. 

Medical treatment is always helpful, and may obviate the necessity 
for ^Happing,” as it is called, or the drawing-off of the accumulated 
fluid. The latter must sometimes be done, however, to relieve pres¬ 
sure which interferes with breathing, and with the heart’s action. 
Water should be drunk freely; a light, nourishing diet chosen, and 
vapor baths taken. 

Also Caulophyllum when the small joints of the hands or feet are 
attacked. Cimicifuga when the pains are wandering, in the muscles 
of the limbs and trunk; rheumatism in nervous women. Mercurius 
Sol. High fever; quick, hard pulse; obstinate inflammation of a 
single joint; ruffy swelling, pale or light red; burning, deep-seated 
pains; foul breath; coated tongue; no appetite; great sensitiveness 
to cold. A dose of the indicated remedy every two hours, increasing 
the intervals as the symptoms are relieved. 

During acute attacks of rheumatism the patient should remain in 
bed between blankets, wear a flannel nightdress, and be protected by 
a screen from all draughts. The room should be well ventilated. To 
acutely swollen and highly inflamed joints, antiphlogistine may be 
applied after cleansing the parts thoroughly with warm water and 
soap. In general, all joints may be protected by absorbent cotton or 
raw cotton and flannel bandages. An excellent lotion to apply by 
flannel compresses is carbonate of potash, one ounce, tincture of 
opium six ounces, warm water one pint. Change at once all cover¬ 
ings dampened by perspiration. Frequent warm sponge baths are a 
necessity. Liquid diet is indicated while there is fever, milk especially 
should be given; a light farinacious diet during convalescence, no 
meats; an abundance of water should be taken but no stimulants. 

Night Sweats. 

Night sweats are a marked symptom of pulmonary tuberculosis, 
and occur frequently during the course of acute diseases, in fact may 
be associated with a large number of diseases both acute and chronic. 
They are a symptom, and the cause must be found and removed. The 
reader is referred to the section on Pulmonary Tuberculosis” for 
the indications for many remedies called for in night sweats in persons 
of a consumptive tendency. 


SPECIFIC INDICATIONS FOR REMEDIES IN FEVERS. 


853 


For others a few remedies may be briefly mentioned, emphasis 
being laid on the fact that the general condition, habits and tempera¬ 
ment of the individual must invariably be taken into consideration. 

Hepar Sulph.— Great sensitiveness to the slightest cold air, with 
a tendency to easy, profuse, sour smelling, offensive sweat on the 
slightest motion. 

China.— Sweat on back and neck from least motion in much 
debilitated conditions following diarrhoea, leucorrhea, loss of blood, 
and in nursing mothers. 

Arsenicum.— Cold, clammy, or sour and offensive sweating in 
persons in malarial districts; copious perspiration when first going 
to sleep, with unquenchable thirst. 

Ferrum.— Great weakness and nervous prostration; chilly every 
evening; profuse, long-lasting, clammy, debilitating sweating; sweat 
stains clothes yellow. 

Phosphorus.— Profuse perspiration at night, during sleep, in the 
morning in bed, and on slight exertion; especially in connection with 
masturbation and sexual excesses, or give Phosphoric Acid in the same 
conditions and in brain fag, and in young people growing too fast, 
very nervous and emotional. 

A dose of the indicated remedy twice a day. Remove the cause 
of this complaint, and correct all errors in diet, manner of life, etc. 

Specific Indications for Remedies in Fevers. 

Aconite.— Exposure to dry cold winds, draughts of air, effects of 
checked perspiration, getting wet when heated; fever after fright; 
chill from feet to chest; chilly when uncovered or even touched; 
coldness with redness of one, and coldness and paleness of the other 
cheek; dry heat in the face towards evening, with high fever, great 
fear, and nervous excitability, restlessness and tossing about; great 
thirst for large quantities of water; skin dry and hot; pulse full, 
hard, bounding; stinging, burning pains. 

Antimonium Tartaricum.— Fevers following rheumatic exposure, 
living or working in cellars or basements, underground habitation or 
employment; chill and heat without thirst, alternating during the 
day; cold skin; trembling and chilliness always from within outward; 
short chill and long heat, or the reverse, with drowsiness and profuse 
sweat on the forehead; cold, clammy, profuse sweat of affected parts; 
fevers in spring and autumn, with nausea, vomiting and drowsiness, 
especially in children. Antimonium Crudum. Fever with predomi¬ 
nance of stomach symptoms; constant discharge of wind up and 
down; heat with sweat; sweat at same hour every other day; chill 
without thirst; milky white, thickly coated tongue; desire for pickles, 
disgust for drink or food. 


854 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


Arnica.— Malarial fever in cases when too much quinine has been 
taken; bruised, sore, weary feeling; great weakness making patient 
lie down, yet bed feels too hard, cannot find soft place; sour, offensive 
sweat; belching of gas tasting like rotten eggs; chill, with thirst, 
felt most in the pit of the stomach; heat of the upper part of the body, 
coldness of the lower; bitter taste in the mouth; tongue never clean; 
fever, especially in full-blooded persons, who feel the effects of even 
slight blows or injuries a long time. 

Arsenicum.— A valuable remedy in typhoid, continued and inter¬ 
mittent fevers, malarial fever returning every year; chill, without 
thirst, better from external warmth; coldness of the whole body, pale, 
sunken face; chill mostly in the afternoon; hot stage intense and long 
lasting; great restlessness and debility; cold, clammy sweat; internal, 
burning heat; typhoid fever of a low type, with diarrhoea, distended 
abdomen, great prostration, weak pulse, burning pains in the stomach, 
dry, red or brown tongue, disposition to vomit, brown sticky deposit 
on teeth. 

Belladonna.— ^Violent throbbing headache; rush of blood to the 
head; throbbing of arteries in neck and temples; skin bright, shining 
redi tongue red and dry; great thirst; burning heat within and with¬ 
out; boring of the head into the pillow; fever with delirium; sudden 
starting in sleep; pain in paroxysms, worse from any jar, from touch 
and towards midnight; excitability; convulsions. 

Bryonia. —Complaints occurring when warm weather sets in after 
cold days; from cold drinks or ices in hot weather; after taking cold 
or getting heated in summer; fever, with suppressed eruptions; 
diarrhoea during hot days in summer; great thirst for large quantities 
of cold water; profuse, sour, oily sweat, easily excited by exercise, 
even slow walking; heat with increased thirst, dry, racking cough 
and pleuritic stitches in side; patient wants to be quiet and not move 
about; everything tastes bitter; pulse full and hard; violent head¬ 
ache as if the head would burst; constipation; dizziness. 

Calcarea Carbonica.— Fair complexioned persons or those of a 
scrofulous makeup, disposed to grow fat; children who take cold 
easily, have large heads and abdomens; head sweats profusely during 
sleeping; acid stomach; chill, with thirst; heat without thirst; cold¬ 
ness of face, hands or feet; cheeks red; especially in fever from work¬ 
ing while standing in cold water, or from handling wet clay or cold 
vegetables, or women with menstruation too early and too profuse, 
with cold, damp feet. 

Capsicum.— Intermittent fever in midsummer, with chill begin¬ 
ning between the shoulder blades, better from hot applications ex¬ 
ternally, and by motion; thirst before and with the chill, but no pains 
in the bones; fever without thirst, and patient cannot bear any noise; 


SPECIFIC INDICATIONS FOR REMEDIES IN FEVERS. 


855 


sweat without thirst; burning blisters on tongue; sometimes diarrhoea; 
burning and smarting sensations. 

Carbo Vegetabilis.-— Fevers especially in persons who have suffered 
from exhausting diseases, and have never fully recovered; fever after 
eating spoiled meats or fish, from getting overheated; weak digestion, 
the simplest food disagrees; much gas in the stomach and bowels; 
feeling as if the stomach would burst after eating; thirst during chill 
only, followed by heat with headache, flushed face, vertigo and nausea; 
profuse, sour sweat, especially while eating; tearing pains in the limbs 
and teeth. 

Chamomilla. —Fevers of children with peevishness and irritability; 
feverish attacks in the spring in nervous persons, or from anger, vexa¬ 
tion, etc.; young, fretful children during teething; chill without 
thirst; chilliness on undressing; heat and shivering intermingled; 
hot perspiration, especially of the face and head; one cheek red, the 
other pale; instead of fever a paroxysm of violent bilious colic with 
vomiting and diarrhoea, from anger and vexation. 

China. —Ailments with fever from loss of blood, excessive lacta¬ 
tion, diarrhoea, of malarial origin with fever every other day; nausea; 
ravenous appetite; palpitation of the heart; much thirst before the 
chill, ceasing as soon as the chill begins; violent shaking chill; heat 
without thirst, followed by sweating, with great thirst; bitter taste 
in the mouth; great debility and exhausting night sweats; skin 
yellow; bitter eructations and bitter vomiting; marsh fever and 
malarial fever returning every seven or fourteen days. 

Cina. —Continued fevers in irritable children, who do not want to 
be touched or caressed, suffer from worms, rub or pick the nose all 
the time, hungry soon after a full meal and crave sweets; nervous, 
weakly, scrofulous children; pale face, with blue margins round the 
eyes; chill without thirst; shivering and creeping chills, with cold 
face and sweat on forehead and hands; heat with pale, puffy face; 
sweat without thirst, and vomiting after sweating. 

Ferrum.— Especially adapted to debilitated women who yet have 
a red face; to excitable, argumentative persons, with extreme pale¬ 
ness of the face becoming red on the least pain, motion or exertion; 
painful blushing; general constitutional weakness; pale, watery, 
debilitating monthly flow; raising of partly digested food; vomiting 
after midnight; constipation; chill with thirst, and headache, head 
gets glowing hot, feet cold; heat without thirst; profuse, long-lasting 
sweat; prostration; lips, tongue, and inside of mouth bloodless. 

Qelsemiutn.— Recent cases of malarial fever, fever attacks return¬ 
ing regularly without chill, with burning heat, great restlessness, then 


856 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


profuse sweat with thirst, pain and jerking in the limbs; fever with 
drowsiness, trembling and languor, pains in the neck and back; 
headache beginning in upper part of spine; vertigo; fever in hys¬ 
terical women and children. 

Ignatia. —Especially adapted to the nervous temperament, sensi¬ 
tive, excitable women; feverishness from grief, bad news, disappoint¬ 
ments, in children after being punished; malarial fever with thirst 
only during the chill; shaking chill with redness of the face, great 
thirst, and desire for external warmth; heat of the whole body in 
the afternoon without thirst, and sweat without thirst; also fever 
with nettle rash of the whole body, and violent itching; lips dry and 
cracked; eruption on the lips and in the corners of the mouth. 

Ipecacuanha.— Persistent nausea is a prominent symptom; short 
chills worse in a warm room and from external heat, better from 
drinking and being in the open air; long attacks of fever, with nausea 
and vomiting, cold hands and feet, great oppression of the chest, can 
hardly breathe; light sweat or profuse sweat after excessive use of 
quinine; the feeling of greatest prostration occurs during the chill; 
fever from irritation of the stomach in deranged digestion, with per¬ 
sistent nausea. 

Lachesis. —Better adapted to dark, thin people with a tendency to 
low spirits, than to fair, fleshy persons; feverishness and hot flushes 
at the change of life with bursting headache, rush of blood to the head, 
great sensitiveness to touch and to tight clothing, feels worse after 
sleep, great physical and mental exhaustion; malarial fever returning 
every spring or after taking quinine or acids; chill beginning in the 
small of the back and without thirst, chill and heat in alternation, 
sometimes nausea or nausea and vomiting; heat with violent head¬ 
ache; profuse sweat smelling like garlic, and staining linen yellow; 
trembling of tongue when protruded; palpitation of heart. 

Mercurius.— Catarrhal and bilious fevers; yellow fever; malarial 
fevers; hectic and irritative fevers of children, with intestinal de¬ 
rangements; free perspiration in all fevers affording no relief, and 
sometimes aggravating symptoms; chilliness of whole body in after¬ 
noon or evening, and on going into the open air; heat with thirst; 
heat alternating with chilliness; profuse, sour, offensive sweat on 
every motion and at night, staining linen yellow and wrinkling fingers 
like a washerwoman’s. 

Natrum Muriaticum.— Especially adapted to those debilitated 
from seminal losses or profuse menstruation, losing flesh even while 
living well; spring, summer and autumn fevers; malarial fevers, 
worse from heat of sun or stove, from sea air, talking, writing, reading 
or lying down; languor, headache and thirst before chill; chill with 
thirst about 8 a. m. followed about noon by heat with increased 


SPECIAL INDICATIONS FOR REMEDIES IN FEVERS. 


857 


thirst and hammering headache; profuse sweat, with thirst, gradually 
relieving all pains except headache; fever blisters on lips; between 
attacks languor, debility, sallow complexion, loss of appetite and 
taste; muddy urine, with red, sandy sediment. 

Nux Vomica.— Fever and ague in children; shaking chill, with 
blue mottled skin, especially on covered parts; great thirst during 
chill and fever; tendency to spasms as the chill passes off and sweat 
comes on; constipation, with ineffectual urging to stool, especially 
in nursing children; malarial fevers in thin, irritable, nervous or san¬ 
guine persons, who are dyspeptic, and always on the rush, eating 
irregularly, and improper food, drinking much tea, coffee or other 
stimulants; morning chill, preceded by drawing pains in the lower 
limbs; sometimes heat and thirst, chill with bluish, cold face and 
hands; long lasting heat, with great thirst, but cannot move or un¬ 
cover without feeling chilly; sweat, without thirst, relieving pains, 
tongue heavily coated white or yellow; bitter or sour taste; soreness 
of liver and spleen; loss of appetite; obstinate constipation. 

Opium.— Typhoid fever; child-bed fever; intermittent fever, with 
chill predominating, shaking chill at 11 a. m. with great coldness of 
nearly the whole body, followed by burning heat all over, unrelieved 
by profuse sweat; heavy, snoring sleep, with open mouth and twitch¬ 
ing hands; desire to be uncovered; typhoid fever with bloated; dark 
red and hot face; stupor or excessive drowsiness, with labored breath¬ 
ing; picking at the bedclothes; mild delirium or fury, singing, desire 
to escape. 

Pulsatilla.— More especially indicated in fevers associated with 
pronounced disturbance of the stomach; gastric catarrh and indi¬ 
gestion in general, with putrid, slimy, greasy or .bitter taste, after 
eating; loss of appetite; tongue coated thickly white or yellow; 
bitter or rancid eructations; fat food and ice cream or ice water 
upset stomach; fever beginning with constant chilliness even in a 
warm room, worse evenings; shivering, creeping sensations; heat 
with thirst; intolerable, dry, burning heat evening or night, with dis¬ 
tended veins and burning hands; one-sided sweat worse at night, and 
ceasing in morning; fever in mild, tearful, fair women and children. 

Rhus Toxicodendron.— This remedy is indicated in scarlet fever 
of a typhoid tendency; irregular and dark red eruption, sometimes 
with watery pimples, swelling and dropsy of the tissues, enlarge¬ 
ment and threatened suppuration of the glands of the neck and jaw; 
great restlessness; in small pox with dark, blackish eruption; dark, 
bloody stools, diarrhoea and restlessness; typhoid fever with great 
restlessness, tongue and lips dry, brown and covered with sticky 
deposit, weak pulse, distended and tender abdomen; remittent fever, 
constant chilliness, especially evenings; pains in the limbs, much thirst, 


858 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


coldness of hands and feet; heat with thirst and throbbing dull head¬ 
ache, profuse odorless, but not exhausting sweat; fevers in rheu¬ 
matic persons. 

Sulphur.— Chronic cases in scrofulous or nervous persons, when 
the indicated remedy does not give favorable results, or there are 
constant relapses; malarial fevers with chilliness every evening in 
bed followed by heat and burning of the palms of the hands and 
soles of the feet, and profuse perspiration, frequent internal chilliness, 
without thirst, chills up the back, frequent flushes of heat, profuse 
sweat at night or after waking in the morning. 

Veratrum.— Congestive or pernicious malarial fever, with great 
prostration; fear of death; severe long-lasting congestive chill, 
not relieved by external warmth; face and extremities cold and 
clammy; cold perspiration over whole body, especially forehead; 
small, weak pulse; skin blueish, danger of death from collapse dur¬ 
ing the attacks. 

Diseases of the Nervous System. 

Head ache.— Cephalalgia . 

Headache is a symptom, not a disease. Among the principal 
causes of headache are indigestion especially from rich or fried foods, 
or bolting one's food; constipation; excessive headwork or work 
where light or ventilation is poor; defective vision, with resulting 
eye strain; the use of stimulants including tea, coffee and patent 
medicines; sexual excesses; hysteria; excessive grief or anger; rheu¬ 
matism; general debility; nasal catarrh; diseases of the liver, kid¬ 
neys or generative organs; in women, suppressed monthly flow from 
getting wet or cold; syphilis; malaria; sleeping in a hot or badly 
ventilated room, and many acute diseases. 

Try to discover, and when possible, remove the cause. 

Belladonna.— Congestive or nervous headache; intense pain in 
forehead, temples and eyes, worse from slightest jar, motion, touch, 
noise or light; flushed face, hot head, throbbing in the temples. 

Ignatia.— Nervous headache from grief, anxiety; generally one¬ 
sided as if a nail were driven into the head; periodical attacks in 
sensitive or hysterical women; face pale. 

Qelsemium.— Dull, heavy pain, extending from the nape of the 
neck to the top of the head; dimness of sight or double vision; gid¬ 
diness; pressure on top of head; eyes heavy; full pulse; feeling of 
exhaustion. 

Bryonia.— Rheumatic headache in cold, damp weather with 
bursting, splitting pains in forehead somewhat relieved by pres- 


Diseases of the nervous system. 


859 


sure, worse from stooping or motion; irritability; fits of anger; 
sometimes bilious vomiting. 

Cimicifuga.— Headache from loss of sleep, mental strain, or 
worry; dull, pressive ache from back of head to forehead and eye¬ 
balls; racking pain in bones of skull; headache at monthly period 
with bruised pain in small of back. 

Qlonoine.— Congestive headache from heat, as a hot kitchen 
or exposure to sun; severe throbbing, pulsating pains, with fullness, 
pressure and dizziness. 

Irir Versicolor.— Sick headache, with blur before the eyes, followed 
by nausea and bilious vomiting; dull, throbbing or shooting pains in 
forehead; headache recurs about once so often; ^‘school teacher's 
headache." 

Nux Vomica.— Sick headache from wine, coffee, patent medicine? 
sedentary habits, or mental application; the sufferer wakes up with 
it, or it begins early in the day and increases; nausea; sour, bitter 
vomiting; constipation; symptoms worse from noise and after 
eating. 

Silicea.— Chronic, persistent ache beginning in upper part of 
spine or nape of neck and extending over head; scalp often very 
sensitive; pain worse from noise, jarring or mental or physical ex¬ 
ertion; better from warmth; ^‘bookkeeper's headache." 

Also Coffea for headache with great nervousness, wakefulness, pains 
seem unbearable, mind very active; useless for coffee drinkers. Pul¬ 
satilla. Headache from suppression of monthly flow or copious leu- 
corrhea; from eating greasy food, rich pastry or ice cream. Podophyl¬ 
lum. Morning headache, with pain or soreness in liver; yellowish 
diarrhoea; giddiness, and heat and fullness in top of head. Aconite. 
Headache from simple cold in the head, and Hypericum for stitch¬ 
ing pains or throbbing following a bad shaking up from a fall, blow 
on the head; eyes sore. 

In congestive headaches the application to the forehead of small 
pieces of cotton cloth wrung out in cold or ice water (cold compresses), 
and of hot water bottles to the feet, often gives partial relief. A 
vegetable diet is often helpful to those subject to periodical sick 
headaches. Hot, dry flannels, a hot bag of salt or hops, or a hot 
water bottle lessen the pain in neuralgic and catarrhal headaches. 
A small cup of hot, strong coffee for non-coffee drinkers sometimes 
relieves faintness and nausea of headaches. Keep quiet and away from 
the light; eat simple food; keep the bowels open. Massage and 
electricity are. helpful in headaches from exhaustion and nervous¬ 
ness; also beef and iron, and malt and cod liver oil when there is 
general debility. Take a dose of the indicated remedy every fifteen 
or twenty minutes during the attack; increase the intervals as pain 
lessens. 


860 


HOMOEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES 


Failure or loss of memory may be the result of so many different 
causes that to enumerate them all would be impossible. Whatever 
impairs the nutrition of the brain, as an acute fever, severe mental 
shock, the trance state of hysteria, the use of alcohol, etc., impairs 
memory. Diseases o the brain itself, as meningitis, hemorrhage, 
softening of the brain substance or the formation of a tumor, affec- 
memory. Weak memory may be a passing and temporary condi¬ 
tion, as when it occurs during convalescence from an exhausting dis¬ 
ease, or may be permanent as in degenerative conditions embrac¬ 
ing some form of insanity. Sexual excesses and perversions impair 
the memory often very seriously. 

It is not to be supposed that remedies can be recommended to 
cure any case regardless of its origin. It should be remembered 
that weak memory or loss of memory is a symptom, and not the dis¬ 
eased condition itself. A specialist in nervous or mental diseases 
must frequently be consulted. A few remedies will be suggested 
for weakness of the memory due to the simpler causes. 

Nux Vom. —Weak memory in those using alcoholic beverages to 
excess, or who are closely confined to mental work, who have stomach 
and liver troubles; cannot think correctly; sleepy after meals, but 
sleepless at night or have dreamy sleep, and are wide awake at 2 or 
3 A. M. for an hour or two. 

Phosphoric Acid. —Weakness of memory; patient finds it diffi¬ 
cult to comprehend things; incapacity for thought; disinclination 
to talk; vertigo; frequent, profuse, and debilitating emissions; weak 
memory after sexual excesses. 

Anacardium. —Great weakness of memory, especially as regards 
single names, worse forenoons; vanishing of thought; headache with 
great irritability; brain fag. 

China. —Weak memory after exhausting diarrhoea, or loss of 
blood; after sexual excesses or masturbation; slow flow of ideas; 
difficulty in arranging thoughts; reverses words; easily thrown out 
by others talking. 

Opium.— Loss of memory or weak memory from fright; gi’eat 
confusion, dullness and heaviness of the head, making thought and 
writing difficult, or give Aconite when there is weak memory from 
fright, with great timidity, fear of death, fear of the dark, etc.; ex¬ 
cessive restlessness; variable humor, gayety then dejection; vertigo 
with nausea. 

Ignatia. —Weak memory following suppressed grief, disappoint¬ 
ment in love, etc.; much brooding over troubles in sensitive, change¬ 
able persons. 

A dose of the indicated remedy twice a day. Improve the general 
health by rest, fresh air, and attention to all the laws of hygienic 
living. 


VERTIGO. 


861 


Vertigo .—Swimming of the Head. 

Vertigo may be due to derangements of the stomach or liver, 
diarrhoea, constipation, loss of vital fluids, hard study, defective 
vision, diseases of the brain, heart disease, nervousness, epilepsy, 
malaria, general debility, many contagious diseases, old age, the 
excessive use of tobacco or drugs. Continual vertigo after heavy 
meals or considerable exercise is frequently a danger signal of apo¬ 
plexy. Vertigo is a symptom of some disease or derangement of the 
functions of the body. 

Nux Vom.— Vertigo after using alcohol or carbonated drinks, 
much tea, coffee, or tobacco; vertigo from over-eating, constipation, 
excessive mental exertion accompanied by debility. 

Phosphorus.— Vertigo when there is great nervousness; uncer¬ 
tainty in walking or standing, and the sufferer feels as if drunk, walks 
with legs far apart or takes short strides; dullness and confused 
feeling in head; much debility; vertigo worse after meals and sleep; 
vertigo from sexual excesses. 

Digitalis.— Vertigo with heart trouble; tendency to faintness and 
breathlessness; some palpitation; slow, feeble pulse; anxiety and 
weak memory. 

Conium.— Vertigo in feeble, old people, especially on rising in the 
morning and when walking; weakness of vision; staggering, uncertain 
gait; vertigo from masturbation. 

Also China for vertigo following profuse bleeding or diarrhoea. 
Aconite. Vertigo from rush of blood to the head, worse after stooping; 
nausea; full pulse. Cocculus for vertigo from riding in the cars or 
a carriage; from seasickness. Arsenicum, when vertigo is due to 
malarial surroundings, bad air in work shops, from cesspools, lack of 
ventilation, etc. Glonoine, where head is affected by the sun or 
other intense heat. 

When the system is debilitated, build it up by outdoor life and 
simple, nourishing food. Do not use alcoholic beverages. Find what 
causes the vertigo. Avoid excitement, over-work or over-exertion. 
In acute cases a dose of the indicated remedy every half hour or hour; 
in chronic cases, four times a day. 

Sleeplessness.— Insomnia. 

Anxiety, over-fatigue, nervous prostration, excessive labor, men¬ 
tal or physical, fright, excitement, tea, coffee and other stimulants, 
including tobacco, may cause sleeplessness, also too little fresh air 
and exercise, eating a hearty meal in the evening, pregnancy and 
many diseases. 


862 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


Coffea. —When the patient is quiet and sleepless; the senses 
all acute; distant noises are heard with great distinctness; the mind 
is active and busied with plans; next day brain fag, and dull head¬ 
ache. Also, for wakefulness and fretfulness in nervous children. 
A dose four times a day. Useless for coffee drinkers. 

Nux Vom.— Sleepy in the evening; falls asleep in his chair and 
upon going to bed; wakes before daylight; drowses, and rises with 
headache, and more tired than upon going to bed. Often associated 
with constipation or indigestion. A dose four times a day. 

Belladonna. —Especially for children, who start up in fright just as 
going to sleep, or who wake and cry out suddenly during the night; 
restlessness; bad dreams. A dose four times a day. 

Sulphur.— ^The patient sleeps in cat naps’’; the least noise awakens 
and there is great difficulty in getting to sleep again. A dose morn¬ 
ing and night. 

Hyoscyamus. —Drowsy but cannot sleep, or twitches and talks 
in sleep, dreams bad dreams, awakes with a start and frightened, 
thinks there is something or somebody in the room. A dose four times 
a day. 

Remove the cause if possible. Sleeplessness from nervousness 
and exhaustion will be benefited by a drive or open car ride in warm 
weather in the evening, retiring immediately on returning to the house. 
A cold douche along the spine in the morning followed by friction 
and warm sponge bath at bedtime, with open windows in bedroom 
all night will be helpful. No late dinner but a glass of warm milk, 
malted milk or grape juice before retiring if faint. Massage is ex¬ 
cellent. Avoid excitement or mental exertion in the evening, late 
hours, soft beds and too many bedclothes; sleep alone. 

Rush of Blood to the Head .—Hyperemia of the Brain. 

Rush of blood to the head is not uncommon in full-blooded per¬ 
sons, but exactly similar sensations may be experienced by persons in 
a debilitated, ill-nourished condition. Hyperemia of the brain is a 
symptom, and may be associated with many diseases, but in general 
we may say the normal circulation or nutrition of the brain is inter¬ 
fered with. The attacks may be acute or chronic, and may precede, 
accompany, or follow other illness. The symptoms may be learned 
from the indications given for the use of the following remedies: 

Aconite is the remedy for acute congestion resulting from cold or 
violent emotion, with hot, dry skin, full, bounding pulse. 

Belladonna.— Face red and congested; eyes red; aversion to light 
and sensitiveness to least noise; sudden starts and jerks; tendency 
to delirium. Especially indicated for children. 


DELIRIUM TREMENS. 


863 


Qlonoine. —Sudden and intense congestion, with violent headache, 
and absence of fever, especially after heat-stroke, or after suppression 
of the monthly flow, with great giddiness, throbbing and roaring in 
the ears. 

Veratrum Vir.— Rush of blood to the head with fever; headache; 
violent throbbing of the arteries in the neck; sensitiveness to sound 
and light; flushed face; tingling and prickling in lower limbs; full, 
hard, bounding pulse. 

Gelsemium in recent cases of congestion with a dull, heavy, besotted 
expression of countenance; eyes heavy and bloodshot; dizziness; 
pulse full and round, but not hard like the aconite pulse. 

Also Arnica when from an injury, or from excessive exercise, with 
much vertigo. Ferrum Phos. when congestion of the head is followed 
by nosebleed. NuxVom. after indulgence in stimulants, and in 
chronic cases where there is much mental exertion or a sedentary life. 

In ordinary cases not due to over-exertion or heat stroke take 
moderate out of door exercise; breathing exercises morning and night, 
inhaling a full breath gradually through the nose and expiring forcibly; 
cold sponge baths in the morning; warm foot baths; massage and 
electricity. The diet should be simple and overeating must be 
avoided. Use no coffee or alcohol; refrain from sexual intercourse; 
drink plenty of water; find out if you have any disease of the heart 
or kidneys. In acute cases take a dose of the indicated remedy every 
half hour for several doses, then lengthen the intervals; in chronic 
cases, a dose every two or three hours. 

Delirium Tremens.—Drunkard’s Delirium. 

« 

Mania a Potu, 

Although this section deals with an extreme manifestation and 
result of the habitual use of liquor, it is regarded as important to 
point out wherein a “plain drunk” may be differentiated from a 
person suffering from an apoplectic stroke; serious mistakes have 
often occurred. In the person overcome with liquor there is first the 
odor of alcohol; the eyes are blood-shot, the pupils contracted or 
dilated; breathing is but little different from the normal; usually 
there is no paralysis; the pulse is frequent and feeble; the person 
can be temporarily aroused, as a rule, by shaking or holding ammonia 
to the nose. In apoplexy there is no odor of alcohol; the pupils of 
the eyes are unequal in size or dilated; breathing is labored and 
puffy; there is paralysis; absolute unconsciousness; pulse slow, and 
strong or irregular. For treatment of apoplexy consult the section 
on that subject, page 202. 

Delirium tremens is a condition characterized by constant tremor, 
great exhaustion, and distressing illusions and hallucinations, resulting 
either from the prolonged irritation of the brain by alcohol, or from 


864 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


the sudden withdrawal of alcohol from the inebriate. A heavy drinker 
may develop delirium tremens after a sudden shock, fright, accident, 
etc., or during an acute disease, especially pneumonia. The premoni¬ 
tory symptoms ordinarily are great restlessness, irritability, depression 
and sleeplessness. The symptoms during an attack are well described 
on page 191. 

Hyoscyamus, 1 x.— Deliriuru mixed, changing constantly from one 
form to another, i, e., patient loquacious, furious, muttering, and 
incoherent; pulse small and quick, very compressible; skin cold and 
clammy; pupils of the eyes dilated; patient will not stay in bed. 

Antimonium Tart.— Much disturbance of the stomach, and ejection 
of slimy mucus, as when beer has been the intoxicating agent; pro¬ 
fuse cold sweats; tongue heavily coated a pasty white or red in 
streaks; high delirium with obstinate sleeplessness. 

Opium —Lethargic condition; loud labored breathing; loss of 
consciousness and sensation. 

Arsenicum.— ^A valuable remedy when there is much irritability 
of the stomach; diarrhoea; frequent passing of urine; muscular 
tremors; great prostration; also fear, with great anguish and sweat, 
dread of ghosts, thieves, or of death, and especially of vermin crawl¬ 
ing in the bed. 

Also Nux Vom. is a most reliable remedy during convalescence 
and also to ward off an attack; a dose three times a day of the third 
decimal (3 x). To sober up” a person who is badly under the 
influence of liquor, give by mouth one small teaspoonful aromatic 
Spirits of Amoniam in a little water. A cup of strong black coffee 
is a great help; repeat the dose if it is vomited. When great diffi¬ 
culty is experienced in giving the indicated remedy and the patient 
thinks he is going to be poisoned, give at bedtime one full dose of 
Chloral Hydrate, say thirty grains, rubbed up with equal parts of 
simple syrup and balsam of peru; this will often induce sleep, and 
make it much easier to proceed with the regular treatment. Strych¬ 
nia (1 x) every two hours when the heart’s action is weak. 

Nourishment is of the greatest importance. Clean out the stomach 
if necessary by producing vomiting with warm water and mustard, 
then give strong black coffee to settle the stomach and also to stimu¬ 
late the patient. Peptonized milk and beef juice given frequently in 
small quantities are valuable when food is retained with difficulty. 
Increase nourishment as rapidly as digestion permits, giving egg 
beaten up in black coffee, strong broths, warm milk, beef tea seasoned 
with red pepper, egg-noggs. 

In restraining a patient use as little violence as possible; use tact 
and humor them in their fancies; a sheet tied across the bed over the 
patient is better than using direct force. Keep the windows locked, 
and remove every cutting instrument, poker, etc. Keep cool and 


INFLAMMATION OF THE BRAIN. 


865 


have someone within call. Use cold baths or cold packs when there 
is fever, and warm packs as a sedative. When there is a suppression 
of urine give warm foot baths. 

Inflammation of the Brain .—Brain Fever. 

Brain fever may complicate acute infectious diseases or be the 
result of alcoholic excesses,'in uries or sunstroke, or a life of anxiety 
and privation. This disease comes on with more or less pain in the 
head, with heat and delirium; eyes blood-shot; high temperature 
and the initial symptoms followed by drowsiness and inclination to 
vomit. The pulse is usually rapid and feeble. There is loss of appe¬ 
tite; great restlessness; short naps more like lethargy, and frequent 
crying out from pain. 

Read the symptoms indicating the use of Aconite and Belladonna 
under ^‘Spotted Fever,” page 867. 

Hyoscyamus.— Face pale and sunken; delirium of a stupid, 
muttering form although this may be preceded by violent outbreaks; 
the head is shaken from side to side; great prostration; sitting up 
in bed seems to give some relief. 

Also in brain fever following a fall or blow on the head give Arnica; 
if from intoxicating drinks or intense study, Nux vom. 

Keep cold compresses, an ice bag or ice coil on the patient’s head, 
and be sure the applications are not allowed to become warm. If 
patient is delirious, endeavor to restrain him by soothing speech, 
avoiding force as much as possible; cool sponge baths may be given 
frequently, and milk and broths for nourishment. Remedies should 
be administered every hour. 

Apoplexy.— Apoplexia, 

Although apoplexy may occur at any age, it is most common 
after the fiftieth year, because the blood vessels degenerate as one 
grows older. The abuse of alcohol, immoderate eating, syphilis, and 
prolonged muscular exertion are among the common contributing 
causes. Apoplexy is not hereditary as many once thought, but 
people’s arteries and other blood vessels do age earlier in some families 
than in others. In apoplexy there is great congestion of the blood 
vessels of the brain, with sudden rupture of one or more of them and 
consequent hemorrhage, the pressure causing complete or partial 
paralysis. 

When only the left side of the brain sustains this injury, the right 
upper and lower extremities are liable to paralysis. When the right 
is similarly affected, the left side usually becomes paralyzed. When 
the hemorrhage affects both sides of the brain, paralysis is as a rule 
general, and the patient wholly unconscious. Premonitory symp¬ 
toms are rare, but when present there is numbness of the hand and 


866 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


foot on one side, and failure of memory for words. An excellent 
description of the various forms of apoplexy is given in this book 
under allopathic treatment of diseases, and the recommendations for 
the prevention of future attacks should be carefully read also. 

Aconite.— Pulse full and strong; skin dry and hot; vertigo; full 
feeling in head, with restlessness and anxiety, face rather pale or 
pale on one side and red on the other. A dose every hour, or during 
an acute attack every half hour for several doses, using the first deci¬ 
mal, 1 X. This remedy takes the place of the old resort to bleeding. 

Belladonna.— Face very red; arteries pulsating strongly, pupils 
dilated, eyes sensitive to light, twitching of muscles, loss of speech; 
should be given as early in the attack as possible. A dose as above. 

Opium.— Heavy stupor; irregular slow pulse; pupils contracted; 
patient groans; cold sweat on face; feces and urine passed involun¬ 
tarily; convulsive motion of extremities; irregular labored breath¬ 
ing. A dose every fifteen minutes. 

Also Arnica, which is a most valuable remedy after the acute symp¬ 
toms have subsided to bring about absorption of effused blood, and 
Sulphur which, follows Arnica weW when the patient’s convalescence is 
very slow. As a remedy for the prevention of apoplexy Nux Vom, 
should be taken by full-blooded persons or those of sedentary habit 
accustomed to a rich diet or alcoholic stimulants, and subject to rush 
of blood to the head. 

General treatment of an acute attack must be commenced immedi¬ 
ately. Get the patient to bed if possible, and loosen or remove all 
clothing, especially about the neck, moving the sufferer as little as 
possible. Cut the clothing off if necessary. Keep the head higher 
than the body, and the neck in such a position that the blood can flow 
freely. Put hot water bags to the feet, with flannel between so as to 
avoid burns, and an ice bag, ice cap, or ice cold compress to the head; 
the legs may be wrapped in cloths wrung out in steaming hot mustard 
water, a cupful to a pail. The bowels must be freely opened by a 
large warm soap and water enema, or by calomel, if necessary. The 
water may have to be drawn from the bladder. Keep the patient 
absolutely quiet; give nothing but milk or broth. Gentle rubbing of 
the body, fifteen minutes only at a time and always rubbing away 
from the head will benefit during convalescence, also electricity after 
from two weeks to a month. Apoplexy may be mistaken for alco¬ 
holism; smell the patient’s breath. Do not give any stimulants. 

Sunstroke. 

Sunstroke is heat-stroke, and persons stricken down in boiler 
rooms, foundries, laundries and kitchens must be treated the same 
as those affected by the direct rays of the sun. Mild cases exhibit 


SPOTTED FEVER. 


867 


only weakness and faintness; severer cases, pallor of the face, blind¬ 
ness, cold sweat, and partial or complete unconsciousness; there may 
be profound collapse, delirium and death. Previous attacks and the 
use of alcohol predispose to heat-stroke. 

Qlonoine.— From excessive heat or exposure to sun; face pale; 
pulse round and full; intense, throbbing headache; feeling as if the 
head would burst open; labored respiration; sinking sensation in 
stomach, nausea and vomiting. A dose every fifteen minutes, in¬ 
creasing the intervals as the patient improves. 

Belladonna.— Severe headache in forehead and temples, worse 
when stooping; flushed face; throbbing of arteries in the neck: 
bounding pulse; sometimes loss of consciousness and convulsions. 
Give as above. 

Qelsemium.— Great prostration; soft pulse; vertigo; blurred 
vision; fullness and weight in the head; also for oppressed feeling, 
irritability, and palpitation of the heart from exposure to heat. Give 
as above. 

Also Veratrum Vir. when the face and head are intensely congested, 
and vomiting and convulsions occur. 

Natrum Carb. invaluable in curing the after-effects of heat stroke, 
such as loss of memory, depression, prostration, and constant head¬ 
ache, also when heat affects head unpleasantly in hot weather. 

Prevention is even better than cure. Eat little meat in hot weather; 
keep the bowels free; drink plenty of water, not iced; wear light 
weight and light colored clothing; bathe often. If working in the 
sun put a wet leaf or sponge in your hat; quit work and rest in the 
shade if dizzy or head aches. 

If treating a case of heat stroke, place the patient in the shade, or 
in a cool room; loosen the clothing, or remove it and sponge the body 
with tepid water; apply cloths wrung out in hot water to the head 
and change them frequently; put hot bricks, or a hot water bag, to 
the feet if they are cold; as soon as the patient can swallow, give hot 
milk, beef tea or coffee in small quantities. 

Spotted Fever ,—Cerebrospinal Meningitis. 

No disease of modern times is more dreaded than epidemic “spotted 
fever.’’ Not infrequently cases of meningitis occur scattered here 
and there, but too often an epidemic prevails confined to a town or 
city, but caused by the spreading of the germs. It is believed the 
germs are most apt to enter the system through the nasal passages. 
Common complications are influenza, pneumonia, pleurisy and 
mumps, in fact nasal catarrh or grip often precedes the development 
of meningitis. The germs affect the membranes covering the brain 
and spinal cord, and a turbid fluid forms which presses upon the sensi- 


868 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


tive nerve tissues causing immediate and serious results. The onset 
of spotted fever is generally sudden, with headache, severe chill and 
vomiting. There is fever, with full strong pulse, and painful stiffness 
of the muscles of the neck. The headache increases, the patient sees 
double or cannot see, and is highly sensitive to every noise; has severe 
pains in back and legs, while the neck may be drawn backward and 
the muscles become rigid. The headache is very severe, and delirium 
or lethargy result. Reddish, purple or mottled spots appear on the 
body giving the common name, ^‘spotted fever.” About one-half of 
the cases die within five days; when recovery ensues, convalescence 
is slow and tedious and relapses may occur, or other diseases develop. 
It is necessary to know the symptoms so that the gravity of the 
disease may be appreciated and a good doctor called, but treatment 
should be commenced immediately, and a dose of the indicated 
remedy given every hour. Use the tincture or first decimal (1 x). 

Aconite.— Fever; dry, hot skin; full pulse; face flushed and 
swollen; burning sensation in head; surface of the body cold. 

Belladonna.— Follows Aconite well; throbbing arteries; quick pulse; 
face red and swollen; eyes bright; boring of head into the pillow; 
great sensitiveness to light, touch, and noise; twitching of limbs; 
unconsciousness; delirium. 

Qelsemium.— Early in the attack; ^pine very sensitive; severe 
chill followed by fever; great prostration and drowsiness; weak, 
irregular pulse; dimness of vision; mental dullness; may be nausea 
and vomiting. 

Veratrum Vir.— Violent vomiting, and pain in the head and stom¬ 
ach; convulsions; head bent backward; pupils of eyes dilated; eyes 
roll from side to side; slow, irregular pulse. 

Cimicifuga.— Intense pain in the head and spine; muscles of the 
neck and back rigid, with retraction; skin sensitive, muscles sore; 
muscular spasms and jerkings of legs and arms. 

The general care of the patient is of the utmost importance. He 
must be kept perfectly quiet in a well-ventilated darkened room. 
Hot baths and especially hot packs are beneficial. An ice cap may 
be applied to the head. Keep the bowels open and give the patient 
plenty of water to drink. Give nothing but liquid food, milk and 
strong broths, until the fever and worst symptoms subside; no stimu¬ 
lants unless the pulse and breathing are feeble. Many times physi¬ 
cians puncture the membranes of the spine with a certain kind of 
needle and withdraw some of the fluid which has formed, thus reliev¬ 
ing pressure, or remove a small section of the skull for the same pur¬ 
pose. Injections of antitoxin are also used. 

Prevention of ^‘spotted fever” is most important, and consists in 
keeping streets, yards and cellars clean, and the general health in 


INFLAMMATION OF THE SPINAL CORD. 


869 


good condition. Cleansing of nasal passages and throat morning and 
night, by douching with a mild antiseptic is recommended during an 
epidemic. 

Inflammation of the Spinal Cord.— Myelitis. 

There are several forms of this disease which is not an uncommon 
one, but all are characterized by a diffused inflammation of the spinal 
cord, with softening of its substance; the membranes may or may 
not be seriously inflamed. It is always of advantage to know the 
causes of a disease. The most prominent ones of a myelitis are 
exposure to cold, a bad wetting, or lying on cold, damp ground, 
muscular strains, syphilis, sexual excess, injuries such as fracture of 
the spine, or even apparently slight injury, one authority citing a 
case in a boy, following a sprained back acquired by throwing a club 
up into a tree. Myelitis also sometimes is a sequel of acute infectious 
diseases such as smallpox, typhoid or typhus fever, inflammatory 
rheumatism and measles, and may complicate child-bed fever and 
diseases of the bones of the spine. 

The early symptoms resemble those of any acute inflammatory 
affection, chill, high temperature of from 101 to 104 degrees, rapid 
pulse and prostration of the whole system, but special symptoms 
quickly appear such as heaviness and dragging of the limbs followed 
by loss of motion and increasing paralysis, numbness and crawling 
sensations. When the region affected is the upper part of the back, 
there is a feeling as if a belt were drawn about the waist. There is 
not much pain in the back, but the pain in the legs or abdomen in 
the beginning. The point to which insensibility to touch extends 
marks the location of the disease. The patient may have difficulty 
in urinating, and the bowels be constipated. Paralysis of the rectum 
and bladder is marked when the lower third of the cord is affected. 
Bed sores are liable to result from even slight pressure. The pros¬ 
pects of recovery are not good; death may occur in three or four days 
or a few weeks, or the acute form of disease become chronic; recovery 
generally occurs promptly if at all. 

Aconite.— In the beginning, after exposure to cold, cold winds; 
chill followed by high fever, rapid bounding pulse; pain and stiff¬ 
ness of the neck; skin red, hot, shining. 

Mercurius lod — In cases due to syphilis with progressing paraly¬ 
sis of the extremities, and of the bladder and lower bowel, with ten¬ 
dency to twitching and convulsive movements; some spinal pain 
worse from pressure. This remedy is followed well by Kali lod. in 
markedly syphilitic cases. 

Arnica or Hypericum may be indicated, the former in myelitis 
following wounds, falls or blows, with a bruised, sore feeling, and 
especially after great muscular exertion; the latter in cases following 


870 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


injuries to the nerves as in lacerated or punctured wounds, concus¬ 
sion of the spine and injury to the end of the spine from a fall. 

Also Dulcamara in myelitis after getting soaking wet or being out 
long in wet, foggy weather. 

Rhus. Tax. in cases developing during inflammatory rheumatism. 
Arsenicum Album when a sequel of acute infectious diseases, or result¬ 
ing from the direct absorption of septic matter as in child-bed fever. 
Strychnia, one-sixtieth of a grain three times a day in cases becoming 
chronic. Hyoscyamus in cases marked by paralysis of the bladder 
and lower bowels and convulsions. Belladonna is a remedy more 
truly indicated where the coverings of the cord are highly inflamed, 
resulting in spinal meningitis with much pain and tenderness along 
the spine. 

The patient should be kept absolutely quiet in bed, scrupulously 
clean by means of luke warm sponge baths, and the back and all 
parts where pressure is felt gently rubbed twice a day with alcohol, 
then thoroughly dried and dusted with talcum powder. Keep the 
sheets free from wrinkles. Bed sores are the greatest danger, there¬ 
fore if the skin gets reddened despite alcohol rubs and powder, use 
air cushions or rubber rings, or place the patient on a water bed. 
Consult the section on ^‘Bed Sores.’’ Electricity along the spine will 
benefit chronic cases, but must not be used while the disease is acute. 
Leakage of urine into the bed must be prevented by the use of ab¬ 
sorbent cotton, or a bed urinal. Equal parts of iodine and arnica 
tincture may be painted along the spine twice a week in chronic cases. 

Paralysis.— Palsy. 

Paralysis is a loss of power of motion, and as a common term is 
often applied to loss of any kind of bodily function, such as sensation 
or secretion. Paresis is a term used to indicate a partial paralysis; 
do not confound it with the term general paresis, which is a form of 
insanity. Paralysis is generally a symptom of disease of the brain 
or spinal cord, but sometimes it arises from injury or pressure upon a 
nerve trunk, or from the effects of poison on the nervous system. 
There are many different forms of this dreaded affection; several of 
them are well described in earlier pages of this work to which the 
reader is referred. 

There may be a hereditary tendency to paralysis due to the bad habits 
of one or both parents, such as intemperance, the excessive use of to¬ 
bacco, chloral, cocaine, or some form of opium. Local paralysis 
such as wrist drop is caused by lead-poisoning, facial paralysis 
by pressure on nerves leading to the face, and the paralysis of diph¬ 
theria from inflammation of certain nerves supplying the throat, eyes, 
etc. Paralysis in those of a highly nervous temperament may be 
simply an hysterical inflammation. 

Aside from the special forms is the paralytic stroke which may be 


PARALYSIS. 


871 


preceded by numbness, coldness, paleness, and slight convulsive jerk¬ 
ing or twitching. The loss of motion, or motion and sensation which 
follows may be partial or complete, and affect either the upper or 
lower half of the body, or one or both sides. The patient’s return to 
his usual condition is generally slow and imperfect, and sometimes 
the muscles of the affected portion of the body waste away. 

Aconite.— Premonitory symptoms and acute attacks; numbness, 
crawling sensation, feeling as of pins and needles in legs and arms, 
or loss of motion and sensation. 

Qelsemium. —Paralysis not due to organic disease; loss of motion 
but not of sensibility, also when paralysis is preceded for some time 
by giddiness and heaviness of the limbs, the eyelids feel heavy and 
•droop. Useful in paralysis following diphtheria. 

Cotiium.— Sensation is not much affected, but motion, especially 
of the legs, is lost partially or wholly. Paralysis in old people, or 
when preceded by stupefying headache, vertigo, great drowsiness, 
heat in the head and eyes, with coldness of the hands and feet, dila¬ 
tation of the pupils of the eyes. 

Phosphorus.— When the paralysis is confined to either the upper 
or lower extremities and is preceded by debility and exhaustion; in 
cases of softening of the spinal cord; wasting away of the muscles of 
the legs or arms. 

Mercurius Vivus. —Paralysis due to syphilis or hemorrhage of the 
brain; rigidity of the lower limbs with cold sweat at night. 

Nux Vom. in threatened paralysis due to intemperance; patient 
finds difficulty in guiding himself, and trips over trifling obstructions; 
twitching of the limbs at night; of no use when loss of motion is 
complete. 

Also Causticum in paralysis associated with marked disturbance of 
the urinary organs, when the extremities tremble on walking or stand¬ 
ing, but not on sitting. Ignatia in cases of hysterical origin. Arnica 
in paralysis due to shock or a fall, and facial paralysis from an injury, 
with much soreness of the affected parts, and inflammation of the 
nerve. 

Belladonna^ recent cases especially of facial paralysis with much 
congestion of the affected part; throbbing and inflammation; also 
right-sided cases of paralysis of the body. Plumbum paralysis is due 
to disease of the spinal cord with wasting away of muscles. 

Give the indicated remedy three times a day; keep the patient 
quiet in bed, and let the diet be light and nutricious. Friction of 
the affected parts or massage and passive motion is helpful, also 
electricity, but not while there is an organic cause. When there is 
wasting of the muscles, rubbing with cod liver oil, or cocoanut or sweet 
oil is recommended. In paralysis in children cold spinal douches 
are excellent, also persistent bathing with salt water, followed by 
brisk rubbing. 


872 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


Hydrophobia. 

The bite of a rabid dog, wolf, skunk, cat or fox may cause hydro¬ 
phobia. Lacerated wounds about the face, head or hands are most 
apt to be infected, but the disease develops in only fifteen per cent, 
of persons bitten. The period of incubation is shorter in children 
than in adults, and is generally under two months; in rare instances 
two years may elapse. The symptoms are stated on page 208. 

Belladonna, 1 x. — Give this remedy at once, frequently, for at 
least six weeks, and also at any time afterwards if convulsions occur, 
with great burning and much frothy mucus in the throat; constric¬ 
tion of the throat on attempting to swallow; face red and bloated; 
foaming at the mouth; spasms; delirium. A dose every half hour 
during an attack. 

Scutellaria, 1 x. — Restlessness at night; frightful dreams; heart’s 
action rapid and uneven; with pain, tremors and muscular twitch- 
ings; when hydrophobia develops with spasmodic or constrictive 
closing of the jaws, and /igidity of the muscles of the face. A dose 
as above. 

Stramonium, 1 x. —Extreme irritability; disturbed sleep with 
horrible dreams; and sudden shrieks; pupils of the eyes dilated; 
when hydrophobia develops, delirium, biting and tearing, frothing at 
mouth. 

The first thing to do if there is no abrasion of the mouth, is to suck 
the virus from the wound, or if there is no one to do this, to cauterize 
the wound with nitrate of silver or a live coal, a white hot iron, poker, 
stove lifter, flat iron; bromine, fuming nitric acid or pure carbolic 
acid may be used. Poultice the wound, and keep it open several 
weeks. If anywhere near the Pasteur Institute in New York or other 
cities, send the patient there for inoculation with the attenuated 
virus. Antitetanic serum has also been used elsewhere in cases of 
hydrophobia, but results have not been uniformly satisfactory. 

Lockjaw.— Tetanus, 

Tetanus is now known to be a germ disease, scientists having 
isolated a specific organism which occurs in the earth, and sometimes 
in putrefying fluids and manure. In rare cases lockjaw results from 
exposure to cold or sleeping on cold, damp ground; commonly, how¬ 
ever, it follows a punctured or bruised wound of the hands or feet, 
sometimes a very trifling injury. The symptoms usually appear 
within two weeks. The virus of tetanus is perhaps the most viru¬ 
lent poison known; it is produced by the bacillus or germ already 
mentioned, the bacillus forming at the site of the wound, but the 
poison developing in the blood and organs of the body. Even babies 


LOCKJAW. 


873 


may contract tetanus, and these cases are nearly always fatal. The 
mortality is always very high whatever the age, and when death 
ensues it usually takes place in from three to seven days from respira¬ 
tory spasm, heart-failure, or exhaustion from the long-continued 
spasm. Considerable time elapsing between receiving the wound and 
the development of lockjaw, absence of fever, spasms confined to the 
neck and jaw are favorable indications, also lessening of the number 
of spasms and increased ability to sleep. Consult page 210 for a 
description of the symptoms. Tetanus is more common in hot than 
in temperate climates, and in males than in females. 

Belladonna.— Stiffness of the jaws with convulsive movements, 
grinding of teeth; dilated pupils; foaming at mouth; difficult swal¬ 
lowing; shooting pains; staring eyes; spasmodic breathing; restless¬ 
ness; involuntary discharge from bowels and bladder; sleeplessness; 
congestion of the head and spine. 

Aconite.— Rigidity of the lower jaw; face covered with cold sweat; 
stiffness of the limbs; head and neck bent backward; more or less 
fever; numbness and tingling. Tetanus following exposure to cold, 
or cold and a wound. 

Strychnia.— ^This is an important remedy, an(^ its keynote is 
intermittent spasms excited by the slightest touch, noise or motion; 
during spasm body bent backward, and respiration much disturbed; 
stiffness of limbs; muscles very hard; patient fully conscious during 
spasm. 

Hydrocyanic Acid.— With this remedy the spasms are more per¬ 
sistent; there is bloating of the face and neck; eyes protrude and 
glisten; body bent forward or backward; pulse irregular. 

Cicuta Virosa.— Especially in tetanus following injuries to the 
head or face. Rigidity of the lower jaw; spasms of the wind-pipe; 
deadly paleness of the face; eyes fixed; foaming at the mouth; body 
bent backward; whitish ulcers on the border of the tongue. 

A dose of the first decimal (1 x) of the indicated remedy should be 
given every half-hour or hour according to the condition of the patient. 
Absolute quiet in a darkened room is essential; the nurse should 
wear felt slippers; allow no draught or cold air to strike the sufferer. 
Give abundant nourishment, milk, raw eggs beaten up, and egg-noggs 
through a quill if the jaws are rigid or a soft catheter run up through 
the nose and down into the throat, or a stomach tube. Rectal in¬ 
jections of liquid food may be necessary, and should be given every 
four hours. Warm baths and hot packs aid in relaxing the spasms. 
Treatment must be begun at the earliest possible moment. A wound 
must be thoroughly cleansed with hydrogen dioxide, if possible, then 
cauterized with nitrate of silver or nitric acid, and drained if necessary. 
A hot iron, live coal or even a lighted cigar may be used as a cautery. 


874 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


Modern science has produced an antitoxin serum from the blood of an 
animal which has had the disease. This serum has proved valuable 
in treating many cases of lack jaw. All important dealers in drugs 
have this serum for sale; Behring’s and Park, Davis & Co.’s are among 
the most reliable preparations. 

Epilepsy .—Epileptic Fits. 

This disease is termed the ^‘falling sickness,” as without warning 
the patient loses consciousness, and falls insensible, with convulsive 
motion of the limbs, distortion of the muscles of the face, frothing 
at the mouth. Sometimes the mouth, lips and jaws are spasmodi¬ 
cally closed, the hands clinched, and there is a general rigidity of the 
muscles of the entire body. After a time this rigidity passes off, and 
all the muscles become relaxed; the patient then appears to be in a 
deep slumber, and remains so for a longer or shorter period, exhibit¬ 
ing weakness on awakening, but no recollection of what has occurred. 
Epileptics from birth or cases of long standing are rarely cured, but 
the frequency of the attacks can often be lessened, and the general 
health greatly improved. This is a discouraging disease to treat, 
and whatever treatment is adopted must be persevered in for months 
and even years., Many fits, so-called, are not epileptic but epileptoid, 
that is, resembling epilepsy. Read the sections on Hysteria” and 

Worms.” 

Belladonna.— In recent cases, especially in the very young, with 
much congestion of the head, and peevishness; excitability and 
vertigo between the attacks; jerking and starting in sleep. 

Cyprum.— ^Trembling, tottering and falling unconscious without 
a cry; frothing from the mouth; violent convulsions occurring at 
night; pain in the head and often nausea between and after attacks. 

Calcarea Carb— Attacks followed by headache, dizziness, consider¬ 
able thirst, vomiting, diarrhoea. During the intervals the sufferer is 
stupid, peevish, complains of headache before breakfast; face pale and 
puffed; perspiration, especially of the head and palms of the hands; 
feet cold and damp. A valuable constitutional remedy. 

Indigo.— A prominent and very successful specialist in nervous 
diseases in Boston writes, {North American Journal oj Homoeopathy, 
November, 1899), ‘T have now been trying Indigo in nearly all my cases 
of epilepsy for the past twelve years, and the percentage of actual 
cures has been so very much greater than from the Bromides that I 
still continue to employ it, with ten per cent, of apparent cures, i. e., 
patients who do not have an attack for over two years. 

Also Opium when the convulsions occur only during sleep. Hydro¬ 
cyanic Acid in recent cases with the frequent paroxysms, the jaws 
set, head thrown back, body stiffened, face flushed, foaming at the 


HYSTERIA. 


875 


mouth; give five drops of the third decimal, (3 x), four times a day. 

The Bromide of Potassium or Sodium is used by physicians of all 
schools of practice, but is best administered imder a doctor’s in¬ 
struction. 

Select the remedy with care and give a dose three times a day for 
three or four weeks at a time, then omit for a fortnight and again 
administer. In all cases much attention must be paid to the general 
health. No tea, coffee, alcohol, rich, spiced, or fried foods must be 
taken; meats should be used very sparingly; celery, lettuce and 
water cress, fresh fruits and vegetables are to be chosen, and stale 
whole wheat or graham bread. Water should be drunk freely, baths 
taken daily; days should be spent in light labor or exercise and rest 
out of doors; all excitement, dancing and swinging avoided; the 
bowels kept regulated; malt and cod liver oil or iron used to improve 
nutrition; good ventilation secured in the house; all sexual inter¬ 
course forbidden. If there is any tendency to masturbation, cir¬ 
cumcision should be performed; hemorrhoids or piles must be re¬ 
moved. 

Hysteria. 

While the causes of hysteria are innumerable, stress should be 
laid upon the truth that a large proportion of cases are the result of 
an exceedingly nervous temperament and lack of proper education 
in self-control. For such conditions parents are directly responsible. 
A child has a right to be well born, and will not be if parents indulge 
in sexual excesses, live lives of social or other excitement, if tobacco, 
stimulants or drugs are used in excess, or if attempts are made to 
prevent conception. A child should be carefully taught self-control, 
and not have every whim gratified or every wish deferred to. 

Other prominent causes of the development of hysteria are local 
irritations, uterine or rectal; defective nutrition; fright, grief, domes¬ 
tic worry or other excessive strain on the nervous system; too much 
mental application at puberty, but in many cases equally due to a 
child’s drinking tea and coffee, sitting up late and having too little 
out-door life, and too much excitement. For the symptoms of this 
affection see page 441. 

Ignatia. —Attack preceded by sensation of a lump in the throat; 
during the attack, alternate crying and laughing, flushing and pallor; 
convulsive movements of arms and legs; screaming; clinching of 
hands; profuse, pale urine. A dose every fifteen minutes during the 
attack. 

IToschus, 3x.— Great anxiety; palpitation of the heart; tendency 
to fainting; suffocation; feeling of a lump in the throat, and constric¬ 
tion of chest; alternate laughing and crying; copious flow of pale 
urine. Give as directed under Ignatia, 


876 HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 

Pulsatilla.— Hysteria, in mild, sensitive, tearful women, with 
menses suppressed, delayed or scanty; patient cries apparently 
without cause. A dose every half hour or hour. 

Qelsemium, lx, an excellent remedy for acute cases of pure hy¬ 
steria, especially when resulting from, or connected with, a sudden 
stoppage of the monthly flow from cold or fright, or when occurring 
in highly sensitive organizations. 

Asafelida in from one-tenth of a grain to five grain doses will some" 
times give wonderfully good results in controlling hysterical out" 
breaks, spasms or general muscular tension. 

Also the tincture of Passiflora in twenty drop to two teaspoonful 
doses is most helpful in cases where sleeplessness is a marked feature. 

Correction of unhygienic surroundings or habits is of the greatest 
importance. The patient must avoid excitement, late hours, tight 
clothing, sexual indulgence, stimulating food and drink, should sleep 
alone on a firm mattress in a well ventilated room, should be out of 
doors several hours a day, take up light gardening, or have not too 
tiring exercise. Uterine and other diseases must receive appropriate 
treatment. A bracing mental and moral atmosphere, sane and cheer¬ 
ful, is highly desirable. Treatment by means of suggestion (hypno¬ 
tism so-called) benefits many cases, also electricity, massage, frequent 
warm baths, and a nourishing diet. During an attack loosen the 
clothing, give air, and sprinkle the face with cold water. Too much 
sympathy is harmful, but kindness with firmness is desirable. 

Neuralgia. 

Neuralgia may occur in the face, head, over the eyes, in the 

lumbar region, along the 
spine, in the ovaries, between 
the ribs or follow the course 
of the sciatic nerve. Its one 
great symptom is a darting, 
cutting or tearing pain, often 
very severe. The principal 
predisposing causes in most 
cases are a nervous tempera¬ 
ment, poor nutrition, over¬ 
work, and such conditions of 
the blood as accompany gout, 
rheumatism, malaria and 
some diseases of the kidneys. 

Decayed teeth or crowding 
of the teeth may be a cause 
of facial neuralgia in its sever¬ 
est form known as tic dolor- 





SCIATICA. 


877 


eaux, or pressure on a nerve from a bony growth, exposure to 
cold or wet, also excessive excitement or emotion. 

Aconite.— Neuralgia after exposure to dry cold; face red and hot; 
pains very severe, lancinating, pulsating, and almost unbearable at 
night; great restlessness. 

Belladonna.— This remedy resembles Aconite in many of its symp¬ 
toms, but there is very marked sensitiveness to the slightest jar; 
the attacks come on with great suddenness, causing flushing of the 
face and throbbing pains, worse toward midnight; much mental 
irritability. 

Colocynth.— Neuralgia from exposure to damp cold in gouty per¬ 
sons; tearing, drawing pains, much worse from moving muscles of 
face; better from warmth and rest; heat, redness and swelling. 

Spigelia.— Jerking, tearing, or pulsating pain in the face, some¬ 
times periodical, with feeling of anxiety in the heart and great rest¬ 
lessness; worse from motion and touch. Adapted to acute cases. 

Arsenicum.— Purely nervous cases suffering from malaria, influ¬ 
enza or great debility; burning, agonizing pain, much worse toward 
night, with great restlessness and anguish; easier while moving about. 

Cimicifuga.— Reflex neuralgia from diseases of the uterus or 
ovaries, or of rheumatic origin; sharp, lancinating pains over the 
eye or between the ribs, better at night; much mental depression. 

Iris Versicolor.— Neuralgicsick headache involving the temples and 
eyes; sharp, shooting, cutting pains beginning in the morning and 
lasting for hours, causing burning in stomach, nausea and vomiting. 

Paint the course of the nerve with the mother tincture of aconite 
or belladonna, or apply chloroform liniment, or cocaine. Counter 
irritation, even the actual cautery may be required. Either hot or 
cold application may give relief; regular gymnastic and breathing 
exercises are of value, also frequent treatments with electricity; 
change of air; nourishing, digestible food; baths with friction; mas¬ 
sage, and rest from overwork. Defective teeth should be filled or 
removed. 

In intercostal neuralgia, i. e., between the ribs, where breathing 
is painful, a broad strip of cotton cloth may be drawn tightly about 
the chest and fastened, so that motion may be limited. 

Sciatica. 

Although sciatica is a true neuralgia it is thought of by most 
people as a distinct disease, and therefore is given this separate 
section. The pain follqws the course of the sciatic nerve, extending 
from the hip to the leg and foot, and may even be felt in the inner 


878 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


side of the knee joint. Exposure to cold and excessive physical 
exertion are prominent causes; gout, muscular rheumatism and the 
highly nervous temperament predispose one to it. It occurs more 
often in men than in women. The pain is very severe in acute cases, 
which should run their course in about six weeks, but may become 
chronic. 

Aconite. —Recent cases, especially if accompanied by fever; great 
restlessness; severe, shooting pains darting from hip to ankle. 

Arsenicum. —A most important remedy, especially in chronic 
cases; attacks occurring about once in so often; burning pains, with 
anguish and great restlessness. 

Rhus Tox. —Sciatica alone, or associated with rheumatism, from 
exposure to wet, from straining or lifting; worse in damp weather, 
and from lying quiet; numbness, stiffness and crawling sensations. 

Refer also to the remedies under Neuralgia,” especially Colocynih 
and Belladonna. In young, very nervous persons Chamomilla has been 
used with success when the pains are drawing, tearing and intolerable, 
with a sensation as if almost paralyzed. 

Sufferers from sciatica should stay in bed or in the house with the 
affected leg at rest, and as nearly immovable as possible; air cushions 
may be used; hot water bags give some relief; hot mineral mud 
baths are recommended, also electricity, flannels wrung out in hot 
water, gentle massage in cases that can bear it. Acupuncture, t. e., 
the running of a needle into the most painful spot about two inches, 
and leaving it there fifteen or twenty minutes is often resorted to. 
Good results are obtained by applying antiphlogistine along the 
course of the nerve. Nerve-stretching is also another approved 
method of treatment, and even a cutting out of a portion of the 
nerve. 

Nervous Prostration.— Neurasthenia. 

Neurasthenia is a condition of weakness or exhaustion of the 
nervous system, causing various forms of mental or bodily inefficiency. 
The inheritance of a defective nervous organization predisposes to it, 
but the exciting causes are many, and are serious because our present 
manner of living at high pressure, demanding the most rapid forms 
of transit, the luxuries of life, the maximum of display and excite¬ 
ment has a tendency to multiply the number of cases of nervous ex¬ 
haustion, and even the number of the insane. One of the most 
common causes of neurasthenia is worry and anxiety dependent upon 
competition in business, and mental strain. Neurasthenia may 
follow influenza, typhoid fever and syphilis; the use of cocaine, 
alcohol, tobacco, sexual excesses, grief, disappointments, and re¬ 
ligious emotion. 


NERVOUS PROSTRATION. 


879 


The chief symptoms are inability to concentrate the mind; low 
spirits; sleeplessness, disturbed sleep, or drowsiness; great annoy¬ 
ance over trifles, the ^‘irritable humor,” sensation of pain in some 
special region of the body; pressure in the head; disturbances of 
vision; acuteness of thought, or absence and dullness of mind; 
flushes of heat and disorders of digestion. 

Picric Acid.— Headache, generally in the forehead or back of the 
head, brought on or aggravated by the least mental effort; speedy 
exhaustion from least exertion; great chilliness, followed by cold, 
clammy sweat; patient feels ^Hired all over.” 

Phosphoric Acid.— This remedy has more irritability with the 
weakness than Picric Acid; the sufferer is highly sensitive to noise, 
odors, changes of temperature; exhaustion from over-work; loss of 
sexual power; emissions; confusion of thought; head heavy; back 
and legs weak; night sweats. 

Siiicea.— Nervous exhaustion with dread of any exertion of mind 
or body, but when once warmed up to his work the patient does very 
well. There is numbness in the fingers and back, and constipation. 

Zinc Phosphide.— Brain fag of busine^ men who grow haggard, 
pale, sleepless, and suffer from depression of spirits and worry; back¬ 
ache, and burning along the spine; crawling sensations in the legs; 
all symptoms worse from wine. 

Ignatia.— Sleeplessness; apprehension; poor memory; trifling 
causes provoke weeping; loss of appetite; sense of repletion after 
but a mouthful of food: palpitation; coldness of the extremities; 
loss of sexual desire. 

The general treatment must be adapted to each individual case. 
The ^‘rest cure” of late years has created great enthusiasm, and 
patients have been kept in bed and hardly allowed to move, certainly 
not to wash their face or brush their teeth. Jn a modified form this 
treatment is excellent for patients exhausted by over-work, noise, con¬ 
fusion; by being ^Hushed to death.” Other cases require change of 
scene and occupation; the man who works with his head, work he 
can do with his hands like carpentering, gardening and the like. 
Some are benefited by an ocean voyage; dwellers in the country 
confined to a limited routine may require the mild excitement of city 
life. Rest in the shape of lying down after meals, or lounging about 
for an hour or so is very beneficial, also early retiring at night, as 
much nourishment as can be assimilated, especially in the form of 
raw eggs, custards, milk, buttermilk, cream and butter; fat meats in 
small quantities at a time; bacon, lamb and chicken; chocolate and 
cocoa, but no tea or coffee. Massage is indicated in almost every 
case, and freedom from care and worry in every instance. Treatment 
by electricity may be indicated. The section on ^‘Hydro-Therapy'' 
should be read with care as baths and spinal douches are most help- 


880 


HOMOEOPATHIC TREATMENT OP DISEASES. 


ful. Many cases of nervous prostration recover with far greater 
rapidity among strangers, as in a sanitarium, than at home. 

St. Vitus’s Dance.— Chorea. 

Chorea occurs most commonly between the ages of six and six¬ 
teen, and more often in girls and young women than in boys or 
men. Rheumatism, fright or other mental shock, too much school 
work, masturbation, worms, affections of the organs of generation, 
spinal irritation, or irritation or debility of the nervous system as a 
whole, and imitation, are the principal causes. Chorea is charac¬ 
terized by often wholly uncontrollable twitching and jerking of the 
muscles of the head, face, arms and legs; sometimes one, sometimes 
both sides of the body being affected. There may be pain in the head 
and limbs, stammering, digestive disturbances, and night terrors. A 
more extended description is given on page 213. This affection 
begins, as a rule, in the hands and arms, then involves the face, and 
subsequently the legs. From eight to ten weeks is the average dura¬ 
tion of an attack of moderate severity, but cases comparatively mild 
and noticeable chiefly under excitement may persist for months. 
Recovery is the rule in children, although some chronic cases last 
years. 

Ignatia.— Chorea from fright or other excessive emotion; great 
excitability or extreme mental depression; tendency to hysteria; 
cold, emotion, noise or light aggravate all the symptoms. 

Arsenic.— Uncomplicated cases with much debility; poor appe¬ 
tite; loss in weight. Fowler’s Solution^ three drops three times a day 
for a week, increasing dose a drop at a time daily for another week, 
then gradually decreasing in same manner. 

Cimicifuga.— Rheumatic cases, and girls at puberty with neuralgic 
pains or pains in the muscles; headache; sleeplessness; irritability; 
depression of spirits. A dose every four hours. 

Hyoscyamus. —Severe local twitchings sometimes convulsive, 
worse after eating; disposition to laugh and perform foolish actions; 
mental dullness; lack of appetite or very variable appetite; great 
prostration. A dose every four hours. 

Cuprum. —Mild cases without marked symptoms calling for some 
other remedy; twitchings, especially in the arms; involvement of the 
muscles of the throat. Dose as above. 

Also Pulsatilla in girls at puberty who cry and laugh easily in 
alternation. Phosphoric Acid when there is great weakness and 
prostration; partial loss of voice, and some paralysis of the muscles 
of the throat; urine looks milky. Veratrum Vir. Bad cases, convul¬ 
sive movements; rapid pulse; congestive headaches. A drop of the 


STAMMERING. 


881 


tincture four times a day. Consult the section on Worms/’ page 
804. 

Every effort must be made to improve nutrition; milk, eggs, cream, 
bacon and cod liver oil must be given; rest in bed for several days 
is most desirable, and separation from other children, especially those 
similarly affected. Cheerful, quiet companionship without either 
severity or indulgence should be given the sufferer. Massage, elec¬ 
tricity, warm salt water baths, change of air and scene during 
convalescence are recommended. When chorea is due to spinal 
irritation with much sensitiveness along the spine, pounded ice in a 
towel or ice-bag may be applied for ten minutes at a time; or the 
back sprayed with ether once a day for ten minutes. 

Stammering. 

This is but another form of Chorea, affecting the organs of speech. 
Belladonna, Sulphur, Hyoscyamus, and Causticum have been employed 
against this difficulty, and with success. The training of young boys 
or girls addicted to stammering, to be deliberate in their efforts to ex¬ 
press themselves, will often accomplish more than remedies. It is re¬ 
marked that stammerers can sing, or utter any sentence in song. 
This would indicate the propriety of enjoining upon all thus affected 
to practice slow and deliberate speech. Cuprum met. is a remedy 
that has cured many cases; and so has Ferrum, Ignatia and Belladonna. 
Employ each remedy singly; and repeat every three hours. 

Writer’s Cramp .—ScriveneFs Palsy. ' 

Telegraphers, engravers, book-keepers, copyists, musicians, paint¬ 
ers, and seamstresses are liable to this annoying affection as well as 
writers. A peculiar spasm of the muscles of the thumb, index and 
middle fingers makes the use of them difficult and painful. The 
disease is more common in men than in women, and in middle life. 
There are several varieties of writer’s cramp, the spasmodic, which 
is the most common; the neuralgic; the tremulous, and the paralytic. 
Treatment should not be deferred, as chronic cases are difficult to 
cure, and often incurable. 

Arnica.— Especially in spasm due to fatigue and over-exertion. 
A dose three times a day. 

Qelsemium.— Weakness and loss of muscular power, fatigue after 
slight exertion; numbness of the hand or aching of the muscles. 
Give as above. 

Entire cessation of the employment causing the cramp is necessary. 
Galvanism and massage are the best forms of treatment. For slight 
cramp rub the hand with spirits of camphor. Use a large pencil or 
penholder. Improve the general health by an outdoor life; simple, 
nourishing food; the avoidance of excitement, and use of stimulants. 


882 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


Cramps in the Legs. 

The nervous, involuntary, strong contractions of the muscles of 
the feet or legs, which constitute cramps, often occasion much pain. 
They are due, as a rule, to cold, over-exertion, pregnancy, and some¬ 
times to indigestion, and occur mostly at night. 

Cuprum.— Nervous contractions of muscles upon going to bed. A 
dose night and morning. 

Nux Vom.— Cramps accompanying indigestion, more or less numb¬ 
ness in the legs as if they would ^‘go to sleep.” A dose three times 
a day. 

Veratrum Alb. —Cramps in the legs during pregnancy or from cold, 
with sensation of weakness and inability to walk. A dose night and 
morning. 

Arnica. —Muscular contractions from fatigue. A dose every two 
hours. 

Pressing the foot firmly against the floor or wall, or holding it 
tightly may give relief, also rubbing the legs with spirits of camphor 
or equal parts of warm olive oil and chloroform. Rub the legs often 
and keep them warm and dry. Avoid all exposure to cold and damp. 

riental Derangement. 

In a work of this kind it is not possible to describe all the various 
forms of mental affections, or to give the treatment in such detail 
as to make it possible for every case to receive benefit. But even 
the briefest reference to the subject would be incomplete, without 
calling attention to the great responsibility which rests upon every 
individual to lessen in themselves and in others the possibility of the 
development of these distressing and often incurable affections. 
When it is remembered that every thought and emotion leaves an 
indelible impression upon the substance of the brain, the most deli¬ 
cate and intricate structure known; that many avoidable diseases 
react most disastrously upon the brain and important nerve centers, 
and that the tendency to insanity is transmitted from parents to 
children through generations, it must be plain to the most thoughtless 
that every person is in duty bound to aid in making any form of 
mental derangement as nearly unknown as modern conditions of 
civilization permit. 

The causes of defective mentality and insanity are largely prevent¬ 
able. That children shall grow up and end their lives in insane 
asylums it is not necessary that insanity should be in the family, 
as the phrase is. The offspring of drunkards, syphilitics or those 
who have lived licentious lives, or are confirmed users of drugs such 
as cocaine and opium, or children conceived with one or both parents 


MENTAL DERANGEMENT. 


883 


under the influence of liquor, or during lust, rage or fear, will in all 
probability exhibit some mental as well as physical stigma, may be 
mentally defective if not idiots or imbeciles, and may eventually 
become insane. From this class some of the worst criminals come, 
committing the most revolting crimes. 

The state of mind of the mother when carrying the child is of the 
greatest importance to its future welfare. 

Some of the causes during the life of the individual predisposing 
to some form of insanity are: Defective nutrition; injuries to the 
brain; the cramming system in schools; masturbation; dissipation; 
sexual excesses; disappointment of natural ambition, or, cn the other 
hand, limitless ambition allowed to interfere with normal, healthy 
living. 

All attempts to care for the mentally deranged must include gen¬ 
eral treatment. No drugs will take the place of the many other 
agencies now used by all qualified practitioners of medicine. It is 
thought wise to place these instructions here, that whatever the kind 
or degree of derangement in a given case the reader may have to 
deal with, he may first avail himself of these suggestions. 

A distinguished alienist of Johns Hopkins University has said and 
most truly: ^‘The first requisite in the treatment of any case of ordi¬ 
nary insanity is a good nurse; the second, a good cook; and the third, 
good air with pleasant surroundings.Patients that are quiet and 
harmless can be treated at home, and many other cases if competent 
nurses can be procured to attend them night and day. All cases 
require a quiet, kind manner, fearlessness and self control in the 
attendant; gentle discipline, and a watchfulness not too obvious. 
Nutrition is of great importance; eggs and milk are the best 
foods, and are generally well borne in the form of egg-noggs, when 
there is no organic disease of the brain, or egg and milk, raw eggs, 
soft custard, plain milk warmed for patients having little vitality; 
often ten or a dozen eggs, and several quarts of milk can be taken 
in the twenty-four hours, all depends on the digestion. Other valu¬ 
able foods are chicken, clam, oyster and other broths, but not an 
excess of meat soups; gruels of rice, barley, oatmeal and other cereals, 
and vegetable soups, especially celery and bean soup; vegetables, 
especially lettuce and spinach, and fresh fruits if they agree. Patients 
may have to be fed by nourishing rectal injections, or food given in 
small quantities by means of an ordinary soft bulb syringe through 
a soft rubber tube passed into the nose and beyond to the stomach. 
During convalescence the nervous and excitable patient will be bene¬ 
fited by the use of cream, butter, salad oil and cod liver oil. Lamb, 
fowls and sweet breads are the best meats. Encourage the patient 
to drink a great deal of water. Rest in bed is of great service to 
patients much debilitated or exhausted. Warm sponge and tub baths 
are beneficial, the latter followed by the use of cooler water and fric¬ 
tion, also rubbings with cocoanut oil, ninety-five parts and hyperi- 


884 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


cum tincture five parts. Next to rest comes amusement and not 
exhausting exercise; gardening can be recommended, also music, 
dominoes, billiards. The use of well chosen music as a healing agent 
is now receiving much recognition. 

When restraint is required in an excitable case it should be as mild 
as is consistent with effectiveness. If a patient in bed insists on 
getting up and is not violent, put him gently back again, encourag¬ 
ing him to remain there and acting as if you expect he will. It is 
really surprising what an effect such treatment often exerts when 
pursued by an attendant fully master of the situation. If necessary 
a wide band of cotton cloth may be secured about the upper part 
of the body, and a strip of cloth on each side fastened to the bed rail. 
A ^‘protective sheet” so-called, is applied in addition to the body 
bandage, and leaves only the head and neck exposed; fasten the ends 
and sides to the bed rails by tapes sewn to the sheet. Canvas mittens 
padded with cotton or cotton batting will keep a patient from injur¬ 
ing himself or tearing his clothes, etc. A very violent patient can be 
rolled up from neck to heel in sheets, being then as harmless as an 
Indian papoose. Never show fear of an insane person, and never 
trust one. 

Melancholia, 

Excessive gloom, despondency and apprehension are the principal 
characteristics of melancholia, also a concentration of the patient’s 
thoughts upon himself. Although this disease is not peculiar to 
either sex, women are more subject to it than men, especially at the 
change of life. Poor nutrition associated with business reverses, 
grief, worry, actual want, severe disappointments and hereditary 
tendency are the common causes. Self-abuse and any form of dissi¬ 
pation predispose to melancholia. Melancholia may occur in child¬ 
birth or in nursing mothers when exhausted from prolonged lacta¬ 
tion, and may follow the grippe. Suicidal thoughts often accompany 
this affection, but in simple cases the patient’s will power is sufficiently 
strong to counterbalance them; in acute cases, however, the sufferer 
should be closely watched. Melancholia may develop into mania, or 
complete recovery may ensue. 

Nux Vom.— Slow pulse; lack of appetite; constipation; great 
depression of spirits; obstinate silence; involuntary sighing and 
moaning. 

Veratrum Alb.— Great anxiety, despondency, and despair; dis¬ 
trust of everyone; cold sweat all over body, moaning during sleep; 
frightful dreams; patient fearful and easily startled. 

Cimicifuga.— Melancholia after childbirth, with great depression, 
suspiciousness and apprehension of going crazy; disturbance of men¬ 
strual function; rheumatic pains in head and back. 


MANIA. 


885 


Also Ignatia, an important remedy in recent cases, especially from • 
sorrow or disappointments, where patient often weeps or seems full 
of suppressed grief; sighs and mopes. Pulsatilla in weak, feeble, 
tearful women, with uterine difficulties, disordered menstruation or 
leucorrhea. Arsenicum, chronic cases, with intense anxiety and 
restlessness; fear of being left alone; general debility, often emacia¬ 
tion; much dep ession; tearfulness. Natrum Mur, attacks of violent 
weeping; patient sheds tears copiously, and more the more attempts 
are made to quiet her; if contradicted she becomes irritable. 

It should be borne in mind that one of these remedies may be 
equally well indicated for melancholy and depression of spirits, when 
true melancholia has not developed, but when the general condition 
calls for medical as well as moral and hygienic treatment with a 
view to the prevention of more serious disease. 

Mania. 

The term mania is from the Greek, and means ‘A am furious.’' 
It will readily be inferred from this that the mental faculties of the 
sufferer exhibit a morbid exaltation, and increase of the imagination, 
with disordered ideas, and disturbances in the centers of the brain 
which govern motion. There is a mild form characterized chiefly by 
loquaciousness, restlessness, goings to and fro without object, slight 
incoherence, unreasonableness, and inability to perform mental work. 
This state may pass into a more typical form of exaltation, then 
frenzy, and finally a decrease in the acute and most alarming symp¬ 
toms. Both mild and typical mania are generally preceded by diges¬ 
tive disturbances, headaches, exhaustion, despondency, unrestful 
sleep or sleeplessness, followed by excitability, extravagant fancies 
and ideas, delusions such as conviction of possessing great wealth, 
positions of high honor, or the patient may have pleasant or fright¬ 
ful visions. 

Sufferers from mania often talk with great sense on many subjects; 
some cases proceed to recovery, but subsequent attacks are common, 
also the merging of mania in dementia, which is a loss of mental 
vitality, sometimes to the point of imbecility or, in the aged, dotage. 
Cases of mild mania with periodical excitability are the most common, 
and can be treated at home. Causes other than those given under 
“Mental Derangement,” are acute diseases, such as pneumonia and 
typhoid fever; starvation; organic diseases of the brain; epilepsy; 
religious excitement. 

Aconite. —^Acute mania attended with fear, despondency and ap¬ 
prehensions of future calamity; anxious lamentations, with heat of 
the face and head, palpitation of the heart, and coldness of the ex¬ 
tremities; fear of death. 


886 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


Belladonna.— Hot, flushed face; dilated pupils; throbbing ar¬ 
teries; much restlessness; spasmodic attacks of rage and fury, 
biting, tearing clothes, striking anyone nearby, and again laughing, 
singing and even dancing. The Belladonna patient is aggressive and 
destructive and frequently has suicidal tendencies. 

Hyoscyamus. —Hysterical insanity in excitable, nervous women; 
religious mania; patient talkative, frequently good-natured, but may 
have savage outbursts, with obscenity and exposure of person; fears 
being poisoned; makes ludicrous gestures and disarranges clothing. 
The use of this remedy is not confined to women. 

Stramonium.— Furious outbursts; incessant, incoherent talk; 
patient tries to escape; has horrible visions; bites, scratches and 
screams; is in great fear from his imaginings; has fits of wild laugh¬ 
ter, and for days may seem quite busy and cheerful with his own 
fancies; religious mania. 

Tarantula.— Cunning, crafty, mischievous patients, subject to 
sudden fits of destructiveness, will then laugh and apologize, but 
must be constantly watched. 

Nux Vom.— A valuable remedy in subacute mania, where the 
patient is suspicious, and thinks he is persecuted or wronged; is 
obstinate, cross; even ugly; often morose and taciturn; wants to 
die because life seems insupportable. 

Veratrum Alb.— Much physical as well as nervous prostration; 
wild vagaries; religious excitement, persistent raging with attempts 
to cut and tear clothing; weeping, howling and screaming over fancied 
misfortunes, then almost collapse of body and mind; weakness of 
heart’s action; coldness of skin; conviction of being damned. 

Other valuable remedies are Cantharis with many of the Belladonna 
symptoms, but, in addition, great sexual excitement with imperative 
desire for gratification. Opium when the patient’s face is distorted 
during furious rage; head and face swollen; eyes protrude; lips 
bluish-red; rage followed by dullness and stupor. Cuprum in in¬ 
sanity characterized by full, quick pulse; redness of the eyes; wild 
looks, incoherent speech and rage, paroxysms terminating with pro¬ 
fuse perspiration. Rhus Tox. in acute cases having a rheumatic his¬ 
tory, and where the patient is extremely restless at night; fears he 
is being poisoned; has suicidal tendencies. Arsenicum, also, has a 
disposition to commit suicide and the patient is restless, agitated, 
indifferent to life; the countenance is haggard and anxious, the 
tongue red, dry and tremulous. Ignatia is peculiarly adapted to the 
hysterical form of insanity with the symptoms given under ^^mel¬ 
ancholia.” 

Pulsatilla has fear of death and silent anguish, a weeping mood 
and great depression of spirits, yet with a disposition to commit 


DEMENTIA. 


8S7 


suicide. The Aurum patient thinks he was not intended for this 
world but fears he is irretrievably lost as regards the next; is very 
melancholy, thirsty; has cramps in the stomach and bowels, and 
wants to commit suicide. 

In summing up these remedies the suggestion may be offered that 
in cases of Religious mania one should think of hyoscyamus, stra¬ 
monium, veratrum alb., and aurum; in Suicidal mania of belladonna, 
arsenicum, aurum, nux vom., and rhus tox.; in Hysterical mania, of 
ignatia and pulsatilla; in Mania with Fury of belladonna, hyoscya¬ 
mus, stramonium, cuprum, opium and veratrum alb., and that in 
aconite the great symptom is fear, and in cantharis, sexual excitement. 

Dementia* 

Dementia is a term denoting a partial or total loss of the mental 
faculties; in the latter case it resembles idiocy. Dementia may 
occur independently of any other form of insanity, or may follow 
melancholia or mania; it may be acute or chronic, but the latter 
is the common form. Recovery seldom takes place. The section on 

Dementia,’' page 221, should be read, as it gives a short description 
of the symptoms of this disease. The general treatment under 
^‘Mental Derangement” must be followed in these cases. Masturba¬ 
tion and epilepsy are common causes of dementia, also the prolonged 
use of alcohol and degenerative changes in old age. The treatment 
of dementia with masturbation must include local treatment when 
necessary, circumcision and great cleanliness of the parts, also moral, 
medical, dietetic and hygienic measures. 

Anacardium.— Great weakness and loss of memory; irresistible 
desire to curse and swear; hears voices and smells odors not present; 
great Sieepiness during the day. 

Phosphoric Acid.— Absolute indifference to surroundings; disin¬ 
clination to talk, with confusion of mind and dullness of brain; weak¬ 
ness in back and limbs; loss of memory; flow of urine very profuse. 
Dementia due to masturbation or from sexual excesses. 

Silicea.— Epileptic dementia in scrofulous children, with constant 
headache and sensitiveness of the spine; jerkings of the limbs during 
sleep; constipation; the body poorly developed. 

Picric Acid.— Sexual excitement and masturbation; weakness of 
the back and legs; severe pain in back and back of head; burning 
along the spine; patient easily prostrated. 

Hypochondria. 

While hypochondria resembles melancholia and sometimes hys¬ 
teria, in its true form it is a distinct disease which may be defined 


888 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


as “ mental depression, without adequate cause; and taking the shape, 
either from the very first or very soon, of a conviction in the patient’s 
mind that he is the victim of serious bodily disease.” All his thoughts 
are centered on himself. A good description of this disease is given 
on page 224. An inherited predisposition is a frequent remote cause 
of this condition, and favors its development in persons of dissipated 
habits, given to intemperance, sexual excesses, masturbation, over¬ 
eating, or other vices; or persons suffering from great anxiety or 
severe mental shock. 

Nux Vom.— A remedy always to be thought of in hypochondria 
in those of sedentary habits, exercising but little, using the head a 
great deal, over-eating or drinking, indulging in rich or highly spiced 
food, easily irritated, troubled with flatulence and constipation. 

Staphysagria.— Hypochondria due to masturbation, patient 
moody and taciturn, full of anxious imaginings about his health, etc., 
has many queer notions; or the memory is weak, the mind confused, 
the urine deep red or yellow; seminal emissions. 

Stannum.— Constant weak, weary feeling of mind and body, 
although the patient feels better from walking about; has many ail¬ 
ments and exaggerates them all; constipation; pain in the abdomen; 
night sweats. 

Aurum.— Especially serviceable in men; extreme melancholy, 
sullenness and disinclination to speak; peevishness; vertigo; dwells 
on religious subjects. 

Arsenicum — Burning pains in stomach; great depression; in¬ 
tense anxiety and concern about bodily condition; sleeplessness or 
sleep disturbed by bad dreams; exhaustion; poor nutrition. 

Also Asafetida in hypochondria with flatulence, torpor of the liver, 
indigestion, constipation, loose cough and great depression of spirits. 
China when the patient has a fixed idea he is unhappy and perse¬ 
cuted; is stubborn and unreasonable; digestion slow; may have 
watery diarrhoea; throbbing headache with ringing in ears; after 
sexua[ abuse. Any of the above remedies may be given three times 
a day. 


Imbecility. 

Children may be born imbeciles, or develop imbecility after birth. 
With care and patience many of these poor unfortunates may be 
greatly improved both mentally and physically. The intermarriage 
of those nearly related to each other, and alcoholism, epilepsy or 
syphilis, in one or both parents accounts for many born imbeciles. 
Injuries to the child’s head at birth, a blow or fall afterwards, imper¬ 
fect nutrition, drugging with soothing syrups, infectious fevers, 


IMBECILITY. 


889 


masturbation, fear and fright, and organic diseases of the brain are 
causes of defective mentality. Male children are more prone to be 
feeble-minded than female. The development of the brain and its 
functional powers is incomplete. Children thus afflicted may be 
thought blind or deaf in infancy when they are simply incapable of 
responding to the usual stimulation of light, noise, and color; but 
sometimes, on the other hand, children whose eyesight is defective, 
are thought to be feeble-minded when they are not. Imbeciles are 
generally vain, irritable, mischievous, hard to control, sometimes 
destructive, cannot fix their attention on one thing, may have diffi¬ 
culty in walking or in speaking distinctly, and exhibit many bad 
habits. 

If imbecility is the result of epilepsy, refer to the remedies'mentioned 
under that subject. When the only indication is the feeble, unde¬ 
veloped mind Zinc Phos. is recommended three or four times a day, 
and its use continued for months. Phosphorus is a remedy well 
indicated when there is apathy, indifference, stupidity, indisposition 
to any exertion, mental or physical; slowness of comprehension. 
Imbecility with great nervousness and masturbation, or softening of 
the brain. Sulphur as a constitutional remedy for the mentally 
defective when dirty and untidy in all their habits; irritable; selfish; 
depressed; poor sleepers at night, drowsy during day; sensitive to 
cold water and cold air. Give a dose every morning and one of 
Nux Vom. at night when with some or many of the above symptoms 
the patient is constipated, has indigestion and masturbates. Arseni¬ 
cum for poorly nourished patients given to sexual excesses; sleepless 
or starting in sleep; restless and fearful when awake; for those who 
have had epilepsy or diseases lessening vitality. 

A dose of the indicated remedy may be given three times a day 
unless otherwise specified. Modern methods followed by qualified 
practitioners of the leading schools of practice, in dealing with the 
mentally deficient, include personal care and teaching by attendants 
of a superior class and, if possible, by those specially trained in this 
work. There are now admirable homes and institutions, private as 
well as public, where this class of cases receive judicious instruction 
adapted to the individual; by this is meant modified mental trainings 
manual training, systematic exercise out of doors and in the gym¬ 
nasium, baths, electricity, massage, wise supervision of morals and 
personal habits, and patient and persevering guidance. Under such 
treatment surprising progress is often made in apparently hopeless 
or most discouraging cases, and the lives of these unfortunates so 
often bearing the sins of their fathers, made infinitely brighter and 
happier. 


890 


HOMCEOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 


LI5T OF REMEDIES. 


Aconite. 

Arthusa. 

Agaricine.* 

Agaricus. 

Aloes. 

Alumina.* 

Anacardium.* 

Antimonium Crudum.* 
Antimonium Tartaricum.* 

Apis Mellifica. 

Apocynum Cannabinum. 
Apomorphia. 

Argentum Metallicum.* 

Arnica. 

Arsenicum Album. 

Arsenicum lodatum.* 

Asafoetida. 

Aurum.* 

Baptisia. 

Baryta Carbonica.* 

Belladonna. 

Berberis. 

Boracic Acid or Borax. 

Bromine. 

Bryonia. 

Calcarea Carbonica.* 

Calcarea lodata.* 

Cannabis Sativa. 

Camphor. 

Carbo Animalis.* 

Car bo Vegetalis.* 

Causticum. 

Remedies that are starred should 
or tablets. 


Chamomilla. 

Chelidonium. 

Chenopodium. 

Chimaphilla. 

China. 

Cicuta Virosa. 

Cimicifuga. 

Cina. 

Clematis. 

Cocculus. 

Collinsonia. 

Coffea. 

Colocynthis. 

Conium. 

Copaiva. 

Crotalus. 


Dulcamara. 

Erigeron. 

Eupatorium Perfoliatum. 
Euphrasia. 

Ferrum Macriaticum. 

Ferrum Phosphoricum.* 

Fluoric Acid. 

Gelsemium. 

Glonoine. 

Graphites.* 

Hamamelis. 

be purchased in the form of triturations 


Croton Tiglium. 
Cuprum Arsenicosum.* 
Cuprum Metalicum.* 
Digitalis. 

Drosera. 



891 


LIST OF REMEDIES. 


Hepar Sulphuris.* 

Hydrastis. 

Hydrobromic Acid. 

Hydrocyanic Acid. 

Hyoscyamus. 

Hypericum. 

Ignatia. 

Indigo.* 

Iodide of Antimony.* 

Iodine. 

Ipecacuanha. 

Iris Versicolor. 

Kali Bichromicum.* 

Kali lodatum.* 

Kali Muriaticum.* 

Lachesis. 

Lycopodium. 

Manganum.* 

Magnesia Phosphorica.* 
Mercurius Corrosivus.* 

Mercurius lodatus.* 

Mercurius Solubilis.* 

Mercurius Vivus.* 

Mezereum. 

Millefolium. 

Moschus.* 

Muriatic Acid. 

Natrum Muriaticum.* 

Nitric Acid. 

Nux Vomica. 

Opium. 

Pareira Brava. 

Remedies that are starred should 
or tablets. 


Passiflora. 

Petroleum. 

Phosphorus. 

Picric Acid. 

Pilocarpine. 

Plantago. 

Plumbum. 

Podophyllum.* 

Pulsatilla. 

Rhus Toxicodendron. 

Sanguinaria Canadensis. 

Santonine. 

Scutellaria. 

Sepia.* 

Silicea.* 

Spigelia. 

Stannum.* 

Stannum lodatum.* 

Staphysagria. 

Stramonium. 

Strychnia.* 

Sulphur. 

Tarantula. 

Tartar Emetic.* 

Tellurium.* 

Teucrim. 

Terebinthina or Turpentine. 

Thuja. 

Urtica Urens. 

Veratrum Album. 

Veratrum Viride. 

Zinc Phosphide.* 

be purchased in the form of triturations 


892 


HOMGKOPATHIC TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 



\ 


MEDICINE CASES 


■yHE above medicines and cases can be purchased at 
any Homoeopathic Pharmacy and it is well to keep 
a supply on hand for immediate use. 







































HYDROPATHIC TREATMENT 


PROCESSES OF THE HYDROPATHIC 
TREATMENT. 


For the description of the hydropathic appliances contained in the 
following pages, I am indebted, in substance, to the “ Hydropathic 
Family Physician,” by Joel Shew, M. D., author of several popular 
works upon the principles and practice of hydropathy. I have not 
uniformly adopted his exact language, which is not always the best 
he might have chosen to express his thoughts. 

Priessnitz is admitted to have been the originator of the hydro¬ 
pathic modes of treating diseases. He was an unlearned man, though 
he had original powers of mind; and, imperfect as the treatment is, 
he benefited his race by conferring it upon the world. 

At first, and for some time, baths were made too cold, and were 
continued too long; the result was much injury to the patient in 
many cases. Time and experience have brought a better adaptation 
of the temperature and continuance of the water appliances to the 
symptoms, constitution, and temperament of each patient. Formerly, 
weak, exhausted, and nervous persons, not less than the full-blooded 
and strong, were put into the wet-sheet pack, and reduced near to 
death’s door; and there is reason to believe that in some cases where 
the practice is in ignorant hands, this barbarity is not wholly discon¬ 
tinued. The practice, however, is now mainly in better hands; and 
although I by no means admit its sufficiency as a system of remedial 
agencies, I am persuaded it is doing some good. Used in connection 
with the ancient system of regular medicine, which is the joint prod¬ 
uct of time, science, and experience, the water treatment, moulded 
and modified to the circumstances and strength of the patient, is an 
auxiliary of no mean power. As such, I accept it. As such, it is re¬ 
ceived by hundreds and thousands of regular practitioners through¬ 
out the world. Further than this, it never can or will be generally 
received. By pushing it beyond this, its rightful and honored sphere, 
its friends only limit its progress and injure its influence. 

Division of Baths. 

On no one subject connected with hydropathy has there been more 
‘‘confusion of tongues,” than concerning the temperature of baths 

894 



PROCESSES OF THE HYDROPATHIC TREATMENT. 


895 


Both in books and in popular language, among physicians as well as 
laymen, have words been used, sometimes confusedly, and at other 
times without any meaning whatever. Orthodox medical works, as 
well as the wworthodox, come under the same category of error. A 
few simple explanations on this head, properly made, will be sufficient 
for all practical as well as scientific purposes. 

The simplest and most natural division of baths is into cold^ tepid^ 
warm^ and hot. These are all terms of every-day life, and are fully 
sufficient to guide us in the selection of any and all the multiform 
uses of water which hydropathy teaches. I admit, however, that 
when we wish to be especially explicit, the actual thermometrical 
temperature should be mentioned. Hot baths, I maintain, have no 
proper place in hydropathic practice. He who resorts to them either 
does not at all understand the true principles of the Water-Cure, or 
is guided merely by the whims or caprices of those who employ him. 

But whatever w^ords we use to designate the different baths, there 
is one objection, which is, that all such terms are necessarily arbitrary 
in a greater or less degree. What appears to one person cold, may 
to another appear tepid, or warm, or even hot. Thus it is said that 
on a road over the Andes, at about half way between the foot and 
the summit, there is a cottage in which the ascending and descending 
travellers meet. The former, who have just quitted the sultry val¬ 
leys at the base, are so relaxed, that the sudden diminution of tem¬ 
perature produces in them a feeling of intense cold; while the latter, 
who left the frozen summit of the mountain are overcome by dis¬ 
tressing sensations of extreme heat. If on a cold winter’s morning 
we go from a warm bed to a bath of sixty to seventy degrees Fahr., 
the water appears cold. If we then plunge immediately into water 
which is at about the freezing point, and then return again to the 
water at sixty to seventy degrees Fahr., it appears warm. When the 
temperature of the atmosphere is at fifty-five degrees Fahr., in No¬ 
vember or October, in this latitude, and the body of a comfortable 
degree-of warmth, and we take three basins of water at sixty, seventy, 
and eighty degrees Fahr., placing one hand in the water at sixty de¬ 
grees, the other in that at eighty degrees, letting them remain thirty 
seconds in each, and then immerse them both in the water at seventy 
degrees, it appears to one cold^ to the other warm. 

But we can arrive at rules which approximate so nearly to the ac¬ 
tual truth, that they will serve us, as before remarked, for guides in 
all practical and scientific purposes. 

The Cold-Bath. — With a majority of persons, and at most seasons 
of the year, water at from seventy to eighty degrees Fahr. downward, 
gives, when immersed in it, a sensation of coldness. The spring- 
water of all countries furnishes what may therefore be called a cold- 
bath, although there will be a range of many degrees variation in 
what we term cold. 


896 


PROCESSES OF THE HYDROPATHIC TREATMENT. 


The Tepid Bath. — The word tepid is from the Latin tepeo^ to be 
warm. The true English meaning of the term, however, is, according 
to Mr. Webster, moderately warm,, or lukewarm; in other words, 
water which, when a person is immersed in it, gives a kind of inde¬ 
finable sensation, one which, coming properly under the term neither 
cold nor warm^ is said to be tepid. This temperature will be found 
to range at from eighty to ninety-two degrees Fahr. 

The Warm Bath. — The term warm is generally well understood. 
It means that temperature of water which is peculiarly agreeable to 
the sensations. Fresh-drawn milk or blood we say are warm. The 
temperature of water which will cause this sensation varies from 
ninety-two to ninety-eight degrees Fahr. 

The Vapor Bath. — The temperature of the vapor of simple water 
varies from about ninety degrees Fahr. upward, according to the heat 
of the water, and the space through which the vapor passes. 

The Hot Bath. — The term hot is also expressive of its proper 
meaning. If the body is immersed in water above blood-heat, it 
causes an uncomfortable sensation, which we designate as hot. Hot 
water is a disturber of the vital functions, particularly if the whole 
body is immersed in it. Hot baths, therefore, should be used, if ever, 
only in a most urgent necessity. Hot water, in no form whatever, 
entered into any part of Priessnitz’s treatment. 

Having thus explained the temperatures of the different divisions 
of the bath, it is proper to state them in a tabular form, the better to 
aid the memory. They are as follows: — 


Cold-bath, from ireezing point, . . 32 to 85® F. 

Tepid “. . ..80 to 92® 

Warm “.92 to 98® 

Vapor “.90® and upward. 

Hot “.above 98°. 


I now propose to explain somewhat minutely, and at the same time 
with a due regard to the needs of the non-professional reader, the 
physiological effects of each of the several kinds of bath, and I here 
respectfully premise that any one who attempts to practise the water 
treatment without having in his mind clear notions upon this subject 
is, to say the least, as much a ‘‘groper in the dark ” as he who attempts 
the practice of drugs of which he knows nothing, upon the living 
body of which he knows less. How can a man be trusted in water 
treatment if he cannot tell beforehand what effect a bath is to have; 
and this he cannot, if he does not fully understand the meaning of 
the terms which I have here explained. 

Effects of the Cold Bath . — The effects of the cold bath are properly 
spoken of under two heads, the primary and the secondary. The 
terms are sufficiently expressive of their meaning. The first are 
those which take place at the time of the immersion; the second, 
those that occur later, constituting what we understand by the term 
reaction. 





PROCESSES OF THE HYDROPATHIC TREATMENT. 


897 


Immediately on immersion in cold water, the bather experiences 
some acceleration of respiration and the heart’s action, although the 
pulse becomes at the same time smaller and weaker. Very soon, 
however, the panting, if I may so call it, passes off; the temperature 
of the body is found diminished, the surface paler than natural, the 
skin taking on that form of appearance known as “goose-flesh.” 

The first effect of cold water applied to the body, generally, is to 
abstract a certain amount of heat from the surface, to constringe the 
capillary vessels, and to force the blood inward. Now, as the living 
body possesses the remarkable property of maintaining its tempera¬ 
ture at very nearly the same point, whether it is in a colder or hotter 
medium than itself, the vitals at once set to work in restoring the 
caloric abstracted by the contact of the water; and as the functions 
of circulation and calorification go necessarily together, the vital 
power, acting through the heart and blood-vessels, attempts a return 
of the blood that had been forced inward by the coldness of the 
water. 

This is what we call reaction. If the individual is sufficiently 
strong and well stocked with vitality, the blood is quickly returned 
to the surface and to the extremities (which are always most liable 
to become cold, being farthest from the heart), constituting what is 
termed good, or vigorous reaction. But if the surface and extremities 
continue to remain unwarmed by this return of the blood to them, 
as happens in the case of feeble persons, there is said to be poor, or 
insufficient reaction. It would then be necessary to give some warm¬ 
ing medicine to start the blood circulating. 

Effects of the Tepid Bath. — The tepid bath, which we have seen 
ranges from eighty to ninety-two degrees Fahr., produces effects 
analogous to those of the cold bath, only not so lasting and perma¬ 
nent. It is especially useful in the treatment of infants and children, 
and in all cases where the reactive energy is feeble. If in any case 
we are in doubt as to whether the cold bath is admissible, the tepid 
form will be a milder measure, and at the same time serve as a test 
in venturing upon the cold. The tepid bath maybe continued longer 
at a time, which in some cases will be found an advantage. 

Effects of the Warm Bath. — There is, among hydropathic physi¬ 
cians, if I am not mistaken, too great a fear of warm applications on 
the part of some, while others go to the opposite extreme. Mark, I 
speak of warm applications. Hot, as before remarked, have no proper 
place in hydropathy, — a rule to which the exceptions are few. 

The warm bath, as before remarked, ranges from ninety-two to 
ninety-eight degrees Fahr. It is not the most useful of the hydro¬ 
pathic resources, but one of the most useful, as I shall endeavor here¬ 
after to show. 

Among the ancient Romans the warm bath was not considered as 
a means of luxurious indulgence that tended to weaken the vital 


898 PROCESSES OF THE HYDROPATHIC TREATMENT. 

powers, but a means of refreshment for the wearied traveller, and of 
preparing him for the repast and the enjoyment of other rites of 
hospitality. The effect of the warm bath is not one of debility, as 
many suppose, but, on the contrary, it is a sedative, lowering the 
heart’s action and the circulation, and tending to repose rather than 
excitement. 

Effects of the Hot Bath. — The hot bath, before remarked, is one 
which is above the temperature of the blood, ninety-eight degrees 
Fahr. It was laid down as a precept by Hippocrates, that a bath en¬ 
feebles when the heat exceeds that of the body immersed in it. The 
truth of this precept has often been verified in practice. 

I do not wish to be understood as affirming that hot applications 
can never be made with benefit to the body; on the contrary, heat 
applied to a part locally may be of service, although I am inclined to 
believe that even in those cases where heat acts in a beneficial way, 
some other form of hydropathic appliance can be used more bene¬ 
ficially. I make, it will be remembered, a broad distinction between 
the terms hot and warm. 


Sea»Bathing. 

As regards temperature, sea-bathing comes under the general head 
of cold baths. Sea-water, however, at those seasons of the year when 
sea-bathing is resorted to, is of a moderate degree of coldness, vary¬ 
ing in this latitude not much from seventy degrees Fahr. 

In order to appreciate fully the effects of sea-bathing upon the sys¬ 
tem, a number of things are to be considered. 

Sea-water differs in its effects from common water by its possessing 
greater density. This circumstance, however, is not of so great im¬ 
portance as that of the stimulating nature of the minerals it contains. 
The saline ingredient is a powerful stimulant and even irritant of the 
skin. On account of this property, it is found that an exposure to the 
action of salt water is not so liable to cause ill effects as that to fresh. 
The salt causing a degree of heat upon the surface somewhat higher 
than that of the natural stat6, the system is for the time shielded 
from the action of cold. It does not follow from this, however, that 
a person could live longer immersed in sea than in common water, 
any more than it follows that because alcohol for a time increases the 
animal temperature, life can, under circumstP’^ces of great exposure 
to cold, be the longer preserved. This it is now well known is not 
the case. 

An advantage of sea-bathing in the hot season is, that the air at 
the sea-shore is cooler than on land. That our climate in summer is 
too hot for the most favorable development of health is proved by 
the great increase of mortality, not only in our cities, but in other 
parts, during the hot season. The European cities, with all their 
numbers of inhabitants, dampness, narrow streets, intemperance, 


PROCESSES OF t'HE HYDROPATHIC TREATMENT. 899 

pauperism, etc., would naturally be expected to show a higher range 
of mortality than our American cities, but such is not the fact. Even 
New York, with all its natural advantages, is as sickly, probably, as 
any of the British or European cities. This, it is agreed on all 
hands, must be owing in great part to the intense heat of our summer 
months. 

The manner of taking the salt-water bath has some peculiarities 
which are favorable to health. It is, in the first place, in the open 
air, which, if the weather is favorable, that is, neither too hot nor too 
cold, is always a great advantage. Other things being equal, a bath 
in the open air is always attended with a better reaction and a greater 
degree of invigoration than one within doors. 

In the second place, sea-bathing is usually and almost necessarily 
connected with exercise both before and after the bath, circumstances 
which are always highly favorable to the action of cold water. So 
beneficial, indeed, is exercise taken in this way, that it would be dif¬ 
ficult to determine which of the two — the exercise or the bathing —- 
is the more beneficial. In connection, the two act reciprocally upon 
each other, each rendering the other doubly beneficial. 

Injections. 

The term injection implies the act of throwing a fluid into some 
cavity of the body. 

In Water-Cure we inject water more frequently into the bowels 
than any other cavity. This kind of injection is also called enema^ 
or clyster. 

Most people have so little confidence in simple water, that if a 
clyster is administered to them, thay have no idea that it can operate 
in so effectual a way as it usually does. Years ago, when the water 
treatment was much less known than at the present time, I have 
been suspected of having secretly put some cathartic substance in the 
water, “ for,” said the patients, “ how is it possible for water to act in 
this way ? ” 

A great variety of injection-instruments have been invented. Some 
of these are very convenient and useful; others are got up on mere 
speculation, and are but little worth. Every family, at least, ought 
to have a good injection-instrument. A lady’s toilet is never com¬ 
plete without it. A good article is either manufactured or sold by 
most surgical-instrument makers and druggists. 


Modus Operand! of Water. 

It is often objected to hydropathy, that water, being but one agent, 
cannot be made useful in all diseases. I propose here to make some 
remarks on the modus operandi of water^ in which I shall endeavor to 
explain, not only to the scientific scholar, but to the ordinary reader, 


900 


PROCESSES OF THE HYDROPATHIC TREATMENT. 


that water is capable of being made available as a remedy,— and 
that powerfully too, — in a great variety of ways. It then acts: — 

1. By its Presence. — Water, as we have seen elsewhere, com¬ 
poses the larger part of the living body, and that without its presence 
in a large proportion in the living system, the vital processes cannot 
for a moment go on. 

2. By its Coldness. — Cold, within proper limits, preserves and 
augments life, while heat tends to debility and decay. In proportion 
as the animal heat is diminished in the different classes of animals, 
the less is the want of air felt. If in a puppy the eighth pair of 
nerves be divided, producing a closure of the glottis so that no air 
can enter its lungs, the animal dies in half an hour, if kept at an or¬ 
dinary temperature. But if the animal is benumbed with cold it 
survives the operation for a whole day. Frogs, in the summer, when 
the temperature of water is elevated, are obliged to come often to the 
surface for air. But in winter, when the water is colder, they live 
almost entirely under its surface. A cholera patient in collapse, a 
person who has been stifled by foul gases, one in the sinking stage of 
a fever, or fainting from loss of blood, or in any way asphyxiated, 
desires always coldness rather than heat. It may not be possible in 
the present state of science to explain these phenomena; but unde¬ 
niably we have the facts. 

3. By Endosmosis and Exosmosis. — Animal membranes have the 
power of absorbing liquids, — called endosmosis^ or imbibition^ and of 
throwing them out, exosmosis^ or transudation. 

If we take a portion of the intestine of a chicken, tie one end, 
nearly fill it with milk, then tie the other end, and lastly immerse it 
in a tumbler or other vessel of pure water, we find that in a short 
time the milk passes out of the intestine into the water, and the 
water inwardly mingling with the milk. This process goes on till 
the fluid within and without the intestine becomes one and the same. 
This is a familiar illustration of the principle in question. 

4. By Dilution. — Water is the greatest diluent in nature. There 
is no substance which is at all comparable to it for penetrating the 
myriads upon myriads of capillaries that exist in all parts of the 
living structure. When the fluids become thick, viscid, and filled 
with impure matters, as is usually the case to a greater or less ex¬ 
tent, in disease, it is an important object to dilute these matters. 
For this purpose water, is the only available remedy. 

5. By its Tonic Effect. — Water is the greatest of all tonics, and 
possesses the valuable property, not of wearing out, but of increasing 
in its good effects. 

6. By its Excitant or Electrical Power. — A man feels dull and 
stupid from excessive bodily or mental labor, from excessive alimen- 


PROCESSES OF THE HYDROPATHIC TREATMENT. 


901 


tation, or spirit, or tea and coffee drinking, with the blood all crowd¬ 
ing up into his head. We apply the well-wrung rubbing wet sheet 
one, two, or three times, to his surface, according as he may need, 
and he at once perceives a most wonderful change for the better. Or 
a man feels of a morning dull and stupid, with his muscles sore; he 
has the rubbing wet sheet, the plunge, shower, or douche, and in¬ 
stantly his troubles vanish. Or he may have a lumbar abscess, which 
has run him down so low that when he wakes in the morning he finds 
he cannot walk. Two or three gallons of cold water are poured over 
him, upon which he walks readily. Now these effects of water, re¬ 
markable as they are, arise simply from its excitant or electrical 
power. 

7. By its Temperature. — In acute disease, in all fevers and in¬ 
flammations, of whatever name or grade, the great power of water to 
regulate the temperature of the body is one of the most striking of 
all the phenomena cognizable by man. By the use of cold water we 
can always vary the heat of the body and the velocity of the heart’s 
action to any desirable extent. 

8. By Purifying the Blood. —Water accomplishes one thing which 
no drug, no other substance in nature can. It purifies the blood. It 
does this because it penetrates every lane and alley of the system, 
however minute. No capillary is so delicate that it does not pene¬ 
trate its smallest possible part. It purifies the blood, because as long 
as the vital principle lasts, the tendency of nature is to preserve the 
vital fluid in a healthy state; and penetrating every tissue of the 
body as water does, it assists nature in the purifying process as no 
other substance can. 

9. By Augmenting the Vital Force. — No fact in science is better 
established than that water possesses the power of actually increas¬ 
ing the amount of vitality in the system. This is, in fact, the prime 
effect of water. It aids the system in throwing off disease in the 
same way that increasing a merchant’s capital aids him in throwing 
off debt. 

The foregoing propositions are submitted as elucidating some of 
the leading principles concerned in the action of water upon the liv¬ 
ing body. I do not claim, however, that the whole of the philosophy 
of the effects of water is yet understood by any one. Doubtless 
those who know most about it have yet much to learn. ^ 

Rules for Using Water. 

The Time of Day. — In general, the more powerful applications 
should be made in the early part of the day. At this time the calor¬ 
ific powers and the circulation are more vigorous, and, consequently, 
the body more able to resist powerful applications of whatever kind. 

The Meals. — Ordinarily, no powerful bath should be taken within 


902 


PROCESSES OF THE HYDROPATHIC TREATMENT. 


three to four hours after a meal. A full stomach and cold water do 
not at all agree. But in certain diseased conditions, as feverishness, 
inflammation, colic, cramp in the stomach, cholera morbus, and other 
sudden attacks, water appliances are to be commenced without refer¬ 
ence to hours or meals. The symptoms then are our only guide. 

The Lighter Baths.— If there is doubt as to which application to 
make, the well-wrung rubbing wet sheet, the tepid shallow bath, or a 
warm bath should first be taken. 

Reaction. —Within a reasonable time after a bath, the body in all 
its parts should become naturally warm. If the feet and hands re¬ 
main cold, and the nails and lips blue, the bath has, to say the least, 
done no good. In some cases of fevers and other inflammatory dis¬ 
eases, it is better to keep the body chilly than to allow it to become 
too warm. 

Ulceration. — If any part of the body, as the extremities, lungs, 
bowels, etc., is undergoing any considerable ulceration, very cold 
baths are inadmissible. 

Nervousness. —With some persons who are highly nervous, and 
particularly with nervous females, much cold bathing, although it 
appears to agree well, and to be the best for a time, is in the end 
harmful, rendering the nervousness and general debility worse. 

Exercise.— For the douche, plunge, cold sitz, and foot baths, and 
all others that abstract a large amount of caloric from the system, 
the body should be fully warm, and the circulation somewhat acceler¬ 
ated by exercise. Exercise should also be taken after the bath, 
until the heat and circulation are fully restored. But if exercise is 
impracticable either before or after the bath, friction should be made 
to take its place. 

Increased Heat.—Elevation of temperature constitutes no objec¬ 
tion to bathing, provided the body is not excessively fatigued. The 
reason why overheated persons sometimes lose their lives by plunging 
into or drinking largely of cold water, is, that the vital force has 
been too much exhausted. Mere heat is an advantage. 

Perspiration. —Neither does this constitute an objection to bath¬ 
ing or water-drinking, if the foregoing rules are observed. 

The Air. — Bathing in the open air is always preferable to in-doors, 
provided the extremes of heat and cold are avoided. 

The Head. —It is well always to wet the head with cold water, 
both before and after a bath. Douches and the shower should never 
be taken on this part. Simple pouring or affusion is the only mechan¬ 
ical force of water that should be allowed on the head. 

Pregnancy. — This, as abundant experience proves, forms no ob¬ 
jection to bathing, or any form of properly regulated water treat 


PROCESSES OF THE HYDROPATHIC TREATMENT. 903 

ment. Cold bathing and water-drinking are of the greatest service 
during this period. 

The Season. — If the lungs are not extensively diseased, and if 
there is no considerable ulceration going on in any part of the sys¬ 
tem, the cool and cold seasons are preferable for a course of bathing. 
With right management, a patient gains two or three times as muck 
in a given time during the cold months as he does in the hot. 

Days of Rest. — One day in seven water-treatment should be dis¬ 
continued, with the exception of a simple ablution in the morning. 
Six days’ treatment in the week is worth more than seven, because it 
is a law of nature that, if a remedy is continued steadily and without 
change, it loses much of its good effect. This is as true of water as 
of any other agent. Those who do wisely will omit the treatment 
on Sunday, whatever their religious convictions may be. 

Internal Use of Water. —The same general rules apply here as in 
the external applications. Thirst should for the most part be grati¬ 
fied whenever it is experienced. As a rule, the less water drank at 
meals the better. For the tonic effect, it is to be taken while the 
stomach is empty, and it is better that exercise should accompany it. 
From six to twelve tumblers per diem is a fair allowance for average 
patients. 

Quality of Water. — For all remedial as well as hygienic purposes 
water should be as pure and soft as can be obtained. With proper 
care and ingenuity in the construction of cisterns, filters, etc., this 
desirable end can be everywhere accomplished. Lead, and lead 
pipes, should be avoided, except where the water runs freely and 
constantly. 

The Sweating Process. — Formerly it was much in vogue to sweat 
patients in the blanket pack, but latterly the practice has quite gone 
into disrepute. For several years of the latter part of Priessnitz’s 
career he was very averse to using the process. It was a remark of 
his, that the cures by sweating were not permanent. 

Wet Bandages, Compresses, etc. 

These, as we have already seen under the head of wounds and in¬ 
juries, are of great value in water treatment. They are used of any 
desirable size, upon any part of the body, and produce different effects 
accordingly as they are used. Cooling wet compresses are such as 
are changed or rewet frequently, and for the most are left uncovered. 
The warming or stimulating are covered and left upon the part until 
it becomes as warm or warmer than natural. Warm fomentations are 
useful in certain cases, but the hot should, as a rule, be discarded. 

The wet girdle is one of the most useful of all medical appliances. 
Two and a half or three yards of good toweling, with tapes arranged 
at one end, the corners of which have been turned over and sewed so 


904 PROCESSES OF THE HYDROPATHIC TREATMENT.’ 

as to form a point, forms a good girdle. It should pass usually three 
times about the bod}^ one-half having been wet. This brings two 
thicknesses of wet on the abdomen and one upon the back. At 
Graefenberg, this application was worn by every patient, and, as a 
rule, all of the time. It is useful in a great variety of ailments, both 
acute and chronic. The same form of application is also useful for 
the arms, legs, etc., the tapes being used in preference to pins. 

The wet jacket^ or chest wrapper^ is also a valuable resort in dis¬ 
eases of the chest. Oiled silk and other similar articles, as I have 
elsewhere observed, are not to be used upon these local applications. 

The following is the substance of Dr. Show’s description of hydro¬ 
pathic appliances. 

The Wet “Sheet Pack. 

In this process a coarse linen or cotton sheet is used, long enough 
to reach from the patient’s head to the soles of his feet, and about 
two yards in width. The bed is stripped of all its covering, one or 
two pillows only being left for the head. One or two comforters are 
then spread upon it, and over these the same number of woollen 
blankets, which are less injured by wet than cotton comfortables. 
The sheet having been pretty well wrung out of cold water,—always 
pure and soft, if such can be had,— is then spread out smoothly upon 
the blanket. The patient being undressed, lays himself upon the 
sheet, and, his arms being held up, an assistant laps one side of it 
over the body and lower limbs; when, the arms being dropped at the 
side, the other part of the sheet is, in like manner, lapped over. The 
blankets are then, one by one, brought over the person in the same 
way, and tucked under from head to foot. Comfortables may be added, 
if necessary. 

It is always best to place a wet towel, covered with a dry one, on 
the patient’s head while he is packed. If too much chill is not pro¬ 
duced, the dry one may be left off. 

This is the ordinary way of taking a pack in chronic disease. 

The wet sheet is one of the most soothing and agreeable of all the 
water appliances. Hence it is that it is so often misused. It is so 
delightful, and tends so much to produce slumber, that the patient 
never feels ready to get out of it But this slumber, — so profound 
and sweet as it often is, — he should remember, may be only an apo¬ 
plectic stupor, which leaves him with a swimming head, attended with 
faintness, perhaps, and ending in a severe headache; giving him, in 
short, a congestion of the brain. All this happens in consequence of 
robbing the skin too long of the air it should breathe. 

There has been a notion at some of the establishments that the 
wet sheet is to be used for sweating; and to this end, the patient has 
been literally stewed hour after hour, in some cases, even four, five, * 
and six hours in succession, with the view of sweating him. All 
such practice is hurtful. If the patient gets better under it, it is in 


PROCESSES OF THE HYDROPATHIC TREATMENT. 


905 


consequence of the good effects of water used in other ways, coupled 
with the ever-important adjuncts, air, exercise and diet. In later 
times, Priessnitz never sweat patients at all, much less in wet sheets. 
If a man must sweat, leave off the wet sheet assuredly, as that only 
hinders the operation. Use the blanket pack or the vapor bath. 

How Long shall the Pack Continue?—Here, too, there has been, 
and still is, much error in hydropathic practice. “Stay in the pack 
till you get warm,” has been the old doctrine. But some get warm 
at first, and afterward get cold; — so at least they feel. What is to 
be done? 

One of Priessnitz’s improvements was to give short packs. “ Re¬ 
main enveloped for fifteen or twenty minutes only,” he said. “ If you 
are not able to bear the pack in that way, take the rubbing wet sheet 
and the lighter processes until you are.” In some cases he gave two 
or three of these short packs in succession, the patient rising between 
each to take an airing, a rubbing wet sheet, or other bath, and then 
returning to the pack. 

Thus far the wet sheet has been spoken of as used in chronic dis¬ 
eases. In acute attacks it is managed differently, according to the 
case. * If the object be to abstract caloric from the body, we cover the 
sheet but little, — with a single dry sheet, or a blanket or two, or, per¬ 
haps, with none of these. 

We know that if we keep a wet towel about a keg of water on a hot 
day, the water will be made cooler by evaporation. In the same way, 
Avhen a patient is hot and feverish, we keep one, or, still better, two 
wet sheets around him, without other covering, and thus bring down 
the heat and circulation to any desirable degree. We sprinkle water 
upon the sheets, or rewet them as often as is necessary,— in some 
extreme cases of fever continuing them a whole week or more. Ex¬ 
perience teaches that the continuous application of the wet linen is, 
in such cases, a most serviceable application, and one that tends most 
powerfully to induce in the dermoid structure its natural and health¬ 
ful state. 

The Wet Sheet Acts by Absorption. — It draws morbific matter 
out of the hody^ as any one may see who applies the sheet for a short 
time, and then washes it. Observe, too, what an odor comes from 
the sheet when a diseased patient has been packed. At the same 
time, it absorbs the pure water into its finest tissues on a large scale, 
thus supplying that fluid which of all substances the system, under 
such circumstances, most needs. This moist warmth of the sheet also 
acts as a most soothing poultice. 

The Wet Dress. 

A MODIFICATION of the wet sheet, and in some respects an improve¬ 
ment, is the “wet dress,” so called. 

A coarse linen or cotton dress is made with large arms, so that one 


906 


PROCESSES OF THE HYDROPATHIC TREATMENT. 


may take the application without help. The dress being wet and ap¬ 
plied, the patient lays himself upon blankets, in which he wraps him¬ 
self just sufficiently to become comfortable. Or, he may have dry 
flannel dresses to put on over the wet one, and then lie in a common 
bed. In this application, the air is not excluded from the surface to 
anything like the same extent as in the common tight pack. Hence, 
a patient may remain in it a half, or the whole of the night, if he 
chooses, — being careful to become neither too warm nor too cold. 
Rewetting once or twice in the night will be of service. Often in a 
single night a bad cold may be thrown off in this simple way. 

The Half Pack. 

Many patients have so little reactive energy, that while they can 
bear a half pack, so called, the entire sheet would abstract so much 
caloric from the body as to injure them. In such cases, the sheet is 
to be applied so as to extend only from the arm-pit, or at most, from 
the neck to the hips, leaving the lower extremities, as it were, in the 
dry pack. Sometimes the sheet is allowed to extend to the ankles, 
not including the feet. Packing the trunk of the body in wet towels 
acts upon the same principle as the partial or half pack, and is, in 
many cases, a valuable preliminary measure. It is well to take these 
preparatory steps when a patient who has suffered long from chronic 
disease is beginning with the envelopment. 


The Folded Wet Sheet. 

In domestic practice, a modification of the wet sheet may be had 
by folding four-double a common coarse sheet, for enclosing the trunk 
from the armpits down. Two thicknesses of this are wet in cold 
water to come next the body. 

This is a valuable application in a host of ailment's, as pleuris}^ 
inflammation of the lungs, inflammation of the bowels, colic, cholera, 
cholera morbus, rheumatism, painful menstruation, after-pains, etc. 
This remedy, which can be applied in five minutes, will often soothe 
a patient quietly to sleep, whose lot, without it, would be a night of 
agony. One advantage of this application is, that if a patient is too 
weak to rise, the sheet may be opened in front, so that fresh water 
may, when needed, be sprinkled upon it, and wet towels may be 
added under it upon the abdomen, if necessary. 

In all the methods of applying the wet sheet, there can be no pos¬ 
sible objection to using warm bricks, bottles, etc., for the feet when 
cold. 

Bath after the Pack. — It is the practice generally to take some 
form of the bath after the pack. If the patient is too feeble to rise, 


PROCESSES OF THE HYDROPATHIC TREATMENT. 


907 


an ablution is performed while he is in bed. In other cases, a wet- 
sheet rubbing, shallow, plunge, towel, or other bath, is resored to, 
but not strictly of necessity. It is better however, as a rule, to make 
the process a compound one, that is to take some form of bath after 
the pack. This should also be followed by exercise in the open air, 
if it can possibly be taken. A pack, followed by a faithful turn at 
work, or by exercise in the open air, is always worth much more 
than when followed by rest within doors. 


The Rubbing Wet Sheet. 

The rubbing wet sheet, too little appreciated, arid too seldom used, 
is one of the most valuable of all the hydropathic resources. There 
is probably no other single application of water, in all the multiform 
modes of hydropathic medication, that can be made, on the whole, as 
useful as this. It is a tonic, a stimulant, a sedative, an antispasmodic, 
a derivative, or a febrifuge, according to the circumstances under 
Avhich it is applied. 

W e take a coarse linen sheet, — although cotton answers a very 
good purpose,—large enough to throw around the body like an In¬ 
dian’s blanket. It is wrung more or less, according to the demands 
of the case. Thereupon, it is thrown 
quickly around the patient’s body, who, 
if strong enough, is in the standing pos¬ 
ture ; and then both patient and assistant 
set vigorously to work, rubbing over the 
sheet, not with it, as some do, three, four, 
or more minutes, until the surface becomes 
thoroughly warm (Fig. 188). 

If there is fever, less friction is 
After the wet sheet, comes a dry one, to be 
used in the same manner. Those who have 
sufficient reactive energy,—and most have, 

— may dry the body simply by fanning it 
with the dry sheet, the windows at the 
same time being open. This sort of air-bath exerts a highly pleasurable 
effect upon the skin. Instead of giving one a cold, it helps greatly 
to ward it off. This method of drying the body was one of Priess- 
nitz’s later improvements. 

The rubbing wet sheet, it should be remembered, is not a single 
application, capable of producing only one effect. It is used in three 
different gradations, and to produce very different results. It is well 
wrung, or only moderately wrung, or left quite wet and dripping. 
If a person is fatigued, or has a low degree of reactive energy, the 
first form is the one to adopt; if there is not much fatigue, and good 
reactive energy, the second; and if the patient is feverish, and the 









908 TROCESSES OF THE HYDROPATHIC TREATMENT. 

object is to abstract heat simply, we use the sheet quite wet and drip¬ 
ping; and we repeat it as many times in succession as the case may 
need. One great advantage is, that we give it before or after a wet 
pack, when no bath is at hand; we also give it in connection with 
any other bath we may choose. 

See how admirable a remedy the rubbing wet sheet is, when prop¬ 
erly understood! A patient, —a child, perhaps, — is so feeble in the 
reactive power, that almost any form of bath we can give it sends 
the blood from the surface, making the lips and nails pale or blue, and 
the extremities cold, showing congestion of the internal organs. 
When a bath produces such effects, it is very apt, to say the least, to 
do more harm than good. But we can apply the rubbing wet sheet 
in such a way as to cause none of these ill effects; besides, it may be 
repeated many times in the day, so as to give the patient the advan¬ 
tage of a strong treatment; for a light treatment, which can be easily 
borne, is made a strong one by the frequency of its repetition. 

A wet sheet, well wrung, holds perhaps a pint of water; or, at 
most, a quart. Now, it must appear plain, that a pint or quart of 
cold water, spread over so large a surface as the whole skin, must 
become very easily warmed by the body’s heat. Besides, if there is 
great delicacy of constitution, we may wring the sheet out of water 
at seventy, eighty, or even ninety degrees, gradually lowering it as 
the patient can bear it. 

The domestic availability of this application is also to be spoken 
of. In every dwelling, however humble, there is the coarse sheet, 
and the bucket of water. How useful, therefore, as a resort, in 
home practice! 

The rubbing wet sheet appears a trifling application, — one which 
is not capable of producing any great result. But when we remem¬ 
ber the myriads of nerves of animal life, spread over the skin, and 
derived from the brain and spinal cord, it need not surprise us that 
its application should so invigorate the body, take off bodily and 
mental depression, remove languor and fatigue, expel flatus from the 
bowels, remove thirst, give appetite, and cause a feeling of calmness 
and relief which can be appreciated only by those who experience it. 
A minister, for example, preaches three times on a Sunday, and gets 
his brain so excited that he cannot sleep. A cold bath would be too 
powerful, and opiates would only act as stimulants, making the mat¬ 
ter worse. Two or three successful applications of the rubbing wet 
sheet, with powerful friction, bring the blood so much to the surface, 
that his brain becomes relieved, and he very soon falls into a sound 
and refreshing sleep. So, too, when a man has been long wet and 
drenched on a rainy day, and comes home, with the surface and ex¬ 
tremities cold, and the blood pressing hard upon the brain and other 
internal organs, — the well-wrung rubbing sheet is applied, with plen¬ 
tiful friction, and at once the oppressed organs are set free. 

In using the rubbing wet sheet, as in all other forms of general 


PEOCESSES OF THE HYDROPATHIC TREATMENT. 


909 


bath, it is well to wash the hands and face in cold water, both before 
and after it. There is no need of throwing it over the head, as some 
have thought it necessary to do. A patient needs to breathe freely 
when he takes a bath. 

This application is not always the most pleasant one. It does, in 
fact, require a good degree of moral courage to enable one to endure 
the first shock. The sensations produced by it are worse, if possible, 
than those from a plunge into cold water; I mean the first touch of 
the sheet to the body. Nervous ladies sometimes tell us they cannot 
take the rubbing wet sheet, when, at the same time, they take the 
cold plunge, which is far more powerful, and perhaps too powerful 
for their case. This unpleasant feeling does no harm, for it vanishes 
in a moment or two after the sheet touches the body. 


The Douche Bath. 

This is the most powerful, but not the most useful of all the 
hydropathic appliances. A common douche consists of a stream of 
water from one to two inches in diameter, with a fall of five to ten 
feet. But douches may be arranged of any desirable size and height. 
(Fig. 189.) 

This remedy is useful in paralysis, stiff joints, gout, rheumatism, 
tumors, and old swellings of various kinds. Those who have weak 
lungs, stomach, or other abdominal organs, should not resort to the 
douche without the best of medical advice. 


The Shower Bath. 

This is also one of the more powerful of the hydropathic appli¬ 
ances, and needs judgment in its use. It consists in fact, of a vast 
number of small streams or douches, and hence is a powerful refrig¬ 
erant, as well as excitant, to the system. It is useful to commence 
this bath, for a time at first, only upon the limbs. It is used by all 
gymnasts. 

The Cataract Bath. 

This also is one of the more powerful of the hydropathic processes, 
and is to be classed with the two preceding baths. Like them it may 
be said to be stimulant, tonic, and alterative, while it is also highly 
sedative as far as animal heat is concerned. 


The Hose Bath. 

Through the modern improvements in India-rubber, gutta-percha, 
leather, etc., it is easy, whenever there is a small fall or head of 
water, arrange what is called a hose-bath. It is in principle a 


910 


PEOCESSES OF THE HYDROPATHIC TREATMENT. 


douche, with the additional advantage that it can be made to act 
upon any part of the body, and from whatever direction we choose. 
Rightly applied, the hose bath is a valuable remedy. (Fig- 190.) 




The Pail Douche. 

The process which passes under this name is taken thus: The 
patient seats himself in an empty, shallow, or other bathing-tub, and 
crosses his hands over his chest. As many pails of water as are 
ordered are then dashed over him suddenly, one after another, before 
and behind alternately, — not poured, but thrown with some force, 
by first a backward and then a forward motion of the pail. 

A better method of using it is, for the patient to stand in an 
empty bathing-tub, while an assistant takes two pails of water, one 
ten degrees Avarmer than the other, and empties the warmer half upon 
the chest and half upon the back, and then "bestows the colder pailful 
in the same manner; and then dries with friction. 

The Wave or Sluice Bath. 

This is taken at the sluice-way of an undershot mill-wheel, or in 
any similar place. The patient takes hold of a rope, or something by 
which he can maintain his position, and then, lying down, subjects 
his body to the action of the water. This is, on the whole, a pleasant 
and agreeable bath, and in its effects somewhat resembles the douche, 
being, however, milder and safer. 

The Half Bath. 

This bath may be used as one of the mildest of the water-cure 
processes, or as one of the most powerful. An ordinary bathing-tub 
is a very good apparatus for the purpose. A good-sized washing-tub 
will answ^er very well, if there is nothing else at hand. The water 
should generally be quite shallow in this bath, — from three to six 




















PROCESSES OF THE HYDROPATHIC TREATMENT. 


911 


inches. Priessnitz’s half-baths were made of wood, four or five feet 
long, about two and a half feet wide, and twenty inches deep. This 
simple contrivance is one of his most powerful remedial means,— 
that by which some of his highest triumphs are achieved. 

The water is generally used of moderate temperature, at sixty to 
seventy degrees Fahr., and, when long continued, is changed, as it 
becomes warm from the heat of the body. 

This bath may be used. 

Firsts as a means of cooling the mass of the circulation in the hot 
stages of fever, and in inflammatory attacks of every kind. 

Secondly^ as a revulsive, or means of drawing blood in congestions 
or inflammations of the nobler organs, the brain, lungs, stomach, 
liver, etc. 

Thirdly^ as a means of resuscitation in the shock of serious acci¬ 
dents, sun-stroke, and before, during, or after apoplectic and other 
fits. In drunkenness and delirium tremens, the half bath is a sover¬ 
eign remedy. 

FourtJdy^ as a middle means, and preparatory to the general bath 
in weak constitutions. 

In the latter of these indications, the bath is generally used but foi 
a few minutes after the wet sheet, or at other times, as may be de¬ 
sired. In the former, much practical knowledge is necessary in order 
to proceed always with safety, and to obtain the best results. Thus, 
six, or even nine hours may be required, with the greatest persever¬ 
ance, the patient being thoroughly rubbed over the whole surface, 
and this to be kept up constantly by relays of assistants, the pa¬ 
tient’s head and shoulders, meanwhile, being supported. 

The Plunge Bath. 

In sea, river, and lake, as well as by artificial means, and as a 
matter of luxury, religious observance, purification, and the preven¬ 
tion and cure of disease, the plunge bath has, in all periods of time, 
and in all parts of the world, been a favorite resort. So efficacious, 
indeed, has this simple means proved in healing the sick, that not a 
little superstition has been mingled with it. Springs and wells have 
often been supposed to possess some mysterious power, and for that 
reason has been named after some patron saint. In this respect, the 
world has loved mystery and marvellousness rather than the pure and 
simple truth. 

In hydropathic practice, the plunge is much used; but many pa¬ 
tients are not able to bear it. Those who are not sufficiently strong 
for it at first, should practise the rubbing wet sheet, the half-bath, 
drinking, exercise, etc., until the plunge can be borne. It is a favorite 
remedy at all the establishments, to be taken directly on coming from 
the wet-sheet pack. 


012 


PROCESSES OF THE HYDROPATHIC TREATMENT. 


The Head Bath 


From time immemorial, cooling applications to the head have been 
much depended upon in that violent and dangerous disease, inflani- 
mation of the brain. All other known means failing, certain obsti¬ 
nate affections of the head have been known to give way to affusion 
:f cold water upon the part. In headache, drunkenness, delirium 
tremens, the delirium of fever, epilepsy, rheumatism of the head, dis¬ 
eases of the eye, earache, deafness, loss of smell and taste, and in 
nose-bleed, this highly energetic remedy is brought to bear. In 
taking it, the patient lies down, placing the back of his head in a 
shallow dish, filled only an inch or two with water. (Fig. 191.) 



Fig. 192. 


Fig. 192. 


The Leg Bath. 


This is useful in cases of ulcers, swellings, eruptions, gout, rheu¬ 
matism, sprains, wounds, etc., of the leg or thigh. The relief and 
strength obtained, often by a single application of this remedy, is 
truly wonderful. A variety of apparatus may be contrived for ad¬ 
ministering the leg bath. A common wooden tub, contrived for the 
purpose, like that represented in Fig. 192, answers a good purpose. 
In such a vessel, he covers the inflamed limb introduced, and cools 
the blood flowing to it. 


The Sitz^Bath 


Convenient tubs, wooden or metallic, are constructed for this 
bath, but an ordinary wash-tub answers very well. The vessel should 
be large enough to permit the motion of the arms in rubbing the 
abdomen, sides, and hips, first with one hand, and then with the other. 
Water enough should generally be used to pretty nearly cover the 
belly. The more movement and friction while in this bath the better. 
It is more conveniently administered when the tub is elevated two 
or three inches from the floor. Some undress the patient completely, 
and place a blanket or sheet over the upper part of the body; but 







PROCESSES OF THE HYDROPATHIC TREATMENT. 


913 


oftener only those parts are uncovered which are to be exposed to the 
water. (Fig. 193.) 

In a variety of ailments, this bath is highly valuable. It may be 
made one of the most powerful of all the hydropathic modes. Like 
all other powerful applications, it should be taken only when diges¬ 
tion is nearly or quite completed. 

As a tonic to the stomach, liver, bowels, womb, spine, etc., this 
bath is highly useful. In constipation and other irregularities it is 
famous. Those of sedentary habits will find its use of rare service. 
For the tonic effect, ten, twenty, twenty-five, or thirty minutes. If 
continued for some length of time the water is to be changed once or 
more, as it would otherwise become too warm. 



Fig. 193. 


Fig. 194. 


The Wash-Tub Bath 


Under a great variety of circumstances, the wash-tub bath is an inval¬ 
uable remedy. For example, a patient is feverish; by setting him in 
a wash-tub half filled with water, and at the same time, if we choose, 
putting his feet in a pail of water, cold or warm, according to the 
case, we may give him any desirable amount of cooling. We cannot, 
indeed, too highly prize this simple contrivance for using water, — a 
means which every family possesses. (Fig. 194.) 

The water, as a general rule, should be tepid, ranging from 72° to 
90°, and may be prolonged from two to fifteen minutes, according to 
the strength of the patient. It should never be carried to the extent 
of producing blueness of the nails. The patient should be dried with 
towels, or the dry rubbing sheet. 

This bath is useful in the treatment of eruptive fevers, bilious 
remittents, the hot stage of intermittents, and in hectic and typhoid 
fevers. It is often used after the wet sheet pack, in chronic affec¬ 
tions, and may then have a little cooler temperature, or else be fol¬ 
lowed by pouring a pail of cooler water over the shoulders to tone 
up the skin. 









914 


PROCESSES OF THE HYDROPATHIC TREATMENT. 


The Affusion. 

The patient stands in a wash-tub, bathing-tub, or other convenient 
place, when, by means of a pail, pitcher, or basin, the assistant pours 
water upon the head, neck, etc., either upon the whole of the body 
or only upon a part. The water is used in quantity and tempera¬ 
ture according to the necessities of the case. The affusion is one of 
the best of hydropathic modes. 

Fifty years ago Dr. Currie, of England, performed great cures in 
fever by the affusion, sometimes tepid, at others cold, according to 
the strength and heat of the patient. If there was great heat, the 
water was used cold; if not, the reverse. In a variety of febrile 
diseases, such as typhus fever, scarlet fever, small-pox, measles, 
tetanus, convulsions, etc., he used this remedy with remarkable 
success, 


Towel and Sponge Bath. 

With one or two coarse towels and a quart or two of water we 
may take a very good bath almost anywhere, even in a carpeted room, 
at a hotel, or wherever we may be, without spilling a drop of the 
water. After a person becomes accustomed to this form of ablution, 
none but the most indolent will be willing to do without it, unless 
they can have some other form of bath. A daily towel ablution, 
thoroughly performed, is an excellent prevention against colds, helps 
the appetite and digestion, and is a good means of preventing con¬ 
stipation. 

Some are in the habit of sitting in a half-bath or a sitz-tiib, and 
with a large sponge making the water pass freely upon the head, 
neck, shoulders, and other parts of the body. At the same time the 
bather may pour water from a cup, basin or pitcher, upon the head, 
neck, etc. This is a mild affusion, and stronger in effect than the 
towel-bath, 

Wash-Down. 

The process to which this name is given by Dr. Edward Johnson 
is practised as follows: “ The patient stands in an empty sitting- or 
wash-tub^ beside which stands a pail of cold water with two coarse 
towels soaking in it. The bath attendant, taking his place behind 
the patient, lifts one of the towels all loaded with water, and lays it 
quickly on the patient’s head. The patient immediately seizes it, 
removes it from his head, and rubs himself rapidly with it,— his face, 
his throat, shoulders, arms, chest, stomach, bowels, thighs and legs, 
having gone rapidly over the whole body once, he drops his towel 
into the pail again, which the bath-man presses down to the bottom 
of the water, then lifts it out, and places it on his head again. As 


PROCESSES OF THE HYDROPATHIC TREATMENT. 


915 


before, the patient seizes it, and goes all over the same ground once 
more, and then drops it into the water again, when the bath-man 
again lifts it and places it on the head to be a third time removed by 
the patient, and applied as before, rapidly, actively and energetically, 
all over his body in front. The bath-man is industriously occupied 
all the time behind in the same manner, from the back of the neck to 
the back of the legs, wetting his own towel as often as he wets that 
used by tUe patient, viz., three times. This is called a wash-down of 
three towels. The patient is then dried in a dry sheet. It is a more 
powerful bath than the common towel-bath, but not in all respects so 
convenient to take. 


The Cold Foot=Bath. 

One of the first things people who are troubled with cold feet do 
is to plunge them into cold water. Nor is the assertion, put forth 
in some of the hydropathic works, that the cold foot-bath was pre¬ 
scribed by Priessnitz for the same purpose that the faculty order 
warm ones, correct. When the feet are already cold, neither Priess¬ 
nitz nor any one in his sober reason would prescribe cold water, which 
can only make the parts .colder. To obtain the good effect of the 
cold foot-bath, so far as the feet are concerned, they should be warm 
whenever it is taken. For a tendency to coldness of the feet, — a 
very common symptom in these days of so-called luxury and refine¬ 
ment, and one that indicates a state of things in the system incom¬ 
parably more to be dreaded than the mere coldness of the feet, — 
this is the remedy. It may be taken at any convenient time; just 
before the morning walk is a very suitable occasion, the parts being 
usually warm early in the day. 

At other times, if cold, they should, if at all practicable, be warmed 
by exercise and friction before subjecting them to the action of cold 
water. But in cases of old age, great debility, etc., the warm foot¬ 
bath and other warm applications may be resorted to before the cold. 
Thus with cold, exercise and friction, accustoming the feet daily and 
frequently to cold water, will beget in them a habit of remaining warm. 
In a great variety of ailments, such as toothache, rush of blood to the 
head, headache, earache, inflammation of the eyes, gout, rheumatism, 
hemorrhage, etc., the cold foot-bath is a valuable remedy. It is or¬ 
dered deep or shallow, and of duration according to the nature of 
the case. 


Wading Foot=Baths. 

I HAVE often directed patients to wade in water in some conven¬ 
ient place as a means of hardening the system and of giving tone to 
the nerves. Delicate ladies who were not able, as they supposed, to 
endure cold water applied to the feet, have by degrees, wetting the 
feet but little at first, become so accustomed to the coldest water that 


916 


TROCESSES OF THE HYDROPATHIC TREATMENT. 


in a few weeks they could bear as much as any one would desire. 
Caution and perseverance should be the rule. 

11 is partly by sympathy and partly by the abstraction of heat, that 
foot-baths and wetting the feet act in so beneficial or deleterious a 
manner as we know them to do. The principle of sympathy is an old 
one in the medical art, but none the worse for that. 


The Warm Foot»Bath. 

I AM aware that some who consider themselves genuinely hydro¬ 
pathic object to the use of this remedy. Having truth for my object, 
however, I care not for such objections so far as 1 myself am concerned, 
and without stopping here to argue the question, I simply remark 
that warmth under some circumstances is as natural an application 
for the living body as cold under other circumstances. I have already 
remarked, under the head of the cold foot-bath, that putting the feet 
into warm water is often a good preparatory process to that bath. It 
is good also, now and then, for soothing divers aches and pains, and 
also for warming the feet of old and weakly people, who cannot 
exercise sufficiently. Soaking the feet in hot water for twenty min¬ 
utes, and taking five or six drops of spirits of Camphor in a tea¬ 
spoonful of sugar will often break up a cold, if taken in season. 


The Nose»Bath. 

In a variety of nasal ailments, catarrh, colds in the head, inflam¬ 
mation and ulceration of the nasal passages, nose-bleed, etc,, the 
nose-hath is a salutary remedy. The water is used either tepid or 
cold, according to the case. It should be drawn back, if possible, 
so that it is ejected by the mouth. Those who have injured the 
’ nasal cavities by much snuffi-taking will find advantage from sniffing 
water freely into the nostrils. If one is determined to leave off snuff, 
as every one addicted to it, if he regards either health or bodily 
comfort, ought, he will find it useful often to take cold water in¬ 
stead of the abominable weed. 


The Eye and Ear Bath. 

Vakious contrivances may be brought to bear in applying water 
to the eye and ear. Light, ascending douches and showers are 
useful for various diseases of the parts. There should not be much 
force used in this way. Immersing them also in water is often useful. 
The water should not, in general, be very cold, tepid or warm being 
often the best. 


PROCESSES OF THE HYDROPATHIC TREATMENT. 


917 


Mouth, or Oral Bath. 

For inflammation of the gums, mouth, throat, and palate, in slimy 
secretions from the throat and stomach, in toothache, catarrh, colds, 
and chronic hoarseness, garglings and baths for the mouth are of 
great service. Pauley, a merchant of Vienna, has been thought 
singular for his zeal in recommending this bath. Clergymen and 
others who suffer hoarseness by much speaking will find that hold¬ 
ing very cold water in the mouth until it begins to grow warm, and 
then ejecting it, and by frequently repeating the process, much 
benefit will be obtained. Coughs and tightness of the chest may 
often be essentially relieved by this bath. In mucous secretions 
from the throat and stomach, by ejecting the water a number of 
times, it will surprise those who have not witnessed the remedy to 
see the amount of slimy secretion thrown off. 



DOMESTIC MANAGEMENT 
OF THE SICK-ROOM 


By a careful and detailed study of which, an intelligfent person 
can discharge the full duties of an 
experienced nurse* 




DOMESTIC MANAGEMENT OP THE SICK 

BOOM. 


Choice of the Sick-Room, etc. 

Sleeping Apartment. — In every case of disease, however slight 
its nature, the sleeping apartment of the sick should be airy and well 
ventilated; but, when Providence visits any member of a family with 
disease of a serious and protracted description, all other considera¬ 
tions giving way to the necessity of the case, an apartment should be 
chosen and arranged in a special manner for the reception of the in¬ 
valid. It should be one calculated to administer to his temporary 
comfort, as well as to aid his recovery. It is not time, when the 
alarm is sounded and the danger is already urgent, to think of such 
arrangements; forethought must be put in requisition; every want 
anticipated; and whatever is likely to be required should not only 
be provided, but so arranged that it can be instantly found when it 
is needed. 

The sick-room should be large, lofty, and, if possible, with a north¬ 
ern aspect, in order to avoid the heat of the mid-day, or the after¬ 
noon sun; the windows should be capable of being opened by 
drawing down the uppermost sash. If possible, choose a room with 
an open fireplace or a ventilator opening into the chimney in the 
upper part of the room. No article of unnecessary furniture should 
be permitted to remain in the room; and that which is left in it 
should be of a description fitted to administer to the convenience of 
the invalid. 

Two tables are sufficient. One of them may be small, to stand 
near the bed, for the immediate use of the patient: namely, to hold 
his jug of barley-water, or toast-water, or other beverage; — a small 
tea-pot, or what is preferable, a half-covered cup with a spout, to 
enable fluids to be administered without raising the sufferer in bed; — 
his medicines for the day; — and any other thing which he may fre¬ 
quently require. 

The other table should be large, for the accommodation of medi¬ 
cines not in immediate use, and also for spare glasses, jugs, cups, 
spoons, both large and small, and other necessary articles. This 

920 



DOMESTIC MANAGEMENT OF THE SICK-ROOM. 


921 


table should have one drawer, at least, which ought to be furnished 
with the following articles: broad and narrow tape; two or three 
half-worn ribbons; a bundle of old, soft linen ; a sponge; a few 
ounces of lint; scissors, large and small; a bone spatula for spread¬ 
ing ointment; a couple of rolls of muslin, and the same quantity of 
flannel bandage two inches broad; a pin-cushion well supplied with 
pins; needles and thread; and about half a yard of simple adhesive 
plaster. 

A Sofa or Reclining Chair. — A sofa, if the apartment be sufli- 
ciently large to admit of it, is a very important piece of furniture in 
the sick-room; the erect or the sitting posture being injurious in 
many diseases; and, when the sick-bed requires to be made, a sofa 
affords the means of removing the patient from the bed with as little 
inconvenience to him as possible. 

If there is not a space for a sofa, there should be an invalid or re¬ 
clining chair; and, when circumstances will permit, it should be of 
that kind which is susceptible of a variety of changes, so as to vary, 
at pleasure, the position of the patient. There should not be more 
than two other chairs in the room. If there is a looking-glass in the 
apartment, in a situation which admits of the patient seeing himself 
in it as he lies in bed, its place should be changed, or it should be 
altogether removed from the room. A chest of drawers is essential; 
but none of the drawers should be appropriated for the reception of 
dirty linen, which ought never to be allowed to remain a moment in 
the sick-room. One drawer should be especially allotted for towels, 
of which an ample supply is, in every case, necessary. The washing- 
stand will require two additional basins; an additional water-bottle 
and a tumbler; and a large water-pitcher, under the table, always 
full of water. 

No Cooking in Sick-room. — There should be no kettle, nor any 
implement of cooking, in the sick-room; even in winter, and when a 
fire is required. In general, a fire in the sick-room is only necessary 
for the comfort of the attendants. The lamp termed a Night-nurse^ 
consisting of a water-bath placed over a lamp in a wire-worked cylin¬ 
der; a small tin kettle which enters the top of the cylinder; and a 
covered earthenware vessel which fits into the water-bath, are use¬ 
ful for keeping fluids warm, and at the same time for preserving a 
light in the room, when an unshaded lamp or a candle would be 
hurtful. 

In continued fevers, the sense of hearing is often so morbidly acute 
that ordinary sounds become causes of pain. In this case, if the 
floor of the sick-room be not wholly carpeted, every precaution to 
lessen the intensity of the sound should be taken. One of the most 
effectual is to have a couple or more pairs of large list shoes outside 
the door, into which the feet, even of the doctors, may be advanta¬ 
geously thrust, when their shoes make a creaking noise, or when a 


922 


DOMESTIC MANAGEMENT OF THE SICK-ROOM. 


visitor or nurse treads with a heavy foot. On the same account, 
when more than one nurse or attendant is required to he in the room 
at the same time, no conversation, although it may be carried on in 
a whisper, should be permitted. Whispering, indeed, is apt to ex¬ 
cite delirium, and to augment it when it is already present. 

Beds and Bedding. — Beds without curtains are those best adapted 
for the sick-room. In every case of disease, indeed, especially when 
it is attended by fever, the patient should be kept cool, and the most 
perfect freedom be given to the breathing; the hair mattress should 
be used, never a feather bed, and the pillows be firm and elastic. 
The coverlets, which are spread upon beds during the day, and often 
retained at night, are heavy, and calculated rather to increase than to 
subdue fever; consequently they should be wholly discarded from 
the sick-bed. Indeed, when the disease is fever, and when it is 
accompanied with great restlessness, owing to the evening exacerba¬ 
tion, if the bedroom be sufficiently large, two beds should be placed 
in it; or if two adjoining bedchambers can be obtained, a bed ought 
to be put in each, so that the patient can be moved from one bed to 
the other every morning and evening. This both aids sleep, and it 
also tends greatly to insure the personal cleanliness of the patient. 
The bedclothes of the bed from which the patient is moved, should, 
on his removal, be immediately turned down and fully exposed to the 
air; a precaution which will set aside the necessity of so frequent a 
change of linen as would be otherwise required. When there is 
only one bed, and when the disease is fever (unless the patient is too 
ill to permit his being moved), the sheets which have been used at 
night should be replaced by others in the morning, and hung up in 
the free air during the day, to be again used at night. But, when it 
can conveniently be done, in every case of continued fever, especially 
of an infectious kind, the sheets should be changed once in twenty- 
four hours; a practice which is likely to prevent the fumes of in¬ 
fection from being communicated to the blankets, or to any of the 
furniture of the room. 

Ventilation is always of primary importance; and that period, 
happily, is gone by, in which air was carefully excluded from the 
chambers of the sick, even when they were suffering under febrile 
disease. 

Ventilation is particularly demanded in those fevers in which 
miliary eruptions display themselves; under no circumstances is it 
so essential as in febrile diseases of an infectious kind. It may, how¬ 
ever, be consolatory to those whose duty it is to attend such cases, to 
know that infection communicated through the air rarely extends 
above a few feet from the body of the patient; and even in the most 
malignant diseases, with the exception of confluent small-pox, and 
malignant scarlet fever of the worst kind, its influence does not ex¬ 
ceed a few yards, if the room be well ventilated. On the contrary, 


DOMESTIC MANAGEMENT OF THE SICK-ROOM. 


923 


if ventilation be neglected, tlie power of infection becomes greatly- 
augmented from its concentration in confined and quiescent air; it 
even settles upon the clothes of the attendants, and on the furniture 
of the room; and these imbibe it most readily when their texture is 
wool, fur, or cotton, or any loose or downy substance capable of re¬ 
ceiving and readily retaining the air. Smooth and polished surfaces 
do not easily receive or retain infectious matter; consequently the 
nurses and attendants, in cases of infectious diseases, should have 
glazed gowns, and aprons of oiled silk. 

In no infectious diseases are these rules more essentially necessary 
than in small-pox and scarlet fever. It is well known that, if the 
bedclothes of a patient laboring under either scarlet fever or small-pox 
be closely folded up, they will retain the infectious matter, and com¬ 
municate the disease at a great distance of time; but the influence of 
free ventilation is so great, that medical practitioners who are attend¬ 
ing small-pox patients, and who go from them into the open air, do 
not spread the disease. Indeed, all infection is weakened by dilu¬ 
tion with air. The danger of infection is augmented, if, along with 
bad ventilation, the atmosphere of the room be moist from any cause. 

It is further consplatory to know that the infectious matter, even 
of the most virulent description, is not poisonous to everyone who 
is placed within the sphere of its influence. A predisposition of the 
body to receive the infection must exist before it can be communi¬ 
cated; a condition which is augmented by fatigue and watching, 
defective nourishment, mental depression, or anything which can 
lower the vital powers. The necessity, therefore, of maintaining 
these powers by attention to rest, a sufficient quantity of good and 
generous diet, and cheerfulness of mind, need not be insisted upon. 

In every case of infectious disease, the attendants, even in the 
best ventilated rooms, should stand on the windward, or on that side 
of the sick-bed from which the current of air comes; as, by neglect 
of this rule, and by standing in the current which has passed over 
the patient, the infectious exhalations are blown upon them in a direct 
stream from the body of the patient. The attendants should never 
lean over the sick, nor should they receive their breath. The health 
also of the nurses should always be supported by nutritious and gen¬ 
erous diet; but not by brandy, nor any other ardent spirit. 

The term infection^ in its most extensive signification, implies some 
deleterious matter, originating from any source, and transmitted 
through the air, which is capable of causing diseases in the human 
body. When this matter is emanated from the diseased bodies of 
men, the term is frequently regarded as synonymous with contagion; 
but, in strictness of language, the latter refers only to the communi¬ 
cation of disease by contact. Whatever may be the matter of infec¬ 
tion, it may enter the body through the medium of the lungs, which 
is the most ready inlet, or by the saliva, or even through the surface, 
if the skin be abraded, or if any ulceration be present. The influ- 


924 


DOMESTIC MANAGEMENT OF THE SICK-ROOM. 


ence of infectious matter is evidently exerted on the nervous System, 
displaying itself by debility, inertness, dislike to motion, great sus¬ 
ceptibility of cold, irritability and despondency of mind, and by the 
production of a disease similar to that of the person from whom the 
infectious matter has proceeded. The infection may be supposed to 
have taken effect, and to have produced the actual disease, when the 
person who has been exposed to its influence is attacked with giddi¬ 
ness, pain in the head, irregular heat and chills, nausea, and, if the 
infectious disease be small-pox, convulsions. These symptoms are 
suflicient to denote the necessity for immediate medical advice. 

Temperature. — Next to ventilation nothing is of more importance 
than the regulation of the temperature of the sick-room, avoiding both 
extremes of elevation or of depression; but much depends on the 
nature of the disease. 

The best general temperature of a sick-room is 60° (Fahr.) ; and 
it is preferable to regulate this rather by the thermometer than by the 
sensations of the patients or the attendants. Under some circum¬ 
stances, however, the feelings of the patient, and his susceptibility of 
impressions upon the skin, should not be overlooked. Thus if the 
temperature be a little above that of summer, and the patient, never¬ 
theless, feel chilly, it should be raised five or six degrees. This chil¬ 
liness is very apt to be felt in a dyspeptic state of the habit, and 
more especially when it is accompanied with hypochondriasis. It dif¬ 
fers from that more severe but transient coldness which accompanies 
intermittent fevers, and some other periodical affections; and it 
requires an elevated temperature of the air for its removal, whilst the 
cold stage of intermittent diseases is best relieved by the warm bath, 
either general or local. '' 

So important is the regulation of temperature, especially in fevers, 
that it often does more good than any other remedial measure. I 
have seen patients laboring under high delirium in a close, ill-venti¬ 
lated room become rapidly quite collected by merely lowering the 
heat of the apartment twelve or fifteen degrees. 

In convalescence, as the air of the sick-chamber should be fre¬ 
quently renewed, the temperature in spring and autumn ought to be 
maintained as near as possible at 55° to 60° (Fahr.); and it should 
be very gradually lowered as the invalid acquires strength, so as to 
enable him to bear with impunity the varying temperature of these 
seasons in the open air. Even then, if the previous disease has been 
pulmonary, the air admitted to the lungs should be tempered by the 
use of the Respirator, or a muslin handkerchief tied around the mouth. 
When the invalid first ventures out of doors, nothing, indeed, is so 
essential, in a prophylactic point of view, as avoiding extremes and 
sudden transitions of temperature. 

Cleanliness. — Although cleanliness in the sick-room is essential, 
yet it may be carried so far as to become an annoyance to the invalid, 


DOMESTIC MANAGEMENT OF THE SICK-ROOM. 


925 


and consequently to prove injurious. It is not requisite to sweep 
the room daily, nor to dust and arrange the furniture every morning, 
provided order be preserved in the room, and nothing but what is 
immediately necessary for the comfort and convenience of the invalid 
be permitted to remain in it. It is truly distressing to observe the 
confusion which prevails in some sick-rooms; everything being out 
of place, and to be searched for when it is wanted. 

The period chosen for cleaning and arranging the sick-room should 
be the morning, as after a night’s rest the patient is more able to 
bear the little noise and bustle which it alwaj^s more or less occasions. 
The carpet should be sprinkled with moist tea-leaves, or newspaper 
torn in small pieces and wet, and lightly swept. 

It is scarcely requisite to insist on the necessity of the utmost 
attention to the cleanliness of everything in the sick-room. The 
moment after any vessel or implement is used by the invalid, it should 
be removed from the apartment, and returned as soon as it is cleaned. 
Nothing in the form of a slop-basin or slop-pail is admissible; they 
only administer to the laziness of nurses. 

The necessity of cleanliness in the vessels used for the food of in¬ 
valids is strikingly illustrated in the bad effects arising from the 
neglect of it when an infant is brought up by hand. In such a case, 
if the feeding-bottle which is employed be not instantly cleansed after 
the meal has been given, the small portion of the pap or food which 
remains in the vessel becomes sour, and taints the whole of the fresh 
food mixed with it, causing colic and convulsions in the infant. The 
same risk of injury occurs in the sick-room, if the vessels used for 
administering food to the invalid be not instantly and well cleansed 
after every time they are used. 

It is too common, also, to use one glass or cup for administering 
medicines, and to leave it unrinsed from time to time, — a custom 
which may prove as deleterious as a defect of cleanliness in vessels 
employed for food. Some medicines, when they are exposed to the 
air, rapidly undergo changes which alter their properties; and this 
alteration having been undergone by the small portion which is always 
left in the glass or cup, communicates the disposition to be decom¬ 
posed to that which may be next poured into the cup. An active 
medicine may be thus rendered inert; or one which is mild in its 
operation may be so changed as to operate with hazardous energy. 
The same precaution, as to cleanliness, is also requisite as to the 
minim measure, when medicines are directed to be administered 
in a form which requires its employment. 

Darkening the Sick-room. — It is a common error to imagine that 
a sick-room should always be either partially or wholly darkened. In 
some diseases, as, for example, fevers, when the eyes are acutely sen¬ 
sible to light, so that they remain half-closed, and the eyebrows are 
contracted, the greatest relief is experienced from darkening the 
room. When delirium is present, a certain degree of darkening is in 


926 


DOMESTIC MANAGEMENT OF THE SICK-ROOM. 


some instances serviceable; whilst in others, especially when the de¬ 
lirium is accompanied with visual illusions, nothing so readily dispels 
these, and consequently abates the delirium, as the admission of the 
full daylight into the sick-room. There is much difficulty, however, 
in determining which state of the apartment is likely to be most ser¬ 
viceable in any particular case. Observation of the effects of light 
and darkness, in the individual case, must be our guide. 

These illusions of the sight are generally the result of former im¬ 
pressions, renewed at a moment when the brain is in such a disturbed 
condition as to set aside the exercise of judgment. In this condition 
of the brain, the renewed conceptions are not readily corre^cted, as in 
health, by impressions received from the external world; hence, they 
become more vivid in the mind of the invalid when the sick-room is 
darkened, and all visible objects are shut out. They are usually dis¬ 
pelled by new impressions on the organ of sense chiefly implicated; 
on which account, those which are connected with sight seldom occur 
during the day, when real objects are presented to the eye, unless the 
brain be so over-excited as to bring the conceptive faculty into in¬ 
tense exercise, sufficient to awaken those false perceptions which 
create a belief of the presence of individuals not only not present, 
but who have been long dead. This state of the mental organ is 
similar to that on which depend the spectral illusions of the insane, 
but differing from it in its transient nature. I have frequently wit¬ 
nessed the conversation with one of these spectral beings instantly 
terminated, and the whole illusion dispelled, on opening the window 
curtains of the room; whilst the invalid has thus expressed himself: 

“ Bless me ! I thought I was talking with Mr.-, just now ; I 

must have been dreaming; for now I recollect he has been dead many 
years.” A twilight obscurity in the sick-room is often more produc¬ 
tive of these illusions than darkness. 

Fumigation. 

After every contagious disease, like diphtheria, scarlet fever, etc., 
the room, furniture, bed, etc., are to be thoroughly disinfected, to pre¬ 
vent the development and spreading of the germs. 

Sulphur fumes have been used for many years for this purpose, 
but this method is not secure, agreeable nor efficient. It no doubt 
kills many germs exposed any length of time to its fumes, but never 
destroys their spores. So much so-called fumigation, as usually prac¬ 
tised, is useless, that it might as well not have been done, as it 
gives a false impression of security. Most virulent germs are capa¬ 
ble of reproduction and dissemination years after their original occu¬ 
pation of a house. Old bedding and clothing, brought out months 
after the so-called fumigation, have caused the death of many a little 
one, and the dangerous sickness of others. 

Sulphur and its allies have been found to be so altogether uncer¬ 
tain and untrustworthy that boards of health are no longer willing 
to endorse its usefulness. 



DOMESTIC MANAGEMENT OF THE SICK-ROOM. 


927 


The only reliable, practical measure against the life of contagious 
germs is the same as now used in case of surgical diseases. Corro¬ 
sive sublimate^ carbolic acid^ boiling water^ steaming^ and baking are 
sure and safe remedies. 

Of this number corrosive sublimate is easily the leader in efficiency. 
It is not the dangerous drug to use as commonly supposed, since the 
quantity necessary to kill cannot be collected in a room subjected to 
its use. Every piece of furniture and all woodwork, even the paper 
of the wall, can be safely washed in a solhtion of this drug, made by 
dissolving one tablet in two quarts of water, and fear need not be 
entertained, either, of its efficacy or its harmfulness. Doors, windows, 
and other woodwork should be thoroughly washed with it. Carpets 
should be first Avet with it from a sprinkler, dried and beaten. The 
paper need not be removed, if only it can be wiped with this solution. 
Bedding should be steamed, bed-clothing boiled, and all articles not 
readily washed may be likeAvise steamed. A solution of carbolic acid^ 
1 part to 40 of water, is likeAvise efficient. The great danger of 
doing poor work in the matter of fumigation lies in the practice of 
carrying things out of the room during the illness, before fumigation 
has been commenced. The nurse or mother travelling from one 
room to another may carry in her clothing germs sufficient to infect 
a whole neighborhood. The attendants of such a case should wear 
some thin linen, cotton, cambric, or other washable dress, that may 
now and then be put into the boiler, and thus thoroughly cleansed. 

The hair of patient and attendant should be thoroughly washed in 
the corrosive wash on leaving the room, before disinfection of same. 
Hands are to be scrubbed in soap and water, and then washed in 
corrosive solution on leaving the room, and finally the room is to be 
thoroughly aired. 

If the work is done well and care has been exercised not to have 
contaminated other portions of the house except that occupied by 
the patient, all will be well. Frequently during the illness sheets 
wrung out of the corrosive solution are hung up on one side of the 
door to filter the air passing out of the room. It has also been found 
that the evaporation of some mild antiseptic in the room during the 
sickness not only modifies the virulence of the germ, but is actually 
beneficial in the treatment of these diseases. Of these drugs the 
following is an excellent combination, which may be evaporated in a 
tin dish-cover placed over a light, a stove, or other heated surface. 
It should be burned during the continuance of the disease. 

Carbolic Acid,.1 oz. 

Turpentine,.1 oz. 

Oil of Eucalyptus,.1 oz. 

Alcohol,.1 pint 

Let the rate of evaporation be very slow, and, if much carbolic ac&d 
be used in case of children, see that the drug is not absorbed into the 
system to such extent as to cause black urine or a backache. 



928 


DOMESTIC MANAGEMENT OF THE SICK-EOOM. 


Sulphur Fumij^ation. — This mode of fumigating chambers after 
measles, scarlet fever, and diphtheria is perhaps the most common, 
and, while not an ideal method, it is very easy of application, and 
quite practical. 

Buy two sulphur candles for every room to be fumigated, and, 
having lit them, shut up all windows and doors, and stuff all crevices 
in the doors with cotton batting. Allow the fumes to penetrate 
every closet and drawer for twenty-four hours. The room may then 
be occupied. 

Nitric Acid Fumigation. — The efficiency of nitric acid in the form 
of gas, in arresting contagion, and in cleansing infected rooms, ships, 
and other places, is well established. To obtain the gas, pour one 
ounce of sulphuric acid upon two ounces of nitrate of potash in a 
large tea-cup, — the cup being placed in a basin containing hot water. 
The gas or vapor will be immediately disengaged. 

This quantity will thoroughly cleanse a small apartment, but if 
used in a sick-room, should be placed at some distance from the pa¬ 
tient. In a large room two cups will be required; and if a whole 
house is to be fumigated, let several be placed in various apartments, 
and the doors and windows be closed for half an hour. 

Chloride of Zinc. — A solution of the chloride of zinc has great 
power in arresting contagion, and in cleansing infected places. A 
small quantity of it will, in a few minutes, cleanse the most offensive 
apartments. 

Chloride of Lime. — This is one of the most powerful disinfecting 
or cleansing agents known. To prepare it for use, add four gallons 
of water to a pound of the chloride of lime; stir the mixture well, 
and after allowing it to settle for a short time, pour off the clear solu¬ 
tion, and keep it in well-corked bottles. 

Chloride of Soda. — This, in disinfecting power, is about equal to 
the chloride of lime. In order that it may retain its properties, it 
must be kept from the light, in a well-stopped glass bottle. When 
used, it must be mixed in the proportion of one ounce, or two large 
spoonfuls, to the pint of water. It is excellent for cleansing car¬ 
buncles, gangrenous sores, bad ulcers, ulcerated sore throat, and fetid 
discharges of every kind. A weak solution should be frequently 
applied. 

Uses of Chlorides of Lime and Soda.— These articles almost in¬ 
stantly destroy every bad smell, and all effluvia arising from animal 
and vegetable decomposition, and entirely prevent their bad influ¬ 
ence. 

While infectious or contagious diseases prevail in large towns or 
cities, the rooms should be sprinkled, morning and evening, with 
some of one of these solutions. Some of it should be placed in the 
different rooms, in shallow dishes,—the small bed-rooms being par¬ 
ticularly remembered. 


DOMESTIC MANAGEMENT OF THE SICK-ROOM. 


929 


It must be remembered that whatever can be boiled, like linen 
sheets, towels, etc., and whatever can be subjected to prolonged 
steaming, or the presence of boiling water, can be made absolutely 
clean and germ-free. No fear need be caused after such a disinfec¬ 
tion. 

In houses where there are typhoid and putrid fevers, and infectious 
complaints, it is highly proper to sprinkle the solution about the 
rooms, and occasionally upon the bed-linen; and the air of the room 
should be frequently renewed. A wineglassful added to the cham¬ 
ber-vessel or the bed-pan will remove all smell. The most frequently 
used disinfectants for the stools of typhoid patients is carbolic acid, 
in the strength of one teaspoonful to the pint of water; of this use 
half or third of the quantity for each stool. 

Before sending the bed and other linen to the wash, let it be im¬ 
mersed, five or six minutes, in one of these solutions, diluted, as mere 
washing will not always remove the infection. But the linen should 
be immediately rinsed in pure water after the immersion; to allow it 
to dry without such rinsing might injure it. 

By pouring a quart of one of these mixtures, added to a pailful of 
water, into drains, sewers or cesspools, and repeating the application 
as may be required, will destroy all their offensive effluvia. 

Meat will keep for some time without any taint, and without the 
molestation of flies, if immersed in one of these solutions for an in¬ 
stant, and hung up ; and all tainted meat, fish, game, etc., will be 
rendered sweet by a little sprinkling of the same. 

To purify water in cisterns, and destroy the animalcules in it, add 
to every one hundred gallons about a pint of one of the solutions. 

The washing of bedsteads with one of the solutions, and putting 
it into all the crevices, will destroy bugs. 

A room just painted may be slept in safely, if one of the mixtures 
be sprinkled about, and left in shallow dishes. 

Stables, slaughter-houses, hog-sties, privies, and all places from 
which offensive smells arise, may be thoroughly purified by these 
mixtures; or, still better, by the use of sulphur-naphtha, “ oil of 
milk,” which is to be diluted in the proportion of one teaspoonful to a 
quart of water, and used very freely. This is one.of the most excel¬ 
lent wound dressings now known, but should be used in one-half 
strength solutions. 

Being guardians of the public health of such wide application, and 
of so great utility, it is surprising that they are not more used. 

Freezing Mixtures. 

In treating wounds, inflammation, etc., it is often quite important 
to have ice, where it is not to be obtained without manufacturing it. 
Accordingly, I give here a few directions for its immediate produc¬ 
tion. 


930 


DOMESTIC MANAGEMENT OF THE SICK-KOOM. 


The salts used should be in a crystallized state, with as much water 
in them as possible without being damp. They should be coarsely 
pulverized at the time of using, and put into the water contained in 
a basin, or other suitable vessel. The water to be frozen should be 
inclosed in a thin vessel, and immersed in the freezing mixture. To 
obtain extreme degrees of cold, the ingredients and the vessel should 
be cooled by one mixture before being mixed for another. 

To five drams of pulverized hydrochlorate of ammonia, and five 
drams of pulverized nitrate of potash (nitre), add two ounces of 
water, in a tin, stone-ware, or glass vessel, and you may freeze 
water, sea-water, milk, vinegar, or oil of turpentine. It will cause 
the thermometer to sink from 50° above zero to 10° above; that is, 
forty degrees. 

A mixture of five drams of sulphate of soda, and four drams of 
diluted sulphuric acid, will sink the thermometer seven degrees lower 
than the above, namely, down to 3° above zero, or twenty-nine degrees 
helow the -freezing point. 

If six drams of sulphate of soda, four drams of hydrochlorate of 
ammonia, two drams of nitrate of potash, and four drams of diluted 
nitric acid be put together, the mixture will lower the thermometer 
60°; that is, to 10° below zero, or 42° below the freezing point. 

Besides the above the following combination may be used: 

Muriate of ammonia, five ounces; nitrate of potash, five ounces 
water, sixteen ounces. Mix. 

Nitrate of ammonia, four ounces; crystalized carbonate of soda, 
four ounces ; water, four ounces. Mix. 

Nitrate of ammonia and water, equal parts. Mix. 

Nitrate of ammonia and nitrate of potash, five parts each; sul¬ 
phate of soda, eight parts ; and water, sixteen parts. Mix. 

Phosphate of soda, nine parts; diluted nitric acid, four parts. 
Mix. 

Sulphate of soda, eight parts ; muriatic acid, five parts. Mix. 

Sulphate of soda, six parts ; nitrate of ammonia, five parts ; diluted 
nitric acid, four parts. Mix. 

Freezing Mixtures with Ice. — Snow or pounded ice, two parts; 
salt, one part. Mix. This will sink the thermometer to 5° below 
zero. 

Snow or pounded ice, four parts; salt, two parts; muriate of am¬ 
monia, one part. In this mixture the thermometer will go down to 
12° below zero. 

Snow or pounded ice, twenty-four parts ; common salt, ten parts; 
muriate of ammonia, five parts; nitrate of potassa, five parts. Mix. 
Gives 18° below zero. 

Snow or pounded ice, twelve parts; common salt, five parts; 
nitrate of ammonia, five parts. Mix. Gives 25° below zero. 

Snow, eight parts; muriatic acid, five parts. Mix. Gives 27° 
below zero. 


DOMESTIC MANAGEMENT OF THE SICK-ROOM. 


931 


Snow, seven parts; diluted nitric acid, four parts. Mix. Gives 
30° below zero. 

Snow, four parts; chloride of calcium, five parts. Mix. Gives 
40° below zero. 

Snow, three parts; potassa, four parts. Mix. Gives 51° below 
zero, or 83° below the freezing point. 

The Nurse. — When all the arrangements are completed in the 
sick-room, little benefit can be anticipated if a proper nurse be not 
obtained to render them available to the invalid. Every female who 
wishes to act as a sick-nurse should be obliged to serve a certain 
time as an assistant nurse in one of the public hospitals, and to re¬ 
ceive a certificate of her efficiency before she leaves the establish¬ 
ment. The advantages which the public derive from a body of nurses 
educated in this manner must be obvious to every one. 

In hiring a sick-nurse, the qualifications which should regulate our 
choice refer to age^ strength^ healthy temper^ disposition^ habits and 
education. 

Age, — She should not be under twenty-five, nor above fifty-five 
years of age. This period is fixed upon on account both of the 
physical powers and the moral conduct of the individual. Under 
twenty-five, the strength of a woman has not reached its maturity, 
and is scarcely adequate for lifting patients in and out of bed, and 
for many other duties which require strength, connected with the 
office of a nurse ; but the strength and the muscular power in females 
begin to fail after fifty-five, when the natural transition from maturity 
to decay takes place. 

Strength. — The foregoing remarks respecting age render it almost 
unnecessary to say that a woman of a naturally delicate frame of 
body is unfit for a sick-nurse ; at the same time, a coarse, heavy, 
and masculine woman is, for many reasons, objectionable. Whilst 
strength is requisite, the frame should be such as to indicate activ¬ 
ity. V 

Health.—None of the qualifications of a sick-nurse are of more 
importance than health. An individual who herself requires atten¬ 
tion is ill-calculated to attend upon others. A woman who is asth¬ 
matic, or has any difficulty of breathing, or a habitual cough; who 
is rheumatic or gouty, or has any spasmodic affection; who is af¬ 
flicted with palpitation; or suffers from periodical headache, vertigo, 
or a tendency to paralysis ; or who is consumptive, or scrofulous; or 
has defective sight or hearing; or anything which causes decrepitude, 
is disqualified for a sick-nurse. It is important, also, to ascertain that 
there is no hypochondriacal or hysterical tendency, nor predisposition 
to mental depression. 

Temper and Disposition. — It is scarcely requisite to say that an 
attendant upon the sick should possess a happy, cheerful, equal flow 


932 


DOMESTIC MANAGEMENT OF THE SICK-EOOM. 


of spirits; a temper not easily ruffled; and kind and sympathetic 
feelings; but, at the same time, not such as to interfere with firm¬ 
ness of character. The expression of the countenance should be 
open and winning, so as to attract the good-will and confidence of 
the invalid: a pleasing and gentle manner being more likely to gain 
esteem, and insure obedience to the orders of the physician, than the 
most persuasive arguments which can be addressed to the under¬ 
standing of the patient. 

A collected, cheerful expression of the countenance, in the attend¬ 
ant on the sick, is likely to inspire hope, and to aid the efforts of the 
physician for the recovery of his patient. 

The general disposition of a sick-nurse should be obliging. Every 
little office, which the invalid may require to be done, should be per¬ 
formed at once, and without the smallest apparent reluctance, even 
when the necessity for its immediate performance is not absolute. 
There is also an earnestness of manner, which should, if possible, be 
obtained or acquiesced in by the sick-nurse, as it impresses the idea 
that she feels deeply interested in the case; a circumstance which is 
always highly appreciated by the patient. 

Finally, it is unnecessary to say that a nurse should be honest, as 
no description of servant has so much in her power. But the honesty 
of the nurse is not to be measured by her respect for property; she 
must be above imposing on the physician, with respect either to 
medicines or to diet. Pier religion, also, should be sincere, but not 
Pharisaical; and although she may occasionally persuade her charge 
“ to put his trust in God, the fountain of health,” * j^et she must rec¬ 
ollect that preaching is not her province; and, when mistimed, even 
the best advice may prove not only profitless, but injurious; and this 
is especially likely to be the result when the doctrines she professes 
are of a controversial kind. 

With respect to gossiping, it is a detestable habit under any cir¬ 
cumstances; but in a nurse it may be productive of the greatest 
danger, produce family feuds, and a thousand other evils. 

In her Habits, a sick-nurse should be sober, active, orderly, and 
clean, and neat in her person. 

The first of these habits — namely, sobriety — is so essential a 
qualification in every attendant in the sick-room, that it requires no 
comment. Happily, the desire for ardent spirits is now less frequent 
than formerly, when women were seldom employed as nurses until 
they were nearly superannuated, and until their habits, good or bad, 
were too firmly rooted to be removed. 

The Activity essential for a good nurse does not imply a bustling or 
fidgety manner, but a quiet, steady method of proceeding in the per¬ 
formance of her duties, equally devoid of fluster, turbulence or noise. 
This activity is generally associated with orderly habits; a most valua- 

* Fuller. 


DOMESTIC MANAGEMENT OF THE SICK-ROOM. 


933 


ble qualification, and without which the sick-room becomes a scene of 
confusion and disgust. Every medical man must have witnessed this 
state of disorder with regret, when, on visiting his patient, he finds no 
chair to sit upon until some article of bedding or of clothing be re¬ 
moved from it, and the seat dusted with the apron of the nurse; and 
when a former prescription, or anything else, is wanted, he must 
wait until the nurse rummages out half a dozen of drawers in search 
of it. 

Another quality, usually conjoined with activity and orderly habits 
in a nurse, is cleanliness in her own person and in that of her charge, 
as well as that of the sick-room. The dress of a nurse should be 
simple and neat, without trimmings. Nothing is more out of place 
than a fine lady attempting to perform the duties of a nurse. 

Education. —It may appear a refinement to talk of the education 
of a nurse; but there is not a greater difference between noon-day 
and midnight than between an educated and an ignorant nurse. The 
former is often an aid to the physician, not only in carrying his orders 
into effect, but by observing and informing him of symptoms of great 
importance which have occurred during his absence; whereas the lat¬ 
ter is a source of constant anxiety, and too often assumes the privi¬ 
lege of acting in direct contradiction to his orders, and according to 
her own opinion. 


Unhired Attendants. 

The selection of a good nurse, however eminently qualified she 
may be for her duties, does not supersede the attendance of a rela¬ 
tive or friend in the sick-room; on the contrary, I can conceive no 
condition so deplorable as that of an invalid left altogether to the care 
and management of a hireling. It is, nevertheless, too true that few 
ladies, even those who are wives and mothers, have any acquaintance 
with the arrangements of the sick-room, and the management of the 
invalid; they are, consequently, too often forced to be guided by, and 
to rely for instruction on, the nurse, instead of being able to superin¬ 
tend her conduct, to ascertain that she performs her duty, and to 
correct her failings. 

The degree of intelligence which is demanded in a nurse is very 
different from that which is requisite for a wife or a relative in the sick¬ 
room. The intelligence of the nurse is directed to supply the wants 
of the invalid, to administer to his comforts, and to obey the instruc¬ 
tions of the physician; that of the friend or relative involves the 
power of discriminating disposition and temper; of watching the 
progress of the disease, and judging of the propriety of not pursuing 
certain measures, which, although indicated by the symptoms at the 
time of prescribing, yet may require to be altered, and consequently 
detailed to the physician, whose presence may be requisite before his 
next intended visit. It is of the utmost importance, also, that rela- 


934 


DOMESTIC MANAGEMENT OF THE SICK-KOOM. 


tives attending in the sick-room should be able to control their feel¬ 
ings in the presence of the invalid. 

Nothing is more essential, in the domestic management of diseases, 
than a knowledge of the natural disposition and temper of the inva¬ 
lid. An irritable or a passionate man requires a very different man¬ 
agement from that which is proper for a man of naturally mild and 
easy disposition. Disease awakens, in an augmented degree, the irri¬ 
tability of the former; he becomes impatient of contradiction; and 
every time his opinions are injudiciously opposed, the turbulent agi¬ 
tation of the nervous system which follows either increases the dis¬ 
ease or weakens the influence of the remedial agents. On the other 
hand, a mild and gentle disposition often leads to extreme sensitive¬ 
ness, when disease attacks the body; a word, a look, is sufficient to 
touch some sympathetic cord: to unstring the whole nervous system; 
and to augment the morbid susceptibility already present in the habit 
to a degree that is not always devoid of danger. Much discretion 
and judgment, therefore, are requisite in both instances; in the one 
case, to prevent ebullitions of temper; in the other, to refrain from 
anything that might be construed by the invalid into harshness; and 
yet at the same time, in each case, to maintain that influence over 
the patient which the treatment of every disease demands in an at¬ 
tendant on the sick. 

Prejudice and Antipathies. — In those who are imperfectly or erro¬ 
neously educated, the judgment is apt to be biassed hj prejudice and 
antipathies; and, under the influence of these, it is misdirected in a 
manner of which the individual is often wholly unconscious; thence 
the necessity of freedom from prejudice in the attendants in the sick¬ 
room, and the farther importance of the friends or relatives of the 
sick being able to superintend the conduct and the management of 
hired nurses. On the other hand, the judgment, even in the well- 
educated, is apt to be misled by the affections^ the influence of which 
is as much opposed to the healthy exercise of discrimination as the 
prejudices of the ignorant. Self-control, therefore, is also an essen¬ 
tial qualification of the sick-room. 

It is only from knowing that the attendants of the sick are pos¬ 
sessed of intelligence and self-control, that a physician can rely upon 
having his orders correctly and duly executed ; when those qualities 
are absent, he has to dread, on the one hand, the presumption of 
ignorant prejudice; and on the other, the improper yielding of sensi¬ 
tive indulgence. To the invalid, also, it is important to know that 
the directions of his physician are filled by an intelligent person; 
for, even in the most severe diseases, as long as the mental faculties 
.remain unaffected, a sick man is capable of detecting ignorance, or 
the effects of prejudice, in his attendants;.and, when he is convinced 
of the existence of either, all the influence of the individual, whether 
nurse, or friend, or relative, is at an end. 

Were the business of the sick-room ("independent of the wants and 


DOMESTIC MANAGEMENT OF THE SICK-KOOM. 


935 


comforts of the invalid) confined to the mere observation and collec¬ 
tion of facts — namely, the noting of the symptoms of disease—and 
reporting them to the physician, it would be superfluous to urge the 
necessity of superior intelligence in its superintendent; but many of 
its duties require not only a well-regulated understanding, but an 
equally sound condition of the moral feelings and the benevolent 
affections, with a recognition of the authority of conscience in the 
whole operations of life. In the period of sickness, under the direc¬ 
tion of the judicious and discreet, an invalid may be led to the in¬ 
vestigation of his moral and religious condition, and to review his 
past conduct, with the determination of turning the result to his 
future welfare, should he happily recover and re-enter society. Surely 
such important duties as these cannot be intrusted to the unqualified, 
or the ignorant, or the hireling; nor can more be required to demon¬ 
strate the importance of adding to the other branches of female edu¬ 
cation a knowledge of the various important duties of the sick-room, 
which females, whether as mothers or daughters, or wives or friends, 
are likely to be called upon to fulfil. 


Prognostics. 

In every disease the medical attendant is naturally called upon to 
deliver his opinion of the degree of danger which hangs over the 
patient: hence, it is unnecessary to enter into any minute details on 
the subject of prognostics. But, as in many diseases changes occur, 
in the absence of the practitioner, which ought instantly to be ex¬ 
amined into, in order that the danger likely to accrue from them may 
be averted, it is important that the friends and ordinary attendants 
of the sick should be aware of their presence, so as to obtain the irn- 
mediate assistance of the medical attendant. Were this information, 
also, more generally diffused, many unnecessary visits would be saved 
to the physician, and much unfounded suspicion of danger prevented 
from distressing and torturing the minds of the friends of the sick. 

In Fevers delirium alone should excite no alarm, unless it be very 
high, or of the low, muttering, incoherent kind. In jaundice, and in 
diseases of the chest, it is alarming; and in the latter stages of pul¬ 
monary consumption, its presence always indicates the approach of 
death. 

Great confusion of thought^ loss of recollection of the most recent 
occurrence, a restless, wandering eye, and a correspondent vacancy 
or confusion of countenance, are always to be dreaded in fevers and 
in diseases of the brain. An expression of great anxiety is equally 
alarming in all acute diseases; and a presentiment of death is still 
more to be dreaded. 

Hoarseness, with constant spitting, occurring at an early period 
in small-pox, is very unfavorable. 


936 


DOMESTIC MANAGEMENT OF THE SICK-ROOM. 


Squinting in affections of the head ought to be particularly noticea, 
and mentioned to the attending practitioner; and the same remark 
applies to a greatly contracted^ or a dilated^ or an immovable condition 
of the pupil of the eye; or the turning up of the pupils under the 
upper eyelids. 

Deafness is not an unfavorable occurrence in continued fever; but 
a sudden attack of headache in pulmonary diseases ought instantly 
to be mentioned to the physician. 

The Sudden Disappearance of Pain in inflammatory affections of 
the bowels is always to be dreaded; but it does not in every instance 
portend the existence of mortification. 

Cough, depending on inflammation of the bronchial membrane, 
suddenly supervening on a suppressed eruption, is always to be 
dreaded. 

In Croup, when the breathing is audible^ or when there is a crow¬ 
ing sound in inspiration, or a cooing or croaking respiration, danger 
is present. 

In Whooping-Cough, when the paroxysms suddenly increase in 
violence, and the face becomes livid, and the thumbs are drawn 
across into the palms of the hands, the appearance of convulsions 
may be anticipated: hence immediate notice of these symptoms 
should be communicated to the medical attendant. 

Rigors invariably excite alarm; but they are only dangerous in 
chronic internal diseases, in which they often indicate the formation 
of pus, or the existence of suppuration. 

Pallidness of the countenance, with a slight degree of lividity^^iQ 
symptoms of hazard in inflammation of the lungs. 

The Position of the Patient as he lies in bed, especially in fevers, 
is of much importance. Constantly lying on his back, with a ten¬ 
dency to sink to the bottom of the bed; a propensity to keep the 
arms and the feet out of bed, and to uncover the trunk; or to pick 
the bed-clothes; tremors ; twitching of the tendons; grinding of the 
teeth, and sleeping with the eyelids half open, and the white of the 
eyes only seen; are all justly regarded as symptoms of great danger. 

Fainting (^Syncope) is to be considered alarming in diseases of the 
heart, or during profuse bleeding from the nose, or from any other 
part: deep sighing^ also, under such circumstances, is most unfavora¬ 
ble, and often indicates rapid dissolution. 

Hiccup, in the advanced stages of either acute or chronic diseases, 
is invariably alarming. 

Difficulty of Swallowing, also, in the advanced stages of fever, 
palsy, and affections of the head, always indicates extreme danger; 


DOMESTIC MANAGEMENT OF THE SICK-KOOM. 


937 


vomiting^ on the contrary, is not unfavorable, unless it be very severe 
and protracted; but, if the ejected matters be putrid, or feculent, 
then the vomiting is always to be dreaded. 

Coma, or an irresistible propensity to sleep, following the sudden 
suppression of gout, or the cessation of periodical bleeding in piles, 
or the healing of old sores, is always alarming, and requires prompt 
medical assistance. 

Convulsions without fever or any affection of the head seldom 
prove dangerous; but they are never fi ee from danger when they 
are accompanied with stupor or coma. They are also dangerous 
when inflammatory fever is present. They are less dangerous in 
women than in men, in the young than in advanced age. In infancy, 
convulsions are more to be dreaded in the robust than in the delicate 
and irritable child. 

Diarrhoea is, under every circumstance, an unfavorable event, 
when it occurs either in fevers, or in the termination of chronic dis¬ 
eases; and the passing of involuntary stools, when scarcely any 
diarrhoea exists, is equally to be dreaded. 

Retention of the Urine, as well as its involuntary discharge^ is 
always an unfavorable symptom. 

Purple Spots appearing on the skin, livid lips and cheeks^ oozing 
of bloody sudden flushings followed by pallor, are unfavorable symp¬ 
toms ; and the appearance of oedematous swellings of the legs and 
skin in the last stage of organic diseases always indicate approaching 
death. When purple spots^ also, appear in small-pox, with flattening 
of the pustules on the trunk of the body, and a white, pasty aspect 
of the eruption in the face; and if, at the same time, the extremities 
become cold, any hope of recovery can scarcely be entertained. 

Great and continued or progressing emaciation in chronic diseases, 
and what is termed the facies Hippocratica^ are to be dreaded. 

Excoriations on the parts on which the body rests,—for example, 
the haunches, or the lower part of the back, — especially if these 
become livid and sloughy, always indicate extreme danger. 

Great Difficulty of Breathing, even to a feeling of suffocation, is 
not necessarily hazardous in asthma; for although few diseases are 
so little under control by the interference of the physician, yet 
asthma seldom proves fatal, unless it tends to the production of 
other diseases. 

In Consumption, partial sweating, as of the head, the chest, or the 
limbs, is always an unfavorable symptom. 

When pregnancy occurs in a woman laboring under consumption, 
the disease is arrested until after delivery, as if Providence threw a 
shield over the mother for the safety of the offspring. 


938 


DOMESTIC MANAGEMENT OF THE SICK-ROOM. 


The Sudden Disappearance of Swelling of the Legs, in chronic 
organic diseases, is indicative of approaching death. 

When a child, instead of rallying after any acute disease, becomes 
emaciated^ and the belly is large and tympanitic, there is always 
much danger. 

Bed-Sores. 

The danger of bed-sores is often in proportion to the carelessness 
of the nurse, although the condition of the patient has much to do 
with it. They attack first the skin at the end of the spine, the hip- 
joints, knees, elbows and heels. 

Debility from continued fever, from paralysis, old age, continued 
pressure, unclean bedding, and the untidy habits of the nurse, are 
the immediate cause. 

The first appearance of a bed-sore is to be noticed in redness of 
the skin ; soon a blister forms, the skin breaks away, leaving the sur¬ 
face raw and moist. Decomposition sets in very quickly if the 
symptoms are neglected, and the blister becomes an open sore. 

The outcome of the disease depends upon the condition of the 
patient, and the removal or non-removal of the cause. 

Treatment.—If there is much debility, tonics should be given. 
The various places of the body which are likely to become sore 
should be rubbed four times a day, from five to ten minutes, with a 
stimulating mixture like spirits of camphor or olive-oil and brandy; 
a good liniment is alcohol or weak bay rum. Be careful not to irri¬ 
tate the skin, —simply cleanse and harden. The prominences of bone 
may be covered with surgeon-plaster if there is sweating of the body. 
Unless a blister forms, the part should be relieved of pressure by air- 
cushions. Collodion should be applied, and the parts kept dry. 

If the blister turns to an open sore, use poultices until it is open 
and the matter discharged, then use stimulating cleansing washes of 
borax-water or weak carbolic-acid. Peruvian balsam on cotton¬ 
wool is a good remedy. 

The best preventive measures are careful nursing, dry, smooth 
sheets, air-cushions, frequent changes of position. The bedding and 
night-robe should be absolutely clean, dry and smooth and frequently 
changed. 

Ovarian Disease. 

Or, as it is usually termed, ovarian dropsy^ has hitherto proved 
incurable; but it is relieved by tapping; and, if the powers of life 
be sustained by proper food, and carriage exercise in the open air; 
and if all medicines be let alone, except such as are required to 
regulate the bowels, life may be sustained for many years. 

All diseases not involving organic changes are, with a few ex¬ 
ceptions, more or less under the control of medicines, and are conse¬ 
quently curable. But some diseases, in which no organic changes 


DOMESTIC MANAGEMENT OF THE SICK-KOOM. 


939 


have been discovered, are nevertheless incurable. This is the case 
with spasmodic asthma, which has rarely been cured. 

It is true that functional disturbances are not uiifrequently associ¬ 
ated with organic diseases; but, under such circumstances, it is the 
province of the attending physician to point out to the friends of the 
patient the greater or the less degree of danger in these complica¬ 
tions. 


Diet, etc., in Disease and Convalescence. 

In numerous instances, much hazard often exists after disease has 
disappeared, and when the patient is declared convalescent; and as 
this period in the removal of diseases is left to management either 
of the patient himself or of his friends, some general remarks re¬ 
specting it, and also in reference to particular diseases, are requisite. 

In every recovery from sickness, whether external or internal, be¬ 
fore the salutary advantages obtained from the treatment be confirmed, 
the organ or part which has suffered must be either left at rest or be 
used, according to the nature of the case. Thus, if any part have 
suffered from inflammation, it must not be used for some time after 
the inflammation is subdued. If the eyes have suffered, the person 
must neither read nor write, nor expose the eyes to the heat of the 
fire, nor to a strong light, until some days after every trace of the 
disease has disappeared. If the arm has been affected it must be 
kept at rest; and if the leg, not only should walking be refrained 
from, but the limb should be placed rather higher than the trunk of 
the body. If the previous disease has affected the brain, every men¬ 
tal exertion must be avoided; and so on, whatever may be the ergan 
which has especially suffered. Even when the exercise of the organ 
is resumed, it should not be carried to fatigue, nor, on any account, 
should it be such as to produce excitement. At the same time, it 
must not be forgotten that, in the treatment of external injuries, when 
it has been necessary to keep the limb long in a sling, in one position, 
— as, for instance, in fractures, — the muscles which bend the arm 
acquire from the habit a contraction which cannot be overcome by 
the antagonist muscles, owing to the length of time they have been 
on the stretch, weakening their contiactile power. The arm, there¬ 
fore, should be frequently taken from the sling, and, being rested upon 
the elbow, a moderate weight should be held in the hand, and friction 
with oil employed upon the contracted muscles. It is true that sur¬ 
geons usually give directions for this operation, before they quit the 
management of the case; but surgeons, as well as physicians, are 
sometimes dismissed before the convalescence is complete; on which 
account, arms and limbs have remained contracted for life, from a 
want of the knowledge necessary to counteract the evil at an early 
stage. I say nothing respecting the continuance of remedies during 
convalescence from many diseases, except urging the necessity of 
regulating the bow^els. 


940 


DOMESTIC MANAGEMENT OF THE SICK-ROOM. 


The mpst important part of the management of convalescence cer¬ 
tainly refers to a^V, exercise^ and diet. The errors daily committed, 
in all these matters, exert the most powerful influence in retarding 
complete restoration to health; and often, indeed, induce evils of a 
more formidable kind than the diseases from which the patients have 
just emerged. 

1. Air, In every convalescence, whatever may have been the 
nature of the disease, if it has been so severe as to wear down the 
strength of the invalid, countiy air is essential. The benevolent 
Author of our existence has made medicinal the hills, the vales, the 
groves, and all the harmonies of nature ; and in the repose of these 
man finds a balm, not only for a wounded spirit, but for his stricken 
body. 

In selecting a country residence for a convalescent, care must be 
taken to ascertain whether any source of malaria exists in the neigh¬ 
borhood; as, in that case, even if all other circumstances be favorable, 
the place is exceptionable. 

2. Exercise, In convalescence, much caution is requisite in apoor- 
tioning the exercise to the degree of returning strength. When the 
convalescent is still too feeble to take sufficient exercise on foot, the 
best substitute for it is riding horseback; but, as soon as walking 
can be borne, it should be preferred to either horse or carriage exer¬ 
cise. 

3. Diet. In health, diet may be left, in a great degree, to the in¬ 
clination or the taste, as far as regards the quality of the food; and, 
although diseases occasionally originate from repletion, yet, in gen¬ 
eral, the appetite may be considered as the best regulator of quan¬ 
tity, when the food is simple, and the appetite is not pampered by 
high seasoning and rich sauces. In disease, however, a very opoo- 
site rule is to be observed; the regulation of both the quantity and 
the quality of the food is of the utmost importance. The taste is 
often so perverted as to desire that which would prove injurious; 
and were appetite to be the guide of quantity, diseases would fre¬ 
quently not only be increased in severity, but life itself would be 
brought into jeopardy. 

As soon as solid animal food can be taken with impunity, that 
which is most digestible should be selected. An opinion has gener¬ 
ally prevailed that gelatinous matters, and meats which readily yield 
jelly,—such, for example, as veal and lamb, — are the most easily 
digested, and at the same time are also the most nutritive. This is 
a mistake; for, with the exception of poultry, the flesh of young ani¬ 
mals is stringy and of a lax fibre, and is even less easily digested than 
that of too old animals, which presents great density of texture. 
The middle-aged animals afford the most digestible food. 

Nothing tends to lessen the density of the fibre of every kind of 
animal food so much as keeping it for a certain time before it is 
cooked. In this case the tenderness is the result of incipient decom- 


DOMESTIC MANAGEMENT OF THE SICK-ROOM. 


941 


position or putrefaction; but the utmost caution is requisite to pre¬ 
vent this from advancing so far as to present the slightest trace of 
taint in the food of the convalescent. In the low state of vitality in 
convalescence, the change which commencing decomposition (putre¬ 
faction) causes, renders animal food in that condition a source likely 
to occasion either a relapse into the disease from which the patient 
has recovered, or to form a new disease. 

In examining the relative value of other articles of diet adapted 
for the sick and convalescent, the first which presents itself to our 
notice is 

Milk.— As milk is the food of almost all young animals, its diges¬ 
tibility appears at once evident; and there can be little doubt that it 
is very digestible, when it is drunk immediately after it is drawn 
from the udder of the cow or the goat, before its components have 
time to separate. When this separation is effected, either spon¬ 
taneously by time, or by means of rennet or other agents, its prop¬ 
erties are altered, and its digestibility is lessened. 

Cream, when intimately united with the other components of 
milk, — namely, the curd, or the caseous part, and the whey, ■— is 
not the same substance as after its separation. In the milk, it is 
more easily digested, and is the most nutritive part of the milk. But 
in its separate state it is ill adapted either for the sick or convales¬ 
cent except in the form of butter, which is not unwholesome unless it 
be eaten in excess or be melted. Although cream is not as digesti¬ 
ble as milk, yet it is much less liable to turn acid in the stomach; it 
is often beneficial to dyspeptics, either alone or diluted with water. 
In the same manner the separate curd is indigestible; and whey 
itself, although highly nutritive, yet is flatulent; nevertheless, it is 
an excellent demulcent in many cases of disease. But none of the 
components of milk are equal to milk itself. It is often necessary, 
in convalescence, to dilute it with water. 

Eggs. —It is not uncommon to hear that the yolk of a raw egg, 
beaten up with water and sugar, with the addition of a small quan¬ 
tity of white wine, is a light and nutritive aliment in convalescence, 
and even in some states of disease; but eggs are much less digestible 
in this form than when they are lightly boiled. In jaundice, however, 
arising from viscid mucus obstructing the orifice of the common 
duct, the yolk of a raw egg beaten up with cold water is serviceable. 

Fish, at least the white kind, stimulates much less than the flesh 
of land animals; hence it is a proper food for those laboring under 
some acute diseases; and also for convalescents, when a sudden re¬ 
turn to more stimulating food would prove hurtful. But it is not 
adapted for convalescents when the object is to bring up rapidly the s 
strength of debilitated habits. 

Raw oysters have been erroneously supposed to be both easy of 
digestion and nutritive. The latter opinion is, in some degree, true; 


942 


DOMESTIC MANAGEMENT OF THE SICK-ROOM. 


but the former is erroneous. Raw oysters are less digestible than 
plainly-cooked oysters. Both are improper for the sick and for early 
convalescents. Lobsters, crabs, prawns, cray-fish, scallops, and other 
shell-fish, are still more objectionable. 

If fish of any kind be admissible, it should be simply boiled; fried 
fish is even worse for invalids than the outside or the brown of roasted 
meat. 

Vegetables. — In reference to vegetable diet^ it is only the mildest 
description of esculent roots that are fitted for the use of the sick. 
In preparing all of them for the sick room, they should be well boiled 
in two distinct waters, until they are soft and very soluble, and in a 
state not to leave undissolved anything which could act as a mechani¬ 
cal irritant on the intestinal canal. When properly cooked, they are 
moderately nutritive, and free frorn any stimulant properties; and 
they are well adapted for the stomach of the sick, unless in cases in 
which the torpor of the organ is such as to permit them to run into 
acetous fermentation and to prove fiatulent. 

Fruits. — With respect to fruits^ they produce the most diversified 
effects; and, consequently, are more or less proper for invalids, ac¬ 
cording to circumstances, either connected with themselves or with 
the condition of the patient at the time. The stone-fruits, with the 
exception of the ripe peach, or the nectarine, are to be rejected. The 
apple tribe, except very soluble pears, are still less admissible. The 
apple, however, when roasted, and when the seeds and the hard cen¬ 
tral parts, as well as the skin, are removed, is less objectionable ; and, 
as it possesses laxative properties, the roasted apple is well adapted 
for the sick, when food is at all allowable, and when the bowels are 
torpid. The orange, if fully ripe, is grateful and wholesome to all 
invalids, and is only equalled in these qualities by the grape; but in 
using the orange, the pulp should be rejected. The juice of the 
grape-fruit is good and refreshing, but care should be taken not to 
use any of the pulp, on account of its bitter taste. Care also should 
be taken not to swallow either the skin or the seeds of the grape. 
Strawberries are a liltle stimulant, of easy digestion, and more cool¬ 
ing than the other small fruits; mulberries are also unexception¬ 
able ; but currants and gooseberries, and even raspberries, are not 
free from objection for invalids laboring under acute diseases. 

With the exception of oat and wheaten breads especially that 
made from Franklin Mills flour (see receipt), all the varieties of 
farinaceous aliments may be regarded as modifications of starch, 
containing little nutritive matter, and therefore well adapted for the 
sick-room. It has been supposed that arrow-root, sago, tapioca, and 
similar substances, are very nutritive, because they form mucilages 
with boiling water; but this is not the fact; and were they very 
nutritive, they would be ill adapted for invalids. Rice, in every case 
where the stomach is in an acescent state, is preferable to the other 
farinaceae. because it is less fermentable. 


DOMESTIC MANAGEMENT OF THE SICK-ROOM. 


943 


The farinaceous food which is ordered in the convalescence of 
children from acute diseases, is often made of bread so as to consti¬ 
tute pap. No description of food has a greater tendency than this 
to become sour; a quantity only sufficient for a single meal, there¬ 
fore, should be made at a time; for what remains is always sour 
before the next meal; and even if the quantity be small, and it be 
mixed with fresh pap, it communicates its faculty of becoming sour 
to the whole mass. 

Fluid Aliments. 

Water. — The best and the most universal beverage for the sick 
is water: but the qualities of water differ, according to the sources 
whence it is procured. The fewer foreign ingredients it holds in so¬ 
lution the greater are its diluent properties. Distilled water, or rain 
or river water filtered, and that of soft-water spiings which filtrate 
through silicious strata, are the only kinds proper for the use of the 
sick-room. Hard water, under whatever name it is found, whether 
as spring water, or pump water, or well water, should be excluded. 
The impurities of river and rain water are merely held in suspension ; 
consequently, they are readily removed by filtration. 

Water itself is aliment; many individuals under certain circum¬ 
stances have lived for a considerable time upon it alone. Those 
who live chiefly on animal food require more drink than those who 
eat much vegetable matter. 

The influence of water on the animal economy may be regarded in 
two points of view : 

As an article of diet. 

As a medicinal agent. 

As an article of diet,, in health, water is the beverage provided by 
nature for all animals, man not excepted. The sensation of thirst is 
the natural call for fluids, either to assist digestion, or to allay a dry, 
hot condition of the mouth and the gullet. The consequence of not 
satisfying this call is fever of a nervous kind; and, if it be long re¬ 
sisted, inflammation of the air-passages. On the other hand, too 
much fluid is injurious ; for although the vital powers of the stomach 
counteract the tendency which it affords, by over-diluting the gastric 
fluid, to the fermentation of the aliment in the stomach, yet when it 
is in excess, those vital powers languish; hence spontaneous chemi¬ 
cal changes in the contents of the stomach take place, and induce 
dyspepsia. For all the purposes of dilution in healthy water is ade¬ 
quate, and it is the only truly wholesome beverage. 

As a medicinal agent,, water is demanded in every disease in which 
a dry skin and an elevation of the natural heat of the surface, con¬ 
stituting fever, are present. In this case, the desire is for cold water 
or cooling fluids ; and it should always be indulged. The degree of 
temperature, however, must be regulated by the condition of the in¬ 
valid; but the best medium temperature is between 50° and 60° 


944 


DOMESTIC MANAGEMENT OF THE SICK-ROOM. 


Fahr., although even 60° is too low, when the debility ot the frame 
is considerable. 

The qualities of the various kinds of beverages proper, and gener¬ 
ally employed in the sick-room, should be known. 

Toast-water, when properly prepared, which it seldom is, forms a 
useful beverage in the sick-room. It is slightly nutritive, owing to 
its containing a small portion of gluten, in conjunction with fecula 
and sugar. It is one of the oldest and one of the best diluent de¬ 
mulcents ; diluting at the same time that it softens the acridity of 
the secreted juices of the stomach, in febrile diseases. 

Qruel, whether made of groats or of oatmeal, is less mild and de¬ 
mulcent than barley-water; and it is more likely to undergo the ace¬ 
tous fermentation in the heat of the stomach; a circumstance which 
is greatly favored by the sugar and butter which is sometimes added 
to it. Unless gruel be very thin, it can scarcely be regarded as dilu¬ 
ent ; and when thick, it is too heating an aliment for patients labor¬ 
ing under febrile symptoms. 

Tea, in the form in which it is usually taken, is too stimulant and 
astringent to be a good diluent: and, when it is strong, the narcotic 
property which it possesses renders it improper for most invalids, 
whatever may be the nature of their diseases. As it is, nevertheless, 
agreeable to most palates, and very refreshing, it may be taken in 
moderate quantity, provided it be not strong, without any hazard. 

Sage, halm^ and mint teas^ are often substituted for common tea. 
Each of them undoubtedly allays the irritability of the stomach in 
some cases; but, as general beverages in disease, they are less useful 
than toast-water. Raspberry vinegar^ lemonade^ tamarind tea^ apple 
tea^ and similar compound diluents, should never be administered 
without the consent o£ a physician. If a patient be taking an anti- 
monial, they will excite vomiting; if a mercurial, griping; and they 
are equally incompatible with many other medicines, and with many 
conditions of the stomach in disease. They are a description of 
beverage greatly recommended and largely distributed by the Lady 
Bountifuls in the country, and have frequently been productive of 
serious mischief. 

Coffee is more heating, and consequently less admissible than tea; 
it may, however, be taken, if it be largely combined with milk. Cocoa 
and chocolate are still more objectionable than either tea or coffee in 
the sick-room. Shells are good and nourishing. 

With respect to the Number of Meals* and the periods best 
adapted for taking them, it is scarcely requisite to remark, that, 
although in health three moderate meals, at proper intervals, are 
customary, and well adapted for the support of the frame, yet, under 
the changed condition of the system in disease, it would be improper 


DOMESTIC MANAGEMENT OF THE SICK-ROOM. 


945 


to take any regular number of meals, or to observe any statea periods 
for taking them: hence no general rules can apply. 

As a general rule, in the decline of diseases, and on the approach 
of convalescence, when the desire for taking food returns, the best 
time for the principal meal, dinner^ is about two hours after noon. 
If the breakfast be taken at nine o’clock, and the evening meal at 
seven, the hour of two is the middle period of the day; so that, when 
dinner is taken at that time, the intervals between breakfast and 
dinner, and between dinner and supper, are not only equal, but 
neither is too short to limit the complete digestion of the previous 
meal, nor too long to injure the powers of the weakened stomach 
by protracted fasting. 

All acute diseases require more or less abstinence, especially when 
the object of the treatment is to lower the system; and in some 
chronic affections, abstinence is almost essential. If this be true, the 
necessity of the strictest observance of the directions of the physician 
on this subject must be obvious. It is one, however, which is not 
only neglected, but is often combated both by nurses and friends; 
and indulgences, which are supposed to be of too trivial a nature to 
cause any injury to the sick, have often been followed by fatal effects. 

But, although abstinence be requisite during the existence of an 
acute disease, yet it is injurious when it is too rigidly maintained 
after convalescence is actually established: it often induces a new 
train of symptoms, not very unlike those for which it was properly 
prescribed and the removal of which it has aided; namely, accelera¬ 
tion of the pulse, increased impetus of the heart, headache, and even 
delirium. 


General Diseases. 

Happily, in febrile affections^ the appetite of the invalid is not ip 
a condition to desire food; and no stronger demonstration can be 
required of the impropriety of forcing it upon him under such circum¬ 
stances. Simple fluids, such as diluents, are all that he desires, all 
that the stomach can bear ; and such alone should be administered in 
fever, before that low condition of the system, which demands the 
use of wine or other stimulants, supervenes. In these cases, when 
the patient desires more nourishment than is usual, animal food 
ought not to be given, unless by the direct recommendation of the 
physician. Indeed, in general, the inclination of the invalid happily 
revolts from animal food, as much as experience condemns its ad¬ 
ministration. 

While febrile symptoms are present, farinaceous matters, little 
nutritious, such as barley-water, gruel, arrow-root mucilage, or sago, 
acidulated with lemon-juice, and sweetened to the taste of the patient, 
are most suitable; but even these should be given in small quantity, 
and at considerable intervals. The beverage generally most agrees 
able, and also most salutary, to those suffering under fever, is cold 
water 


946 


DOMESTIC MANAGEMENT OF THE SICK-KOOM. 


In the decline of fevers, even, as I have already remarked, although 
the severity respecting diet should be relaxed, yet much danger may 
result from mistaken kindness and over-zeal, in urging animal and 
stimulant food at too early a period of the convalescence. Indeed, 
the necessity of caution at this time is greater than during the con¬ 
tinuance of the fever; and the more acute the disease has been, the 
greater must be the caution in the convalescence, especially if the 
treatment has been of an evacuant and lowering description. 

The first change of diet, in the decline of fevers, should be to an¬ 
other article of the same kind of food which was allowed in the dis¬ 
ease ; for example, from simple arrow-root mucilage to arrow-root and 
milk^ or to some other of the farinaceous compounds; whilst, at the 
same time, asses milk may be given in small quantity in the morn¬ 
ing. Rice^ one of the farinacese, is generally supposed to be astrin¬ 
gent, but this is a mistake. It forms an excellent diet in all cases of 
early but decided convalescence. It should be well-boiled, and mixed 
either with broth and beef-tea, or gravy which has been cooled, and 
the fat taken from it. In the transition to animal food, heef-tea^ 
chicken-hroth^ and mutton-hroth^ and other liquid animal decoctions, 
should be first resorted to; then white fish, simply cooked; for, al¬ 
though fish is more digestible than animal food, yet it affords much 
less stimulant nourishment; it is therefore better fitted for the early 
stage of convalescence. When convalescence is completed, a more 
generous diet is admissible. 

With respect to beverage, water, toast^ivater or lemon-peel-water, 
is sufficient, until the medical attendant declares that a little wine is 
requisite. 

In convalescence from fever, it is an error to permit the patient to 
get up too soon. He should not leave his bed until his strength be 
considerably advanced. No danger can result from too strict an 
observance of this rule; whereas much risk may be incurred by its 
neglect. 

If the head has been much affected, every mental exertion should 
be refrained from during the convalescence; and, according to the 
degree of suffering in any local organ, precautions must be taken to 
guard that part of the frame against a fresh attack of disease. 

Eruptive Fevers require more precaution in convalescence than 
general fevers, both as regards diet and exposure to sudden alterna¬ 
tions of heat and cold. This is more especially essential after measles 
and scarlet fever. 

Measles are often followed by a distressing cough, and other symp¬ 
toms of pulmonary inflammation; or by a harassing diarrhoea, which 
wears down the strength; or by inflamed eyes, catarrh, or obstinate 
toothache. In infants, canker of the mouth occasionally makes its 
attack, and proves fatal. All these affections, after measles, might 
generally be prevented by taking care not to allow too soon a return 


DOMESTIC MANAGEMENT OF THE SICK-ROOM. 


947 


to the use of animal food, or too early an exposure to cold or to night- 
air. Even in summer, flannel should be worn next the skin for some 
weeks after the disease has disappeared. 

Scarlatina is frequently followed by dropsical symptoms; which, 
however, might generally be avoided by the same attention to diet 
and regimen as after measles. 

Small-Pox, when severe, and especially when confluent, is very apt 
to awaken into activity the dormant seeds of scrofula, if any heredi¬ 
tary taint exists in the constitution ; hence abscesses, ulcers, and 
swelled glands make their appearance. These demand the aid of 
the physician or the surgeon. But if the convalescent be properly 
dieted, and recourse be had to a change of air as soon as his strength 
will permit, these evils may be avoided. 

Erysipelas not unfrequently attacks convalescents from small-pox 
and other eruptive fevers. When it occurs, independent of any prior 
disease, the same attention to diet and regimen is requisite as in other 
eruptive fevers. 

Convulsions, it is, well known, are not unfrequently the result of 
errors in diet, in individuals with an irritable condition of the stom¬ 
ach and bowels. Advice should always be demanded respecting the 
diet of those who are liable to, and who suffer from, convulsions; but 
it must not be supposed that when they occur in children and have 
been subdued, a system of starvation is necessary to prevent their 
recurrence. As far as regards convalescence in such cases, it will be 
proper to bear in recollection the following rules: 

1 . When the patient is of ^ full hahit^ has a short neck, and a ten¬ 
dency to diseases of the head, the diet should be spare. The use of 
animal food, indeed, in such a habit, should be wholly prohibited in 
childhood, and very sparingly employed by adults ; whilst vegetables, 
farinaceous matters, milk and weak broths, may be allowed. 

2. When the habit of body is spare^ and when languor and chilli¬ 
ness are present, the diet, although free from stimulus, yet should be 
nourishing, and consist of the lighter kinds of animal food; namely, 
poultry and fish, with a moderate share of vegetable matters. 

3. Under all circumstances, and at every period of life, fermented 
liquors and wine should be either wholly avoided, or very sparingly 
used, in almost all convulsive diseases connected with affections of 
the head. 

In convalescence from some varieties of convulsive diseases, the 
nature of the diet must depend on circumstances which cannot be 
^ judged of by the attendants of the sick-room; hence it should be 
referred solely to the medical attendant. In St. Vituses Dance 
(chorea), for example, although a tonic plan of treatment may have 
been successfully pursued, yet the diet may be required to be mild, 
and wholly free from stimulus. 


948 


DOMESTIC MANAGEMENT OF THE SICK-EOOM. 


Attention to diet in Hysteria is most important. When the disease 
is connected with indigestion, the meals should be moderate: and 
rest in the horizontal posture should be indulged for an hour after¬ 
wards, and then moderate exercise taken. Fluid food, such as broths 
and gruel, are improper; yet animal food should be eaten only once 
^ a day. Tea and coffee should be very sparingly taken; and the sim¬ 
plest beverages, even water and toast-water, should be taken in great 
modeTation after a meal, and should not be drunk during dinner. 

In convalescence from hysteria, change of scene and air are abso¬ 
lutely requisite. The mind should be directed to solid studies, and 
everything which can cherish morbid sensibility of the nervous system 
avoided. 

Dropsy. — An opinion was long maintained that fluids are to be 
withheld from dropsical patients. No opinion was ever founded on 
more erroneous principles. Dropsical patients, indeed, should be 
allowed the free use of fluids. With respect to diet, it should, gen¬ 
erally speaking, be light and unstimulating: but much depends on 
the causes of dropsy. There is, however, less necessity for a rigid 
adherence to low diet in this than in other inflammatory affections. 

Fn Palsy, abstinence from all stimulating food, solid or fluid, must 
be rigidly observed; and the restriction should not be discontinued 
in convalescence. At the same time, change of air and of scene is al¬ 
ways of decided advantage. In every instance, an easy state of mind, 
and freedom from every source of irritation, as well as from the anxi¬ 
eties of business, are indispensable. 

Gout and Rheumatism.—In no diseases affecting the general 
habit are abstinence and repose more essential during the attacks than 
in the two' which head this paragraph, when they assume an acute 
form. When they occur in weakened or in broken-down habits, it is 
too often supposed that the opposite plan of diet is to be pursued, 

^ and that stimulating food and a liberal supply of wine should be in¬ 
dulged; but nothing is more likely to prove injurious. 

When the paroxysm subsides, it is too customary to permit the in¬ 
valid to glide into his usual habits with respect to diet and regimen; 
consequently the plethora which originated the disease gradually re¬ 
turns ; and the same plan being continued, paroxysm follows after 
paroxysm, at shortening intervals, until scarcely any interval occurs, 
and life is sacrificed on the altar of self-indulgence. 

For some weeks after the paroxysm of gout has subsided, in a 
young or middle-aged man, animal food should be sparingly taken, 
and fermented liquors altogether avoided. 

Chlorosis, or Green Sickness, is a state of the habit which seems 
to depend on an impaired condition of the blood itself. Its treatment 
is well understood, and recourse to medical advice should never be 
neglected; otherwise it may terminate either in mental derangement 


DOMESTIC MANAGEMENT OF THE SICK-ROOM. 


949 


or in sudden death. In convalescence from it, the diet should be 
mild and light, but nutritious; the exercise should be much within 
the limits of fatigue, and consist of both walking and horse exercise, 
daily, in the open air; the body, more especially the lower extrem¬ 
ities, should be warmly clothed; the mind ought to be amused; all 
sedentary occupations thrown aside; and confidence placed in the 
honor of the physician, who should be made the repository of any 
mental anxiety, especially connected with the tender passion, which 
may be preying upon the vital energy of the body. 

Affections of the Head. 

Whatever may be the cause of Apoplexy^ no disease requires more 
prompt and energetic treatment: the alarming nature of the symp¬ 
toms is always sufficient to prevent any time from being lost by at¬ 
tempts to relieve the sufferer without medical assistance. Should 
the attack not prove fatal at the time, and should it not be followed 
by palsy, still the utmost caution is requisite to prevent a recurrence 
of the disease. It is scarcely necessary to insist on the strictest ad¬ 
herence to temperance, both as to meat and to drink; and the impor¬ 
tance of daily exercise, when the attack is over, and indeed for the 
remainder of life. Prolonged study and intense thinking must be 
given up ; the violent and exciting passions should be subdued; and 
even the pleasurable moderated. 

Inflammation of the brain is one of those diseases which require, as 
observed respecting apoplexy, the most energetic treatment. When 
convalescence has fortunately been established, the attention of the 
physician is still requisite, during several weeks, until complete re¬ 
covery be fully confirmed; for the brain, after suffering from inflam¬ 
mation, is very apt to relapse into the same state, from the excite¬ 
ment of too full a meal, or over-exercise, or even slight mental exer¬ 
tions or emotions. On this account, the convalescent must be kept 
perfectly quiet, and completely free from the smallest excitement, 
and the strictest regimen observed. His diet should not only be mild 
and unstimulating, but small in quantity. 

Inflammation of the eyes requires the same caution when convales¬ 
cence is secured as other inflammatory affections; namely, quiet, 
great moderation in diet, and avoiding exposure either to much light, 
heat or cold, or whatever can stimulate the still highly excitable 
organ, 

Affections of the Chest. 

Inflammation of the Lungs (^Pneumonia), — In convalescence 
from this disease, the temperature of the room in which the patient 
sits should not exceed 60° F.; and it should be free from currents of 
air; but at the same time it should not be close. The necessity for 
continuing the same elevated position of the shoulders when in bed. 


950 


DOMESTIC MANAGEMENT OF THE SICK-ROOM. 


which IS demanded during the existence of the disease, remains even 
when the convalescence is advanced. The patient should be pre¬ 
vented from talking, and from exerting any muscular motion that 
can accelerate the circulation. The diet should be of that descrip¬ 
tion which will support the strength without exciting or producing 
repletion. As the convalescence advances, and exercise is permitted 
by the medical attendant, it should be regular, but not hurried nor 
violent; and evening air should be sedulously avoided. 

Pleurisy. — Inflammation of the lining membrane of the chest re¬ 
quires the same attention to diet and regimen during convalescence 
as the last-mentioned disease, except that a greater strictness with 
regard to abstemiousness in food is requisite; the least deviation 
being likely to bring on a renewal of the inflammation. When the 
disease assumes a chronic character, and when the object is to remove 
fluid effused into the cavity of the chest, and pressing upon the lungs 
so as to circumscribe their action, the same degree of strictness with 
respect to diet is not necessary; but, as in this condition of the habit 
the physician must continue his attendance, the regulation of the diet 
devolves upon him. 

Angina. — In that condition of the habit which is connected with 
a predisposition to gout, but in which, instead of a regular paroxysm, 
the heart and the pulmonary organs become affected, and the disease 
assumes that form which has been denominated diaphragmatic gout 
(^Angina pectoris)^ the regulation of diet is of vital importance; and 
it should be of as low a standard as the constitutional powers will 
admit. It should not be of a description either to nourish much, or 
to augment or to cause fullness of habit; mild animal food, in mod¬ 
erate quantity, may be allowed; but the staple should be of a farina¬ 
ceous kind: every stimulant, whether solid or fluid, should be 
avoided; and wine and malt liquors regarded as poisons. The in¬ 
valid himself should be made aware that whatever tends to excite 
or to hurry the circulation is calculated to bring on a paroxysm; 
nor is it sufflcient that he avoids all stimulating viands and bever¬ 
ages ; he should also be instructed that the same deleterious effects 
are likely to follow a full meal, even of the most proper and mildest 
food. 

The same attention to diet, both as regards quantity and quality, 
is essential in palpitations depending upon organic disease of the 
heart. 

Asthma. — In no affection of the chest is attention to diet so im¬ 
portant as in asthma. Sir John Floyer, who himself suffered from 
the disease, recommends almost a degree of abstinence; which is 
correct in reference to quantity; but the diet, although of a light, 
yet should be of a solid, kind. This is especially necessary when 
dyspepsia is present to aggravate and excite the disease of the lungs. 


DOMESTIC MANAGEMENT OF THE SICK-ROOM. 


951 


In Whooping-cough, the diet, whether the patient be an adult or a 
child, should be of the mildest description; and perhaps no nutri¬ 
ment is so well adapted to support the tone of the body, without 
exciting it, as milk. In infancy, nothing but the breast should be 
given; the system of the nurse, at the same time, being kept as cool 
as possible by mild diet, and her mind in a tranquil state. If con¬ 
vulsions occur, these sometimes depend on the nature of the milk: 
in which case the nurse should be changed. It is still customary 
with non-professional persons to consider change of air essential in 
whooping-cough; but it is only after the malady has run its course, 
and convalescence is progressing, when the cough remains as a 
habit, that change of air is really beneficial. It is unnecessary to 
combat the absurd opinion, that a change even to a worse air is 
salutary. 

Affections of the Stomach and Bowels. 

Although acute inflammation of the stomach rarely occurs, yet 
there is a chronic form of that disease, in which, during its actual 
existence, and also in convalescence from it, much of the safety of the 
invalid depends upon domestic management. Every source of excite¬ 
ment should be avoided; the sick-room should be airy, and its tem¬ 
perature that of summer. The food should be of the blandest kind, 
given cold, or iced, and in small quantity: even when the 
convalescence is established the diet should consist of farinaceous 
matters, mixed with small quantities of beef-tea, or weak broths; 
and this severe diet should be persisted in for a considerable time 
after recovery. 

Enteritis. — When inflammatory action extends to, or exclusively 
exists in, the mucous lining of the bowels, constituting this disease, 
the diet, during the early stage of it, should be confined to cold 
Tvater, or iced almond-emulsion; after which, milk and barley-water, 
or weak chicken or veal-tea, may be given in small quantities; namely, 
two or three tablespoonfuls, at intervals of three or four hours. 
Nothing stronger should be ventured upon, unless expressly ordered 
by the medical attendant. . 

Atonic dyspepsia, or simple indigestion. —^ During the attack, ab¬ 
stinence, to a certain degree, is necessary; but, if this is not essen¬ 
tial, the diet should be somewhat stimulant, but simple; namely, a 
small cup of moderately strong coffee, with little sugar or milk; or 
beef-tea, with a small quantity of dry toast; and, as the stomach 
begins to regain its tone, a little animal food of easy digestion, such 
as mutton or poultry. 

During the intervals of the paroxysms of indigestion, attention to 
diet is of the first importance. As a general rule, the patient should 
be confined to a spare animal diet, with a moderate share of well- 
boiled vegetables, and a considerable restriction with respect to the 
use of fluids. 


952 


DOMESTIC MANAGEMENT OF THE SICK-KOOM. 


Dysentery, which implies inflammation, acute or chronic, of the 
same membrane as in enteritis^ but confined to the larger and lower 
bowels, requires the diet to consist of the mildest farinaceous matters, 
strictly avoiding all solid animal food. It should be given in small 
quantity at a time, and the whole allowance for the day should be 
moderate. The farinaceous food should not be either solid, nor yet 
altogether fluid; the former may prove injurious as a mechanical 
irritant; the latter is liable to excite griping, from the extrication of 
much flatus. 

Diarrhoea. — Much of the domestic, as well as the medical man¬ 
agement of diarrhoea depends on the nature of the attack, and its 
causes; but too much attention cannot be paid to the regulation of 
the diet. It should be both small in quantity, and mild in quality. 
In the early stage, and the acute form of the disease, barley-water, 
arrow-root made with water, rice or grit-gruel, and light broths, are 
proper. In chronic diarrhoea, rice, properly boiled, and mixed with 
a small quantity of beef-tea, forms an excellent diet, as it nourishes 
moderately, and leaves scarcely any feculent matter behind it. 

In Cholera, convalescence is often tedious ; and nothing is so likely 
to cause relapse as even slight irregularities of diet. For weeks after 
the feverish symptoms have disappeared, the diet should consist of a 
very moderate quantity of vegetable matter only. The feet should 
be kept especially warm and the whole body clothed in flannel, to 
prevent that irregular distribution of blood which so strongly charac¬ 
terizes the disease. 

After inflammation of the lining membrane of the cavity of the 
belly (^peritonitis) has been subdued, the invalid should still observe 
the strictest diet and regimen. He should return very gradually to 
the use of animal food and wine. The bowels should be moderately 
and daily opened, the feet kept warm, and the skin maintained in a 
healthy condition by wearing flannel next to it, for a very considera¬ 
ble time after every trace of the disease has disappeared. 

Diseases of the Liver. — In all cases of recovery from these dis¬ 
eases, whether inflammatory or otherwise, every precaution should 
be taken to guard*against the deleterious influence of alternations of 
temperature, and also of damp, by clothing in flannel next the skin. 
Errors in diet should be avoided ; and fermented liquors and stimu¬ 
lating beverages of every kind refrained from. When pains of the 
side continue, after all the other symptoms of the disease have dis¬ 
appeared, the introduction of a seton, if prescribed, should not be 
objected to; as the greatest benefit has often followed that mode of 
counter irritation. 


ART AND SCIENCE OF 
COOKING FOR THE SICK-ROOM 


Giving full and practical instruction for every kind of diet 
and cooking for the patient, whether in 
disease or convalescent* 




COOKERY FOE THE SICK-EOOM. 


It was said by the distinguished Dr. Rush, in his lectures before 
his class, that a physician ought to spend six months in a kitchen be¬ 
fore beginning practice. A knowledge of dietetic preparations fitted 
for the sick, and for those recovering from disease, however ap¬ 
parently unimportant, adds much to a physician’s power over his pa¬ 
tient, and to his popularity and usefulness. 

In giving nourishment to the sick, who are suffering from low dis¬ 
eases, it is an important rule which should never be forgotten, to give 
hut little at a time^ and to repeat that often. In cases of great prostra¬ 
tion from disease, life may at times be endangered by a delay in giv¬ 
ing nourishment of even a few minutes beyond the proper time. 

Barley-Water. 

Peabl barley, two ounces; boiling water, two quarts. Boil to 
one-half, and strain. A little lemon-juice and sugar may be added, 
if desirable. To be taken freely in inflammatory diseases. 

Rice-Water. 

Rice, two ounces; water, two quarts. Boil an hour and a half, 
and add sugar and nutmeg. 

Rice, when boiled for a considerable time, becomes a kind of jelly, 
and, mixed with milk, is a very excellent diet for children. It has in 
some measure a constipating property, which may be increased by 
boiling the milk 


Decoction of Bran. 

New wheat bran, one pint; water, three quarts. Boil down one- 
third, strain off the liquor, and add sugar, honey, or molasses, accord¬ 
ing to the taste of the patient. A bran tea may be made by using 
boiling water, and suffering the mixture to stand in a covered vessel 
for three or four hours. 


954 



COOKERY FOR THE SICK-ROOM. 


955 


Sage Tea. 

Dried leaves of sage, half an ounce; boiling water, one quart. 
Infuse for half an hour, and strain. Add sugar and lemon-juice as 
required by the patient. Balm and other teas are made in the same 
manner. 

The above infusions form agreeable and useful drinks in fevers, and 
their diaphoretic powers may be increased by adding a little sweet 
spirits of nitre. 

Barley Coffee. 

Roast one pint of common barley in the same way in which coffee 
is roasted. Add two large spoonfuls of this to a quart of boiling 
water; boil five minutes. Add a little sugar. 

Lemon-Water. 

Put two slices of lemon, thinly pared, into a teapot, a little bit of 
the peel and a bit of sugar. Pour in a pint of boiling water, and 
cover it close two hours. 

A Refreshing Drink in Fevers. 

Put a little sage, two sprigs of balm, and a little sorrel into a stone 
jug, having first, washed and dried them. Peel thin a small lemon, 
slice it, and put in with a small piece of the peel; then pour in three 
pints of boiling water. Sweeten, and cover it close. 

Another. 

Boil an ounce and a half of tamarinds, three ounces of cranberries, 
and two ounces of stoned raisins, in three pints of water, till the 
water is reduced to two pints. Strain, and add a bit of lemon-peel, 
which must be removed in an hour, as it gives a bitter taste if left 
too long. * 

A Very Pleasant Drink. 

Put a teacupful of cranberries into a cup of water, and mash them. 
In the meantime, boil two quarts of water with one large spoonful of 
coin or oatmeal and a bit of lemo'n-peel; then add the cranberries, 
as much fine sugar as shall leave a smart flavor of the fruit, and a 
wineglassful of sherry. Boil the whole gently for fifteen minutes, 
and strain. 

Crust Coffee. 

Toast slowly one or two slices of brown or white bread, pour boil* 
ing water over it, and drink hot or cold, according to preference. 


956 


COOKERY FOR THE SICK-ROOM. 


Infusion of Malt. 

To one pint of ground malt add three pints of scalding water, that 
is, water not quite brought to the boiling point; infuse two hours, 
and strain. Add sugar or lemon juice as desired. An excellent 
preparation in inflammatory fevers. 

Lemonade. 

Fresh lemon-juice, four ounces ; thin peel of lemon, half an ounce; 
white sugar, four ounces ; boiling water, three pints. Let them stand 
until cold, and strain. When used in fevers, a little nitrate of potash 
or sweet spirits of nitre may be added. It may be further diluted to 
the taste of the patient. 

Water Gruel. 

Oat or corn meal, two tablespoonfuls; water, one quart. Boil for 
ten or fifteen minutes, and strain, adding salt, and sugar if desired by 
the patient. 

Milk for Infants. 

Cows’ milk, one part; water, two parts ; sweeten slightly with loaf 
sugar. 

It is necessary, when children are to be raised by hand, to di¬ 
lute the milk. The above proportions may be altered as the child 
advances in age. 

Rice Gruel. 

Ground rice, one heaping tablespoonful; ground cinnamon, one 
teaspoonful; water, one quart. Boil gently for twenty minutes, add¬ 
ing the cinnamon near the conclusion. Strain and sweeten. Wine 
may be added in some cases. 

Panada. 

White bread, one ounce; ground cinnamon, one teaspoonful; 
water, one pint. Boil them until well mixed, and add a little sugar 
and nutmeg. Wine or butter may also be added, if desirable. 

Compound Salep Powders. 

Salep, tragacanth, and sago, each four ounces; cochineal, half a 
dram; prepared oyster shells, one ounce. Mix, and divide into pow¬ 
ders of one dram each. Stir one of these powders into a pint of milk, 
and boil for ten or fifteen minutes. To be drunk freely in diarrhoea 
and dysentery. 


COOKERY FOR THE SICK-ROOM. 


957 


Another. 

Gum arabic, tragacanth, maranta, sago, tapioca, each two drams. 
Mix them well together, and boil in a pint of milk, flavored with nut¬ 
meg or cinnamon. To be used as a diet in dysentery, diarrhoea, etc. 


Sago Qruel. 

Sago, two tablespoonfuls; water, one pint. Boil gently until it 
thickens, frequently stirring. Wine, sugar, and nutmeg, may be 
added, according to circumstances. 


Arrow-Root Qruel. 

Arkow-ROOT, one tablespoonful; sweet milk, half a pint; boiling 
water, half a pint. To be sweetened with loaf sugar. Excellent 
aliment for children when the bowels are irritable. 


Tapioca Jelly. 

Tapioca, two tablespoonfuls; water, one pint. Boil gently for 
an hour, or until it assumes a jelly-like appearance. Add sugar, 
wine, and nutmeg, with lemon-juice to suit the taste of the patient, 
and the nature of the case. 

Jelly of Irish Moss. 

Irish moss, half an ounce; fresh milk, a pint and a half. Boil 
down to a pint. Remove any sediment by straining, and add the 
proper quantity of sugar and lemon juice, or peach-water, to give it 
an agreeable flavor. 

Isinglass Jelly. 

Isinglass, one roll. Boil in one pint of water until it is dissolved. 
Strain, and add one pint of sweet milk. Put it again over the fire, 
and let it just boil up. Sweeten with loaf-sugar, and grate nutmeg' 
upon it. When properly made, it resembles custard. 

This forms an excellent diet for persons recovering from sickness, 
and is well adapted to the bowel-complaints of children. 

Apple Water. 

Cut two large apples in slices, and pour a quart of boiling water 
on them. Or, pour the same amount of water on roasted apples. In 
two or three hours, strain and sweeten slightly. 


958 


COOKERY FOR THE SICK-ROOM. 


Milk-Porridge. 

>¥heat flour, cornmeal, or oatmeal, two tablespoonfuls; milk, 
one pint; water, one pint. Mix the flour or meal with cold water, 
to form a thin paste; put the milk and water over the fire, and when 
they come to the boiling point, add the paste, carefully stirring. 

French Milk-Porridge. 

Stik some oatmeal and water together; let the mixture stand to 
clear, and pour off the water. Then put more water to the meal, 
stir it well, and let it stand till the next day. Strain through a fine 
sieve, and boil the water, adding milk while so doing. The propor¬ 
tion of water must be small. With toast, this is a good preparation 
for weak persons. 

Ground-Rice Milk. 

Boil one spoonful of good rice, rubbed down smooth, with a pint 
and a half of milk, a little cinnamon, lemon peel, and nutmeg. 
Sweeten when nearly done. 

Boiled Flour. 

Tie up as tight as possible, in a linen cloth, one pound of flour; 
and, after frequently dipping it in cold water, dredge the outside 
with flour till a crust is formed round it, which will prevent the 
water from soaking into it while boiling. Place it in water and boil 
it until it becomes a hard, dry mass. 

Two or three spoonfuls of this may be grated, and prepared in the 
same manner as arrow-root gruel, for which it is an excellent substi¬ 
tute. 

Vegetable 5oup. 

Take one turnip, one potato, and one onion, let them be sliced 
and boiled in one quart of water for an hour. Add as much salt as 
is agreeable, and pour the whole upon a piece of dry toast. 

This forms an agreeable substitute for animal food, and may be 
given when the latter is inadmissible. 

Beef-Tea. 

Lean beef, cut into shreds, one pound; water, one quart. Boil 
for twenty minutes, taking off the scum as it rises. When it grows 
cold, strain. 

Essence of Beef. 

Lean beef sliced. Put a sufficient quantity into a porter-bottle to 
fill up its body, cork it loosely^ and place it in a pot of cold water, 


COOKERY FOR THE SICK-ROOM. 


959 


attaching the neck, by means of a string, to the handle of the vessel. 
Boil this for an hour and a half or two hours; then pour off the 
liquor and skim it. 

To this preparation may be added spices, salt, wine, brandy, etc., 
according to the taste of the patient, and nature of the disease. 

Calf’s-feet Jelly. 

Take two calf’s feet, and add to them one gallon of water. Boil 
down to one quart. Strain, and when cold, skim off the fat. Add 
to this the white of six or eight eggs well beaten, a pint of wine, half 
a pound of loaf sugar, and the juice of four lemons, and let them be 
well mixed. Boil the whole for a few minutes, stirring constantly, 
and then pass it through a flannel strainer. 

This forms a very nutritious article of diet for the sick, and for 
those recovering from disease. The wine may be omitted or added 
according to choice. 

Chicken Water. 

Take half a chicken, divested of all fat, and break the bones ; add 
to this half a gallon of water, and boil for half an hour. Season 
with salt. 

Suet Ptisan. 

Sheep’s suet, two ounces; milk, one pint; starch, half an ounce. 
Boil slowly for half an hour. This may be used as a common drink 
in dysentery. 

Rennet Whey. 

New milk, one quart; rennet, a large spoonful. Heat the milk, 
and then add the rennet. Boil until the curd separates, which is to 
be taken off. To many persons, this forms an agreeable nutriment. 

Vinegar Whey. 

Milk, one pint; vinegar, one tablespoonful. Boil for a few 
minutes, and separate the curd. 

Tartar Whey. 

Milk, one quart; cream of tartar, one dessert spoonful. Boil, 
and separate the curd. 

Mustard Whey. 

Bruised mustard-seed, one tablespoonful; milk, one pint. Boi 
together for a few minutes, and separate the curd. 

This has been found a useful drink in dropsy. A teacupful may 
be taken at a time. 


960 


COOKERY FOR THE SICK-ROOM. 


Alum Whey. 

Alum, one teaspoonful; milk, one pint. Boil together, and strain, 
to separate the curd. 

Orange Whey. 

Milk, one pint; the juice of an orange with a portion of the peel. 
Boil the milk; then put the orange to it, and let it stand till coagu¬ 
lation takes place.. Strain. 

Sweet Whey. 

Skimmed milk, two quarts ; a piece of prepared calf’s rennet. 
Mix and put in a warm place till coagulation takes place; then 
strain. 

Whey with Tamarinds. 

Milk, boiling, one pint; tamarinds, two ounces. Boil them to¬ 
gether till coagulation takes place. 

Wine Whey. 

Milk, two thirds of a pint; water, one third of a pint; Madeira, 
or other wine, one gill; sugar, one dessert spoonful. Place the 
milk and water together in a deep pan on the fire, and at the moment 
when it begins to boil, pour in the wine and the sugar, stirring assidu¬ 
ously whilst it boils, for twelve or fifteen minutes. Lastly, strain 
through a sieve. This is excellent in all forms of fever, given in 
small quantities. It may be drunk either cold or tepid, a wine- 
glassful at a time. 

Milk and Soda Water. 

Heat nearly to boiling a teacupful of milk; dissolve in it a tea¬ 
spoonful of refined sugar; put this into a large tumbler and fill with 
soda water. This is an excellent mode of taking milk when the 
stomach is charged with acid, and is oppressed by milk alone. 

Sippets. 

On an extremely hot plate, put two or three slices of bread, and 
pour over them some of the juices of boiled beef, mutton, or veal. 
If there be no butter in the dish, sprinkle over them a little salt. 

Restorative. 

Take two calf’s feet, one quart of water, and one quart of new 
milk; place all in a close-covered jar, and bake three hours and a 


COOKERY FOR THE SICK-ROOM. 


961 


half. When cold, remove the fat. Any desired flavor may be given, 
by adding lemon-peel, cinnamon or mace, while baking. Add sugar 
afterwards. 


Coffee=nilk. 

Boil a dessertspoonful of ground coffee in nearly a pint of milk, 
for a quarter of an hour, then put into it a shaving of isinglass, and 
clear it. Let it boil a few minutes, and set it beside the fii*e to 
clarify. Sweeten with loaf-sugar. 

Nutritive Fluid. 

Take two teaspoonfuls of lump magnesia, one teaspoonful of sal- 
eratus, one teaspoonful of salt, two teaspoonfuls of flour, half a pint 
of milk, and one pint of water. Put the milk and water, united, 
over the Are, and rub up the flour with a little cold water to make a 
thin paste. Just when the milk and water begin to boil, stir in the 
paste. This will make a thin porridge, which should boil about five 
minutes. At the end of this time remove from the fire and pour 
into a pitcher. Now add the magnesia, pulverized, and mixed with 
the saleratus and salt. Sweeten to suit the taste. 

This may be drunk freely, several times a day, so as to produce 
two evacuations of the bowels in twenty-four hours, in those cases of 
dyspepsia attended by acidity of the stomach, and in many debilitated 
conditions of the system in which there is a tendency to loss of flesh. 

This is one of the leading fluids used by those who pursue what is 
called the “ Nutritive System ” of treating disease, and is really a 
valuable preparation, having the effect often to increase the flesh, even 
while it acts as a cathartic. 

Franklin Mills Bread, 

OR GERM-WHEAT BREAD. 

One quart milk or water; one quart white flour; one-half yeast- 
cake ; one-half cup sugar; one-half teaspoon salt; one quart Frank¬ 
lin flour. 

Put the white flour in the mixing-bowl, then add the milk and 
yeast gradually, until smooth. Cover;' let it rise in the bowl all 
night. In the morning, if light, add sugar, salt and Franklin flour, 
a little at a time; then let it rise again until light. Fill the pans 
two-thirds full, and rise. Bake one hour. 


Indian-Meal Qruel. 

Two tablespoonfuls of cornmeal to one quart of boiling water; 
one teaspoonful of salt. Cook about thirty-five minutes. If too 
thick, thin with milk or cream. 


962 


CX)OKERY FOR THE SICK-ROOM. 


Oatmeal Gruel. 

Take one quart of boiling water, three tablespoonfuls of oatmeal, 
one-quarter teaspoon salt; cook two hours, strain and add milk o: 
cream. 

Flour Gruel. 

Take two teaspoonfuls of white flour, one cup of boiling water, 
one-half teaspoonful of salt. Make a smooth paste of the flour and 
salt before adding to boiling water. Strain and thin with milk or 
cream. 

Mutton Broth. 

Boil one pound of juicy mutton in two cups of cold water. Cook 
slowly for half an hour; strain, and after it is cold, remove the fat, 
and serve with boiled rice. The rice should be boiled separately and 
added to the broth when it is warming. 

Beef Tea. 

Take one pound of round steak, remove the fai, and cut fine, and 
place the meat in a self-sealing jar without water ; cover closely, heat 
gradually in a kettle of water, one hour, or until there is no color in 
the meat. Press with a spoon all the juices from the meat. Serve 
with salt. 

Broiled Beef Essence. 

Place one pound of round of steak in the broiler and broil until 
the juice begins to flow. Cut into fine pieces and squeeze the juice, 
using a lemon squeezer. Salt to taste. 

Flaxseed Lemonade 

Take two tablespoonfuls of whole flaxseed, and pour over it one 
pint of boiling water. Steep one hour and a half; add the juice of 
one lemon and sweeten to taste. Excellent for colds. 

Clam Broth. 

Wash the clams; put in kettle with enough water to cover; boil 
until shells open, and serve hot. 

Egg-Nog. 

Take one tablespoonful of sugar and the yolk of one egg, and 
beat together; add one-half cup of milk; beat the white separately, 
and mix in lightly; add brandy or wi'n« A little nutmeg is used to 
flavor. 


TO PREPARE and CONCOCT 
WINES, TONICS and BEVERAGES 
for the CONVALESCENT 


Great care should be taken in selecting: the best ingfredients in 
preparing: these receipts and ovcr-induIg:ence 
must be 2cvoided* 




To Prepare and Concoct Wines^ Tonics and 
Beverages for the Convalescent* 


Great care should be taken in selecting the best ingredients in 
preparing these receipts, and overindulgence must be avoided. 

Syrups. 

Orange Syrup. —Grate off the outside yellow peel of fresh and 
ripe oranges; cut them and express the juice; to each quart, add 1 
pt. water and 6 lbs. sugar, previously well mixed with the grated 
peel. Dissolve by gentle heat, then strain. 

Pine-apple Syrup —Pare and mash the fruit in a marble or porce¬ 
lain mortar, with a small quantity of sugar; express the juice and for 
each quart, take IJ pts. of water and 6 lbs. fine sugar; boil the sugar 
and water; then add the juice; remove from the fire, skim and strain. 
Or make it with the essence directed for strawberry. 

Pear Syrup. —Make as directed for pineapple syrup; or use the 
essence of pear, by adding to each gallon of simple syrup, 2 teaspoon- 
fuls of essence of pear, and i oz. tartaric ac'd. 

Banana Syrup. —Make as directed for pineapple syrup, or with 
the appropriate essence and acid as above. 

Apple Syrup. —Make as directed for pineapple syrup, or with the 
appropriate fruit and essences as above. 

Cream Syrup.— Fresh cream, 1 pt.; fresh milk, 1 pt.; fine pow¬ 
dered sugar, 3 lbs.; beat the sugar with the milk, and the whites of 
2 eggs; then mix with the cream. Flavor with lemon, vanilla, or 
strawberry. Keep in a cool place, well bottled. 

Sarsaparilla Syrup. —To simple S3mup add 10 drops oil of anise; 
20 drops oil of wintergreen; 20 drops oil of sassafras, and 6 oz. of 
caramel or coloring to the gallon. Before the oils are added to the 
syrup, they should be cut by grinding- them in a mortar with as much 
sugar as they will moisten, or mix with a small quantity of alcohol. 

Vanilla Syrup. —^To simple sjmup add i oz. of ext. of vanilla to 
the gallon. * 954 


WINES, TONICS AND BEVERAGES FOR THE CONVALESCENT . 965 

Ginger Syrup. —Bruised Jamaica ginger, 2 oz.; boiling water, 1 pt.; 
macerate for four hours; add fine white sugar, 2 lbs.; and strain 
through a fine flannel bag. 

Strawberry Syrup. —Inclose fresh strawberries in a coarse bag, 
press out the juice, and to each quart add 1 pt. water and 6 lbs. 
white sugar; dissolve by raising it to the boiling point, and strain; 
bottle and cork hot, and keep in a cool place. 

Blackberry Syrup. —Is made as directed for strawberry, adding 
to each quart 1 oz. best French brandy. 

Wild Cherry Syrup. —Steep 4 oz. wild cherry bark, well bruised 
in 1 pt. of cold water, for thirty-six hours; press out the infusion; 
let it stand till clear, decant, and add IJ lbs. fine white sugar, mix 
and strain. 


Punches. 

Punch. —^To make punch in perfection, the essence of the lemon 
must be extracted by rubbing lumps of sugar on the rind, which 
breaks the delicate little vessels that contain the essence, and at the 
same time absorbs it. In making the hot toddy or hot punch, you 
must put in the spirits before the water; in cold punch, grog, etc., 
the other way. The precise portions of spirits and water, or of 
ascidity and sweetness, are hard to define in every case. In these, 
as well as in other matters, it will often be preferable to consult the 
taste. 

Brandy Punch. —One tablespoonful of raspberry syrup, 2 ditto of 
white sugar, 1 wine glass water, IJ ditto of brandy, | small sized 
lemon, 2 slices of orange, 1 piece of pineapple. Fill the tumbler with 
shaved ice, shake well, and dress the top with berries in season; sip 
through a straw. 

Hot Brandy and Rum Punch. —One qt. of Jamaica rum, 1 ditto 
Cognac brandy, 1 lb. loaf sugar, 4 lemons, 3 qts. boiling water, 
1 teaspoonful of nutmeg. Rub the sugar over the lemons until it has 
absorbed all the yellow part of the skins, then put the sugar into a 
punch bowl; add the ingredients well together, add the rum, 
brandy, and nutmeg; mix thoroughly and the punch will be ready 
to serve. 

Whiskey Punch. —One wine glass Irish or Scotch whiskey, 2 ditto 
boiling water, sugar to taste. Dissolve the sugar well with 1 wine 
glass of water, then pour in the whiskey, and add the balance of the 
water. Sweeten to taste, and put in a small piece of lemon rind, or 
a thin slice of lemon. 

Gin Punch. —One tablespoonful of raspberry syrup, 2 ditto of 
white sugar, 1 wine glass of water, IJ ditto of gin, J a small-sized 
lemon, 2 slices of orange, 1 piece of pineapple. Fill the tumbler with 
shaved ice, shake well, and sip through a glass tube or straw. 

Champagne Punch. —One qt. bottle of wine, J lb. sugar, 1 orange 


966 WINES, TONICS AND BEVERAGES FOR THE CONVALESCENT. 

sliced. The juice of a lemon, 3 slices of pineapple, 1 wineglass of 
raspberry or strawberry syrup. Ornament with fruits in season, and 
serve in champagne goblets. 

Raspberry Punch. —One and a half gills of raspberry juice, or 
vinegar, J lb, lump sugar, 3i pints boiling water. Infuse § an hour, 
strain, add J pt. of porter, | to 1 pint each of rum and brandy (or 
either to 2 pints), and add more warm water or sugar, if desired 
weaker or sweeter. 

Roman Punch.— One tablespoonful of sugar, 1 ditto of raspberry 
syrup, 1 teaspoonful of Curacoa, 1 wine glass of Jamaica rum, i ditto 
of brandy, juice of ^ a lemon. Fill with shaved ice, shake well, dash 
with port wine, and sip through a straw. 

Milk Punch. —One tablespoonful of fine white sugar, 2 ditto of 
water, 1 wine glass of Cognac brandy, J ditto Santa Cruz rum, 1-3 
tumblerful of shaved ice, fill with milk. Shake the ingredients well 
together, and grate a little nutmeg on top. To make it hot, use hot 
milk and no ice. 

Sherry Punch. —Two wine glasses of sherry, 1 tablespoonful of 
sugar, 2 or 3 slices of orange, 3 ditto of lemon. Fill tumbler with 
shaved ice, shake well, and sip through a straw. 

Claret Punch. —One and a half tablespoonfuls of sugar, 1 slice 
lemon, 2 or 3 ditto of orange. Fill the tumbler with shaved ice, pour 
in your claret, shake well, and it is ready for use. 

Port Wine Punch. —Is made'the same as claret punch, using port 
wine instead of claret. 

Orgeat Punch. —One and a half tablespoonfuls of Orgeat syrup, 
li wine glasses of brandy, juice of J a lemon, and fill the tumbler with 
shaved ice. Shake w^ell, and dash port wine on the top. 

Liquors. 

French Brandy. —Pure spirits, 1 gal.; best French brandy, or any 
kind you wish to imitate, 1 qt.; loaf sugar, 2 oz., sweet spirits of 
nitre, J oz.. a few drops of tincture of catechu, or oak bark to roughen 
the taste if desired, and color to suit. 

Cognac Brandy.—To every 10 gals, of pure spirits add 2 qts. 
New England rum, or 1 qt. Jamaica rum, and from 30 to 40 drops of 
oil cognac cut in half a pint of alcohol, and color with burnt sugar to 
suit. 

Cherry Brandy. —To every 10 gals, of brandy made by the receipt 
for French brandy, add 3 qts. of wild black cherries, stones and all 
bruised; crushed sugar, 2 lbs.; let it stand for one week, then draw 
or rack it off as it is wanted for use. Do not use the bitter almond 
oil in any case, as it is the rankest poison. 

Blackberry Brandy.— Take 10 gals, of No. 2 brandy, and use 
5 qts. nice rich blackberries mashed; macerate the berries in the 
liquor for ten days. Then strain off; add 3 oz. sugar to each gallon; 


WINES, TONICS AND BEVERAGES FOR THE CONVALESCENT. 967 

if strawberries are used, work the same proportions with only half the 
quantity of sugar. 

Old Rye.—T ake dried peaches, J peck; bake, scorch, and roast 
them in a stove, but don’t burn; bruise and put them m a woollen 
pointed bag, and leach good common whiskey over them twice 
slowly ; this for one barrel; add afterwards 12 drops aqua ammonia 
to each barrel; and with age you will have whiskey equal to Old 
Rye. 

Scotch Whiskey. —To 46 gals, alcohol, 95°, add 8 gals, best Scotch 
whiskey; 18 gals, soft water; 3 lbs. clarified honey, dissolved in 1| 
gals, soft water, 5 drops creosote, dissolved in 2 oz. strong acetic acid; 

1 oz. pelargomc ether; 1 gallon old ale. 

Irish Whiskey. —To 30 gals, of pure spirit, 10 over proof, add 5 
gals, genuine Irish whiskey. J gal. old ale; 4 drops creosote mixed 
in 1 oz. acetic acid, 1 oz. pelargonic acid. 

Jamaica Rum. —To 45 gals. New Englandrum, add5 gals. Jamaica 
rum; 2 oz. butyric ether, J oz. oil of caraway, cut with alcohol, 95 
per cent. Color with sugar coloring. 

Santa Cruz Rum.—To 50 gals, pure proof spirit, add 5 gals. Santa 
Cruz rum; 5 lbs. refined sugar, in i gal. water; 3 oz. butyric acid; 

2 oz. acetic ether. Color if necessary. 

Rum.—P ure spirits, 1 gal., 1 pt. of the kind of rum you wish to 
imitate, i oz. oil of caraway is enough for 6 gallons. 

Bourbon Whiskey. —To 50 gals, pure proof spirit, add 2 oz. pear 
oil; § oz. pelargonic ether, 6 drs. oil of wintergreen, dissolved in the 
ether, J gal. wine vinegar. Color with burnt sugar. 

Concoctions. 

Egg Nogg. —One tablespoonful of fine sugar dissolved with one 
tablespoonful of cold water, 1 egg; 1 wine glass of cognac brandy; 
i ditto of Santa Cruz rum, J tumblerful of milk. Fill the tumbler 
quarter full of strained ice, shake the ingredients until they are 
thoroughly mixed together, and grate a little nutmeg on top. 

Sherry Egg Nogg. —One tablespoontul of white sugar, 1 egg, 2 
wine glasses of sherry. Dissolve the sugar with a little water, break 
the yolk of the egg in a large glass, put m quarter tumblerful of broken 
ice, fill with milk until the egg is thoroughly nuxed with the other 
ingredients, then grate a little nutmeg, on top. 

Mint Julep.— One tablespoonful of white pulverized sugar, 2^ 
ditto water; mix well with a spoon. Take three or four sprigs of 
fresh mint, press them well in the sugar and water, add wine glasses 
of Cognac brandy, and fill the glass with shaved ice, arrange berries 
and small pieces of sliced orange on top, dash with Jamaica rum, and 
sprinkle sugar on top. Sip with a glass tube or straw. 

Brandy Smash. —One-half tablespoonful of white sugar, 1 ditto 
water, 1 wine glass of brandy. Fill glass two-thirds full of shaved 


968 WINES, TONICS AND BEVERAGES FOR THE CONVALESCENT. 

ice, use 2 sprigs of mint the same as in the receipt for mint julep. 
Lay 2 small pieces of orange on the top, and ornament with berries 
in season. 

Champagne Cobbler. —One tablespoonful of sugar, 1 piece each 
of orange and lemon peel. Fill the tumbler one-third full of shaved 
ice, and fill balance with wine; ornament in a tasty manner with 
berries in season. Sip through a straw. 

Whiskey Cobbler. —^Two wine glasses of whiskey, 1 tablespoonful 
of sugar, 2 or 3 slices of orange. Fill the tumbler with ice, and shake 
well. 

Sherry Cobbler. —Two wine glasses of sherry, 1 tablespoonful of 
sugar, 2 or 3 slices of orange. Fill the tumbler with shaved ice, shake 
well, and sip through a straw. 

Brandy Cocktail. —^Three or four dashes of gum sjrup, 2 ditto 
Bogart’s bitters, 1 wine glass of brandy, 1 or 2 dashes of Curacoa; 
squeeze lemon peel, fill one-third full of ice, and stir with a spoon. 

Whiskey Cocktail. —Three or four dashes of gum syrup, 2 ditto 
Bogart’s bitters, 1 wine glass of whiskey, and a piece of lemon peel. 
Fill one-third full of ice, shake, and strain in a fancy red wine glass. 

Gin Cocktail. —^Three or four dashes of gum syrup, 2 ditto bitters, 
1 wine glass of gin, 1 or 2 dashes of Curacoa, 1 small piece of lemon 
peel. Fill one-third full of fine ice, shake well, and strain in a glass. 

Whiskey Toddy.— One teaspoonful sugar, J wine glass of water, 1 
ditto whiskey, 1 small lump of ice. Stir with a spoon. 

Gin Toddy.— One teaspoonful of sugar, ^ wine glass of water, 1 
ditto gin, 1 small lump of ice. Stir with a spoon. 

Brandy Sling is made same as brandy toddy, except that you 
grate a little nutmeg on the top. 

Hot Whiskey Sling. —One glass of whiskey; fill tumbler one- 
third full of boiling water, and grate nutmeg on top. 

Gin Sling is made same as gin toddy, except you grate a little nut¬ 
meg on top. 

Brandy Toddy. —One teaspoonful of sugar, J a wine glass of water, 
1 ditto of brandy, 1 small lump of ice. Stir with a spoon. For hot 
brandy toddy omit the ice and use boiling water. 

Brandy Flip. —One teaspoonful of sugar, 1 wine glass brandy. 
Fill the tumbler one-third full of hot water, mix and place a roasted 
cracker on top, and grate nutmeg over it. 

Port Wine. —Worked cider, 42 gals.; good port wine, 12 gals.; 
good brandy, 3 gals.; pure spirits, 6 gals.; mix. Elderberries and 
sloes, and the fruit of the black hawes, make a fine purple color for 
wines, or use burnt sugar. 

American Champagne.— Good cider (crab-apple cider is the best), 
7 gals.; best fourth-proof brandy, 1 qt.; genuine champagne wine, 
5 qts.; milk, 1 gal.; bitartrate of potassa, 2 oz. Mix and let stand 
a short time; bottle while fermenting. An excellent imitation.. 

Currant and other Fruit Wines. —To every gallon of expressed 


WINES, TONICS AND BEVERAGES FOR THE CONVALESCENT. 969 

juice, add 2 gals, soft water, 6 lbs. brown sugar, cream tartar, IJ oz.; 
and 1 qt. brandy to every 6 gals.; some prefer it without brandy. 
After fermentation take 4 oz. isinglass dissolved in 1 pt. of the wine, 
and put to each barrel, which will refine and clear it, when it must be 
drawn into clean casks, or bottled, which is preferable. 

Blackberry Wine.— Mash the berries, and pour 1 qt. of boiling 
water to each gal. Let the mixture stand 24 hours, stirring occa¬ 
sionally; strain and measure into a keg, adding 2 lbs. sugar, and 
good rye whiskey 1 pint, or best alcohol J pint to each gal. Cork 
tight and put away for use. The best wine that can be made. 


1 


DIETING IN REGARD TO HEALTtt 


How to Grow Fat. 

It is often as annoying to many to be thin as it is in others to be 
fleshy. Here again the remedy consists in overcoming the natural 
or peculiar forces at work predisposing to the paucity of fat accumu¬ 
lation, and first of all to grow fat means for the thin person to grow 
laz)^ and good-natured. Worry, cares, much work and short hours 
for sleep, must be overcome. Clean skins, clean clothes, clean air 
and plenty of sunshine are the sine qua non for thin people to observe. 

Little work, long hours of sleep, plenty of rich food well digested, 
a merry disposition, regular hours for meals, with naps between 
times are also requisite principles to observe for him who would grow 
fat. 

Drink plenty of water, say one or two glasses of pure water on 
arising and again on retiring. Do not overload the stomach with 
water, but drink all it will comfortably stand. Ride in the open air 
often, enjoy the sunshine and fresh air, and bathe in cool water, 
especially sea-water when practicable. 

It will be found much more difficult for some than for others to 
observe all these principles, and again much more difficult for some 
to benefit by them than others; yet everybody can add pounds to 
their present weight if only they will persevere in all these instruc¬ 
tions. 

Of the food necessary to avoid, the chief articles are acids, spices, 
and condiments generally. 

Of those most productive of fat are the cereals and starchy food 
like potatoes, oatmeal, bread, puddings, etc. Again, fatty meats, 
cream, butter, and milk, chocolate, oils, etc., supply fat directly to 
the system. Sweets are also conducive to fat formation, like sugar, 
beets, custards, etc. Sweet wines and porter are likewise fattening. 

It must be borne in mind, however, that these very classes of food 
are often the cause of indigestion, which makes people thin, hence a 
good appetite and a good digestion are prerequisites for this sort of 
a dietary. It is often a benefit for those with weak stomachs to eat 
a little six times a day, say a light breakfast, dinner, and supper, and 
a glass of milk in the middle of the foi'T.noon and afternoon. 

970 



DIETING IN REGARD TO HEALTH. 


971 


To Reduce Flesh, 

Corpulence or obesity is generally more annoying to most 
people than the opposite extreme. It is, however, as natural for 
some people to be fat as it is for others to be thin. 

To reduce flesh, however, is legitimate within certain limits. The 
functions of the body should not be interfered with nor weakened by 
any sort of treatment directed to the reduction of flesh. There have 
always been kept on the market for sale medicines whose sole aim is 
to render people thinner, but most of them are neither trustworthy 
nor safe. 

Of new medicines the most reliable is Phytolene. The thyroid 
gland of the sheep, taken in five-grain doses on retiring, has quite 
recently been extolled as a reliable and harmless medicine against 
obesity. This medicine has been on the market for only a short 
time, but it is known to be perfectly harmless. 

The use of a teaspoonful of phosphate of soda in a glassful of hot 
water on arising, and a like dose at bedtime if the bowels are not 
moved too much by the morning dose, is of great assistance if perse¬ 
vered with over several months or so. Together with the abstinence 
from sugars in any form and the avoidance of potatoes will cause a 
great reduction in flesh. Lately the writer in four months has caused 
a patient to reduce the weight from 185 pounds to 150 pounds with¬ 
out any other treatment. No drugs, unless the salt may be classed 
as one, were given and the comfort and health of the patient has been 
increased a great deal. 


Corpulence. 

All people are not formed in the same mould, some are as fat as 
others are lean. This is owing to a number of causes, namely: 
the easy digestion and absorption of food stuffs; easy dispositions 
coupled with easy work and nourishing food; the preponderance of 
fatty, sweet or starchy food in the diet list; a certain hereditary pre¬ 
disposition, etc., etc. The style of one’s diet (starchy), and the 
natural tendency in some to put on fat, have probably more to do 
with corpulency than any other two factors. This condition often¬ 
times is so distressing as to amount to disease. The heart walls and 
sac become so infiltrated with fat as to impede the easy action of the 
heart-muscle, as to retard slow, deep respirations and render all exer¬ 
tions a labor. One may die quite suddenly of fatty heart. The con¬ 
dition at all events often calls for treatment. 


To Reduce Flesh. 

IHE so-called Banting Treatment consists in the abstinence from 
all fats, sweets, and starchy food. Banting of England, after having 


972 


DIETING IN REGARD TO HEALTH. 


i^ried all other procedures, very rationally invented this treatment. 
Wiiatever else may be tried, this plan of dieting stands pre-eminently 
in the foreground, and must be persisted in, either alone ur as an 
adjuvant to other treatments. 

The following general rules will serve as a guide in the selection 
of proper foods : — 

Avoid starchy food, sugar and fat, milk, coarse cereals, pork or 
lard in all its forms. 

Can eat: — 

Of Soups: Mutton, chicken and clam broths, beef-tea. 

Of Fish : All kinds except salt or fatty, like bluefish and mackerel. 

Of Meats : The lean of mutton, beef or chicken in small quantities. 

Of Vegetables: All kinds but potatoes, turnips and parsnips. 

Eggs, bread, cornmeal, etc. All kinds of fruit and berries. 

Weak coffee with little sugar or milk, light wines, and the various 
mineral waters. Poland, Vichy, Londonderry, Hunyadi, etc., can 
be taken. 

Moderate gentle exercise is to be indulged in. The bowels are to 
be kept loose with some saline aperient each day, like Carlsbad salts. 

Recently cases have been reported of marked success in the use of 
the extract of thyroid glands in tablet form; one each night, at the 
same time using Garfield Tea. lodidb of potash in ten-grain doses 
taken in one-half a glass of water three times daily, has been for a 
long time the favorite remedy in the treatment of this disease. This 
dose should be increased every third day till twenty grains are taken 
as a dose. If the mouth tastes very badly in the morning, or pimples 
on the face or back appear to any very annoying degree, the medicine 
may be discontinued for a short time, although these symptoms do 
no harm. 


DIETING IN DISEASE. 


In Dyspepsia, great care should be taken not to overload the 
stomach. It is better to eat often, and take smaller quantities at a 
time, and at regular intervals. Dyspepsia assumes so many different 
forms that experience should teach each patient what agrees with 
him best. Regularity is of importance, and in no case should a meal 
be eaten in a hurry or when the mind is disturbed. It is best to 
avoid pork in all forms, rich, fatty and highly-seasoned foods or 
liquors. Plain foods with few condiments are the best. A little 
warm water or milk taken with the food is better than tea or coffee. 
Vichy, Apollinaris, or Poland water are good drinks. 

The following is usually a safe diet in ordinary dyspepsias: — 
Plain soups; oysters, raw or roasted ; fish, except fatty varieties and 
blue-skinned fish. Fish should be boiled or broiled. Lobster, blue- 
fish, mackerel and salmon, are the most difficult of digestion. 
Meats : mutton, roast or broiled; chicken, beef, sweet-breads, tripe. 
Eggs can generally be taken. The various vegetables, if well 
cooked, — with the exception of boiled potatoes. Only stale bread 
should be eaten. That made from the Franklin Mills flour is the 
best. The various coarse cereals are good. It is best to avoid pud¬ 
dings and pies. Fruits of different kinds are good, especially apples 
and grapes. It is beneficial in some cases to drink hot water imme¬ 
diately on rising, and in others cold water, — experience is the best 
teacher. 

Dyspepsia accompanied by much gas and belching of wind is 
remedied oftentimes by avoidance of starchy food, such as bread, 
potatoes, etc. Dyspepsia of the small bowel, coming on one or two 
hours after meals, means less starchy food, and avoidance of heavy 
vegetables, fruits, cereals, etc.; in other words, the patient should 
live on an animal diet of meat, eggs, milk, etc. 

For Consumptive^, and those in an anaemic state, the diet should 
be generous and and easily digested; food should be taken in small 
quantities and often. It is best to take some light nourishment 
between meals and before retiring, such as Mellin’s Food and milk, 
malted milk and egg-nog. In consumption, oils and fatty foods are 
beneficial if they can be digested. Various preparations of cod-liver 

973 



974 


DIETING IN DISEASE. 


oil are excellent. The patient should avoid pork in all forms, fried 
foods, pies and pastry, and all starchy or sweet foods. 

Can take soups and broths, oysters, fish and eggs, if not fried, beef, 
poultry, game and mutton, — roasted or boiled; fresh vegetables; 
coarse cereals and stale bread. Desserts: baked apples, prunes, sago, 
tapioca and custards. Best to avoid strong tea or coffee. Vichy, 
Poland and ozonized waters, milk. Malted milk and koumiss are 
good drinks. 

In Albuminuria.— Do not eat to excess, or overload the stomach 
in any way. Eat the most easily digested food, such as plain soups, 
codfish, haddock, clams and oysters raw. Of meats, chicken and 
game, avoiding those that have most blood in them. Vegetables of 
all kinds, especially those of green variety. Laxatives, coarse cereals 
and stale bread. 

Do not take of pastry or rich dishes of any kind, sweets, coffee, 
tobacco or liquors. Avoid eggs and an excess of meats. Can take 
tea, milk, koumiss and large quantities of water, Poland if possible. 

For Gouty and Rheumatic People a generous diet is best. They 
should avoid all foods that have a tendency to acidity of the stomach, 
such as those of a starchy or sweet nature. 

Can take plain soups, broths, beef-tea, fish, — except fatty kinds, — 
and oysters ; meats, with the exception of pork, in small quantities; 
fresh vegetables, — onions, cauliflower, celery, lettuce, spinach, peas 
and baked potatoes. Also various coarse foods and stale bread. 

For desserts avoid all rich puddings and pastry and sweets. Can 
eat baked or stewed fruits, lemons, oranges and baked apples. 

Should drink plenty of water and milk, rather than tea or coffee. 
Vichy, Poland and Lithia water are the best. 

For Diabetes. — Take easily-digested food, avoiding as much as 
possible sweet and starchy varieties. Avoid the use of sugar 
altogether, and substitute saccharin, both in the preparation of foods 
and for tea and coffee. Use meats, fats, oils and butter, cream and 
water especially, say one pint of cream daily. Use few or no potatoes, 
and those baked. May eat all kinds of soup, and various shell-fish ; 
fat meats and fresh vegetables that are not starchy. Various fruits, 
nuts, gluten bread, etc. Saja-bean meal contains only one per cent 
of starch, and is very well adapted to diabetes, — much better than the 
ordinary gluten flour, which, after all, is somewhat starchy. 

For beverages: weak tea or coffee without cream or sugar, milk, 
koumiss, ales and various mineral waters. It is well to avoid flours, 
coarse cereals, fruits and vegetables. 


BATHING, 

WITH ESPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE TURKISH AND RUSSIAN BATHS 
AND THEIR USE AT HOME. 


Bathing, as practised both for pleasure and cleanliness, has been 
the instinctive custom of every nation. Records date to the bathing 
in the Nile and Ganges. Jews, Greeks, Egyptians, and Assyrians 
were all lovers of the bath. 

The Romans surpassed all others in the variety and luxury of their 
baths, but to an excess of them may be ascribed much of the final 
effeminacy and physical degeneration of the Roman people. 

The Roman bather first entered the warm-air room or “tepida- 
rium,” where he sweated with his clothes on; here he was anointed, 
after which he passed into the “ calidarium ” or hot room, in one end 
of which was a bath; here he sweated more freely, and afterwards 
had plenty of cold water thrown over him from above his head: first 
warm, then tepid, and after, cold. Succeeding the bath, he was 
scraped and rubbed most briskly and again anointed. The popular¬ 
ity of these baths caused structures to be erected in every part of the 
city, and in a style of architecture which surpassed all other art 
buildings. The immensity of these buildings may be imagined from 
the fact that ruins of the baths of Titus and Caracalla extend one- 
fourth mile on each side, while one room of the bath of Diocletian 
has been converted into a church of imposing proportions. The 
baths of Diocletian contained 3,200 seats for bathers. To such a 
pitch of luxury did the Romans reach in their bath-houses, that Sen¬ 
eca said they were dissatisfied unless they trod on gems in their 
bath. These structures finally were also equipped for all literary 
pursuits, for sports and games. 

These facts show how a simple custom of bathing became a national 
system of luxurious living. The Roman hour for bathing was one 
o’clock (before dinner), as it was supposed to promote the appetite, 
as it does. But these baths which gave such invigoration to the 
body, and which were synonyms of the highest art and culture, finally 
were one great means of Roman degeneracy. 

To such excess did they carry their hot baths, that the nation 
finally exchanged its manly vigor for Eastern effeminacy. Un- 

975 



976 


TURKISH AND RUSSIAN BATHS. 


bounded license in social evils took the place of gymnastic training 
and philosophical study. I mention these facts at length to show 
how bathing may be a most healthful practice and a most injurious 
custom. Modern baths are more or less the outcome of the old 
Roman bath, through the agency of the Mahometans, Turks, Rus¬ 
sians, and Crusadei-s. The Turkish bath is a modified Roman bath, 
while the Russian bath, so far as its vapor is concerned, was practiced 
among the Indians. 

The Russian bath is essentially a vapor bath. In the centre of 
the building is an open space where one undresses. Around this 
space are doors opening into small rooms filled with vapor.. In the 
centre of each room is a series of steps leading nearly to the ceiling. 
The bather lies on the lowest one of these steps and gradually ascends 
to higher and hotter ones. The first sensation is that of suffocation, 
the breathing is difficult, but soon perspiration bursts through the 
pores and breathing is easy and agreeable. These steps vary in heat 
from 96° to 110° F., and in olden times the temperature ranged very 
much higher than this. Bath attendants then flog the bather with 
birchen twigs or coarse towels, lather well with soap, and rinsing the 
latter off, the bather is rubbed down and put under a shower bath of 
ice-cold water. The shock is great, but the sensation is pleasant 
after a few moments. In olden times the bather was made to rush 
out, steaming hot, and roll in the snow. Milder customs, of course, 
prevail to-day, yet the Russian bath is not to be indulged in by all 
people at all times with impunity. When there is any tendency to 
heart disease, palpitation, vertigo, or fulness of the head, the vapor 
bath should be indulged in with caution or not at all. 

The Turkish bath differs from the Russian bath in that the atmos¬ 
phere is dry. The bather first enters the “ frigidarium,” or cooling 
room, where he undresses and passes into the “ tepidarium,” or warm 
room, the temperature of which ranges from 110° to 140° F. The 
object of this room is to bring on a gentle perspiration, and to pre¬ 
pare the system for exposure to a still higher temperature. This is 
attained in the “ calidarium,” the temperature of which varies from 
140° to 200° F. In this room the bather undergoes the operation of 
kneading or shampooing. To get the full benefit of this bath this 
process should never be omitted; the hands alone being the sole 
means of friction. After sweating, shampooing, and soaping, the 
bather passes into the “ lavatorium ” or wash room. In this room he 
begins with a warm shower-bath, which is gradually changed to cool, 
and then to cold. This not only washes off perspiration and soap, 
but also closes the pores and causes a vigorous reaction. 

The feeblest people react readily. The bather then returns to the 
cooling-room, where he lounges, wrapped in a sheet, to await the 
secondary perspiration. 

The Turkish bath is one of the most invigorating and refreshing 
institutions we have. It is devoid of danger almost to all, if used 


TURKISH AND RUSSIAN BATHa 


977 


in moderation. Very hot-air rooms, as well as very hot baths, are 
unnecessary and dangerous to many, as the heart begins to labor and 
the blood-vessels rapidly dilate 

Fear is often expressed about passing from the hot-air room to the 
cold-water bath. There is absolutely no danger in passing into cold 
water while in a state of profuse perspiration. Adverse changes are 
brought about through the nervous system of the skin; when this is 
elevated above.the normal condition, cold water causes no shock; 
but when the power of the nervous system is depressed by being 
chilled, weary, or by disease, then it is that ill results are apt to ensue. 

Precautions must always be taken in indulging in any bath. Never 
take a bath on a hungry stomach, as did the Romans, nor immediately 



Fig. 195. Method of taking a Vapor-Bath. 

after meals, no more should a bath be taken when one is very wear} 
or exhausted. 

Warm baths simply relax and cleanse; but after all others, whether 
hot air, vapor, or sea bath, a good glow of the skin should follow. 

Elderly people should use tepid baths and mild Turkish baths; 
cold bathing chills the skin and depresses the nervous system. Cold 
sponge-bathing is a useful adjunct to other health measures in the 
young and middle-aged, often being the best preventive against 
catching cold. 

The duration of a bath may last from fifteen minutes to two hours. 
Too much bathing, especially with soap, deteriorates the skin by de¬ 
priving it of its oily matters. The continued sweating of many 
water-cures causes bad eruptions and boils, which are difficult of cure. 
These “ humors,” so called by many hydropathists, are not evidences 
that bad blood thus escapes from the body, but that the system ha« 


978 


TURKISH AND RUSSIAN BATHS. 


been much debilitated by too frequent bathing, or too prolonged 
sweating. Parts exposed like the face and hands must be frequently 
scraped and bathed, while the rest of the body needs soap and bath 
much less frequently. 

Sea-bathing should not be indulged in by the very old or young; 
by those whose circulation is languid; by persons who have head 
disease, chronic lung disorders, brain trouble or local congestions. 

A full reaction and a good glow must ensue, and not much time 
spent in the water. Don’t cool off before plunging in the water; all 
the body warmth is needed for a full reaction ; no hesitancy should 
be harbored about plunging in at once, as less heat is thus lost from 
the body, and the consequent shock to the nervous system is thereby 
much diminished. 

For home use both the Turkish and Russian bath may be much 
simplified. 

The vapor for the Russian bath may be improvised as follows: 
The person sits on an open-work chair, preferably a stool made for 



Fig. 196. 

the purpose, and is surrounded by a water-proof sheet fitting closely 
about the neck. Hot water is then poured over heated bricks placed 
underneath the chair. For more prolonged steaming, a hose may be 
run to the top of a boiler, on the stove, from whose tin cover pro¬ 
jects a tin pipe, to which the hose may be attached. (Fig. 195.) 

The shampooing and soaping and cold douche may then be taken. 

For Turkish bath, hot air may be obtained by burning an alcohol- 
lamp under the chair and using the covering mentioned above, or 
alcohol may be mixed with salt in a pan. (Fig. 196.) 

The shampooing and kneading of the muscles should be done by 
an assistant. Rubber tubing attached to the hot and cold-water 
faucets of the bath-room will readily furnish the requisite shower-bath 
of warm, tepid, and cold water, as one or both of the rubber tubings 
are used. The essential features of both baths may thus very easily 
be procured by almost every household. 


PEOOFS OF DEATH. 


The universal dread of being buried alive leads us to give an 
epitomized account of the various signs of death. 

Absence of Circulation. — The heart cannot be heard pulsating 
bj one trained to the proper use of the stethoscope. If a band be 
tied around a toe or finger no change results; but if the circulation 
still exists, after a few minutes a livid hue will be noticed at the 
end of the member. 

Absence of Respiration. —A cold mirror placed against or close 
to the lips does not detect the presence of moisture. A flake of 
fine cotton or a feather similarly placed reveals no motion imparted 
by exhaled air. 

Cooling of the Body.—After death the body temperature falls 
rapidly to that of the surrounding media. As a rule the corpse 
becomes cold in from six to twelve hours after death, the viscera, 
however, requiring much longer time. 

Rigor Mortis. — Post-mortem rigidity is one of the most positive 
signs of death, and seldom occurs later than twenty-four hours after 
death. 

Putrefaction is, of course, absolute proof of death, but it does not 
occur early. The abdomen becomes green, and finally the whole 
body assumes this livid green color, with a sickish, putrid odor. 
These are the chief signs of death, although several minor ones 
might be mentioned. It may be said in general, that burial almost 
never takes place until death is sure. The evidences of apparently 
suspended animation, of the body turning in its casket, etc., may be 
explained otherwise. 



The Home Administration of Medicines. 


We wish to make clear to our readers three most important facts: 

First. That with due care and necessary information that this 
book will give, many ailments may be avoided without the use ot 
medicines. 

Second. That with a clear understanding of anatomy, hygiene, 
and symptoms of diseases, many things can be done for the relief of 
the patient until the arrival of the physician. 

Third. That in a large majority of cases, with the knowledge 
that this book imparts, a physician’s services will not be needed at 
all if the readers will make themselves thoroughly acquainted with 
the instructions given, and in a faithful and intelligent manner carry 
them out. But it must be borne in mind that in many cases the ser¬ 
vices of a physician are indispensable, and unless the reader, by fol¬ 
lowing the symptoms here given, is able to correctly diagnose the 
ailment, and if a marked improvement is not noticed in the patient 
from the remedies given, no time should be lost in calling a physician. 

Fourth. The instructions given in the chapter ^‘The Domestic 
Management of the Sick Room,” if followed carefully, will in most 
cases do away with the expense of a professional nurse. 


MEDICINES 


AND 

THEIR PREPARATIONS 


Medicine is divided into three classes 

ANIMAL, VEGETABLE and MINERAL 

of which the ** Veg^etable Kingdom ^ furnishes 
by far the most and best 


We give in the following chapters over 
700 VARIETIES 

of 

HERBS, PLANTS AND ROOTS 


How and where to gather them: their compound and use for 
home treatment* 





MEDICINES AND THEIE PREPARATIONS. 


Materia Medica. 

That department of medicine which treats of remedies, their doses, 
modes of using, and influence upon the constitution, is called materia 
medica. The agents employed in the treatment of disease are taken 
from three kingdoms of nature, — the vegetable, the animal, and the 
mineral. 

The largest portion of medicinal substances are taken from the 
vegetable world. They consist of leaves, flowers, seeds, barks, and 
roots. These lose much or all of their medicinal powers unless 
gathered at the right seasons of the year, and are properly cured. 
The different parts of a plant are to be gathered when their peculiar 
juices are most abundant in them. 

The Roots of Annual Plants are best supplied with their juices 
before they are in flower; they should be gathered at this time. 

The Roots of Biennial Plants should be gathered in the autumn, 
after the first year’s growth. 

The Roots of Perennial Plants should be gathered in the spring, 
before vegetation has begun. 

Before they are dried, the solid parts of these roots are to be cut 
in slices, after being washed, and the small fibres, unless they are the 
parts used, are to be thrown away. 

Bulbous Roots are to be gathered at the time their leaves decay. 
Their outer covering being rejected, they must be sliced, strung upon 
threads, and hung in a warm, airy room to dry. After being dried, 
roots should be packed in barrels or boxes, and kept as free as possi¬ 
ble from moisture. 

Barks, whether of the roots, trunk, or branches, must be gathered 
in autumn, or early in the spring, when they peel off most easily, and, 
the dead outside and all rotten parts being separated, they must be 
dried in the same manner as roots. The most active barks are gen¬ 
erally from young trees. 

Leaves are to be gathered when they are full grown, and just be¬ 
fore the fading of the flower. 

Those of biennial plants are not to be collected until the second 
year. For drying, they should be thinly spread on the floor of a 

982 



MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


983 


room through which a current of air passes. For preservation, they 
should be packed in vessels, and kept free from moisture and insects. 

Flowers must generally be collected about the time of their open¬ 
ing, — either a little before or just after. 

They should be dried as rapidly as possible, but not in the sun, and 
may be packed away in the same manner as leaves. 

Fruits, Berries, etc., may be spread thinly upon the floor, or hung 
up in bunches to dry. 


Articles to Accompany a Medicine-Chest. 

It is advisable for families who prepare their own medicines to 
supply themselves with scales and graduated glasses, as the medi¬ 
cines in this book are prescribed in this way. Still, in many instances, 
measuring with spoons will answer. 

The following articles should be kept in the medicine-chest: — 

1. A spatula for mixing ointments and pills, and for spreading 
plasters. 

2. A piece of smooth marble on which the above articles may be 
mixed, divided, and spread. 

3. A glass funnel. 

4. A domestic syringe for injection. 

5. Adhesive or sticking plaster. 

6. Lint. 

7. Scales and weights. 

8. A glass or wedgewood mortar and pestle. 

9. A graduated wineglass for measuring teaspoonfuls and table¬ 
spoonfuls of liquids. 

10. A graduated minim measure. 

11. A two-ounce graduated measure. 


ZDram Minims 



3 Ounce 3 Dram 



Fig. 195. Minim Measure. Fig. 196. i’wo-ounce Measure. 

The minim measure is represented by Fig. 195, and contains one 
fluid dram, or sixty minims, which is divided by twelve lines,— each 
line representing five minims. A minim is considered about equal 
to one and a half drops. 

The two-ounce measure is represented by Fig. 196, and is divided 
off from half a dram upward. 

































984 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS, 


Doses, Weights, etc. 

Apothecary’s weights, by which all medicinal preparations ought 
to be weighed, are divided into pounds, ounces, scruples, drams, and 


grains. 

The characters marked 
explained as follows: — 
one ounce, 
one fluid ounce. 
|ss half an ounce. 

3j one dram. 


on weights and graduated measures are 

f3j one fluid dram. 

3ss half a dram. 

one scruple. 

^S8 half a scruple. 


The grain weights are stamped with punch-marks. 

20 grains make one scruple. 

3 scruples make one dram. 

8 drams make one ounce. 


60 drops make-one fluid dram. 

8 drams make one fluid ounce. 
16 ounces make one pint. 


By apothecary’s weight: — 

lb The pound is equal to 12 ounces. 1 3 The dram is equal to 3 scruples. 

§ The ounce is equal to 8 drams. | 3 The scruple is equal to 20grains. 


By apothecary’s measure: — 

0 The pint is equal to sixteen ounces. 

3 The dram is equal to ninety drops, or sixty minims. 


The marks and words used by physicians and apothecaries may be 
A little more fully explained by the following table: — 

Bs stands for recipe^ and means take, 
dd stand for ana, and mean of each. 

ft) stands for libra vel librae., and means a pound or pounds. 

§ stands for uncia vel uncioe, and means an ounce or ounces. 

3 stands for drachma vel drachmae, and means a dram or drams. 

3 stands for scrupulus vel scrupuli, and means a scruple or scruples. 

0 stands for octarius vel octarii, and means a pint or pints, 
f J stands for Jluiduncia vel Jl^ idunciae, and means a fluid ounce or 
fluid ounces. 

f3 stands for Jluidrachma vel fluidrachmae, and means a fluid dram 
or fluid drams. 

m stands for minimum vel minima, and means a minim or minims. 
Chart, stands for chartula vel chartulae, and means a small paper oi 
papers. 

Coch. stands for cochlear vel cochlearia, and means a spoonful or spoon* 
fuls. 

Collyr. stands for collyrium, and means an eye-water, 

Cong, stands for conguis vel conguii, and means a gallon or gallons. 
Decoct, stands for decoctum, and means a decoction. 

Ft. stands ioxfiat and means make. 

Oarg. stands for gargarysma, and means a gargle. 

Gr. stands for granum vel grana, and means a grain or grains. 

Ott. stands for gutta vel guttae, and means a drop or drops. 




MEDICINES AND THEIR ^REPARATIONS. 


985 


Haust. stands for haustus^ and means a draught. 

Inf us, stands for infusum^ and means an infusion. 

M, stands for misce, and means mix. 

Mass, stands for massa, and means a mass. 

Mist, stands for mistura, and means a mixture. 

Pit. stands for pilula vel piluloe^ and means a pill or pills. 

Pulv, stands for pulves vel pulveres, and means a powder or powders. 

Q, S, stands for quantum sujfficit^ and means a sufficient quantity. 

S. stands for signa, and means write. 

Ss, stands for semis, and means a half. 

Domestic, or Approximate Measures. — A tablespoon contains 
about four drams; a teaspoon, one dram; a dessertspoon, three 
drams; a wineglass, two ounces. Spoons vary so much in size, that 
they should not be used as measures in giving powerful medicines. 

Spoons can also be used for measuring solid substances, but are 
not as accurate, as the solid substances vary very much in weight, 
so that I would not advise their use in measuring powerful drugs. 

One dram, or 60 grains, to a teaspoonful. 

Four drams, or half an ounce, to a tablespoonful. 

The spoon should be level full for solids. 


The Approximate Value of French Decimal 
Weights. 


One centigramme is equal to J grain. 

Two centigrammes “ ^ grain. 

One demi-decigramme “ 1 grain. 

One decigramme “ 2 grains. 

One gramme “ 18 grains. 

One gramme and three decigrammes is equal to 1 scruple. 
Two grammes “ ^ dram. 

Four grammes “1 dram. 

One decagramme is equal to 2 drams and 36 grains. 

Three decagrammes and two grammes is equal to 1 ounce. 
Demi-kilogramme “ 1 pound. 

Kilogramme “ 2 pounds. 


The following table shows the relative doses for young people of 
different ages: — 


The dose for a person of middle age being 
That of a person from 14 to 21 years will be 


4( 

(4 

44 

7 to 14 

44 

44 

C( 

44 

44 

4 to 7 

44 

44 

U 

44 

44 

4 

44 

44 


44 

44 

3 

44 

44 

(C 

(4 

44 

2 

• < 

44 

cc 

CC 

44 

1 

44 

44 


1 or 1 dram. 

I or 2 scruples. 
^ or J dram. 

or 1 scruple. 
J or 15 grains. 
-J or 10 grains. 
J or 8 grains, 
or 5 grains. 


Tn administering medicines, it is always well to begfin with the 





986 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


smallest dose mentioned and gradually increase until the desired in¬ 
fluence is produced. 

The dose given should not only vary with the drug, but also with 
the condition, age and sex of the person. 

In giving medicine to children, care should be taken as to the 
amount administered. (See foregoing table.) 

It is of course necessary in all cases that the strength and con¬ 
dition of the patient should be taken into consideration. Especially 
where powerful drugs are used, it will be better to give smaller doses 
than mentioned in the table. 

Tinctures. 

The preparations called tinctures are made by grinding or bruising 
the roots, leaves, or barks used, to a coarse powder, placing it in the 
proper amount of either alcohol or diluted alcohol, letting it stand 
from seven to fourteen days, — shaking each day, — and. Anally, 
Altering through paper. A large proportion of tinctures are made 
by taking one ounce of the medicinal substance to one 'pint of the 
spirit; and whenever tinctures are spoken of in this Materia Medica, 
and the quantities are not named, the above proportions are to be 
presumed. When a larger proportion of the medicine is to be used, 
I shall simply indicate the proportions in the fewest words, as under 
Black Cohosh, — “ this tincture, four ounces to the pint of alcohol,’’ 
meaning thereby, that the tincture is made by using four ounces of 
the root to the pint of alcohol. Most fluid extracts have the same 
strength, ounce for ounce, with the roots, barks, leaves, etc., of which 
they are made. Tinctures may therefore be made with very little 
trouble, by substituting, in each case, the same number of ounces of 
their fluid extracts to the pint of alcohol, which I name of the gross 
substance, or, when no quantity is named, one ounce to the pint. 

infusions. 

These doses are for adults: — 

For young people from 15 to 21, give f of dose. 

“ children “ 7 to 15, “ J “ 

“ infants, “ 

In administering medicines of all kinds the strength and condition 
of the patient should be taken into consideration. 

Infusions are solutions of vegetable medicines, generally obtained 
by pouring boiling water upon the substance, and letting it stand till 
:t cools. When a more prolonged application of heat is desired, the 
vessel may stand for a while by the fire, but must not be permitted 
to boil. The vessel should usually be covered. 

As in the case of tinctures, I have uniformly, while writing this 
Materia Medica, briefly named the quantity to be used to the pint 
whenever it varies from one ounce* 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


987 


Acetic Acid. — This is a clear liquid, without color, and has a 
strong, sour taste, and an agreeable smell. When held to the nose, 
its fine, pungent odor often relieves headache. A piece of cambric 
wetted with it and applied to the skin, excites heat and redness, and, 
very soon, a blister, — for which this acid may be substituted in in¬ 
flammatory sore throat, and other cases requiring speedy action. 
Applied to corns and warts, with a camel’s-hair brush, it destroys 
them. 

Citric Acid. —This acid is extracted from lemon or lime juice; it 
is also present in the cranberry, currant, strawberry, raspberry, tama¬ 
rind, and is very abundant in the red elderberry. It is refrigerant 
and antiseptic, and is chiefly employed as a substitute for lemonade. 
Nine and a half drams of the crystals, two drops of oil of lemon, 
and one pint of water, answers a good purpose in place of lemon- 
juice. 

Diluted Nitric Acid. — This, in the undiluted state, passes under 
the name of aqua-fortis. It is tonic and antiseptic. Largely diluted 
with water, it forms a good drink in fevers, especially typhus. Taken 
in large doses, it is a powerful poison. One-half dram of this prepara¬ 
tion, thirteen ounces of soft water, and one ounce of simple syrup, 
make a good drink in fevers, of which half a wineglassful is a dose. 
Excellent in cases of whooping-cough. Use with care. 

Nitro-Muriatic Acid. —This acid, when properly diluted, has a 
tonic and stimulant influence. It is much used as a foot-bath in 
affections of the liver, and in deficient secretions of the bile. 

Diluted Hydrochloric Acid. — This is known by the name of 
diluted muriatic acid. It is tonic, antiseptic, and diuretic, and is 
used in typhus, eruptions of the skin, and with other articles, as a 
gargle in inflammatory and putrid sore throats. Dose, from five to 
twenty drops, in a wineglassful of water. It is given in scarlet and 
typhoid fevers, about ten drops being put into a bowl of barley- 
water or gruel. 

Diluted Hydrocyanic Acid. — This is commonly known by the 
name of prussic acid. It is sedative and antispasmodic, and is useful 
in spasmodic coughs, asthma, whooping cough, nervous affections, 
hiccough, palpitation of the heart, irritable stomach, and dyspepsia. 
Dose, from two to five drops, in a glass of water or tea of Peruvian 
bark. It is an active poison, and should only be taken when pre¬ 
scribed by a physician. 

Diluted Sulphuric Acid. — This acid, known by the name of 
diluted oil of vitriol, is tonic, antiseptic, refrigerant, and astringent. 
It is useful in dyspepsia, diabetes, menorrhagia, haemoptysis, erup¬ 
tions of the skin, hectic, and diarrhoea. It is often given with some 
bitter infusions, as cascarilla, Colombo, Peruvian bark, or quassia. 
The aromatic sulphuric acid is often used in place of it, being some* 


988 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


times considered more grateful to the taste. Dose of each, from five 
to ten drops. 

Tannic Acid. — This is an astringent preparation, and passes 
under the name of tannin. It is prepared from galls. It is used in 
diarrhoea, dysentery, passive hemorrhages, and diabetes. Dose of 
the powder, from one to three grains. 

Tartaric Acid. — This is refrigerant and antiseptic, and is used in 
inflammatory affections, fevers and scurvy. It is much used in pre» 
paring what is called lemon syrup, and forms an agreeable and 
healthful drink. 

Alcohol. — Alcohol is the result of the fermentation of the juices 
of many vegetables. It is the intoxicating constituent in whiskey, 
rum, brandy, gin, wines, porter, ale, beer, and cider. Its principal 
use in medicine is in the preparation of tinctures, essences, and 
extracts. One part of pure alcohol to one part of water forms the 
diluted alcohol of the shops. 

Almonds. — The Amygdahis communis^ or almond tree, grows in 
the south of Europe and Asia, and yields the sweet and bitter almond. 
The oil of the sweet almond is used as a demulcent, in coughs, etc. 
A dose is a teaspoonful. The oil of the bitter almond is poisonous, 
and is occasionally used as a valuable sedative. Its taste is like that 
of a peach-kernel. Dose, one-quarter of a drop. It owes its poison¬ 
ous properties to hydrocyanic acid. Cakes, etc., are sometimes 
flavored with an essence prepared from it. Do not confound the 
sweet with the bitter. 

Aloes. — This is the hardened juice of the leaves of several species 
of the aloe-tree, in North and South Africa, in the south of Europe, 
and in the island of Socotra. Aloes is purgative, acting chiefly upon 
the rectum, or lower bowel, in which it frequently produces irritation, 
and is apt to aggravate and induce piles. It is much used to excite 
the flow of the menses, and should never be given to women during 
pregnancy. It produces griping of the bowels, which may be dimin¬ 
ished by combining it with carbonate of potash. 

Alum (^Alumen), — The cheminal name of this is sulphate of alu¬ 
mina and potassa. In ordinary doses, alum is astringent and anti- 
spasmodic. In large doses, it is purgative and emetic, and is used 
both externally and internally. It is often used in solution as a gar¬ 
gle in sore throat, and falling down of the uvula, and as an injection 
in leucorrhoea. In doses of twenty or thirty grains, it acts as a pur¬ 
gative, and used in this way is useful in painter’s colic. When 
exposed to heat in a vessel till it ceases to boil, it becomes dry, and 
is then called burnt alum, which, when pulverized, is applied with 
advantage to canker spots in the mouth, and to proud flesh. 

American Hellebore {Veratrum Viride), — This plant grows in 
many parts of the United States, usually in swamps, wet meadows. 












MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


989 


and on the banks of mountain streamlets. The root is the part used. 
It is slightly acrid, alterative in a marked degree, very decidedly 
and actively expectorant and diaphoretic, and it is an excellent 
nervine, though not narcotic. But its most marked and valuable 
quality — that in which it has no rival — is its sedative action upon 
the circulation. In suitable doses, it can be relied upon to bring the 
pulse down from a hundred and fifty beats in a minute to forty, or 
even to thirty. In fevers, therefore, in some diseases of the heart, 
in acute rheumatism, and in many other conditions which involve 
an excited state of the circulation, it is an article of exceedingly 
great value, because it is always reliable. Use under physician’s 
directions only. 

Preparations. — Veratum is used chiefly in the form of tincture, 
six ounces to the pint of diluted alcohol, or of fluid extract. The 
dose of each of these preparations, for a grown person, is two or 
three drops every hour or two, in a little sweetened water, and grad¬ 
ually increased, if necessary, till the pulse comes down to sixty or 
seventy. If taken in so large a dose as to produce vomiting, or too 
much depression, a dose of morphine or laudanum in a little brandy 
or ginger, is a complete antidote. 

Veratrin, the active principle of veratrum, is also used, in doses 
of one-fourth to one-third of a grain. 

American Ipecacuanha (^Euphorbia Ipecac). — This plant is per¬ 
ennial and grows in sandy soils in the Middle and Southern States. 
When cut or broken it gives out a milky juice. The root is the 
medicinal part. It is emetic, cathartic, and diaphoretic. Dose, as a 
cathartic, eight or ten grains; as a diaphoretic, three or four grains, 
every three or four hours. 

Amerrican Ivy {Ampelopsis Quinquefolici). —This vine grows in 
all parts of the United States. It is known by the names of false 
grape and wild woodbine. It is alterative, tonic, astringent, and ex¬ 
pectorant. Used in scrofula and syphilis. 

Water of Ammonia (^Liquor Ammonice ).— This preparation, called 
hartshorn, or spirits of hartshorn, is formed by the union of water 
with ammonia gas. It has a powerful ammoniacal odor, and an alka¬ 
line, caustic taste. Taken internally it is stimulant, sudorific, and 
antacid, and applied externally, it is rubefacient. It stimulates par¬ 
ticularly the heart and arteries, without very much exciting the brain. 
It is an excellent remedy in heartburn, and for sick headache de¬ 
pendent on sourness of the stomach. A dose is from ten to twenty 
drops, largely diluted with water. United with oils, or with alcohol 
in about equal proportions, and applied externally, it reddens the 
skin, and, if the cloth wet with it be covered with oiled silk or with 
fiannel, to prevent evaporation, it will sometimes quickly raise a blister. 
In cases of fainting, it is frequently applied to the nostrils, to excite 
the brain, and rouse the system. Aromatic spirit of ammonia is a 
better nreuaration. 


990 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


Carbonate of Ammonia. —This is a white, moderately hard, crys¬ 
talline salt, having a pungent, ammoniacal smell, and a sharp, 
penetrating taste. When exposed to the air, it loses some of its 
ammonia, becomes a bicarbonate, and falls to powder. It is stimu¬ 
lant, diaphoretic, antispasmodic, powerfully antacid, and, in large 
doses, emetic. Internally, it is more often used than water of ammo¬ 
nia, and for similar purposes. Coarsely bruised, and scented with 
oil of lavender, it constitutes the common smelling salts, so much 
used in fainting and hysterics. For internal use, the dose is from 
five to ten grains, taken in the form of pills, every two, three or four 
hours. 

Muriate of Ammonia QjSal Ammoniac.') — This, also called hydro¬ 
chlorate of ammonia, is a white, translucent, tough, fibrous salt, in 
large cakes, about two inches thick, convex on one side, and concave 
on the other. 

It has a saline, pungent taste, but no smell, dissolves in one part 
of boiling water, and three parts of cold. Taken internally, it is 
stiniulant and alterative. It is a valuable remedy in chronic bron¬ 
chitis, pleurisy, and inflammation of the serous and mucous mem¬ 
branes generally. But it must only be used after the first violence 
of these inflammations has abated. Pulverized, and placed over a 
spirit lamp in a tin cup, the fumes which arise when it sublimes may 
be inhaled five or ten minutes, once or twice a day, with great ad¬ 
vantage in chronic bronchitis, and in chronic inflammations generally 
of the air-passages. A solution composed of one ounce of the salt 
dissolved in nine fluid ounces of water and one of alcohol, may be 
used as a wash for bruises, indolent tumors, and ulcers. 

Solution of Acetate of Ammonia (Liquor Ammonice Acetatis). — 
This is known by the common name of spirit of Mindererus. The 
taste is saline, and is like that of a mixture of nitre and sugar. It is 
a valuable diaphoretic, and is much employed, alone or mixed with 
sweet spirit of nitre, two parts to one, in fevers and inflammations. 
It is a valuable external application iu mumps, applied hot upon a 
piece of flannel. One-half ounce mixed with seven ounces of rose¬ 
water and two drams of laudanum, forms a valuable wash for the 
eyes in chronic ophthalmia. The dose is from two to three drams 
mixed with sweetened water, every two or three hours. 

Aromatic Spirif: of Ammonia (Spiritus Ammonice Aromaticus). — 
Taken internally, this answers the same purpose as other prepara¬ 
tions of ammonia, and is much used on account of it agreeable taste 
and smell. It is valuable as an antacid in sick headache. Dose, 
from twenty to thirty drops, sufficiently diluted with water. 

Anise (Pimpinella Anisum) . — This is a perennial plant, and grows 
in Egypt. Its fruit is called anise-seed. It is aromatic and carmi¬ 
native. It is much used to allay nausea, flatulency, and colic, par- 
“acularly in children. It is frec^uently added to other medicines to 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


991 


make them more agreeable, and to lessen the griping effects of physic. 
The oil extracted from the seeds, dissolved in alcohol, an ounce of 
the former to a pint of the latter, forms what is called the essence of 
anise. Dose of the essence, from thirty drops to a dram in sweetened 
water. Anise forms a very valuable addition to cough preparations. 

Arnica {Arnica Montana.') —This is a perennial plant, growing in 
moist, shady places in Siberia, etc. It is often called leopard’s bane. 
It is much used externally as a stimulating application to bruises, local 
inflammation, etc. 

Preparations. — It is chiefly used in the form of tincture, or fluid 
extract. Dose, ten to thirty drops. Half an ounce of tincture, five 
and a half ounces of boiling vinegar, and two drams of carbonate of 
ammonia, used warm, make in some cases a valuable fomentation. It 
is one of the leading homoeopathic remedies. 

Arrowroot.—This is prepared from the Maranta arundinaeea.^ a 
plant of the West Indies. It is chiefly used in forming dietetic pre¬ 
parations, and belongs to the first or saccharine group of food-articles. 

Assafoetida. — This is the hardened juice from the root of a Per¬ 
sian plant. It is stimulant, antispasmodic, and expectorant, and is 
much used in nervous complaints. A dose of the powder is from 
five to ten grains, and of the tincture, made by macerating two ounces 
in a pint of diluted alcohol, from thirty to sixty drops. 

Balm {Melissa Officinalis'). — This is a perennial plant, growing in 
Europe and this country. It is moderately stimulant and diaphoretic. 
The warm infusion causes perspiration, and is used to relieve painful 
menstruation. 

Balm of Gilead (Populus Candicans), — This is a tree growing in 
the northern parts of our country. A tincture made from the buds, 
in doses of from one to four fluid drams, is useful in affections of the 
kidneys, in scurvy, and rheumatism. Steeped in lard they form a 
useful ointment for some purposes. 

Balmony {Chelone Glahra). — This is a perennial plant, common 
to the United States. It is tonic, cathartic, and vermifuge. It is 
used in indigestion, debility, and derangements of the liver. A dose of 
the powdered leaves is one dram; of the tincture, two fluid drams; 
of the decoction, one or two fluid ounces; of the active principle 
called chelonin, one or two grains. A decoction of balmony com¬ 
bined with tincture of assafoetida forms a valuable injection for 
worms. An ointment made from the fresh leaves is valuable for 
piles, inflamed breasts, tumors, and painful ulcers. 

Balsam Copaiba. — This is obtained from a South American tree 
called the Copaifera Officinalis. It is a clear yellowish fluid, about 
the consistency of honey. It is a stimulating diuretic, and is much 
used in chronic gonorrhoea, gleet, irritable conditions of the bladder, 


992 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


and chronic bronchitis. In some persons it causes an eruption on the 
stin, with itching, etc. 

In large doses, it acts as a cathartic. 

Balsam Tolu. —This is the juice of the tree Myrospernum Tolui- 
ferum^ growing in South America. It is soft, tenacious, and of a 
pale brown color; and, like balsam copaiba, is soluble in alcohol, 
ether, and volatile oils. It has been used in asthma, cough, bron¬ 
chitis, etc. Dose, from ten to thirty grains, in mucilage or syrup. 

Barberry Vulgaris), —This shrub grows along the At¬ 

lantic coast, from Canada to Virginia. The parts used are the bark 
and berries. It is tonic and laxative, and, in doses of a teaspoonful, 
powdered, is useful in jaundice, chronic diarrhoea, and chronic dysen¬ 
tery. A decoction of the berries forms an agreeable acid drink in 
fevers, cholera infantum, etc., and as a gargle it is useful for ulcers 
of the mouth, etc., as a wash, for chronic inflammation of the eyes, 
and as an injection for leucorrhoea. 

Bay berry (Myrica Cerifera^ Fig. 197).—This is found in damp 
places, in many parts of the United States, 
and is very abundant in New Jersey. The 
bark of the root is the part used. It is astrin¬ 
gent and stimulant. Pulverized, and com¬ 
bined with powdered blood-root, it forms an 
excellent application to indolent ulcers. In 
the form of poultice, combined with powdered 
slippery elm, it is a useful application to 
scrofulous tumors or ulcers. The decoction 
is a good wash for sore mouth, and spongy, 
bleeding gums. It is chiefly used in the form 
of tincture, dose, half an ounce; fluid extract, 
dose, one or two drams ; and the active prin¬ 
ciple, myricin, dose, two to ten grains. 

Bearberry {Uva CTm, Fig. 198).— This plant, also called upland 
cranberry, has a wide range, being found in the northern parts of Asia, 
Europe and America. It flowers from June to Sep¬ 
tember, and ripens its berries in the winter. The 
leaves are the only medicinal parts. It is astringent 
and tonic, and acts particularly upon the urinary or¬ 
gans, for complaints of which it is generally used. It 
is specially valued as an antilithic in gravel, and as a 
remedy for chronic inflammation of the kidneys, ul¬ 
ceration of the bladder, etc. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, one-third of a 
dram to a dram; solid extract, dose, five to fifteen 
grains; tincture, dose, one to two ounces. 

Beef’s Galls (Pel Bovinum), — This being dried by evaporation, is 




Fig. 197. Batberrt. 








MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


993 


sometimes used as a tonic and laxative, in torpor of the liver, jaun¬ 
dice, indigestion, and costiveness, in doses of from one to ten grains. 
Three drams of ox-gall, one dram of extract of conium, two drams of 
soda soap, and one ounce of sweet oil, make a valuable preparation, 
which, when applied externally, has a surprisingly rapid effect in 
reducing enlargement and hardening of the breasts, glandular tumors, 
particularly enlargement of the tonsils, and is useful in hypertrophies 
generally. For application to the tonsils, the gall maybe rubbed up 
with water to the consistence of an ointment, and may be applied with 
a camel’s-hair brush. 

Benzoin. — This is the hardened juice of a tree of Sumatra and 
Borneo. It is very brittle, of a reddish brown color, and is soluble in 
alcohol and ether. It is chiefly used for inhalation in chronic laryn¬ 
gitis and bronchitis. When used for this purpose, it may be added 
to boiling water, and the vapor inhaled; or it may be burned upon 
coals or a hot shovel, the fumes being inhaled. 

Benzoic Acid. — This is prepared by heating benzoin, and causing 
it to sublime. It consists of silky, feathery crystals, which are white 
and soft. It has been found useful in the phosphatic variety of 
gravel. A convenient way of giving it is to unite one part of it with 
four parts of phosphate of soda, the dose of which is from ten to 
twenty grains. 

Beth root {Ti'illium Pendulum). — A perennial plant, growing in 
rich soils, in the Middle and Western States. The root is used,'and 
is astringent, tonic, and antiseptic. It is useful in bleeding from the 
lungs and kidneys; also in excessive menstruation, cough, asthma, 
and difficult breathing. Boiled in milk, it is used, in the western 
country in diarrhoea and dysentery. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, one to three drams; trilliin, 
dose, four to eight grains; infusion, dose, two to four ounces ; decoc¬ 
tion used as a local application to ulcers and sore mouth, and as an 
injection in leucorrhoea and gleet. A poultice made from the root 
is useful for carbuncles, indolent tumors, buboes, foul ulcers, and for 
stings of insects. 

Bitter-root (^Apocynum Androscemifolium., 

Fig. 199). — An indigenous plant, growing in 
rich soils in the United States and Canada. The 
root is the part used, and is laxative, tonic, 
diaphoretic, and alterative. It is employed in 
chronic affections of the liver, syphilis, scrofula, 
intermittents, and the low stage of typhoid fe¬ 
vers. Forty to fifty grains will cause vomiting 
without much nausea. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, as a 
tonic, ten to twenty drops; as a diaphoretic, 
fifteen to twenty-five drops; as an emetic, half 



Fig. 199. Bitter-koot. 




994 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


a dram to a dram. Solid extract, dose, two to eight grains ; apocy* 
nin, the active principle of the root, dose, half a grain to two grains 
tincture, dose, two to three drams; infusion, dose a wine-glassful, 
three times a day. 

Bismuth. —The principal preparation of this metal used in medi¬ 
cine, is the trisnitrate of bismuth^ also called nitrate^ suhnitrate^ and 
white oxide of bismuth. It is a white powder, without smell or taste. 
It is used for various irritable and painful affections of the stomach, 
when there is no acute inflammation. It is particularly useful in 
chronic diarrhoea, more especially the diarrhoea of the latter stages of 
consumption, over which it has more control than any other known 
remedy. To show its best effects in this form of diarrhoea, it should 
be given in large doses, not less than fifteen to twenty grains, imme¬ 
diately after each meal. The small doses usually given are compara¬ 
tively useless. Given in these full doses, it is also almost a specific 
in heartburn and water-brash. 

Bittersweet QSolanum Dulcamara'). — This is common in Europe 
and North America. It is a woody vine, the roots and stalks of 
which are used in medicine. It is slightly narcotic, and has altera¬ 
tive and diaphoretic properties. It is used in scaly and syphilitic 
affections of the skin. It is said to have antaphrodisiac properties, 
and is serviceable in mania connected with strong venereal propensi¬ 
ties. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, half a dram to a dram; solid 
extract, dose, three to eight grains; infusion, dose, one to three 
ounces, three or four times a day. 

Black Alder Verticillatus). — This shrub is common in 

the United States, its bark and berries are used. It has been found 
useful in jaundice, diarrhoea, intermittent fever and other diseases 
connected with debility. Applied locally in the form of a wash or 
poultice, and given internally, it is popular in chronic eruptions of 
the skin, and in flabby, ill-conditioned ulcers, and mortification. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, two drams; tincture, dose, 
two to four drams. 

Two drams of the fluid extract of black alder, one dram of the 
fluid extract of golden seal, and one pint of water, mixed, and taken 
in doses of four fluid ounces, three or four times a day, are valuable 
in dyspepsia. 

Blackberry (^Rubus Villosus). — There are many species of this 
growing in the United States. The bark of the root is the part used. 
It is tonic, and strongly astringent, and is a valuable remedy in diar¬ 
rhoea, dysentery, cholera-infantum, relaxed condition of the bowels 
of children, and the passive discharge of blood from the stomach, 
bowels, and womb. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, half a dram to a dram ; solid 
extract, four to six grains; tincture, dose, two to four drams; infm 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


995 


sion, dose, one ounce. This last preparation is also useful as an injec¬ 
tion in gleet, leucorrhoea, and prolapsus of the rectum and womb. 
The syrup of the blackberry-root is also a valuable preparation; so 
also is blackberry brandy, so called, which is the juice of the fruit 
mixed with brandy. This is excellent in summer complaints. 

Black Cohosh (^Cimicifuga Racemosa^ Fig. 200). — This grows in 
rich soils throughout the United States. The 
root is the part used. It is slightly narcotic, 
sedative, antispasmodic, antiperiodic, and exerts 
a marked influence over the nervous system; 
being useful in St. Vitus’s dance, epilepsy, ner¬ 
vous excitability, asthma, delirium tremens, and 
many spasmodic affections. It has an especial 
affinity for the uterus. 

It reduces the arterial action very materially, 
and hence is useful in palpitation of the heart. 

It has been used successfully in acute rheuma¬ 
tism, but more particularly in chronic rheuma¬ 
tism. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, half a 
dram to two drams; solid extract, dose, four to 
eight grains; tincture, four ounces to the pint of 
alcohol; dose, one to three drams; cimicifugin, the active principle, 
dose, one to six grains. 

Black Willow {Salix Nigra). — This tree is found in the Northern 
States, along the banks of rivers, especially in New York and Penn¬ 
sylvania, and is known by the common name of pussy-willow. It is 
a bitter tonic, and is sometimes used in fever and ague. A decoction 
made from the buds is said to be a powerful antaphrodisiac, and is 
accordingly useful in the treatment spermatorrhea. 

Bloodroot {Sanguinaria Canadensis^ Fig. 201). — A perennial 
plant, growing in light, rich soils, in most parts of 
the United States. The root is the part used. It 
is emetic, narcotic, expectorant, alterative, escha- 
rotic, and errhine. It is used in typhoid pneumonia, 
bronchitis, rheumatism, dyspepsia, etc. Three to five 
grains stimulates the digestive organs, and accele¬ 
rates the pulse. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, five to fifteen 
drops ; solid extract, half a grain to a grain and a 
half; tincture, twenty drops to a dram; sanguina¬ 
ria, the alkaloid principle, from one-twentieth to one- 
tenth of a grain. 

Four-grain pills, made of sanguinarin, twelve 
grains, caulophyllin, twelve grains, solid extract of 
cimicifuga, twelve grains, are said to be efficacious 
in amenorrhoea, dysmenorrhoea, and other female disorders. 




Fig. 200. 
Black Cohosh. 










996 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


Blue Cohosh (^Caulophyllum Thalictroides^ Fig. 202). —A peren¬ 
nial plant, growing in low, moist grounds in most parts of the United 
States. The root is the part used. It is antispasmodic, dimetic, 
diaphoretic, alterative, emmenagogue, anthelmintic, parturient, and 
tonic. It is used in rheumatism, dropsy, epilepsy, hysterics, cramps, 
amenhorrhoea, dysmenorrhoea, chorea, leucorrhoea, hiccough, to hasten 
delivery, and to relieve after-pains. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, fifteen to thirty drops; solid 
extract, dose, one to three grains; tincture, dose, half a dram to a 
dram; infusion, dose, two to three ounces; caulophyllin, the active 
principle of the root, dose, one-quarter of a grain to a grain. 

In cases of protracted labor, occasioned by fatigue or debility, the 
infusion is said to be fully equal to ergot in hastening delivery. A 
,wash made by combining one ounce of fluid extract with one ounce 
of the fluid extract of golden seal, and eight ounces of water, is very 
excellent for apthous sore mouth. 



Fig. 202. Blue Cohosh. Fig. 203. Blue Flag. 


Blue Flag {Iris Versicolor Fig. 203)-A perennial plant, grow¬ 

ing in damp places, in most parts of the United States. The root is 
the part used for medicinal purposes. It is cathartic, alterative, sia- 
lagogue, and diuretic. It acts particularly on the glandular system; 
in large doses, it evacuates and exhausts the system, acting on the 
liver, and fulfilling the purposes of mercury. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, twenty to forty drops; solid 
extract, one to three grains; tincture, one to two drams. Iridin, the 
active and resinous principle, dose, half a grain to three grains. 
Equal parts of blue flag, mandrake, and prickly-ash bark, mixed, and 
given in five- to ten-grain doses, every two or three hours, will act as 
a powerful alterative, and cause free salivation, without making the 
breath offensive or injuring the gums. Three grains of iridin, five 
grains of leptandrin, and twenty grains of bitartrate of potassa, form 
an excellent cathartic in dropsy, producing free watery stools. 








MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


997 


Blue Pill {T£ydrargyri Pilulce), — This mercurial preparation, gen¬ 
erally known by the common name of blue mass^ or blue pill^ is made 
by rubbing mercury, confection of roses, and pulverized liquorice-root 
together until all the mercurial globules disappear. The mass is di¬ 
vided into pills when wanted. It is the mildest of all the mercurial 
preparations, and the least liable to produce salivation or irritation 
of the system. But even this should be used sparingly, and with 
caution, and I do not recommend its use. 

The blue mass is alterative and cathartic, and is considerably 
given to stimulate the action of the liver, and to produce an altera¬ 
tive effect upon the digestive organs. The leptandra and the podo¬ 
phyllum have become its rivals, and will, I sincerely hope, finally take 
its place. 

Boneset (^Eupatorium Perfoliatum^ Fig. 204). — An indigenous 
plant growing in most parts of the United States. The tops and 
leaves are medicinal. It is tonic, diaphoretic, expectorant, and, in 
large doses, or when taken as a warm infusion, emetic and aperient. 

Preparations, — Fluid extract, dose, one to two drams ; solid ex¬ 
tract, dose, five to fifteen grains; tincture, dose, one to one and one- 
half ounces ; infusion, dose, one to two ounces. Eupatorin, dose, one 
to three grains. 

Two scruples of eupatorin, one scruple of xanthoxylin, and one 
grain of strychnia, mixed, and made into twenty powders, is excellent 
for torpor of the liver or kidneys, and for rheumatism; one powder 
being taken three or four times a day. 



Fig. 204. Bonkset. Fig. 206. Buchu. 


Buchu {Barosma (Jrenata,, Fig. 205). — It grows at the Cape of 
Good Hope. The leaves are the medicinal portion; they are stim¬ 
ulant, diuretic, antispasmodic and tonic. Buchu is chiefly given in 
complaints of the urinary organs, attended with increased uric-acid 
gravel, chronic inflammation or morbid irritation of the bladder, 
urethra, and prostate, and retention or incontinence of urine. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, half a dram to two drams; 
tincture, dose, two to five drams; infusion, one to five ounces. A 
combination of fluid extract of buchu half an ounce, acetate of 







998 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


potash two drams, and water eight ounces, taken in doses of foui 
ounces three or four times a day, is a valuable diuretic. 

This combination, however, may be improved by the addition of a 
little sweet spirits of nitre. 

Buckhorn Brake (^Osmunda Regalia), — This is a fern growing in 
moist grounds in most parts of the United States. The root, which 
is the medicinal part, should be gathered in the latter part of May, 
and in August, and very carefully dried, to prevent moulding. It 
is mucilaginous and tonic, and is used in coughs, diarrhoea and 
dysentery, and as a tonic while getting up from exhausting disease. 
One root infused in a pint of hot water for half an hour will convert 
it into a thick jelly. This mucilage may be sweetened with sugar, 
and freely taken. 

Buckthorn {Rhamnua Catharticua), — This plant grows in Europe, 
where it is much esteemed by practitioners. The berries and juice 
are actively medicinal. It is a powerful cathartic, producing large 
watery discharges. It is seldom used alone on account of the severity 
of its action. 

Preparationa. — Fluid extract, dose, one dram; syrup of buck¬ 
thorn, made by uniting four ounces of fluid extract with twelve 
ounces of simple syrup, dose, two drams.' 

Bugleweed (Xycojjws Virginicua), — This grows in shady and 
wet places throughout a greater part of the United States. The 
whole herb is used. It is a mild narcotic, sedative, sub-astringent, 
and styptic. It is a valuable remedy in bleeding from the lungs, 
incipient consumption and pneumonia. It quiets irritation and 
allays cough and nervous excitement. 

Preparationa. — Fluid extract, dose, one to two drams; infusion, 
dose, two to four ounces. 

Burdock (Lappa Minor). — A native of Europe, and growing in 
the United States. The root is used, which is useful in scurvy, 
syphilis, scrofula, gout, leprosy, and disease of the kidneys. It needs 
to be used for a long time. It is said to be useful for persons 
afflicted with boils, stye, etc. An ointment prepared from it is 
serviceable in some diseases of the skin, and obstinate ulcers. 

Preparationa. — Fluid extract, dose, one dram; solid extract, dose, 
five to fifteen grains; tincture, dose, half an ounce to an ounce. 

Burgundy Pitch. — This is the concrete juice of the Norway pine, 
Ahiea excelsa, growing in Europe and Northern Asia, and of the silver 
fir-tree of Europe, Ahiea picea. It gently excites the skin, and is 
used chiefly in the form of plasters, either alone or mixed with other 
gums and resins. 

Butternut (Juglana Cinered). — This is a forest tree, growing in 
various parts of this continent, known also by the names of oilnut 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


999 


and white walnut. The inner bark of the root is used, and is a mild 
cathartic, being useful in cases of constipation. It is much employed 
by families as a domestic remedy, in intermittent and remittent 
fevers. It evacuates the bowels without debilitating them. 

Preparations .—Fluid extract, dose, one to two drams; solid ex¬ 
tract, dose, five to fifteen grains; juglandin, the active principle, dose, 
one to three grains. A very good pill is made by mixing one and a 
quarter drams of the solid extract of butternut, three-quarters of a 
dram of the solid extract of jalap, and ten grains of soap, and divid¬ 
ing the whole into sixteen pills. Two or three may be taken for 
a dose. 

Calcined Deer’s Horn ((Tbmw Cervince Ustum). — The horns of 
the deer are said to be in velvet between August and December, and 
during this period those which fall are collected, coarsely rasped, and 
placed in an iron vessel, which is tightly covered and placed in an 
oven, or elsewhere, and subjected to a heat of 200° F., which is con¬ 
tinued until the rasped horn becomes of the color of roasted coffee. 
When cooled, it is reduced to powder by trituration, and preserved 
in closely stopped vials. It is a powerful styptic, taken in teaspoonful 
doses every half-hour; or, a teaspoonful added to a gill of hot water, 
and a tablespoonful of this taken every five or ten minutes. It has 
much efficacy in floodings from the womb, and in excessive menstru¬ 
ation. 

Calomel {Hydrargyri Chloridum Mite ).— This is prepared from 
mercury, sulphuric acid and common salt. It is alterative, antisyphi¬ 
litic, and anthelmintic, and, in large doses, purgative. It is much 
used in venereal diseases and chronic affections of the liver, combined 
with opium; in dropsies, combined with squill, foxglove and elate- 
rium; and in rheumatism and leprosy, combined with antimonials, 
guaiacum, and other sudorifics. In the beginning of fevers and other 
complaints, it is often combined with purgatives, as gamboge, scam- 
mony, jalap and rhubarb. Given in small doses, not large enough to 
purge, it gradually excites salivation. Dose, from one to three 
grains. 

The tendency of this article to produce salivation, to injure the 
gums, loosen the teeth, etc., has given rise to much prejudice against 
it in the public mind; and, indeed, it must be confessed that it has 
been used by many, from time immemorial, with great indiscretion. 
In the hands of sensible and prudent men, it is very serviceable in 
some cases; but the podophyllum and leptandra have so fine an 
action upon the liver, that they are fast taking the place of calomel 
and other mercurials, and possibly may in time wholly supersede 
them. I have not prescribed it in this book, and do not recommend 
its use. 


1000 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


Camphor (Fig. 206). — This is obtained from an evergreen tree, 
growing in the East Indies, — Laurus cam- 
phora. It is a white, shiny, crystalline sub¬ 
stance, extracted from the wood and roots of 
the above-named tree by boiling them, and is 
subsequently purified by sublimation. It has 
a penetrating, peculiar diffusible odor, and a 
pungent, cooling taste. It is moderately stim¬ 
ulant, diaphoretic, and antaphrodisiac. Dose, 
from one to ten grains. 

Canada Balsam. — This is the fluid ob¬ 
tained from the fir-balsam, Abies halsamea^ of 
Canada, Maine, etc. It is a stimulating diu¬ 
retic, and, in large doses, cathartic. A dose is 
from ten to fifteen drops, two or three times 
a day, in pills, or in emulsion. It forms a part of several ointments 
and plasters. It is used to mount objects in microscopic investi¬ 
gations. 

Canada Fleabane {Erigeron Canadense'), — An annual plant, grow¬ 
ing in the Northern and Middle States. It is diuretic, tonic, and 
astringent, and has been found useful in dropsical complaints and 
diarrhoea. The dose of the powder is from thirty grains to a dram; 
of the infusion, from two to four fluid ounces ; of the solid extract, 
from five to eight grains; to be repeated, in each case, every two or 
three hours. 

Canella {Canella Alba), — This is the bark of a South American 
tree, and is an aromatic stimulant and a gentle tonic, and useful in 
debility of the stomach. 

Caraway ( Carum Carui ),— This biennial plant grows in Europe. 
The seeds are the part used, and are aromatic and carminative ; they 
are used in wind colic, and to improve the flavor of other medicine. 
The dose is from ten to sixty grains. The dose of the oil of caraway, 
extracted from the seeds, is from one to five drops. 

Cardamom (^Alpinia Cardamomum). — This plant grows on the 
mountains of Malabar. The seeds, which are the medicinal parts, 
are aromatic and carminative, and are used to expel wind, and to 
flavor medicines. Dose, from ten grains to two drams. The volatile 
oil obtained from them has similar properties. 

Cascarilla. — This medicine is the bark of the West India shrub, 
Croton eleuteria. It has an aromatic odor, and a warm, spicy taste. 
It is a pleasant aromatic and tonic, and is used in dyspepsia, chronic 
diarrhoea and dysentery, wind colic, and other debilities of the stom¬ 
ach and bowels. It counteracts the tendency of cinchona to produce 
nausea. 

Preparations, — Fluid extract, dose, twenty to twenty-five drops s 





MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1001 


tincture, dose, one dram; infusion, dose, one to two drams. An alka¬ 
line infusion, composed of fluid extract, three ounces; carbonate of 
potassa, two drams; and water, ten ounces, is excellent in weak 
stomach, with acidity. Dose, one dram. 

Castor (^Castoreum), — A peculiar substance obtained from the 
beaver. It is antispasmodic and emmenagogue. It is used in 
typhus, hysterics, epilepsy, retention of the menses, and in many 
other nervous diseases. Dose, from ten to fifteen grains. A medi¬ 
cine of no great value. 

Castor Oil ( Oleum Ricini). — This is obtained by expression from 
the seeds of the castor-oil bush, Ridnus communis. When exposed 
to the air, it becomes rancid and spoils. 

As a mild cathartic this oil is extensively used, but may be ren¬ 
dered less offensive by being mixed with a few drops of oil of winter- 
green, peppermint or cinnamon; and its bad taste may be nearly 
destroyed by rubbing it up to a thick batter with carbonate of mag¬ 
nesia. Or, if boiled a few minutes with a little’ sweet milk, sweet¬ 
ened with loaf sugar, and flavored with essence of cinnamon or 
peppermint, it may be easily taken. Dose, for an adult, one to two 
tablespoonfuls; for a child, one, two or three teaspoonfuls, according 
to its age. 

Catechu. — This is a solid extract, made from the wood of the 
Acacia catechu., a tree growing in Asia. It is in dark, brown, and 
brittle pieces, and is soluble in alcohol. It is a powerful astringent, 
and is used in chronic diarrhoea and chronic dysentery. It makes a 
useful gargle in some forms of sore mouth, in elongated uvula, 
spongy gums and sore nipples. The dose of the powder is from ten 
to twenty grains, and of the tincture, from one to two teaspoonfuls. 

Catnip (Rfepeta Cataria'). — A native of Europe, and widely nat¬ 
uralized in this country. The tops and leaves are the medicinal 
part, and are carminative and diaphoretic when drunk as a warm 
infusion. It is useful in fevers, in wind colic, nervous headache, 
hysterics, and nervous irritability. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose two to three drams; infusion, 
dose two to three ounces. Fluid extract of catnip, two ounces; and 
the fluid extract of saffron, one ounce and a half, united, make a 
popular remedy for colds, and the rashes of children. In nervous 
complaints, a combination of fluid extract of catnip, six drams; fluid 
extract of valerian, four drams ; and fluid extract of scullcap, four 
drams, is a valuable remedy. Dose, one to two drams. 

Cayenne Pepper (^Capsicum Annuum., Fig. 207).—This plant 
grows in hot climates, and is known by the common name of red 
pepper. The berry, which ig the part used, has an intensely hot and 
pungent taste. It is a powerful, diffusible stimulant, and is about the 


1002 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


only stimulus which the stomach will bear in certain forms of dys¬ 
pepsia. It is useful in all cases of diminished vital action, and is fre¬ 
quently united with other medicines, either to promote their action, 
or to lessen the severity of their operation. It 
is much used in colds, hoarseness, etc., as it 
promotes a free discharge of mucus and 
phlegm. Taken in small doses, it has a fine 
effect upon the mucous membrane of the 
stomach and bowels, lessening very much the 
severity of piles, and sometimes curing them. 
It may be sprinkled daily upon the food, or 
taken in the form of cayenne lozenges; it is 
frequently useful as a gargle in sore throats, 
scarlet fever, etc. Dose of the powder from 
one to eight grains. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, five to 
ten drops; tincture, dose, half a dram to a 
dram, used in low forms of fever, and gastric 
insensibility; infusion, dose, one to two drams. A valuable gargle 
in scarlet fever may be made by combining fluid extract of cayenne 
one ounce; common salt, one dram; boiling vinegar, one pint; boil¬ 
ing water, one pint. 

Celandine {Chelidonium Majus). — This plant is indigenous to 
Europe, and is extensively naturalized in the United States. It is a 
drastic purge, producing watery stools, and is equal to gamboge; it is 
useful in affections of the liver, and particularly in those of the 
spleen. In the form of a poultice it is effective in scrofula, indolent 
ulcers, skin diseases, and piles. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, ten to fifteen drops ; solid ex¬ 
tract, dose, five to eight grains ; tincture, dose, half a dram to a dram ; 
infusion, dose, two and a half to four drams. A very good hydra- 
gogue cathartic is made by compounding two and a half drams of 
fluid extract of celandine with half a dram of fluid extract of hen¬ 
bane, one ounce of sulphate of potassa, one grain of tartar emetic, 
six ounces of elder-water, and ounce of syrup of squill. 

Chalk.— On account of its gritty particles, it is unfit for medicinal 
use until it has been levigated, after which it is prepared chalk. 

This is the only form in which it is used in medicine. It is an ex¬ 
cellent antacid, and is admirably adapted to diarrhoea accompanied 
with acidity. The most convenient form of administering chalk is 
that of the chalk mixture, which consists of prepared chalk, half an 
ounce ; sugar and powdered gum-arabic, two drams each; cinnamon- 
water and water, four fluid ounces each, and rubbed together in a 
mortar till they are thoroughly mixed. Dose, a tablespoonful fre- 
quently 







MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1003 


Cassia-Buds. — This spice is a product of China. It consists of 
the calyx surrounding the young germ of one or more species of cin¬ 
namon. Cassia buds have some resemblance to cloves, and are com¬ 
pared to small nails with round heads. They may be used for the 
same purposes as the cinnamon-bark. 

Chamomile {Anthemis Nohilis^ Fig. 208). — This perennial plant 
grows in Europe, and its flowers, the whitest of which are best, are 
considerably used in medicine. They are 
gently tonic, and are generally used in cold 
infusion, in cases of weak stomach, dyspep¬ 
sia, etc. In large doses, the warm infusion 
will act as an emetic. 

Preparations. — Fluid, extract, dose, half 
a dram to a dram; solid extract, dose, four 
to fifteen grains; infusion, dose, half an 
ounoe to an ounce. For dyspepsia, wind in 
the stomach, etc., thirty pills may be made 
by combining one dram of solid extract of 
chamomile with five grains of the solid ex¬ 
tract of rhubarb and ten grains of assafoe- 
tida, and taken, one pill at a time, two or 
three times a day, with advantage. 

Charcoal (^Carho Ligni ).— Prepared charcoal is antiseptic and ab¬ 
sorbent, and is employed with great advantage in certain forms of 
dyspepsia, attended with bad breath and putrid eructations; it has a 
good effect in correcting the fetor of the stools in dysentery: it is 
considerably used, and with much advantage, as an ingredient in 
poultices. Dose, when taken internally, from one to three teaspoon¬ 
fuls. 

Chloroform ( Chloroformum ).— This is an anaesthetic, used to pro¬ 
duce insensibility during surgical operations. A teaspoonful or more 
is poured upon a handkerchief, which is held to the patient’s nose, 
but not so closely as to prevent the admission of air. The numerous 
sudden deaths which have occurred from its use prove it to be an 
unsafe agent, and it is now seldom employed by careful surgeons. 
Taken internally it is sedative and narcotic; applied externally, com¬ 
bined with other articles, it is useful in painful affections, as nervous 
headache, rheumatism, neuralgia, etc. The dose when taken inter¬ 
nally is from ten to twenty drops, in flax-seed tea. 

Cinnamon. — This is the bark of trees growing in Ceylon, Mala¬ 
bar, and Sumatra. It is a very grateful aromatic, being warm and 
cordial to the stomach; it is also cai-minative and astringent. 

It is not often prescribed alone, but is chiefly used as an aid to less 
pleasant medicines, and enters into a great number of preparations. 
It is peculiarly adapted to diarrhoea; and in treating this complaint 





1004 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


it is often joined with chalk and astringents. Dose of the bark, from 
ten to fifteen grains. The oil has properties similar to those of the 
bark. 

Cleavers ( Gralium Aparine), — An annual plant, common to this 
country and Europe, having an acid, astringent taste. The whole 
herb is used in infusion, as a cooling diuretic, in scalding of the urine, 
inflammation of the kidneys and bladder, in gravel, suppression of 
the urine, etc. 

It is also used in fevers and all acute diseases. The infusion is 
made by adding two ounces of the herb to a pint and a half of warm 
water. It should stand three or four hours, and be drunk freely when 
cold. Equal parts of elder-blows, cleaveis, and maiden-hair, infused 
in warm water, make a refreshing drink in scarlet fever and other 
eruptive diseases. 

Cloves (^Caryophyllus Aromaticus), — The flowers of this tree, a 
native of tropical climates, collected before they are fully developed, 
form cloves. They are highly stimulant and aromatic, and are used 
to give tone to the digestive organs, particularly when flatulency 
exists, and to relieve nausea and vomiting. They are more generally 
employed to improve the taste and modify the action of other medi¬ 
cines. The dose in powder is from five to eight grains. The oil of 
cloves has similar properties ; dose, one to three drops. A little cot¬ 
ton moistened with the oil, and pressed into a decayed tooth, will 
frequently relieve the toothache. 

Cochineal (^Coccus Cacti), — An insect found in Mexico, inhabit¬ 
ing different species of cactus. They are gathered for use by detach¬ 
ing them from the plant with a blunt knife, and dipping them, en¬ 
closed in a bag, into boiling water. Cochineal is anodyne, and has 
been used with advantage in whooping-cough and neuralgia. It is 
much used for coloring tinctures and ointments, and the color called 
carmine is prepared from it. A tincture is prepared by macerating 
two ounces of cochineal in one pint of alcohol for seven days, and 
filtering through paper. Dose, from twenty to twenty-five drops, 
twice a day. 

Cod-Liver Oil {Oleum Morrhuce). — This is obtained from the 
livers of codfish, and is nutritive and alterative. It is a popular rem¬ 
edy in consumption and scrofula, and in those complaints generally 
in which there is impaired digestion, assimilation, and nutrition. 
Dose, a tablespoonful three times a day. 

Inability to digest this oil, to eat fat meats, or to take fats in any 
form, is an unfavorable indication in consumption. 

Collodion. — This is gun-cotton dissolved in ether. It is applied 
with a camel’s-hair brush, to cuts, burns, wounds, leech-bites, etc., 
over which it forms a thin pellicle or skin, protecting the injured part 
from the atmosphere. It should be kept in well stopped bottles, to 
prevent its evaporating and becoming unfit for use. 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1005 


Colocynth (^Cueumis Colocynthis^, — A native of northern Africa. 
The part used in medicine is the fruit deprived of its rind. It is a 
powerful drastic, hydragogue cathartic; causing, by its harsh action, 
griping, vomiting,and sometimes bloody discharges; from the severity 
of its operations, it is rarely used alone. Useful in dropsy, derange¬ 
ments of the brain, and for overcoming torpid conditions of the di¬ 
gestive and biliary organs. 

Preparations. — Solid extract, dose, two to twenty grains; com¬ 
pound extract, dose, two to twenty grains. 

Colombo {Cocculus Palmatus). — A perennial climbing plant, 
growing in East Africa, and cultivated in the Isle of France. It is a 
pure, bitter tonic, and is used in dyspepsia, bilious vomitings which 
attend pregnancy, and during recovery from exhausting diseases. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, twenty to thirty drops; solid 
extract, dose, four to eight grains; tincture, dose, one to three drams; 
infusion, dose, three drams to an ounce. A compound infusion made 
by uniting one dram of fluid extract, four drams of orange-peel, and 
one ounce of water, is useful in a weakened state of the bowels, 
showing itself in a diarrhoea. Dose, two drams every hour. Fluid 
extract of Colombo, one ounce; fluid extract of ginger, two drams, 
and water, one pint, also make a useful compound for the same pur¬ 
pose. Fluid extract of Colombo, one dram; fluid extract of rhubarb, 
one dram; fluid extract of ginger, half a dram; water, one pint, — 
this is useful for a like purpose. The following is also a very good 
preparation for a similar use ; fluid extract of Colombo, half an ounce; 
fluid extract of cascarilla, two drams; tincture of orange-peel, two 
drams; syrup of cinnamon, one ounce; water, six ounces. Dose, one 
dram every hour. 

Coltsfoot {Tussilago Farfara). —A native of Europe,and natural¬ 
ized in this country, especially in the Northern States. It grows in 
wet places and low meadows. The leaves are principally used. 
They are emollient, demulcent, and slightly tonic; used in coughs, 
asthma, and whooping-cough; and externally in the form of poultice 
for scrofulous tumors. 

Comfrey {Symphytum Officinale). —A perennial European plant, 
cultivated in this country. The root is the part used. It is demul¬ 
cent, and slightly astringent, and is serviceable in diseases of the 
mucous tissues, and in scrofulous habits; also in diarrhoea, dysen¬ 
tery, coughs, bleeding from the lungs, whites, etc. It may be taken 
as an infusion, or as a syrup, one ounce to a pint of water; the dose 
being one to three fluid ounces, three to four times a day. The fresh 
root bruised forms a valuable application to ulcers, bruises, fresh 
wounds, sore breasts, and white swellings. 

Common SiIk=Weed {Asclepias Syriaca?). — This is a perennial 
plant, common throughout the United States. It gives out a milky 


1006 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


juice upon being wounded, and hence is often called milk-weed. 
The root is diuretic, alterative, emmenagogue, and anodyne; and is 
sometimes used in dropsy, retention of urine, suppressed menstrua¬ 
tion, scrofula, and rheumatism. Dose of the powder, from eight to 
twenty grains; of the decoction, from one to two fluid ounces. 

Copper (^Cuprum ).— The following are the principal salts of cop¬ 
per used in medicine : — 

Subacetate of Copper (^Cupri Suhacetas). — This is known by the 
name of verdigris, and is used as a detergent and escharotic; it is 
applied to warts and fungous growths, and to foul ulcers and ring¬ 
worm. When reduced to a fine powder, by trituration in a porcelain 
mortar, the finer parts of this are separated, and called prepared sub¬ 
acetate of copper; this is the preparation used for the purposes above 
named. 

Sulphate of Copper (^Cupri Sulphas ).—In small doses, the sul¬ 
phate of copper is astringent and tonic; in large ones a prompt 
emetic. It is given in small doses in hysterics, epilepsy, and inter¬ 
mittent fevers; and in large doses, to produce speedy vomiting in 
croup, and to eject poisons from the stomach. A weak solution is 
sometimes used for syphilitic ulcers, and as an injection in gleet. 
Dose, as a tonic, one-quarter of a grain to one grain in pill; as a 
rapid vomit, from two to five grains, in two ounces of water. The 
medicines which are incompatible with copper, are alkalies, earths 
and their carbonates, borax, salts of lead, acetate of iron, and astrin¬ 
gent vegetable infusions, decoctions, and tinctures. 

Corrosive Sublimate. — This, in chemical language, is the bichlo¬ 
ride of mercury. It is one of the milder mercurial preparations, 
although when taken in large doses, it is a violent poison, and oper¬ 
ates very quickly. It is less apt to salivate than any other mercurial, 
except blue pill. It is much used as a remedy in syphilis, particu¬ 
larly in the secondary stage, in which, in many cases, it does much 
good. It is also popular in many skin diseases, as leprosy. When 
employed for this purpose, it is generally associated with alterative 
and diaphoretic medicines, such as the compound decoction or syrup 
of sarsaparilla, preparations of yellow dock, etc. In order to avoid 
its irritating effects, it is often united with opium, or extract of con- 
ium. Dissolved in wafer, it is valuable as a wash in some skin dis¬ 
eases. It is an ingredient in many of the quack nostrums which are 
extensively advertised. It is the most powerful antiseptic known. 

Cotton QG-ossypium Herhaceum). — Cotton is chiefly employed in 
cases of recent burns and scalds, — an application of it which sur¬ 
geons have learned from popular use. It diminishes the inflamma¬ 
tion, prevents blistering, and hastens the cure. It is applied in thin 
and successive layers. The absorbent should be used. The inner 
bark of the root is said to be emmenagogue, parturient, and ^ibortive. 
It is excellent in chlorosis. 

Preparation. — Fluid extract, dose, three drams. 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1007 


Cranesbill (^Geranium Maculatum, Ylg. 209). — An indigenous 
plant, growing in all parts of the United States, in the open woods. 
The root is the medicinal part. It is a powerful astringent, similar 
to kino and catechu, and a valuable substi¬ 
tute for those articles, because less expensive. 

It forms an excellent gargle in sore throats 
and ulcerations of the mouth, and is valuable 
for treating those discharges arising from de¬ 
bility, after the exciting causes are removed. 

It has no unpleasant taste, and is therefore 
well adapted to infants and persons of deli¬ 
cate stomachs. As an injection, it is used in 
gleet and whites. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, half a 
dram to a dram; solid extract, dose, three to 
ten grains ; geraniin, the active principle, 
dose, one to three grains ; tincture, dose, two 
and a half to three drams; infusion, dose, one 
to two ounces. A valuable astringent wash 
for sore mouth, etc., and as an injection in leucorrhoea, etc., is made 
by uniting*fluid extract of cranesbill, half an ounce; fluid extract of 
black cohosh, half an ounce; fluid extract of golden seal, half an 
ounce; fluid extract of witch-hazel, half an ounce; and water, one 
quart. Geraniin, dioscorein, and caulophyllin, united in equal parts, 
and given to an adult in six-grain doses, every fifteen or twenty min¬ 
utes, have an excellent effect in diarrhoea and cholera-morbus, when 
there is much pain and rumbling of the bowels. 

Crawley (^Corallorhiza Odontorhiza'), — A perennial plant,growing 
on barren hills and hard clay soils in Jlew York. The root is the 
part used. It is sedative and diaphoretic, and is used in inflamma¬ 
tory diseases, and in typhoid fever; also in flatulency, cramps, hectic 
fever and night-sweats. When the liver requires to be acted upon, 
it should be combined with mandrake or Culver’s root. The pow¬ 
dered root should be kept in well-stopped vials; its dose is from 
twenty to twenty-five grains, in warm water, every hour or two. 

Creosote QCreosotum). — This is obtained by the distillation of 
tar. It is irritant, narcotic, styptic, antiseptic, and moderately escha- 
rotic. It has been given in diabetes, epilepsy, hysterics, neuralgia, 
bleeding from the lungs, and chronic bronchitis. It is an excellent 
remedy for arresting nausea and vomiting, when not dependent on 
inflammation. The dose, when given internally, is one or two drops. 
It is most easily taken in the form of pill. In some forms of bron¬ 
chitis, the vapor of creosote is inhaled with advantage. It may some¬ 
times be applied with excellent effect, to indolent or ill-conditioned 
ulcers, in which case, two, four, or six drops may be dissolved in an 
ounce of distilled water. In some cases the solution is mixed with 






1008 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


poultices. One or two drops of pure creosote, introduced into a hol¬ 
low tooth on a little cotton, is generally a speedy remedy for tooth¬ 
ache, but great care must be taken that it does not come in contact 
with the tongue or cheek. 

Croton Oil {Oleum Tlglii)* — This is obtained from the seeds of 
the Croton Tiglium^ a plant growing in the East Indies. It is a 
powerful cathartic, producing watery stools, and is used in torpidity 
of the bowels, dropsy, apoplexy, mania, inflammation of the brain, 
hydrocephalus, coma, and wherever a powerful revulsive action is 
needed to call the blood away from the brain. A drop placed on the 
tongue of a person in the comatose state, will generally operate. Two 
to six drops, rubbed upon the skin, produce an eruption of pimples 
in twelve hours. In this way, it is used in diseases of the throat and 
chest, and some other affections. If the skin is very sensitive, let it 
be combined with an equal quantity of sweet oil. Use only under 
the direction of a physician. 

Cubebs {Cuhehce'). —A climbing perennial plant, growing in the 
East Indies. The berries are the medicinal part. They are stimu¬ 
lant, purgative, and diuretic, acting particularly upon the urinary 
organs and arresting discharges from the water-pipe, and much used 
in the treatment of gonorrhoea and gleet. It should not be used dur¬ 
ing active inflammation. Dose of powdered cubebs, from thirty to 
forty grains. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, half a dram to a dram and a 
half; ethereal fluid extract, dose, one to two drams; solid extract, 
dose, two to twenty grains; tincture, dose, one to two drams. A 
compound, made of fluid extract of Cubebs, five drams; fluid extract 
of ergot, one and a half drams; cinnamon water, half a dram ; and 
powdered loaf-sugar one Aram, may be taken with advantage in 
gonorrhoea, gleet, and leucorrhoea; dose, one dram. 

Culver’s Root (LeptandraVirginica.') —A perennial plant growing 
throughout the United States in limestone districts, and flowering in 
July and August. The root is the medicinal part. It is frequently 
called hlack root. When dried, it is tonic, cholagogue, and laxative, 
and is a very valuable remedy in affections of the liver, as it acts 
upon this organ with energy, without purgation. It is also useful 
in typhoid fevers, and in dyspepsia, diarrhoea, and dysentery. A 
powder is made from it, containing its active principle, and called 
leptandrin, which has a fine effect in diarrhoea, cholera infantum, ty¬ 
phoid fever, some forms of dyspepsia, and in all diseases connected 
with derangements of the liver. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, one-third of a dram to a dram; 
leptandrin, the active principle, dose, in acute cases, one-fourth of a 
grain to one grain ; in chronic cases, one to two grains ; tincture, two 
ounces to a pint of alcoh'^l. dose, one dram to one-half ounce. 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 1009 

Dandelion {Taraxacum^ Bens Leonis.') — This perennial herb is 
diuretic, aperient, and tonic, It is generally thought to act especially 
upon the liver. Used in dyspepsia, diseases of the liver and spleen, 
and in debilitated and irritable conditions of the stomach and bowels. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, one to two drams; compound 
fluid extract, dose, one to two drams; fluid extract of dandelion and 
senna, dose, one to two drams ; solid extract, dose, ten to fifteen 
grains; infusion, tv/o ounces to one pint of water, dose, four to five 
ounces. In dropsical affections, the following compound infusion 
will be found useful: fluid extract of dandelion, six drams; fluid 
extract of rhubarb, one and a half drams; fluid extract of henbane, 
twenty-four drops ; bicarbonate of soda, half a dram; tartrate of 
potassa, three drams; water, three and a half ounces ; take one-third, 
three times a day. For jaundice and diseases of the liver and kid¬ 
neys, the following pills have much efficacy: Solid extract of dande¬ 
lion, one dram; solid extract of bloodroot, one dram; leptandrin, one 
scruple ; podophyllin, five grains ; oil of peppermint, five minims ; to 
be divided into fifty pills, and one or two taken three times a day. 

Deadly Nightshade. Belladonna., Fig. 210). — A per¬ 
ennial plant, growing in Europe and this country, and having a faint 
odor, and a sweet, nauseous taste. It is narcotic, diaphoretic, and 
diuretic ; is a valuable remedy in convulsions, neuralgia, whooping- 
cough, rheumatism, gout, paralysis, and many diseases having their 
seat in the nervous system. It has been much praised as a preventive 
of scarlet fever, though its powers for this purpose are doubtful. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, five to eight drops; solid 
extract, dose, one quarter to one grain ; tincture, two ounces to a pint 
of diluted alcohol; dose, from thirteen to thirty drops. The solid 
extract is used, mixed with lard or with other substances, as a local 
application for relieving pain, dilating the pupil of the eye, for re¬ 
moving stricture of the urethra, the anus, rigidity of the mouth of 
the womb, etc. 



Fig. 210. Deadly Nightshade. Fig. 211. Dogwood. 

Dogwood (^Cornus Florida., Fig. 211). — This is a small tree 
growing most abundantly in the Middle States. The bark is used 
as a medicine. It is tonic, astringent, antiperiodic and stimulant. 










1010 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


It increases the frequency of the pulse and elevates the temperature 
of the body. It has been substituted for Peruvian bark in inter¬ 
mittent fevers. Dose of the powdered bark, from ten to sixty grains. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, half a dram to two drams; 
solid extract, dose, five to eight grains; tincture, four ounces to a 
pint of alcohol, dose, one to three drams; infusion, two ounces to a 
pint of water, dose, half an ounce to two ounces; cornin, the active 
principle, dose, one to eight grains. 

Dwarf Elder {Aralia Hispida'). — A perennial under-shrub, grow¬ 
ing from New England to Virginia. The bark of the root is diuretic 
and alterative. An infusion made from it is used in gravel, suppres¬ 
sion of the urine, and dropsy; to be taken in wineglassful doses, 
three or four times a day. 

Elder (Samhucus Canadensis'). — The flowers, berries and inner 
bark of the elder are used in medicine. A warm infusion of the 
flowers is diaphoretic, and gently stimulant. A cold infusion is diu¬ 
retic, alterative and cooling; used in erysipelas, liver affections of 
children, rheumatism, scrofula, and some syphilitic diseases. The 
bark, pounded with lard, forms a useful ointment for burns and 
scalds, and some diseases of the skin. 

Elecampane (Inula Helenium). —This perennial plant is a native 
of Europe and Japan, and is cultivated in this country. The root is 
stimulant, tonic, diuretic and expectorant, and is used in chronic 
affections of the lungs and air-passages. It is said a decoction from 
the root forms a good application for the itch and other skin diseases. 
Dose of the powdered root, from a scruple to a dram; of the infusion, 
one fluid ounce 

Electro-Magnetism. —Within a few years, electro-magnetism has 
been employed extensively as a remedial agent, particularly in the 
various forms of nervous disorders. That it is a valuable agent in the 
treatment of disease, few thinking physicians doubt; yet, like most 
other new things in medicine, it has had its enthusiastic admirers, 
who have claimed for it remedial powers beyond what it really has, 
and who have applied it to purposes beyond its sphere of usefulness. 

Feverfew (Pyrethrum Parthenium). — In warm infusion, this herb 
is valuable in recent colds, flatulency, worms, irregular menstruation, 
hysterics, and suppression of the urine. The cold infusion is a 
tonic. A poultice made of the leaves soothes and alleviates pain. 

Fig wort (SeropTiularia Nodosa). — The leaves and root are diu¬ 
retic, alterative, and anodyne, and in some places are used in liver 
complaints, scrofula, dropsy, and diseases of the skin. Applied 
externally in the form of ointment, or fomentation, it is said to be 
useful in piles, painful tumors, bruises, ringworm, and inflammation 
of the breasts. Dose of the infusion, from two to three fluid ounces, 
three times a day. 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1011 


Flaxseed (Linum Usitatissimum), — This is demulcent and nutri¬ 
tive, and is much used in coughs, bronchial diseases, inflammation of 
the urinary organs, bowels and lungs; chiefly taken in the form of 
flaxseed tea. The infusion is sometimes used as an injection in dys¬ 
entery and piles. Linseed oil is prepared from flaxseed. 

Foxglove (^Digitalis Purpurea^ Fig. 212).—A biennial plant, grow¬ 
ing in the temperate parts of Europe. The leaves, 
in proper doses, are sedative and diuretic, reducing 
the pulse, and increasing the flow of urine. In 
large doses, they are a narcotic poison. The medi¬ 
cine has been much used in. inflammatory diseases, 
palpitation of the heart, and in dropsy connected 
with diseased heart or kidneys. When taken for 
some time, it is liable to accumulate in the system, 
and suddenly to manifest poisonous and alarming 
symptoms, as if a large dose had been taken. The 
American hellebore is sometimes used in its place. 

Dose of the powdered leaves of foxglove, from 
one to three grains ; of the tincture, from eight 
to ten drops. 

Frostweed (^Helianthemum Canadense'). — This 
herb, also known by the name of rockrose, is tonic, 
astringent, and alterative, and has been considerably used in scrofula; 
combined with turkey-corn and queen’s-root, it is said to have effected 
cures in secondary syphilis. A decoction forms a useful gargle in 
ulcerations of the mouth and throat in scarlet fever and other dis¬ 
eases, and as a wash in scrofulous inflammation of the eyes. Dose of 
the fluid extract, one to two drams, three or four times a day. 

Gails. — These are the unhealthy excrescences found growing on 
the young boughs of the dyer’s oak, Querciis iiifectoria^ growing in 
Asia. They are powerfully astringent. In the form of infusion, or 
decoction, made in the proportion of half an ounce to a pint of water, 
they are useful as an astringent gargle, wash, or injection ; and finely 
powdered galls, one part to eight parts of lard, make a valuable oint¬ 
ment for bleeding piles. Dose of powdered galls, from ten to fif¬ 
teen grains. 

Gamboge. — The hardened juice of trees growing in Siam and 
Cochin China. This gum-resin is a hydragogue cathartic, acting 
severely and harshly upon the bowels, and hence is not often used 
alone. On account of the severity of its action, it is improper to use 
it during inflammation of the stomach or bowels, piles, pregnancy, 
diseased womb, or excessive menstruation. Combined with cream of 
tartar and jalap, it is a valuable remedy in dropsy. The dose is one 
or two grains. 

Garlic (^Allium Sativum). —The bulb is the part used. It is stim- 




1012 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


nlant, diuretic, expectorant, and rubefacient; useful in coughs^ 
hoarseness, whooping-cough, and in the nervous spasmodic coughs of 
children. Dose, from twenty grains to three drams; dose of the 
juice, mixed with sugar, half a teaspoonful to a teaspoonful. 

The bruised bulbs are sometimes usefully applied as a poultice to 
the chests of young children having inflammation of the lungs, and 
as drafts to the feet in inflammation of the brain, fevers, etc. 

Gentian ( Grentiana Luted), — It grows among the Alps, Apennines, 
and Pyrenees. The root is the part used, and is brought to this 
country from Germany. This medicine has long maintained its rep¬ 
utation, having, it is said, derived its name from Gentius, king of 
Illyria. It is a pure and simple bitter, exciting the appetite and 
invigorating the digestive powers. It may be used in all cases 
dependent on pure debility. It is much employed in dyspepsia, and 
during recovery from exhausting diseases. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, half a dram to a dram ; com¬ 
pound fluid extract, dose, half a dram to a dram; solid extract, dose, 
three to ten grains; tincture, four ounces to one pint of diluted 
alcohol, dose, two to three drams. A valuable prepai-ation is made 
by uniting fluid extract of rhubarb, two ounces; fluid extract of 
gentian, half an ounce; diluted alcohol, two pints; dose, half an 
ounce to an ounce. 

Ginger (^Zingiber Offiemale'). — This is a native of Hindostan, and 
is cultivated in all parts of India. The root is the part used. It is 
a grateful stimulant and carminative, and is much used for dyspep¬ 
sia, wind ill the stomach, colic, gout, etc. It is an excellent addition 
to bitter infusions, and is much used to disguise the taste of nauseous 
medicines. Dose, from ten to twenty grains. 

Preparations. —Fluid extract, dose, half a dram to a dram; tincture, 
four ounces to one pint of diluted alcohol, dose, two to four drams; 
infusion, dose, one to two ounces; syrup, dose, one to two drams. 

Ginseng {Panax Quinquefolium, Fig. 213). — A perennianl plant, 
growing in the Middle and Southern States. It is 
a mild tonic and stimulant, and has some reputa¬ 
tion for improving impaired appetite, and for ner¬ 
vous debility, weak stomach, etc. Some persons 
are in the habit of chewing it, and it is consid¬ 
erably used in this way. Dose of the powdered 
root, from ten to forty grains ; of the infusion, from 
two to three fluid ounces. 

Glycerin. — This is the sweet or sugary portion 
of oils, and is obtained from them during the man¬ 
ufacture of lead plaster. It is demulcent and an¬ 
tiseptic, and has been recently recommended and 
used to some extent in place of cod-liver oil, in 
consumption. It has been still more used, however, as a soothing 






CollsfooL 
































MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1013 


and emollient external application in skin-diseases, and also in place 
of lard in the preparation of ointments. 

Gold. — The chief salt of gold used in medicine is the chloride or 
muriate of gold and soda. It is diuretic and alterative. It is used 
in scrofula, skin diseases, goitre, scirrhous tumors, ophthalmia, dropsy 
and syphilis. Also in the Keeley cure for inebriates. It will, in 
many cases, take away the craving for liquor, but we think there is 
great danger of the patient becoming insane and having a desire to 
commit suicide. The dose is from one-thirtieth to one-twelfth of a 
grain, and is given dissolved in water, or made into pill with starch 
or gum-arabic. 

Golden Seal (^Hydrastis Canadensis^ Fig. 214). —A perennial plant, 
growing throughout the United States, par¬ 
ticularly in the West. The root is the me¬ 
dicinal part. It is a tonic, having especial 
action upon diseased mucous tissues, and is 
particularly beneficial during recovery from 
exhausting diseases. It is used in dyspepsia, 
chronic affections of the nervous coats of the 
stomach, erysipelas, and remittent, intermit¬ 
tent and typhoid fevers. United with gera¬ 
nium, it has a fine effect in chronic diarrhoea 
and dysentery. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, half 
a dram to two drams; solid extract, dose, 
two to three grains; hydras tin (resinoid), 
dose, one-half to three grains; hydrastin 
(neutral), dose, two to five grains; hydras- 
tina (alkaloid), dose, one to three grains ; 
tincture, three ounces to one pint of dilut¬ 
ed alcohol, dose, from half an ounce to an 
ounce. For various forms of sore mouth and ulcerated sore throat, 
the following is a useful gargle: fluid extract of golden seal, half 
an ounce; fluid extract of blue cohosh, half an ounce; fluid ex¬ 
tract of witch-hazel, half an ounce; pulverized alum, one dram; 
honey, three drams; water, one pint. As a stimulant for a sluggish 
liver, and as a tonic in enfeebled mucous membrane in epidemic dys¬ 
entery, and other complaints, the following powders are valuable: 
hydrastin, twenty grains; leptandrin, twelve grains; podophyllin, 
two grains; pulverized cayenne, two grains; sugar of milk, or pul¬ 
verized loaf-sugar, one dram; rub together thoroughly in a mortar, 
and divide into twenty powders; give one every two hours. 

Ground Ivy {Nepeta Gilechoma'). — A perennial herb, common to 
the United States and Europe ; in some places known as gill-over-the 
ground. The leaves are the part used, which are stimulant, tonic, 



Fig. 214. Golden Seal. 




1014 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


and pectoral; considered useful in jaundice, asthma, and diseases of 
the kidneys and lungs. 

Quaiacum. — This medicine is the shavings or chips of the wood 
of a tree growing in the West Indies, also resin obtained from the 
same tree. It is stimulant and alterative, and is used in chronic 
rheumatism, diseases of the skin, scrofula, and venereal complaints. 
The tincture of the resin is valuable as an emmenagogue. Dose of 
the tincture, from one-half to two teaspoonfuls, to be taken with 
milk. The wood is much used as an ingredient in alterative prepar¬ 
ations of sarsaparilla, etc. 

Gum-Arabic. — This is the hardened sap of trees growing in 
Egypt, Arabia, and other tropical countries, being several varieties 
of the acacia. It is demulcent, and a combustive nutritive, and is 
much used in forming mixtures for hoarseness, cough, sore throat, 
gonorrhoeea, inflammation of the bladder, strangury, bronchitis, and 
irritations of mucous membranes generally. Mucilage of gum-arabic 
is a preparation made by dissolving four ounces of powdered gum in 
a pint of boiling water. 

Gum, Hemlock.—This is the hardened juice of the hemlock, 
Canadensis^ a tree growing in Canada and Maine. This gum is a 
mild rubefacient, and like burgundy pitch, chiefly used to make plas¬ 
ters, etc., for which purpose it is very valuable. A tincture of the 
gum is diuretic and stimulant. The oil of hemlock is valuable, in 
combination with other oils, in preparing liniments. The bark is 
astringent, and is much used in tanning leather. 

Hsemastasis. — This word is used to imply the retention of the 
venous blood in the limbs by ligatures. A cord or common handker¬ 
chief is tied round the upper part of the arms, or thighs, and a piece 
of wood being slipped under the cord, is twisted round until the cord 
is so tightened as to prevent the return of the venous blood, but not 
to prevent the outward passage of the arterial blood. In this way, 
the blood passing out continually in the arteries, and not returning 
by the veins, the vessels of the limbs become filled to their utmost 
capacity, and a great quantity, for the time being, is withdrawn from 
the trunk. This process is useful in bleedings from the lungs, stom¬ 
ach and womb, and inflammation of the brain, lungs, bowels, etc., 
and in whatever case it may be thought desirable, for the time being, 
to lessen the blood in the head or trunk, without debilitating the 
patient. 

Hair-cap Moss (^Polytrichum Juniperum). — Aw evergreen plant 
growing on poor, sandy soils in the Northern States. A strong infu¬ 
sion of it is powerfully diuretic. In dropsical cases, two fluid ounces 
of the infusion should be taken every half hour. It is useful in 
fevers, inflammations, gravel, etc. 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1015 


Hardback {Spircea Tomentosa^ Fig. 215). — This is a beautiful 
shrub, common in the United States. Its leaves are of a dark green 
color above, and white underneath. It is tonic and as¬ 
tringent, and is much used in chronic diarrhoea, cholera 
infantum, etc. It agrees well with the stomach, and is 
deservedly a popular remedy in summer complaints of 
children. 

A fluid extract of it is the best preparation; dose, four 
to twenty drops. It is much used in the form of infusion. 

The green herb boiled in milk forms a valuable preparation 
in chronic diarrhoea, when attended with much debility. 

Hardleaf Qolden-Rod (^Solidago Rigida), — A peren¬ 
nial plant, growing throughout the United States, espe¬ 
cially on the western prairies. It is tonic, astringent and 
styptic, and useful to arrest bleeding from the nose, lungs, 
stomach, and bowels. The powder and infusion are used, hardhack. 
both externally and internally. 

Helonias (^Helonias Dioica). — This herb is common in the United 
States, and is known by the name of false unicorn plant. The root, 
which is the part used, is tonic, diuretic, and vermifuge. In large 
doses it is emetic, and when used fresh, sialagogue. In five or seven 
grain doses, three times a day, it relieves dyspepsia, restores the appe¬ 
tite, expels worms, and relieves colic. It is a valuable womb-tonic, 
gradually removing debility of that organ, and curing whites, pain¬ 
ful menstruation, and a tendency to habitual abortion. Dose of the 
decoction, from two to four fluid ounces. The decoction is said to 
kill insects, bugs, etc. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, one to three drams ; helonin, 
the active principle, dose, one-fourth to one-half a grain. 

Henbane (^Hyoscyamus Niger, Fig. 216).— This plant grows abund¬ 
antly in Great Britain, and on the continent 
of Europe, and is rare in this country. All 
the parts are active. It is narcotic, gently ac¬ 
celerating the circulation, increasing the gen¬ 
eral warmth, occasioning a sense of heat in 
the throat, and after a time inducing sleep. 

It is often used in the place of opium, because 
it does not bind the bowels. Used in rheu¬ 
matism, gout, bronchitis, asthma, consump¬ 
tion, whooping-cough, hysterics, and spas¬ 
modic affections generally. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, ten to 
fifteen drops; solid extract, dose, half a grain 
to a grain ; tincture, two ounces to one pint 
of diluted alcohol, dose, half a dram to a dram; hyoscyamin, the ac¬ 
tive principle, dose, one-eighth to half a grain. In neuralgia, rheum- 






1016 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


atism, St. Vitus’s dance, painful menstruation, etc., the following 
may be found useful: solid extract of hyoscyamus, two drams; solid 
extract of valerian, two drams ; solid extract of aconite, one dram; 
sulphate of quinia, one dram. Mix, and divide into two-grain pills ; 
one pill every two or three hours. 

High Cranberry {Viburnum Opulus). — This shrub grows in rich 
soils in Canada, and in the northern United States. The bark, which 
is the medicinal part, is antispasmodic, being used in cramps, spasms, 
asthma, hysterics, and is useful for those who are subject to convul¬ 
sions during pregnancy, and at the time of childbirth. It is popularly 
known by the name of cramp-bark. A decoction or infusion of the 
bark may be used in tablespoonful doses, two or three times a day. 
Dose of the extract, from one to three grains; in Avomb troubles, it 
may be united with caulophyllin, cimicifugin, aletridin, senecin, and 
asclepidin ; and in flatulent colic, spasmodic pains of the stomach 
and bowels, it may be combined with dioscorein. 

Horehound (Marubium Vulgare., Fig. 217). — This Avell known 
perennial herb is a native of Europe, and has be¬ 
come naturalized in this country. It is tonic, ape¬ 
rient, pectoral, and sudoriQc. It is deservedly 
popular in domestic practice, for colds, asthma, 
throat-ails, bronchitis, and other pectoral affections, 
attended with cough. It is much used in candy. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, half a dram 
to one dram; solid extract, dose, five to eight 
grains ; tincture, two ounces to one pint of alcohol, 
dose, half an ounce to an ounce; syrup, three 
ounces fluid extract to one pint of simple S 3 ^rup, 
dose, three to five drams. 

Hops {Humulus Lupulus'). — The cones of this 
well-known plant are tonic, hypnotic, antilithic, 
and anthelmintic. They are chiefly used for pro¬ 
moting sleep, and relieving pain and irritability of 
the nervous system. Hops are valuable in the form of fomentation, 
either alone or in combination Avith boneset and other bitter herbs. 
An ointment of hops and stramonium leaves is sometimes used in 
salt-rheum, and upon painful tumors and ulcers. A pillow stuffed 
with hops, dipped in hot water, and placed under the head of the 
patient, relieves pain and procures sleep. 

Lupulin is the yellow powder obtained by threshing the hops, and 
is preferable to the hop itself. It is a powerful antaphrodisiac, com¬ 
posing the genital organs, and quieting painful erections, in gonor¬ 
rhoea, etc. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, half a dram to a dram; solid 
extract, dose, five to fifteen grains; tincture, two and half ounces to 
one pint of alcohol, dose, three to five drams; infusion, four drams to 





Medicines and their preparations. 


1017 


one pint of water, dose, two to three ounces; lupulin, dose, six to eight 
grains; tincture of lupulin, two ounces to one pint of alcohol, dose, 
one to two drams, in sweetened water; fifteen to twenty grains oi 
lupulin, well rubbed up with white sugar in a mortar, is very effica¬ 
cious in priapism, chordee, and spermatorrhoea. 

Horsemint {Monarda Punctata), — This well-known plant, which 
is common to the United States, is stimulant, carminative, and diu¬ 
retic. A warm infusion may be used in flatulence, nausea, and vom¬ 
iting. If the body be kept cool while taking it, it will act as a diu¬ 
retic. The oil of horsemint is used for similar purposes with the 
plant. Dose, from two to five drops on sugar. Dose of the essence, 
from ten to twenty drops in sweetened water. The oil is frequently 
used as an ingredient in liniments. 

Horseradish (^Coclilearia Armoracia). — The fresh root of this 
well known perennial is stimulant, diuretic, antiscorbutic, and rube¬ 
facient. It is useful in rheumatic, paralytic, scorbutic, dropsical, and 
dyspeptic affections. It is said that a warm infusion of the fresh root 
in cider, drunk freely every night, will cause perspiration and a free 
flow of urine, and will consequently cure dropsy. The fresh root 
grated in vinegar, and eaten with meat at dinner, strengthens the 
stomach and promotes digestion. 

Houseleek (^Sempervivum Tectorum). —The bruised leaves of this 
perennial form a cooling application to burns, stings of insects, ery¬ 
sipelas, and other inflammations ; valuable also for ringworm, shin¬ 
gles, and other skin diseases. 

Hydrangea (^Hydrangea Arhorescens) , — This grows abundantly 
in the Southern, Middle, and Western States. Its root is medicinal. 
It is diuretic, and has been much praised for its power of relieving 
the excruciating pain caused by the passage of stone through the 
urethra, as well as for infallibly removing such stones from the blad¬ 
der, provided they are not already too large for passage through the 
water-pipe. A concentrated decoction or the fluid extract may be 
taken in teaspoonful doses several times a day, — care being taken 
not to push the medicine to the extent of dizziness or oppression of 
the chest. 

Hyssop (^Hyssopus Officinalis.) — This is a native of the continent 
of Europe, and is cultivated in this country. The tops and leaves 
are the parts used. They are stimulant, aromatic, carminative, and 
tonic. The infusion has been much employed in chronic bronchitis 
of old people, and those of debilitated habits. It makes the raising of 
mucus more easy. The infusion may be combined with sage and 
alum, and sweetened with honey. The fresh leaves bruised, and 
applied externally, relieve the pain and disperse the spots and marks 
caused by contusions. 


1018 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


Iceland floss (^Cetraria Islandica). — This plant is found in the 
northern latitudes, both of the old and new world, and is abundant 
on the mountains and in the sandy plains of New England. It re¬ 
ceived its name from its prevalence in Iceland, in which country, as 
well as in Lapland, it serves, in consequence of the gum and starch 
it contains, as food for the inhabitants. It is demulcent, tonic, and 
nutritious, and is well fitted to relieve affections of the mucous mem¬ 
branes of the lungs and bowels, connected with debility of the diges¬ 
tive organs; it is given therefore in chronic bronchitis and other 
affections of the chest, attended with copious expectoration, especially 
when the matter discharged is purulent; also in dyspepsia, chronic 
dysentery, and diarrhoea. It is usually employed in the form of de¬ 
coction ; and is much used in the common article of diet called 
blanc-inange. 

Ice-PIant (Monotropa Uniflora). — This perennial plant, found in 
various parts of the country, is snow-white, resembling frozen jelly, 
and is juicy and tender, dissolving in the hands like ice. The flowers 
are in shape like a pipe; hence it is called the pipe-plant. The root 
is the medicinal part, and is tonic, nervine, and antispasmodic. It 
has also been considered sedative and diaphoretic; and the powder 
has been sometimes used in the place of opium. It is said to be 
valuable in epilepsy, chorea, and other spasmodic affections. Dose of 
the powdered root, from thirty to sixty grains, two to three times a 
day. 

Indian Hemp (^Apocynum Cannahinum). — This perennial plant 
resembles bitter-root, and grows in similar situations. The root is 
powerfully emetic, and in decoction, diuretic and diaphoretic. It 
diminishes the frequency of the pulse, and produces drowsiness. It 
has great efficacy in dropsy. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, as a tonic, five to ten drops ; 
as an emetic, twenty to twenty-five drops; solid extract, dose, one 
to three grains; tincture, dose, one to two drams, as a tonic, half an 
ounce to an ounce, as an emetic ; infusion, half an ounce to a pint of 
water; dose, half an ounce to an ounce. 

Indian Turnip QArum Triphyllum). — This is a perennial plant, 
growing in damp places in North and South America, and known by 
the name of dragon-root. The root when chewed is excessively acrid, 
producing a biting sensation which may be somewhat relieved by 
milk. The fresh root is acrid, expectorant, and diaphoretic, and has 
been used in asthma, whooping-cough, chronic bronchitis, chronic rheu¬ 
matism, and colic, and externally in scrofulous tumors, scald head, 
and other skin disorders. Dose of the grated root, in syrup or muci¬ 
lage, ten grains, three or four times a day. 

Iodine {lodinum). — This is prepared from the ashes of kelp, or 
sea-weed, and is in small bluish-black, shining scales. It is alterative, 


MEDICINES AND THEII. PREPARATIONS. 


1019 


tonic, and somewhat diuretic. It has been chiefly emjloyed in dis¬ 
eases of the absorbent and glandular system, particularly scrofula, 
goitre, and glandular tumors generally. Dose, in substance, half a 
grain, two or three times a day, in form of pill; in form of tincture, 
three to five drops. 

Iodide of Potassium (^Potassii lodidum). — This is one of the prep¬ 
arations of iodine, and is sometimes improperly called hydriodate of 
potassa. It is formed by decomposing the iodide of iron by carbonate 
of potassa. It is used for the same purposes as iodine, but chiefly as 
an alterative in tertiary syphilis, for which it is a specific; also in 
some forms of chronic rheumatism, and in leprosy. Dose of the salt, 
from two to fifteen grains. It is much combined with bitter tinctures, 
and particularly with the compound preparations of sarsaparilla, yel¬ 
low dock, and queen’s-root. The acids and metallic salts are incom¬ 
patible with it. 

Ipecacuanha. —This is a small perennial plant, growing in moist 
woods, in several countries of South America. The root is -the part 
used. It is a very valuable emetic, in large doses; in smaller doses, 
it is sudorific and expectorant. Used to produce vomiting in the 
commencement of fevers, inflammatory diseases, swelled testicles, and 
before the paroxysms of ague; and to excite nausea in dysentery, 
asthma, whooping-cough, various hemorrhages, and inflammation of 
the lungs ; and, combined with opium, to produce diaphoresis in 
rheumatism, gout, and febrile complaints. Dose, as an emetic, from 
fifteen to thirty grains; to excite nausea, from one to three grains; 
and to produce diaphoresis, two to six grains, with one grain of 
opium. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, as an expectorant, five to eight 
drops; as an emetic, half a dram to a dram; tincture, half an ounce 
to an ounce ; wine of ipecac, three ounces to one pint of sherry wine, 
dose, a quarter to half a dram, as an expectorant; two and a half to 
three drams as an emetic. The following is a useful expectorant for 
young children: fluid extract of ipecac, two drams; syrup of tolu, 
five drams; mucilage of gum-arabic, one ounce ; sherry wine, three 
drams,— mix. Dose, one dram. 

Iron {Perrurri). — As this is the most abundant, so is it the most 
useful of all the metals. It is widely diffused thi’ough the mineral, 
the vegetable, and the animal kingdoms. It is an essential constitu¬ 
ent in the blood of man, and as a medicine it has great value, being 
a powerful tonic. In most cases where tlie blood is thin and reduced, 
iron is our best remedy; it raises the pulse, promotes the secretions, 
and gives color, body, and nutritive qualities to the blood. It is 
much used, in some one of its prepared forms, in chronic anaemia, chlor¬ 
osis, hysterics, whites, rickets, chorea, dyspepsia, neuralgia, and par¬ 
ticularly consumption. Care should be taken in using the various 
preparations of iron, not to let the remedy touch the teeth. It is 


1020 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


well to take them, when not in pill form, through a glass tube. The 
following are most of the chemical preparations of iron used in medi¬ 
cine : — 

Ammomsi^CXtratQ oi Iron (Ferri Ammonio Oitras). — This is in 
the form of thin scales, of a beautiful garnet-red color, and has a 
slightly acid taste. It is very soluble in water. Its great solubility 
gives it some advantage over the citrate. The dose is five grains, 
three times a day, in solution. 

Black Oxide of Iron (Ferri Oxidum Nigrum), — This is a dark, 
grayish-black powder, unchangeable in the air, and having magnetic 
properties. It is a valuable chalybeate, and may be given in five to 
ten-grain doses. 

Citrate of Iron {Ferri Citras), — This is a valuable preparation of 
iron. It is soluble in water. Usually given in the form of pill, in 
two to three-grain doses, three times a day. 

Citrate of Iron and Quinia {Ferri et Quinice Citras), — In the 
form of shining scales, garnet-colored, and soluble in water. An ex¬ 
cellent antiperiodic and tonic. Given in intermittents, when the 
blood is low, etc. Dose, five to eight grains, two or three times a 
day. 

Citrate of Iron and Strychnia. —It is a valuable preparation, ana 
combines the properties of iron and strychnia, and has proved an 
efficacious remedy in atonic dyspepsia, absence of the menses, St. 
Vitus’s dance, green-sickness, hysterics, etc. It is a beautiful salt, 
looking like citrate of iron, except that it is a little darker. Three 
grains of the iron are combined with one-sixteenth of a grain of 
strychnia. 

Hydrated Oxide of Iron {Ferri Oxidum Hydratum'), — This is in 
a reddish-brown, moist mass, not much us^d in medicine, except as 
an antidote to the poison of arsenic, for which it is very valuable. It 
should be given in tablespoonful doses, often repeated. 

Iodide of Iron {Ferri lodidum), — The iodide of iron is a crystal¬ 
line substance, of a greenish-black color and styptic taste. It has 
tonic, alterative, diuretic, and emmenagogue properties. It is em¬ 
ployed chiefly in scrofulous complaints, swelling of the glands of the 
neck, chlorosis, absence of the menses, and leucorrhoea. In obstinate 
syphilitic ulcers, and in secondary syphilis, occurring in scrofulous 
and debilitated subjects, it has been used with success. Dose, three 
grains, gradually increased to five. It should never be given in the 
form of a pill, but preferably in combination with simple syrup (see 
Syrup of Iodide of Iron). 

Lactate of Iron {Ferri Lactas), — This has the general medicinal 
properties of the ferruginous preparations. It increases the appetite 
in a marked degree, and has been used with decided benefit in chio* 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1021 


rosis. Dose, one to two grains, three times a day. The dose may 
be gradually increased. Given in the form of solution, pill, or 
lozenge. 

Phosphate of Iron {Ferri Phosphas), —This is a slate-colored 
powder, insoluble in water. It is a valuable remedy in consumption, 
cancer, and nervous diseases, accompanied by a low state of the blood. 
Dose, one or two grains, three times a day. 

Persalt of Iron QMonseVs Styptic)» — This is a most valuable 
styptic, and is used with success in restraining violent bleedings. It 
produces no irritant effects upon the tissues, and may be used with. 
safety both in slight and extensive surgical operations. Physicians 
should have it by them, and will find it very serviceable in sudden 
emergencies of bleeding. It is prepared in solution and in the form 
of dry salt. The solution is the most convenient and eligible form, 
and may be applied as prepared. 

Powder of Iron (Perri Pulvis), — This is what is often called iron 
by hydrogen, or Qu4venne’s iron. It is an impalpable powder, and 
of an iron-gray color. If black, it is worthless. It is used in anaemia, 
and in all those conditions characterized by deficiency of coloring- 
matter in the blood. The best metallic iron for medicinal use. Dose, 
from two to five grains, several times a day; to be given in the form 
of pill. 

Precipitated Carbonate of Iron (Perri Suhcarhonas,) — This is a 
reddish powder, insoluble in water. It is tonic, alterative, and em- 
menagogue, and is used in neuralgia, chorea, chlorosis, anaemia, epi¬ 
lepsy, scrofula, etc. Dose, five to twenty grains, three times a day, 
to be taken in a little water. 

Protoxide of Iron (Perri Protoxidum), — This is of a dark-blue 
color, and has a tendency to absorb oxygen from the air, which con¬ 
verts it into the sesquioxide. It is a valuable preparation of iron. 
Dose, from two to five grains, three times a day. 

Solution of Protoxide of Iron. — The protoxide of iron is more 
readily absorbed and assimilated, and agrees better with the stomach 
than any other preparation of this metal. It is prepared in the form 
of a syrup, of which the dose is from one to two teaspoonfuls, three 
times a day. 

Solution Protoxide Iron, with Rhubarb and Colombo. — This is 
a composition of protoxide of iron with vegetable tonics. As a 
remedy in many forms of dyspepsia, it must prove of great value. 

Solution Protoxide Iron, with Quinine.—This has become a 
remedy of established reputation. Quinine combined with iron, par¬ 
ticularly with the protoxide, must have great advantages as a chaly¬ 
beate tonic. Each tablespoonful contains half a grain of quinine. 


L022 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


Solution Protoxide of Iron, with Iodide of Potassa.—In this 
preparation the valuable alterative properties of iodide of potassium 
are connected with iron. It is therefore alterative and tonic, and 
may be used in scrofulous and other weakened conditions of the sys¬ 
tem. It is a remedy of decided merit. Three grains of the iodide 
of potassium are contained in each tablespoonful. 

Sulphate of Iron (I'erri Sulphas), — This is in the form of transpa¬ 
rent crystals, of a pale, bluish-green color, and efflorescent in the air. 
It has a styptic taste, and is soluble in about twice its weight of 
cold water, but insoluble in alcohol. It is astringent and tonic. In 
large doses it produces nausea and griping of the bowels. Useful 
in scrofula and as an astringent in passive hemorrhages, sweats, dia¬ 
betes, chronic mucous catarrh, leucorrhoea and gleet. As a tonic it 
is useful in dyspepsia. 

Syrup of Iodide of Iron (^Syrupus lodidi Ferri), — This is an 
elegant preparation of iodine and iron, and is given in all debilitated 
conditions of the system, when there is a taint of scrofula. Dose, 
from twenty to sixty drops, well diluted, at the moment of taking, 
with water. 

Syrup of Iodide Iron and flanganese. — This is of a light straw- 
color, prepared from protosulphate of iron, protosulphate of man¬ 
ganese, and iodide of potassium. It is a remedy of unsurpassed 
efficacy in anaemic, scrofulous, syphilitic, and cancerous affections. 
It is considered superior to the syrup of iodide of iron. Dose, from 
ten to thirty drops. 

Tartrate of Iron and Potassa {Ferri et Potassce Tartras. — This 
is in the form of beautiful shining scales, of a dark ruby color, of a 
slightly chalybeate taste, and very soluble in water. It is one of the 
mildest of the salts of iron, and is considerably used in scrofula, weak¬ 
ness of the bowels, general debility, etc. It is much used as a remedy 
for syphilis, both externally and internally. The dose is ten to twenty- 
five grains in solution. 

Tincture of Muriate of Iron {Tinctura Ferri Qhloridi), — This 
has a reddish-brown, yellowish color, a sour and very styptic taste, 
and an odor like muriatic ether. It is one of the most active and 
certain preparations of iron, generally agreeing with the stomach, and 
much employed for purposes for which iron is used. It is useful in 
scrofula, gleet, and leucorrhoea; also in hemorrhages from the womb, 
kidneys, and bladder, of a passive character. Dose, from ten to twenty- 
five drops, gradually increased to one or two drams, two or three 
times a day. It should be given diluted with water. 

Valerianate of Iron. — This salt is in the form of a dark-red pow¬ 
der, having a faint odor, and a taste of valerianic acid. It is soluble 
in alcohol, and insoluble in water. Given in hysterical affections, 
complicated with chlorosis. Dose, one grain, several times a day. 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1023 


Isinglass {Iclitliyocolla). — A gelatinous substance, prepared from 
the bladder of fishes. It is soluble in alkaline solutions and diluted 
acids. In boiling it dissolves and forms a jelly upon cooling, in which 
form it is chiefly used as a nutritive diet for the sick. 

Jalap {^Ipomcea Jalapa). — This is a Mexican plant. Its root is 
an active cathartic, producing liquid stools, more or less griping. 
United with cream of tartar it becomes a hydragogue, and is useful 
in dropsy. The dose is from fifteen to twenty-five grains. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, a quarter to one dram ; solid 
extract, dose, three to five grains; tincture, two ounces to the pint of 
diluted alcohol, dose, one to two drams ; jalapin, the active principle, 
dose, one to two grains. 

Juniper {Janiperis Communis). — This evergreen shrub is a native 
of Europe, and is naturalized in some parts of this country. The 
berries, which are the parts used, are wrinkled, of a dark-purple color, 
about the size of a pea. They are gently stimulant and diuretic, and 
have been used in scurvy and inflammation of the bladder, chiefly in 
connection with more active diuretics. The oil of juniper obtained 
from the berries is used for similar purposes. Five minims of the 
oil mixed with one fluid dram of sweet spirits of nitre, and given 
thi ee times a dajq is valuable in dropsy. Dose of the berries, from 
one to two drams; of the oil, from five to ten drops. 

Kino. —This is the hardened juice of an East Indian tree, Ptero- 
carpus Marsupium. There are several varieties of it. It is a power¬ 
ful and valuable astringent, and is much used in diarrhoea, not 
attended with inflammation. Opium is often united with it, and it 
is a favorite addition to chalk-mixture. It is also used in chronic 
dysentery, leucorrhoea and diabetes. It may be used in the form of 
powder, infusion, or tincture. Dose of the powder, ten to twenty 
grains; of the tincture, one or two fluid drams; the infusion is use¬ 
ful as an injection in leucorrhoea and gonorrhoea. The powder is 
sometimes sprinkled with advantage on indolent and flabby ulcers. 

Ladies* Slipper (^Cypripedium Puhescens., 

218).— The fibrous roots are the parts used of 
plant. It is tonic, nervine, and anti-spasmodic, 
is employed in nervous headache, and other 
vous affections, as excitability, hysterics, neura' 
etc. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, half a d 
to a dram; solid extract, dose, five to ten gra 
tincture, two ounces to a pint of diluted alee 
dose, half an ounce; cypripedin, the active j 
ciple, dose, two to three grains. The folio win 
a useful preparation for producing sleep, in wak 
and excited conditions : fluid extract ladies’ slip^, 
one ounce; fluid extract pleurisy root, one ounce; ladies* slipper. 



1024 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


fluid extract skunk-cabbage, one ounce; fluid extract, scullcap, one 
ounce ; mix; dose, half a dram to a dram, three times a day. 

For sick and nervous headache, dependent on an acid stomach, 
the following is useful: fluid extract ladies’ slipper, half an ounce; 
fluid extract catnip, half an ounce; fluid extract scullcap, half a:i 
ounce*5 water, one pint; mix; dose, one and a half to three drams. 

Lead {Plumhurn). — Lead acts upon the system as a sedative and 
astringent. Internally, it is used for the purpose of reducing the 
force of the circulation, and for restraining improper bleeding and 
other excessive discharges. Externally, it is employed to subdue 
inflammation. It should not be excessively used, for, if taken in¬ 
ternally for a long time, it injures the nervous system, and brings o:i 
apoplexy, palsy, and pai'ticularly lead colic. Nature generally gives 
notice when it is doing mischief, by drawing a blue line around the 
edge of the gums. The preparation of lead chiefly used in medicine 
is the following: — 

Acetate of Lead {Plumbi Acetas'). — This is known by the name 
of sugar of lead and is a white salt, crystallized in brilliant needles. 
It has first a sweetish, and then an astringent taste. In medicinal 
doses, it is a powerful sedative and astringent; in large ones an 
irritant poison. It is principally used internally for bleeding from 
tlie lungs, bowels, and womb. The dose is generally two grains, 
united with half a grain to a grain of opium, in the form of pill. Ex¬ 
ternally, it is employed in form of solution and applied to inflamed 
surfaces with cloths. Four grains of sugar of lead and four of pul¬ 
verized opium to the pint of water, make a good lotion for various 
purposes. 

Lemon QCitrus Limonum). — This is a well-known tropioal fruit, 
the juice of which has a grateful acid taste, and is much used in 
fevers and inflammatory complaints, forming the agreeable drink 
called lemonade. The oil of lemon, obtained from the fresh rind of 
the fruit, is chiefly used in perfumery, and to render the taste of 
medicines more agreeable. 

Lettuce {Lactuca Sativa). — The medicinal properties of this 
garden-plant are contained in the milk. It is given when opium 
disagrees with the patient, to allay cough and irritability. It is one 
of the most wholesome vegetables for the table. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, half a dram to two drams; 
solid extract, dose, two to five grains. The following is a useful 
compound syrup: fluid extract lettuce, two ounces; fluid extract 
poppy, four ounces; simple syrup, ten ounces; mix; dose, half a 
dram to a dram. 

Life-Root (^Senecio Aureus). — This is a perennial plant, growing 
on the banks of marshy creeks in the Northern and Western States, 
and sometimes called ragwort. Both the root and herb are diuretic, 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1025 


pectoral, diaphoretic, and tonic, considerably valued as a remedy in 
gravel and other urinary affections, particulaiiy strangury. It is 
useful for promoting menstrual discharges. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, half a dram to a dram; infu¬ 
sion, dose, one to three ounces; senecin, the active principle, dose, 
three to five gi’ains. For chlorosis, accompanied by absence of the 
menses, the following is a useful preparation: senecin, aletriii and 
sulphate of iron, four grains each. Mix and divide into two-grain 
powders. Six grains each of senecin and geraniin, mixed and taken 
in doses of two to four grains, has a good effect in restraining an 
immoderate flow of the menses. In painful menstruation, the follow¬ 
ing is a good pill: senecin, two grains; quinine, six grains ; solid 
extract belladonna, three grains; make into ten pills, and take one 
every three hours till the pain is subdued. 

Lime (^Calx). — This is one of the alkaline earths, and is an abun¬ 
dant natural production. It is used in several forms in medicine, of 
which the following are the chief: — 

Chloride of Lime (^Calx Chlorinata'). — This is a moist, grajdsh- 
white substance, having the odor of chlorine, and possessing powerful 
bleaching properties. Externally used, it is disinfectant, and, dis¬ 
solved in water, is applied with advantage to ill-conditioned ulceis, 
bums, chilblains and eruptions of the skin; also as a gargle in putrid 
sore throat, and as a wash for ulcerated gums, and to purify the 
breath. It has been used with advantage in dysentery, both by mouth 
and injection, to correct the fetor of the stools. 

Lime=Water {Aqua Calcis). — This is made by dissolving four 
ounces of lime in a gallon of water, and letting the solution stand 
in a covered vessel, and j)ouringoff the clear liquor when it is wanted 
for use. It is antacid, antilithic, tonic, and astringent, valuable in 
all complaints attended with acidity of the stomach. United with 
milk, and used as the sole diet, it is sometimes the only remedy for 
chronic diarrhoea of long standing. Dose of lime-water, half an 
ounce to an ounce. 

Liquorice (^Glycyrrhiza Glabra'). — This grows in the south of 
Europe and Asia. The root is the part used. It is demulcent and 
expectorant, and is useful in cough, chronic bronchitis, and irritations 
of the mucous surfaces generally. The pulverized root united with 
an equal amount of sulphur and a little molasses, is a valuable pre¬ 
paration for coughs. The black extract may be used for the same 
purposes as the root. 

Liverwort QHepatica Americana ).— An indigenous plant, growing 
in woods, upon the sides of hills and mountains. The leaves with¬ 
stand the cold of winter, and the flowers appear early in the spring. 
The whole plant is medicinal. It is a mild demulcent tonic and 


1026 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


astringent^ and has been used in fevers, liver-complaints, bleeding 
from the lungs, and coughs. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, two to three drams; infusion, 
four ounces to the pint of water, to be taken freely. 

Lobelia (Lobelia Inflata, Fig. 219). — This weed grows throughout 
the United States; both its seeds and leaves are used in 
medicine. The plant is emetic, expectorant, sedative 
and antispasmodic. As an emetic it is generally 
used in combination with other articles for that pur¬ 
pose. It is of great advantage in spasmodic asthma, 
as well as in bronchitis, croup, whooping-cough, and 
other throat and chest affections. Whenever relaxa¬ 
tion is required to subdue spasm, or for other pur¬ 
poses, lobelia will be found useful. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, as an ex¬ 
pectorant, ten to fifty drops ; as an emetic, one-fourth 
of a dram to a dram; tincture, two ounces to a pint 
of diluted alcohol, dose, as an expectorant, one to 
three drams, as an emetic, half an ounce; infusion, 
dose, an ounce every half hour till vomiting ensues; 
lobelin, the active principle, dose, half a grain to a grain and a half. 
The following mixture will be found excellent, as an expectorant 
and sudorific in spasmodic croup, whooping-cough and asthma, and 
for subduing mucous inflammation about the thioat and air-passages: 
tincture of lobelia, half an ounce ; tincture of bloodroot, two ounces ; 
oil of spearmint, half a dram; empyreumatic syrup, five ounces ; 
dose, half a dram every two hours. A poultice made of lobelia, elm- 
bark and weak lye, relieves sprains, bruises, rheumatic pains, erysip¬ 
elatous inflammations and poison from ivy or dogwood. 

Logwood (Hcematoxylon Campechianum). — This tree is a native 
of tropical America. The wood is used in medicine. It is tonic and 
astringent, and is used with advantage in diarrhoea, dysentery, and 
in the relaxed state of the bowels after cholera infantum. Used 
freely with other treatment, it also benefits constitutions broken down 
by disease or dissipation. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, half a dram to a dram; solid 
extract, dose, five to twenty grains; infusion, half an ounce to a pint 
of water, dose, four drams every three or four hours, in diarrhoea. 

Magnesia (Magnesia Usia'). — Calcined magnesia is obtained from 
carbonate of magnesia, by exposure to a strong heat. It is a white, 
inodorous, light powder, of a feeble alkaline taste. It is antacid and 
laxative, and is much used in dyspepsia, sick headache, gout, and in 
other complaints attended with sour stomach and costiveness; like¬ 
wise a favorite remedy in complaints of children. Dose, as a laxative, 
from thirty to forty grains ; as an antacid or antilithic, ten to twenty- 
five grains, once or twice a day. 



Fig. 219. Lobelia 





MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1027 


Carbonate of Magnesia (^Magnesice Carhonas). — This is prepared 
from sulphate of magnesia, by carbonate of soda. It is antacid, and 
when it meets with acid in the stomach and bowels it is laxative. 

Sulphate of Magnesia (^Magnesia Sulphas), — Obtained from sea¬ 
water. This is the well-known Epsom salts and is purgative and 
diuretic. Used in all cases which require purgatives. It generally 
operates without griping, and, when united with an acidulated infu¬ 
sion of roses, will remain on the stomach when all other things are 
rejected. The less it is diluted the better and more easily it oper¬ 
ates, provided a draught of warm water be taken an hour afterwards. 
It may be made to act as a diuretic by keeping the skin cool, and 
walking about after it has been taken. 

Male Fern (^Aspidium Filix Mas). — This perennial plant is found 
in both Europe and America, also in Asia and northern Africa. The 
root, which is the medicinal part, should be gathered during summer, 
as the active principle is more abundant at that season than any 
other. It is also said to deteriorate by age, and become nearly worth¬ 
less in two years. It is slightly tonic and astringent, but its chief 
value consists in its power to destroy and expel the tapeworm. 

Preparations. — Solid extract, dose, nine to twelve grains. The 
following compound pills are adapted to the destruction of the tape¬ 
worm : solid extract male fern, two scruples; gamboge, fourteen 
grains ; calomel, fourteen grains; scammony, eighteen grains. Mix, 
and divide into twenty pills. Dose, two to three pills. 

Mandrake QPodophyllum Peltatum., Fig. 220). — This is exclu¬ 
sively an American plant. The root is the 
medicinal part. It is cathartic, alterative, 
anthelmintic, hydragogue, sialagogue, and, 
in large doses, emetic. It stimulates and 
quickens the action of the liver and kidneys, 
promotes expectoration and determines the 
blood to the surface. Combined with cream 
of tartar, it produces watery stools and is use¬ 
ful in dropsy. It is used in jaundice, dysen¬ 
tery, diarrhoea, bilious, remittent, and inter¬ 
mittent fevers, puerperal fever, typhoid fever, 
and all glandular enlargements. But it has a 
more particular action upon the liver, and is 
especially useful in derangements of that organ. 

The severity of its action seems to be the only objection to its very 
extensive use. Its harshness, however, maybe much lessened by its 
combination with alkalies, ginger, or caulophyllin. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, half a dram to a dram; com¬ 
pound fluid extract, dose, one to two drams ; solid extract, dose, three 
to twelve grains; tincture, three and a half ounces to one pint of al¬ 
cohol, dose, one to three drams; podophyllin, the active principle. 





1028 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


dose, as an alterative, one-eighth to a quarter of a grain; as a cath¬ 
artic, one to two grains. 

Manna. — This is the concrete juice of the tree called Ornus 
Europcea^ growing in Sicily, Calabria, and Apulia, as well as of 
several other species of tree. Manna is a gentle laxative, operating 
mildly, though sometimes producing wind and pain. It is consider¬ 
ably used as a gentle physic for children and women in the family 
way. The usual way of prescribing it is in connection with senna, 
rhubarb, magnesia, or the neutral salts. Being sweet, it conceals the 
taste of these remedies in some measure, while it adds to their pur¬ 
gative effect. Dose of manna, for a grown person, from one to one 
and a half ounces; for a child, from one to four drams, according to 
age. 

Marsh-Rosemary (^Statiee Caroliniana). — This plant grows on 
the coast from Maine to Georgia. The root of it is the medicinal 
part. A decoction of it is much used in diarrhoea, dysentery, etc., 
also as a gargle in ulcerated sore mouth and the throat affection of 
scarlet fever, and as an injection in gleet, whites, and falling of the 
womb and bowel. Dose of the decoction, one or two tablespoonfuls 
every hour or two. 

Marshmallow {Althoea Officinalis^ Fig. 221).— A perennial plant, 
growing in salt marshes and other moist places in 
Europe. The root is the medicinal part, and its 
properties are those of a demulcent. A decoction 
of it is used in irritations and inflammations of 
mucous membranes, as in inflammation of the 
lungs, stomach, bowels and bladder, and some 
affections of the kidneys. The powdered root, 
and also the leaves and flowers, are sometimes 
employed in the form of poultice. 

Mastic. — This is the hardened gum or resin 
which flows from incisions in the small tree or 
shrub pistacia lentiscus^ growing upon the borders 
of the Mediterranean. ^ It is not much used in 
medicine, but is chiefly employed in manufactur¬ 
ing a brilliant varnish. I introduce it here principally for the pur¬ 
pose of recommending the following use of it in carious teeth,— 
particularly in those new parts of the country where dentistry is not 
much known. Dissolve, in a well-stopped bottle, four parts of 
mastic in one part of sulphuric ether. Saturate with this solution 
a small ]u‘ece of cotton of the size of the cavity in the tooth, and then, 
having cleansed and dried the cavity, gently press the cotton into it. 
The ether will soon evaporate and leave the gum to attach itself to 
the sides of the tooth, and protect its inner surfaces from the action 
of the air and food. 




































MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1029 


Matico (Piper Angustifolium'). — The leaves of this plant are 
styptic and somewhat stimulant and tonic. The leaves brought in 
contact with a bleeding wound, have considerable power to arrest 
the flow of blood. 

Preparations ,— Fluid extract, dose, half a dram to a dram ; tinc¬ 
ture, four ounces to a pint of diluted alcohol, dose, two drams to one 
half ounce; infusion, half an ounce to a pint of water, dose, one to 
one and a half ounces. 



Meadow-Saffron (JJolchicum Autumnale,^ Fig. 222). — This is a 
native of the temperate parts of Europe, where it 
grows wild in moist meadows. The roots and seeds 
are used. Colchicum is justly regarded as a valuable 
remedy in gout and rheumatism, in which it is much 
and chiefly used. It is thought, also, to act upon the 
nervous system, allaying pain and producing other 
sedative effects. When not carried off by the bow¬ 
els, it produces sweating, and is occasionally diuretic 
and expectorant. Dose of the dried root, from two 
to eight grains. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract of root, dose, three 
to ten drops ; fluid extract of seeds, dose, five to ten meadow-saffron. 
drops; tincture, four ounces to twelve ounces diluted alcohol, dose, 
ten drops to half a dram; syrup, two ounces to fourteen ounces sim¬ 
ple syrup, dose, one third of a dram to a dram; wine, three ounces 
of root to a pint of sherry wine, dose, twenty-five to thirty-five drops. 

Monkshood,(^i?(?mfe). — This is anodyne, sedative and diapho¬ 
retic. The leaves and roots are generally used separately. It is 
useful in inflammatory diseases, neuralgia, epilepsy, paralysis, gout, 
and particularly in fevers. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, two to five drops ; solid ex¬ 
tract, dose, ode quarter of a grain to a grain; tincture, eight ounces 
of the root to a pint of alcohol, dose, three to five drops. 

A preparation composed of one dram of the tincture of aconite- 
root, and two ounces of the tincture of black cohosh, and taken in 
doses of one teaspoonful every four hours, has great power in reliev¬ 
ing the various forms of neuralgia, and also chronic rheumatic pains, 
particularly among old people. 

For nervous headache, irritability, restlessness and wakefulness, 
the following combination of aconite is useful: — 

Solid extract of aconite, half a dram ; solid extract of stramonium, 
four grains; valerianate of quinia, one scruple. Mix and divide into 
sixty pills, of which one is to be taken every two, three, or four hours, 
according to symptoms. 

Motherwort (Leonurus Cardiaca). —This perennial plant is sup¬ 
posed to be a native of Tartary, and introduced into this country. It 
is considerably used in domestic practice for nervous complaints and 




1030 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


many chronic disorders attended with restlessness, disturbed sleep, 
pains of the nerves, and affections of the liver. A warm infusion of 
the tops and leaves is useful in restoring menstrual suppression from 
colds. 

Preparations, — Solid extract, dose, three to five grains. Com¬ 
bined with blue cohosh and skunk-cabbage, the solid extract is a 
nervine, antispasmodic and emmenagogue. 

Mountain Laurel (Kalmia Latifolia,, Fig. 223). — The laurel is 
found in most parts of the United States, on hills 
and mountains, flowering in June and July, and is 
very ornamental. It is sometimes called hig ivy^ or 
calico-hush. The narrow-leaf laurel^ or sheep-laurel^ 
kalmia angustifolia,, is also common, and similarly 
medicinal. The leaves of these plants are used in 
medicine, and produce, when taken in large doses, 
vertigo, dimness of sight, etc. In medicinal doses, 
they are sedative and astringent. The saturated 
tincture is the best form of administration, which 
may be taken in ten to fifteen-drop doses, every 
two or three hours, in syphilis, active hemorrhages, hypertrophy of 
the heart and jaundice. 

Mullein {Verhascum Thapsus'), — The leaves and flowers of this 
biennial plant are antispasmodic, diuretic and demulcent. The in¬ 
fusion is frequently used in domestic practice, and is useful in colds, 
coughs, bronchitis, etc.; and may be drunk freely. The leaves are 
sometimes boiled in milk, sweetened, and taken for bowel com¬ 
plaints. The leaves dipped in hot vinegar and water are very useful 
applied as a fomentation in mumps, acute inflammation of the tonsils 
and malignant sore throat; a handful of them may also be placed in 
a teapot with hot water, and the steam be inhaled through the spout, 
in the same complaints. 

Mustard. — The seeds of the white mustard, Sinapis alba,, were a 
few y^ears ago much recommended as a cure for constipation of the 
bowels ; and, swallowed whole in teaspoonful, or even, in some obsti¬ 
nate cases, in tablespoonful doses, they afford a wholesome stimulus 
to the bowels, and accomplish some good. The ground mustard is a 
valuable condiment to eat in small quantities, at dinner, in dyspeptic 
cases. It finds its most important uses, however, as a prompt and 
almost instantaneous emetic in cases of poisoning, and also as a valu¬ 
able counter-irritant, when applied externally. The volatile oil of 
mustard^ one part, and ten parts of sweet oil, may be applied to the 
skin instead of the mustard poultice, and with similar results. 

Myrrh. — The tree Balsamodendron myrrha^ growing in Arabia, 
etc., yields a juice which hardens into a gum-resin, called myrrh. 
This pleasant, aromatic gum is stimulant, tonic, antiseptic, emmena* 



Fro. 223. 

Mountain Laueel. 



MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1031 


gogue and expectorant. It is employed in chronic bronchitis, con¬ 
sumption, chlorosis, absence of the menses, etc. It is generally 
combined with iron and other tonics, and in amenorrhoea it is fre¬ 
quently combined with aloes. Locally, it is considerably used as a 
wash to improve spongy gums, ulcers of the mouth, etc. The dose is 
from ten to twenty grains, to be given in pill or in powder suspended 
in water. The tincture of myrrh is a useful external application. 

Naphtha. — This belongs to the class of native inflammable sub¬ 
stances, called bitumens. It is a transparent, yellowish white, very 
light and inflammable liquid, and is found abundantly in Persia. 
Said to have been used with advantage in Asiatic cholera. It is 
composed exclusively of carbon and hydrogen. Dose, from ten to 
twenty drops, given in half a glass of wine or mint-water. During 
the formation of coal-gas, an artificial naphtha is obtained, which, 
when purified, has the property of dissolving India rubber. 

Medicinally, it is chiefly used for purposes of inhalation in affec¬ 
tions of the chest. 

Naphthalin. —This is obtained from a distillation of coal-tar. Is 
is soluble in ether, alcohol, naphtha and oils, but not in water.. It it 
an excellent expectorant, particularly in cases of impending suffoca¬ 
tion of old persons from chronic bronchitis; also in asthma and other 
pectoral affections. Being stimulating, it is improper in acute bron¬ 
chitis, and pulmonary inflammation. The dose is from ten to twenty- 
five grains, given in emulsion, or syrup, every fifteen minutes, until 
abundant expectoration takes place. A scruple of naphthalin mixed 
with five drams of lard, makes a good ointment for psoriasis, dry 
tetter and leprosy. 

•Nitrate of Silver (Argenti Nitras). — Nitrate of silver is a solu¬ 
tion of silver in nitric acid, and commonly passes under the name of 
lunar caustic. It is both in the form of small cylindrical rods and 
of crystals, the latter being more pure than the former. 

As an internal remedy, nitrate of silver is tonic and antispasmodic 
and is given chiefly in nervous diseases, as epilepsy, St. Vitus’s dance 
and neuralgia of the heart; also in some forms of dyspepsia, attended 
with pain in the stomach and vomiting. The dose is from one-fourth 
to half a grain in the form of pill. It should never be taken regu¬ 
larly as an internal remedy more than two months, as it is apt, after 
long use, to change the skin to an indelible slate-blue. Use only 
under the direction of a physician. 

But nitrate of silver is most used as an external remedy in pharyn¬ 
gitis, laryngitis, tracheitis and other chronic and acute inflammations 
of mucous membranes. For reducing these inflammations, it is very 
nearly a specific; certainly, it is altogether the best remedy we have. 
It fails in some cases; but when skilfully used it never does harm. 
The solutions to be applied to the throat require to have a strength 
of from fifteen to a hundred grains to the ounce of soft water. A 


1032 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


solution containing one to four or more grains to the ounce of water 
is often used in inflammations of the eje, gon/orrhoea, etc. 

Nitre (Potassce Nitras), — Nitre, which also passes under the name 
of nitrate of potas 8 a^ 2 indi saltpetre^ is both a natural and artificial pro¬ 
duction. As a medicine, it is refrigerant, diuretic, and diaphoretic, 
and is much used in inflammatory diseases. It increases the secretion 
of urine and sweat, and lessens the heat of the body and the frequency 
of the pulse. United with tartar emetic and calomel, it forms the 
well-known nitrous powders, which promote most of the secretions, 
particularly those of the liver and skin. One of these powders, con¬ 
stituting a dose, to be given every two or three hours, is composed of 
eight grains of nitre, one-eighth of a grain of calomel, and one-eighth 
of a grain of tartar emetic. Use with care. 

Sweet Spirit of Nitre (Spiritus jpltheris Nitrici). — Sweet spirit 
of nitre is diuretic, diaphoretic, and antispasmodic. It is deservedly 
much esteemed as a medicine, and is extensively employed in febrile 
diseases, either alone or in union with tartar emetic, or with spirit of 
Mindererus. It is often a grateful stimulus to the stomach, relieving 
nausea and vomiting, and promoting sleep. It acts especially upon 
the kidneys, augmenting the secretion of urine, and is often given in 
conjunction with squills, digitalis, and acetate of potassa. The dose 
is a teaspoonful, given in water every two or three hours. 

Nutmeg {Myrutica Moschata'). —The nutmeg is from a tree grow¬ 
ing in the Molucca Islands. It is stimulant and carminative, and 
somewhat used to remove flatulency, as well as to render other med¬ 
icines palatable; it is most employed, however, to flavor diinks, and 
articles of diet. In large doses it is poisonous, producing stupor and 
delirium. 

Nux Vomica {StrycTinos Nux Vomica^ Fig. 224). — The tree which 
produces nux vomica grows in Bengal, Malabar, 
on the coast of Coromandel, and in other re- 
gions. The seeds are the medicinal part. 

Nux vomica is an emphatic excitant of the 
brain and spinal cord, and in large doses is an 
active poison; frequently repeated in small 
doses, it is tonic, diuretic, and slightly laxa¬ 
tive. 

Given in full doses, it is apt to produce mus¬ 
cular contraction, as in lockjaw, together with 
frequent starts and twitches, as if from electric 
shocks. It is much employed in treatment of paralysis, and is more 
beneficial in general than in partial palsy. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, two to seven drops; solid 
extract, dose, half a grain to a grain; tincture, four ounces to the pint 
of alcohol, dose, five to ten drops ; strychnia, commonly called strych¬ 
nin, the active principle, dose, one-sixteenth to one-eighth of a grain. 







MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1033 


Oil of Cajuput (^Oleum Cajuputi'). — This oil is obtained from the 
leaves of the East Indian tree cajuputi. It is dijiphoretic and anti- 
spasmodic, and a powerful diffusive stimulant. Given in cramps 
of the stomach and bowels, colic, flatulency, hysterics, and chronic 
rheumatism. It is considerably used as an ingredient in liniments, 
to be applied externally in rheumatism and neuralgia. Dose, from 
one to three drops, on sugar. 

Oil of Turpentine ( Oleum Terehinthince). — This is generally called 
spirits of turpentine, and is obtained by distilling turpentine. As a 
medicine it is stimulant, cathartic, diuretic, anthelmintic, and astrin¬ 
gent. In large doses it causes strangury and other unpleasant symp¬ 
toms. The dose is from five to twenty drops, repeated every two or 
three hours. Fifteen drops, taken every fifteen minutes or half hour, 
powerfully restrains bleeding from the lungs, and is, perhaps, the best 
remedy we have for this frightful accident. 

It is also very efficacious in checking other hemorrhages. Exter¬ 
nally, it is used considerably as an ingi-edient in liniments and rube¬ 
facients, in rheumatism, paralysis, etc. Combined with linseed oil, 
it is much used for burns and scalds. 

Olive Oil (^Oleum Olivce'). —-This oil, often called sweet oil^ is ex¬ 
pressed from the fruit of the olive tree, Olea Euj'opcea. It is nutri¬ 
ent and emollient, and, in doses of one to two fluid ounces, laxa¬ 
tive. It is much employed as a constituent of cerates, liniments, and 
plasters. 

Onion (^Allium Cepa). — The medicinal properties of the onion are 
much like those of garlic. The juice, mixed with sugar, is used to 
some extent as a remedy for the coughs and colds of infants. Roasted 
onions, applied as a poultice, hasten the suppuration of boils, tumors, 
etc. They are also useful, in some cases, applied as drafts to the 
feet. 

Opium.—This is the hardened juice of the unripe seed of the- 
poppy, Papaver Somniferum. It is a stimulant narcotic. A moder¬ 
ate dose increases the fulness and frequency of the pulse, augments 
the warmth of the skin, invigorates the muscular system, quickens 
the senses, animates the spirits, and gives energy to the mental facul¬ 
ties. Its operation is directed with special force to the brain, which 
it sometimes excites to intoxication and delirium, which excitement 
subsides in a short time, and is followed by a delightful calmness and 
placidity of mind, all care and anxiety being banished, and the thoughts 
yielded to the* control of pleasing fancies. At the end of an hour or 
more, tins reverie is succeeded by sleep, which, at the end of eight 
or ten hours, passes off, and is followed by headache, nausea, tremors, 
and other nervous disturbances. Large doses are followed by 
shorter periods of exhilaration and excitement, and by more protracted 
sleep. 

Opium is used in medicine to produce gentle perspiration, relieve 


1034 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


pain, and lessen nervous excitability in all febrile and inflammatory 
diseases; also as an antispasmodic in hysterics, colic, convulsions, 
coughs, etc. It should not be used in cases of constipation of the 
bowels. A solution, composed of two grains of opium to one ounce 
of water, is sometimes a valuable injection in gonorrhoea and spas¬ 
modic stricture. Dose, as a stimulant, one-quarter to one-half a 
grain ; as a narcotic, one to two grains; in some spasmodic affections 
it is given in very large doses. Use only under the direction of a 
physician. 

Morphia, generally called morphine^ is one of the alkaloid princi¬ 
ples of opium. It is used under the various forms of sulphate^ muri¬ 
ate^ acetate^ and valerianate of morphia^ — all having the general 
properties of opium, and are given for similar purposes, in doses of 
one-eighth to one-quarter of a grain. One-sixth of a grain is equal 
to one grain of opium. 

Strong coffee is an excellent antidote to the poisonous effects 
both of opium and morphia. A solution of morphia may be made by 
adding ten grains of the salt to one fluid ounce and a half of distilled 
water, and half an ounce of diluted alcohol, and then adding two 
drops of sulphuric acid, if it be the sulphate of morphia, or two drops 
of acetic acid, if it be the acetate of morphia, or two drops of muri¬ 
atic acid, if. it be the muriate of morphia. The effects of morphia 
may be obtained by sprinkling some of it on a blistered surface. 

Orange-Peel (Aurantii Cortex), — The orange is the fruit of a 
tree belonging to the tropical climates. Orange-juice is a pleasant 
refrigerant, useful in fevers, and particularly in scurvy. Sick per¬ 
sons sucking the juice of the orange, should be careful not to swallow 
any of the skinny portion, or the peel. The peel of the orange is 
chiefly employed to give a pleasant flavor to other medicines, and to 
prevent their nauseating properties. It is a mild tonic, carminative, 
and stomachic, and improves the bitter infusions and decoctions of 
gentian, quassia, Colombo, and Peruvian bark. Orange-peel should 
never be given in substance. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, half a dram to two drams; 
tincture, one ounce and three-quarters to a pint of diluted alcohol, 
chiefly used as an addition to infusions, etc.; syrup, two ounces fluid 
extract or tincture to a pint of simple syrup, used with water as an 
agreeable drink. 

Origanum (^Origanum . —A perennial herb growing in 

Europe and this country. The warm infusion of it causes perspira¬ 
tion, and promotes the menstrual discharge, when interrupted by a 
cold. The oil of origanum is a very useful ingredient in several 
stimulant and rubefacient liniments. 

Parsley {Petroselinum Sativum). — The root of this biennial plant 
is aperient and diuretic, and is used in dropsy, scarlet fever, and 
diseases of the kidneys; also in retention of the urine, gonorrhoea, 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1035 


and strangury. The dose of the infusion is from two to three fluid 
ounces, two or three times a day. 

The bruised leaves are applied with advantage to contusions, 
swelled'breasts, and enlarged glands. 

Partridge Berry (^Mitchella Repens). — This perennial evergreen 
creeping herb grows in dry woods and swampy places throughout 
the United States, and has white, fragrant flowers in June and July. 
It is parturient, diuretic and astringent, and is used in dropsy, sup¬ 
pression of urine, and diarrhoea. It acts as a tonic upon the repro¬ 
ductive- organs, giving tone and vigor to the womb, and making 
labor less tedious. Dose of the decoction, from two to three fluid 
ounces, two or three times a day. 

Peach (^Amygdalus Persiea). — The leaves of the peach are seda¬ 
tive and slightly laxative, and are used in inflammations of the 
stomach and bowels; likewise in irritable bladder, whooping-cough, 
sickness at the stomach, and dysentery. They are used in the form 
of cold infusion, a tablespoonful being a dose, to be taken every hour 
or two. A good tonic is made by adding four ounces of the bruised 
kernels to a quart of honey. 

Pennyroyal {Hedeoma Pulegioides^ Fig. 225). —Pennyroyal is a 
gently stimulant aromatic; it relieves wind colic 
and sick stomach, and qualifies the action of other 
medicines. Like most aromatic herbs, it has the 
property, when given as a warm infusion, of pro¬ 
moting perspiration and of exciting the menses 
when the system is already disposed to the effort. 
In cases of recent suppression, it may be given at 
bedtime as a warm tea, after bathing the feet in 
warm water. The oil of pennyroyal has the prop¬ 
erties of the herb. 

Peppermint (Mentha Piperita). pepper¬ 

mint is a native of England, where it is largely 
cultivated, as it is to some extent in this country, 
for the sake of its essential oil. It is a valuable 
herb, having a strong aromatic smell, and a pun¬ 
gent, warming taste. It may be used in the form of tea, which, 
when largely drunk, imparts warmth to the system. It is valuable 
in colds, flatulent colic, hysterics, spasms, cramps in the stomach, 
nausea and vomiting, and to disguise unpleasant medicines. 

The peppermint furnishes an essential oil, which, dissolved in al¬ 
cohol, forms the essence of peppermint. The dose of this is fifteen to 
twenty drops, on a lump of sugar, or in sweetened water, warm or cold. 

Persimmon (Diospyros Virginiana). — This is a tree growing in 
the Southern and Middle States. The bark and unripe fruit are used 
in medicine, — being astringent and tonic. Persimmon has been 
found useful in chronic diarrhoea, chronic dysentery, hemorrhage 



Fig. 225. 
Pennyroyal. 





1036 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


from the womb, and fever and ague. It is used in the form of infu¬ 
sion and syrup, in doses of a tablespoonful every two or three hours, 
d'he infusion is also used as a wash and glirgle in sore mouth and 
throat, and as an injection in whites. 

Peruvian Bark {Cinchona^ Fig. 226). — This valuable bark is 
derived from several species of the cinchona tree, on the western 
coast of South America. The remedy is said to have been first in¬ 
troduced into Europe in 1640, by the Countess of Cinchon, wife of 
the Viceroy of Peru, on her return to Spain. 

d'here are three varieties of this bark: the pale, the red, and the 
yellow. The pale bark is least liable to 
offend the stomach, and is peihaps the best 
as a general tonic; but for the treatment 
of fever and ague, the red and the yellow 
are both preferable to the pale, and the red 
is considered better than the yellow. 

Cinchona is tonic and antipciiodic, and 
is much used, and with great success, in 
all periodical diseases, as fever and ague, 
remittent fever, neuralgia and epidemic 
diseases; also in chronic diseases attended 
with debility, as scrofula, dropsy, and affec¬ 
tions of the skin. Dose of the powdered 
bark as a tonic, from ten to fifty grains; 
as an antiperiodic, from twenty to seventy- 
five grains. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, half a dram to a dram ; com- 
j)Ound fluid extract, dose, half a dram to a dram; tincture, foul 
ounces to one pint diluted alcohol, dose, one to four drams ; infusion, 
dose, one to one and a half ounces. A good compound infusion of 
cinchona is made by combining one ounce fluid extract with half an 
ounce of fluid extract of snakeroot, two drams of fluid extract of 
orange-peel, one dram of fluid extract of cloves, one dram of carbon¬ 
ate of potassa and one pint of water. Dose, one to one and a half 
ounces. The following is a good nervine and tonic for persons of 
nervous temperaments: fluid extract of cinchona, one ounce ; fluid 
extract of valerian, one ounce; essence of cardamom, two drams; 
dose, one dram every three hours. 

Cinchonia is a white crystalline substance obtained from the Peru¬ 
vian bark. It is sometimes used as a substitute for quinia, in doses 
of from one to three grains, three times a day. 

Sulphate of Quinia is snow white, and in satin-like crystals, 
having an exceedingly bitter taste. It is completely soluble in water 
or alcohol, by adding a few drops of sulphuric acid. It is the chief 
active principle of cinchona, and has similar properties, namely, feb¬ 
rifuge, tonic and antiperiodic; it is, however, less apt to nauseate 





MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1037 


and. oppress the stomach. In the treatment of intermittent fevers, it 
has almost entirely superseded the use of the bark. 

Valerianate of Quinia. — This is a combination of quinia and 
valerianic acid. It is tonic, febrifuge and sedative. It is used for 
headache of a periodic character, and for nervous irritability, wake 
fulness, restlessness, etc. Dose, from half a grain to two grains. 

Petroleum or Rock=Oil is a dark brown or greenish liquid found 
abundantly in the upper strata of the earth in various parts of the 
world. Before the discovery of the deep deposits of the oil by arte¬ 
sian wells, the Indians of New York used to collect it where it 
oozed from the ground, and sold it as a family medicine under the 
name of “ Seneca Oil.” It has been used externally for chilblains, 
chronic rheumatism, diseases of the joints, and skin affections. 
Taken internally, it is stimulating, anti-spasmodic, and sudorific, and 
has been recommended for lung troubles. At present it is used in 
various modified forms. 

Phosphorus. — This is a semi-transparent solid, is flexible, and 
has a waxy lustre. It is extracted from bones by sulphuric acid. 
As a medicine in small doses, it acts as a powerful general stimulant; 
in large doses, as a violent, irritant poison. When taken in sub¬ 
stance it causes irritation of the stomach, and should, therefore, 
always be administered in solution; and even in this form it is ob¬ 
jectionable ; it is better to resort to the phosphates and the hypo- 
phosphites. Phosphorus, being an element in the composition of the 
brain, has been given with advantage in the various forms of ner¬ 
vous debility, as consumption, typhus fever, amaurosis, paralysis, and 
the general breakdown of the vital powers. Phosphorus burns when 
exposed to the air, and should therefore be kept covered with water. 

Pink-Root (S'pigelia Marilandica^ Fig. 227). — This perennial 
herb grows in rich soils in the Middle and Southern 
States. The root is the medicinal part. It is a 
powerful anthelmintic, and is but little used except 
for expelling worms. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, half a dram 
to a dram; compound fluid extract, dose, half a 
dram to two drams; fluid extract of pink-root and 
senna, dose, half a dram to a dram; infusion, half 
an ounce to a pint of water, dose, two to six 
ounces. 

Pipsissewa (^CMmapTiila Umhellata^ Fig. 228). — 
This is a small evergreen plant, growing in the 
United States, and in Northern Europe and Asia. 
It is known by the name of princes^ pine. The 
whole plant is tonic, diuretic and astringent, and 
has proved itself useful in dropsy, general debility, 
rheumatism, chronic disorders of the kidneys, bladder, urethra, etc. 






1038 


MEDICINES AND THEIK PREPARATIONS. 


Preparations* — Fluid extract, dose, one dram; solid extract, dose, 
ten to fifteen grains; infusion, dose, two ounces. 

Plantain (Plantago Major'). — This peren¬ 
nial herb grows both in Europe and America. 
A strong decoction of the tops and the roots is 
highly spoken of for syphilis and scrofula; the 
dose being from two to four fluid ounces, two 
or three times a day. But the bruised leaves 
are most useful when applied to wounds, ulcers, 
bites of poisonous insects, erysipelas, etc. 

Pleurisy-Root (^Asclepias Tuberosa.^ Fig. 
229).—This perennial plant is abundant in 
the Southern States. The root, which is the 
part used, is carminative, tonic, and diuretic; 
used in pleurisy, bronchitis, inflammation of 
the lungs, acute rheumatism and dysentery. The warm infusion 
promotes diaphoresis, without raising the temperature of the body. 
United with the warm infusion of wild-yam root, it is excellent for 
flatulency and wind colic. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, half a dram to two drams; 
tincture, four ounces to a pint of diluted alcohol, dose, three to five 
drams; infusion, dose, one to four ounces; asclepidin, dose, one to 
five grains. Ascelpidin and dioscorein, united in equal parts, make 
a valuable preparation for flatulent and bilious colic ; dose, two to 
three grains. 





Fig. 229. Pleurisy-Root. 


Fig. 230. Poison Hemlock. 


Poison Hemlock (^Conium Maculatum., Fig. 230). — This biennial 
plant is a native of Europe and Asia, and is naturalized in this coun¬ 
try. The leaves and the seeds are used in medicine. Conium is 
narcotic, anodyne, antispasmodic and deobstruent; used in neuralgia, 
asthma, syphilis, chronic rheumatism, and various other affections. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, five to fifteen drops; solid 
extract, dose, half a grain to two grains, tincture, three ounces to a 
pint of diluted alcohol, dose thirty drops to a dram; infusion, half 












MEDICINES AND THEIR RREPARATIONS. 


1039 


an ounce to a pint of water, mainly used as a wash for malignant 
ulcers, etc. Use with care. 

Poison Oak (^Rhus Toxicodendron), — The leaves are the medicinal 
part of this creeping shrub, which is common in this country. The 
form of using this medicine is that of a saturated tincture, made 
from the fresh leaves, and to be kept in well-corked vials. It has 
been found useful in paralysis of the bladder and rectum, in diseases 
of the eyes and skin, and in chronic rheumatism. Dose of the tinc¬ 
ture, from five to seven drops, three times a day. Large doses should 
be avoided. 


Poke (Phytolacca Pecandra,, Fig. 231). — A perennial plant, 
growing in nearly all parts of the country, and 
called garget,, pigeon-herry and scoke. The root 
is the part used. It is emetic, cathartic, altera¬ 
tive and slightly narcotic. It excites the whole 
glandular system, and is used in syphilis, scrof¬ 
ula, rheumatism and affections of the skin. 

The root, buried in hot ashes until soft, is 
then mashed and applied as a poultice for 
felons and various tumors. Dose of the pow¬ 
dered root as an emetic, twelve grains to half 
a dram; as an alterative, from two to five 
grains. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, ten to 
twenty drops; solid extract, dose, one to 
three grains; tincture, four ounces to a pint 
of diluted alcohol, dose, half a dram to a dram; syrup, two ounces to 
fourteen ounces of simple syrup, dose, one to two drams; phytolaccin, 
the active principle, dose, one quarter to one grain. For mercurial 
and syphilitic pains in the bones the following pill is useful: solid 
extract of poke, two drams; solid extract of stillingia, one dram; 
solid extract of stramonium, eight grains. Mix, and divide into sixty 
pills, of which one pill is to be taken every two or three hours. 



Fig. 231. Poke. 


Potassa. — This is used in medicine under the name of caustic 
potassa. It is made by boiling a solution of potassa in a clean iron 
vessel until ebullition ceases, and the potassa melts, and then pouring 
it into cylindrical moulds ; when cold it is to be kept in well-stopped 
bottles. It is a very powerful escharotic, quickly destroying the flesh 
which it touches, and extending its action deep under the surface. It 
differs in this respect from nitrate of silver, which only acts upon the 
surface, and is not, properly speaking, a caustic. 

Caustic potassa is used for forming issues. The method of using 
it for this purpose is to cut in a piece of adhesive plaster a hole as 
large as the desired issue, and then, having stuck this upon the skin, 
to apply the end of the caustic, previously moistened, to the opening. 
This application is to be continued till the life of the part is destroyed, 





1040 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


when the caustic must he neutralized by vinegar, or carefully washed 
off with a wet sponge. 

The following preparations of potassa are used in medicine; — 

Acetate of Potassa QPotassce Acetas). — This is made by the union 
of acetic acid and carbonate of potassa, and in consequence of its 
extreme deliquescence when exposed to the air it is kept in closely- 
stopped bottles. It is diuretic, deobstruent, and mildly cathartic. 
It is used in febrile diseases, several skin diseases, such as psoriasis, 
eczema, and lepra, and particularly in dropsical affections. Dose, as 
a diuretic, from ten to twenty grains; as an aperient from one to two 
drams. 

^icarhonste oi Potassa. (Potassce Bicarhonas ).— This is a solu¬ 
tion of carbonate of potassa, saturated with carbonic acid. This acid is 
diuretic, antacid, and deobstruent; used in dropsy, acidity of the 
stomach, and glandular obstructions. Dose, ten to twenty grains. 
Twenty grains dissolved in eight fluid ounces of water, and mixed 
with four fluid drams of lemon-juice, forms a good effervescing 
draught. 

Bitartrate of Potassa (Potassce. Bitartras). — This salt is better 
known as cream of tartar^ and supertartrate of potassa. It is formed 
from the matter deposited on the bottom and sides of casks, during 
the fermentation of sour wines. As a medicine it is diuretic, cathartic, 
and refrigerent. In small doses it acts as a cooling aperient, gently 
opening the bowels ; in large ones as a hydragogue cathartic, causing 
free, watery stools. This property, as well as its power of acting upon 
the kidneys, causes it to be much used in dropsical complaints. Dis¬ 
solved in boiling water, allowed to cool, and then sweetened with loaf 
sugar, it forms a cooling, pleasant, acid drink. This kind of solution, 
with a little fresh lemon-peel added to it, forms the drink called im¬ 
perial. Combined with sulphur, it is often used in skin diseases. 
Dose, as an aperient, a dram or two; as a hydragogue cathartic, half 
an ounce to an ounce; as a diuretic in dropsical complaints, a dram 
and a half to two drams several times a day. Cream of tartar, pow¬ 
dered rhatany, and myrrh, mixed in equal proportions, form a good 
preparation for cleansing the teeth. 

Carbonate of Potassa (^Potassce Carhonas'). — Carbonate of potassa 
is purified pearlash., and is frequently called salt of tartar. Carbonate 
of potassa has the same medicinal properties with the bicarbonate, and 
is used for similar purposes. 

Chlorate of Potassa. — This is prepared by passing an excess of 
chlorine through carbonate of potassa. It is refrigerent and diuretic, 
and is given in scurvy, scarlet fever, etc., and as a wash in canker in 
the mouth, and various unhealthy ulcers, and as an injection in 
leucorrhcea and gleet. 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1041 


Citrate of Potassa (Potassce Citras) . — A grateful, cooling diapho¬ 
retic, long and much used in fevers, chiefly in the forms of the neutral 
mixture, and effervescing draught. 

Solution of Citrate of Potassa (Liquor Potassoe Citratis'), — This 
is prepared by taking half a pint of lemon-juice, and adding bicarbonate 
of potassa gradually to it until it is saturated, then filtering. This 
passes under the name of neutral mixture, saline mixture, and efferves¬ 
cing draught. It is a valuable refrigerent diaphoretic, well adapted 
to the hot stage of remittent and intermittent fevers, and indeed to 
almost all cases of fever, with a dry, hot skin. The dose is a table¬ 
spoonful, or half a fluid ounce, whiqh should be well diluted when 
taken, and be repeated every two or three hours, according to the 
necessities of the case. 

Solution of Potassa (Liquor Potassoe'). — This is a transparent, 
caustic fluid, which requires to be kept in green bottles, tightly corked, 
ft is antacid, antilithic, and diuretic. It is used in some affections of 
the skin, and scrofula, but more particularly for scalding of the ure¬ 
thra, in gonorrhoea; in this case, it is well to unite a few drops of 
laudanum with it. The dose is from fifteen to twenty-five drops, two 
or three times a day, in half a tumblerful of water. In dyspeptic 
cases, attended with acidity of the stomach, it may be associated with 
some simple bitters. 

Sulphate of Potassa (Potassoe Sulphas). — This is a mild purga¬ 
tive, operating without irritation or pain. As an aperient, it should 
be given in doses of from a scruple to a dram. Ten grains of rhubarb 
and one dram of carbonate of potassa, united, and divided into six 
powders, is an excellent alterative cathartic for children having defec¬ 
tive digestion and nutrition, and a tumid state of the abdomen. One 
powder may be given at a time, as often as may be necessary to open 
the bowels gently. 

Tartrate of Potassa {Potassoe Tartras). —This often passes under 
the name of soluble tartar. It is a mild, cooling purgative, operating, 
as most of the neutral salts do, without much pain, and producing 
watery stools. It is useful in fevers. Combining it with senna destroys 
its tendency to produce griping of the bowels. The dose varies from 
a dram to an ounce, according to the effect desired. 

Potassium. —This is a soft, bluish-white metal. Its union with 
oxygen, in the proportion of one equivalent of each, forms potassa or 
potash. The following preparations of it are used in medicine: — 

Bromide of Potassium (Potassii Bromidum). — This is a perma¬ 
nent, colorless salt, having a pungent, saline taste, a little more acrid 
than common salt, yet similar to it. As a medicine it is alterative and 
resolvent, and is used occasionally for secondary syphilis, scrofula, and 
enlarged spleen. Dose, from three to five grains, three times a day, in 
pill or solution. One dram of the bromide of potassium, rubbed up 


1042 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


with an ounce of lard, makes an ointment which has been used with • 
some good effect in goitre and scrofulous affections. 

Cyanuret of Potassium {Potassii Cyanuretum), — This is emi¬ 
nently poisonous, acting both as a medicine and as a poison, like 
hydrocyanic acid. It has therefore been recommended as a substitute 
for that acid. The dose is one-eighth of a grain, dissolved in half a 
fluid ounce of water. 

Sulphuret of Potassium (Potassii Sulphuretum), — This is called 
liver of sulphur^ and hepar^ being composed of sulphur and potassium. 

It has been used in chronic bronchitis, asthma, whooping-cough, and 
rheumatism. Half an ounce to an ounce of it, dissolved in several 
gallons of warm water, makes a valuable sulphur bath for several 
skin diseases, as itch, prurigo, etc. 

Prickly Ash {Xanthoxylum Fraxineum). — This shrub grows in 
various parts of the United States. The leaves and capsules have 
a pleasant, aromatic smell. Its medicinal properties 
are in the bark and berries. The bark is stimulant, 
tonic, alterative, and sialagogue. It is used to rouse 
and excite the system, when in a languid state, and for 
derangements of the liver, rheumatism, and chronic 
syphilis. It stimulates and strengthens mucous mem¬ 
branes, and is a valuable tonic in low typhoid fever. 
Applied externally, it improves indolent and malig¬ 
nant ulcers. Dose of the powdered bark, from ten to 
twenty grains, three times a day. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, fifteen to 
twenty-five drops; tincture, four ounces to a pint of 
diluted alcohol, dose, half a dram to a dram; infusion, 
half an ounce to a pint of water, dose, half an ounce 
to two ounces; xanthoxylin, the active principle, dose, 
two to five grains. 

For chronic rheumatism the following is a good preparation: xan¬ 
thoxylin, one dram; cimicifugin, one dram; apocynin, one dram; 
diluted alcohol, one pint; dose, three drams, three times a day. 

Prickly Ash Berries are carminative, antispasmodic, and stimulant, 
and have a special direction to mucous membranes. The tincture is 
excellent in nervous diseases, spasms of the bowels, flatulency, and 
diarrhoea; and, combined with the tincture of poke-berries, is very 
serviceable in chronic rheumatism and syphilis. It is said to have 
been used with great success, in the West, in Asiatic cholera. Dose 
of the tincture, from ten drops to a fluid dram, in sweetened water. 
Dose of the oil of prickly-ash berries, from two to seven drops, on 
sugar. 

Prickly Elder (^Aralia Spinosa'). — This is a tree which grows in 
the Southern and Western States, and is called Southern prickly ash., 
and toothache tree. The bark is stimulant, alterative, and diaphoretic. 







MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1043 


The fresli bark, emetic and cathartic. The tincture is serviceable in 
skin diseases, syphilis, and chronic rheumatism. The bark is siala- 
gogue, and in small doses, powdered, is said to relieve the dry and 
parched condition of the throat, in many diseases. 

Pumpkin-5eeds — The infusion of pumpkin-seeds, made by plac¬ 
ing them in water without bruising them, is mucilaginous and diu¬ 
retic, and is used in inflammation of the stomach and bowels, scald¬ 
ing of the urine, strangury, etc. But this infusion is more particularly 
valuable for its power of expelling the tape-worm. It may be drunk 
freely. The oil of pumpkin seeds, obtained by expression, has similar 
properties, and may be taken in doses of six to ten drops, several times 
a day. 

Quassia (Picroena Excelsa), — This is the wood of a tall tree grow¬ 
ing in Surinam and some of the West India Islands. It is an intensely 
bitter tonic, febrifuge, and anthelmintic, possessing in the highest de¬ 
gree the properties of the simple bitters. It invigorates the digestive 
organs, without producing much excitement of the circulation. It is 
well adapted to dyspepsia, and the debility of the stomach which suc¬ 
ceeds acute disease, and indeed all complaints where simple bitter is 
required. Its generic title perpetuates the name of the negro Quassi, 
of Surinam, who first discovered its medicinal virtues, about the mid¬ 
dle of the last century, and who became famous for treating malig 
nant fevers with it, as a secret’remedy. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, half a dram to a dram; solia 
extract, dose, three to five grains; tincture, dose, four to eight drams; 
infusion, two drams to a pint of water, dose, two to three ounces. 

Queen of the Meadow (JEupatorium Purpureum). — This peren 
nial herb grows in low, swampy places, in many parts of the country 
It is called trumpet weed., and, from its fine medicinal effects in com 
plaints of the urinary organs, gravel-root. It is an excellent diuretic, 
tonic, and stimulant. Used in gout, rheumatism, hematuria, chronio 
diseases of the urinary organs, strangury, gravel, and dropsical affec* 
tions. The decoction is the form in which it is most used; the dose 
being two to three ounces, two or three times a day. 

A preparation called eupurpurin is also extracted from it, which, in 
three-grain doses, is a powerful diuretic, occasioning, in some cases, it 
is said, an enormous fiow of urine. 

Queen’s Root (^Stillingia Sylvatica'). — This perennial herb grows 
in sandy soils in the Southern States. The root is medicinal, being, 
in large doses, emetic and cathartic; in small doses, an alterative of 
considerable value in skin diseases, rheumatism, syphilis, and scrofula, 
and in such other complaints as require alteratives. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, five to ten drops; compound 
fluid extract, dose, half a dram to a dram; tincture, two ounces to a 
pint of diluted alcohol, dose, one to three drams; infusion, dose, one 
to one and one-half ounces. In chronic bronchitis and similar com- 


1044 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


plaints, the following syrup is well recommended: fluid extract of 
stillingia, two ounces; fluid extract of bloodroot, two ounces; fluid 
extract of cherry bark, two ounces; balsam of tolu, one ounce and »■ 
half; syrup, two and a half pints. Dose, one to two drams. 

Red Chickweed (Anagallis Arvensis). — An annual plant, com¬ 
mon in Europe and this country. It has small scarlet flowers in June 
and July. It has been used in nervous diseases, as mania, delirium, 
epilepsy, and particularly hydrophobia. Old and ill-conditioned uh 
cers are improved by its use, in the form of poultice. 

Red Root {Ceanothus Americanus). — This shrubby plant has the 
names of New Jersey tea and wild snowball^ and is found in all parts 
of the United States. The bark is antispasmodic, sedative, astringent, 
and expectorant, and tastes and smells like the peach-leaf. A decoc¬ 
tion is useful in dysentery, diarrhoea, whooping-cough, and chronic 
bronchitis, in doses of a tablespoonful three times a day. It makes, 
likewise, a very good injection in leucorrhoea and gleet, and gargle 
for ulcerations of the mouth and throat. 

Red Clover (^Trifolium Pratense'). —The blossoms of this very 
common biennial plant are medicinal, and are highly recommended 
in deep, ragged, and cancerous ulcers, as well as in badly condi¬ 
tioned burns. They are soothing and detergent, and promote health¬ 
ful granulation. Taken in large doses for a year or so, it is said to 
be good for cancer. 

Preparation, — Solid extract, to be used as an external applica¬ 
tion, chiefly in the form of ointment, made by uniting four ounces of 
it with half a pound of lard. 

Red Rose (^Rom G-allica'), — The petals of the rose are slightly 
tonic and astringent, and are considerably employed in chronic in¬ 
flammations of the eye. Rose-water, distilled from the petals, is 
used for similar purposes. 

Red Saunders QPterocarpus Santalinus). —This is a large tree 
growing in Ceylon, the wood of which imparts a red color to alcohol, 
ether, and alkaline solutions, but not to water. It is almost solely 
used for imparting color to tinctures, etc., having little or no medi¬ 
cinal properties. 

Rosin. — This is the solid resinous matter which remains after 
the distillation of turpentine. It is much used as an ingredient in 
ointments and plasters, but is never taken internally. The vapor 
which arises from heating it upon some hot surface is sometimes in¬ 
haled with great advantage in chronic bronchitis, and other chronic 
affections of the air-tubes. 

Rhatany {Krameria Triandra), — This is a native of Peru, grow¬ 
ing in dry, sandy places. It is a powerful astringent, and a gentle 
tonic. It is given with advantage in excessive menstruation, vom- 




























































MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1045 


iting of blood, chronic diarrhoea, leucorrhoea, and inability to retain 
the urine; likewise, as a local a.pplication in falling of the bowel. 
It is valuable also for nosebleed, and bleeding gums. Dose of the 
powder, for internal use, from ten to twenty-live grains. 

Preparations .—Fluid extract, dose, half a dram, to a dram; solid 
extract, dose, five to fifteen grains; tincture, three ounces to a pint 
of diluted alcohol, dose, three to five drams; infusion, two ounces to 
a pint of water, dose, half an ounce. 

Rhubarb (^Rheum Palmatum). — This root is derived from several 
species of rheum, and passes under the various names of European., 
Russian., Chinese., East India., and Turkey rhubarb. The variety 
called Russian or Turkey rhubarb (for they are the same) is consid¬ 
ered the best. Rhubarb is cathartic, astringent, and tonic. It is 
much used in mild cases of diarrhoea and cholera infantum; likewise, 
as a stomachic and gentle tonic in dyspepsia, accompanied with a 
debilitated state of the digestive organs. It is a valuable remedy in 
the complaints of children, and is deservedly' much used in treating 
them. It acts upon the muscular coat of the bowels, producing thick 
rather than watery stools. It is therefore not adapted to the treatment 
of dropsical complaints. Its astringency may be increased by roasting 
it, or diminished by combination with an alkali. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, half a dram to a dram; aro¬ 
matic fiuid extract, dose, half a dram to a dram; fluid extract of 
rhubarb and senna, dose, half a dram to a dram; solid extract, dose, 
two to eight grains; tincture, an ounce and a half of fluid extract, 
and half an ounce of essence of cardamom, to a pint of diluted alcohol, 
dose, half an ounce to an ounce and a half; infusion, one ounce fluid 
extract and two ounces spirit of cinnamon to a pint of water, dose, 
one to three ounces; syrup, three ounces of fluid extract to fourteen 
of syrup, dose, two to five drams. 

Rosemary (Rosemarinus Officinalis).— This evergreen shrub grows 
on the borders of the Mediterranean, and is cultivated in Europe and 
this country. It is stimulant, antispasmodic, and emmenagogue. It 
is not used in this country, however, except to perfume ointments, 
tinctures, and syrups. 

Round-Leaved Pyrola {Pyrola Rotundifolia). — This perennial 
shrub grows in various parts of our country, and bears white flowers 
in June. It is called canker-lettuce., pear-leaf wintergreen^ etc. Its 
medicinal properties are those of a tonic, astringent, antispasmodic, 
and diuretic. Used in decoction for epilepsy and other nervous dis¬ 
orders ; also for gravel, and other diseases of the bladder and kid¬ 
neys. The decoction may be used, too, as a wash for ulcerations of 
the mouth, indolent ulcers, and chronic ophthalmia. The decoction 
may likewise be used in making poultices for painful swellings, boils, 
and carbuncles. It may be taken in doses of from one to four 
ounces. 


1046 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


Rue {liuta Graveolens), — Rue has the medicinal virtues of the 
antispasmodics, anthelmintics, and emmenagogues. In large doses 
it is poisonous. It is useful in wind-colic, worms, hysterics, epilepsy, 
etc. Dose of the leaves, from ten to fifteen grains; of the infusion, 
from one to two ounces. Use with care. 

Saffron {Crocus Sativus), — This is a native of Greece and Asia 
Minor; it is also cultivated in France, England, and America, as 
well as in other countries. It has been thought to be stimulant and 
antispasmodic in small doses, relieving pain, and producing sleep; in 
large doses, giving rise to headache, and producing stupor. In the 
general judgment of the profession it is now considered, however, as 
having very little activity. It is accordingly not much used, except 
in domestic practice, where it has some reputation among nurses for 
its power to bring out measles, and other eruptions. It is also thought 
to be beneficial in amenorrhoea, dysmenorrhcea, chlorosis, and hys¬ 
teria. It is chiefly used at present to impart flavor and color to 
tinctures. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, twenty to forty drops; tinc¬ 
ture, dose, half a dram to a dram; infusion, one dram to a pint of 
water, dose, one to two ounces. 

5age (^Salvia Officinalis'). — The tops and leaves of this well known 
garden plant are aromatic, astringent, diaphoretic, and slightly tonic. 
The infusion is useful in debilitated conditions of the stomach, at¬ 
tended with flatulence ; it frequently relieves nausea; the cold infu¬ 
sion checks and sometimes entirely removes the night-sweats of 
hectic. The infusion is useful as a gargle in inflammation of the 
throat, particularly if united with a little honey and alum. Dose of 
the infusion, from one to three fluid ounces. 

Sarsaparilla {Smilax Officinalis). — Grows in swamps and hedges 
in the Middle and Southern States. The root has long been held in 
esteem as an alterative, diuretic, and demulcent, being used in scrof¬ 
ula, chronic rheumatism, and affections of the skin ; but its most ex¬ 
tensive and useful application has been found to be in the treatment 
of secondary and tertiary syphilis; and especially in the broken con¬ 
dition of the system which follows the use of mercury in these 
affections. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, one dram; fluid extract of sar¬ 
saparilla and dandelion, dose, one dram; solid extract, dose, five to 
twenty grains; infusion, dose, two to three ounces. 

Sassafras (Laurus Sassafras). — This tree is common in theUnited 
States. The bark of the root, which is the medicinal part, is altera¬ 
tive diuretic, diaphoretic, and a warm aromatic stimulant. It is 
mainly used to improve the flavor of other medicines, and also as a 
constituent of those compounds which are recommended in chronic 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1047 


rheumatism, syphiloid affections, eruptions of the skin, and 
scurvy. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, one to two drams; tincture, 
six ounces to a pint of alcohol, dose, half an ounce to an ounce; in 
fusion, two ounces to a pint of water, to be drunk as desired. 

Savin (Juniperus Sahind). — An evergreen shrub, growing in 
Europe and North America. The tops and leaves are diuretic, dia¬ 
phoretic, emmenagogue, and anthelmintic. The warm infusion pro¬ 
motes menstruation, and destroys worms. Care should be taken never 
to administer this medicine during pregnancy, its effects being violent 
and dangerous. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, ten to twenty drops; solid 
extract, dose, one to three grains; tincture, four ounces to a pint of 
diluted alcohol, dose, half a dram to a dram and a half; infusion, half 
an ounce to a pint of water, dose, half an ounce to an ounce. The 
following mixture is useful in amenorrhoea: fluid extract of savin, 
half a dram; fluid extract of ginger, one dram; sulphate of potassa, 
two drams. Mix. Dose, half a dram twice a day. The oil of savin 
has properties similar to those of the leaves. Dose, from two to flve 
drops, on sugar. 

Scammony (^Convolvulus Scammonia'). — This plant is a native of 
Syria and the neighboring countries. The medicinal part is the har¬ 
dened juice of the fresh root. It is an energetic cathartic, producing 
griping, and sometimes operating with decided harshness, on which 
account it is generally combined with other medicines which lessen 
the severity of its action. The dose is from flve to fifteen grains. 

Scullcap (^Scutellaria Lateriflora^ Fig. 233).—An indigenous plant, 
flowering in July and August. The whole herb is used. It is a valuable 
nervine, tonic, and antispasmodic; while it 
gives support to the nerves, it imparts both 
quietness and strength to the whole system, 
and does not, like other nervines, leave the 
patient excited and irritable. It finds its use 
in the treatment of neuralgia, chorea, con¬ 
vulsions, lockjaw, and most other diseases ot 
the nervous system. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, half a 
dram to a dram ; compound fluid extract, dose, 
half a dram to a dram ; tincture, four ounces to 
a pint of diluted alcohol, dose, one to two 
drams; infusion, dose, a wineglassful three 
times a dayscutellarin, the active principle, 
dose, two to flve grains. 

Seneka (Polygala Senega). — An indigenous plant, commonly 
called snakerooU the root of which is used in medicine. It is a stim^ 








1048 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


ulating diuretic and expectorant, and in large doses an emetic and 
cathartic. It excites all the secretions. It is useful in chronic 
bronchitis, and in other chronic affections of the breathing-tubes. 

Preparations, — Fluid extract, dose, twenty to twenty-five drops; 
infusion, dose, one ounce to an ounce and a half; syrup, four ounces 
of fluid extract to twelve ounces simple syrup, dose, half a dram to 
a dram. The following is a very good expectorant cough prepara¬ 
tion : fluid extract of seneka, three drams; fluid extract of squill, 
half a dram; syrup of tolu, two drams; paregoric, two drams; car¬ 
bonate of ammonia, twenty grains; water, four and a half ounces. 
Mix. Dose, one dram. 

Senna. QCassia Acutifolia.'). — Grow^s abundantly in Upper Egypt. 
The leaves are the medicinal part. It is a mild, active, and certain 
cathartic, and is much used in combination with other medicines, 
particularly epsom salts. The addition of cloves, ginger, cinnamon, 
and other aromatics, removes all its tendency to griping, and makes 
it a safe and gentle yet active purgative, calling for an evacuation 
of the bowels. 

Preparations. —Fluid extract, dose, one to two drams; fluid extract 
of senna and jalap, dose, half a dram to a dram; solid extract, dose, 
three to five grains; tincture, three ounces to thirteen ounces of 
diluted alcohol, dose, half an ounce to an ounce ; infusion, two ounces 
to a pint of water, dose, half an ounce to an ounce. 

Shrubby Trefoil (Ptelea Trifoliata). — This shrub, which grows 
in the West, is called wafer-ash and wingseed. Its bark and root 
have tonic properties, and are used in intermittent and remittent 
fevers, and wherever nature needs a lift in getting up from exhaust¬ 
ing complaints. The medicine, like other tonics, improves the ap¬ 
petite and digestion. Dose of the solid extract, from three to five 
grains, three or four times a day; of the cold infusion, a tablespoon¬ 
ful every two or three hours. 

The oleo-resinous principle of the crude bark is called ptelein, and 
is a powerful tonic. Dose, one or two grains three or four times a 
day. 

Skunk-Cabbage {Symplocarpus Pcetidus., Fig. 234). — A peren¬ 
nial plant, growing in moist places throughout the United States; 
sometimes called meadow-cahhage. The root is stimulant, expectorant, 
antispasmodic, and slightly narcotic. It is given for pulmonary and 
bronchial affections, epilepsy, hysterics, asthma, whooping-cough, 
and irritable nerves. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, twenty to fifty drops; tinc¬ 
ture, three ounces to a pint of alcohol, dose, half a dram to a dram; 
infusion, dose, one to one and a half ounces; syrup, two ounces of 
fluid extract to eight ounces of simple syrup, dose, two to three drams. 
For asthma and cough, and to promote expectoration and remove 


MEDICINES AND tHEIR PREPARATIONS 


i049 


tightness across the chest, the following is a very good compound 
preparation: one ounce each of the fluid extract of skunk-cabbage, 
lobelia, bloodroot, pleurisy-root, and ginger, one pint of water, and 
three pints of alcohol. Dose, two to three drams. 



Fig. 234. Skunk-Cabbage. 


Fig. 235. Slippery Elm. 


Slippery Elm (^Ulmus Fulva^ Fig 235). — The inner bark of 
this well-known tree is nutritive, demulcent, emollient, and slightly 
expectorant and diuretic. It is valuable as a demulcent drink in in¬ 
flammations of the lungs, stomach, bowels, bladder, and kidneys; 
also for coughs, strangury, dysentery, and the summer complaints of 
infants. It makes a valuable poultice for various purposes. 

Small Spikenard (Aralia Ffudicaulis). — This plant grows 
throughout the United States, from Canada to the Carolinas, in 
rocky woods. It is called false sarsaparilla and wild sarsaparilla. 
The root is a gentle stimulant, diaphoretic and alterative. It is used 
in domestic practice, and by some physicians, in rheumatism, syph¬ 
ilis, and cutaneous diseases. The American spikenard, Aralia race- 
mosa^ resembles the small spikenard in medicinal properties. Either 
of these roots is valuable in chronic affections of the lungs and air- 


tubes, 


Soap (Sapo). — Soap is laxative, antacid, and antilithic, and is 
much used in combination with cathartics, to lessen the severity of 
their action. In mesenteric fever, advantage is derived from rubbing 
the tumid belly of children with a strong lather of soap, morning and 
evening; and few things are more effectual in removing hardened 
feces from the rectum in cases of obstinate costiveness than an injec¬ 
tion of soap-suds. Soap is now made out of so many kinds of fat 
that care should be taken to use as medicine only the best Castile. 

Sodium. — This is a soft white metal. United with oxygen in 
the proportion of one equivalent each, it forms the alkali, soda. The 
following ai e the principal preparations of soda used in medicine: —■ 














1050 


MEDICINES AND THEIE PREPARATIONS. 


Bicarbonate of Soda (SodcB Bicarbonas) .— This is a white, inodoD 
ous powder, sometimes called supercarhonate of soda. It is antacid, 
antilithic, and slightly diuretic. It is chiefly used in preparing what 
are called soda-powders, and in various preparations of medicine, when 
an antacid is required. It is also taken simply dissolved in water, 
for acidity of the stomach. 

Borate of Soda {Sodce Boras). — This is everywhere known by the 
name of borax. It exists naturally formed in various parts of the 
world, and is likewise manufactured. It is a mild refrigerent and 
diuretic; also emmenagogue, promoting menstruation, facilitating par¬ 
turition, and favoring the expulsion of the after-birth by its speciflc 
influence upon the womb. It has<;onsiderable reputation in the treat¬ 
ment of urinary diseases, particularly those connected with an excess 
of uric acid. The dose is from twenty to twenty-five grains in solu¬ 
tion. Combined with rose-water, honey, and various other things, 
according to circumstances, borax makes a valuable wash for inflam¬ 
matory affections of the mouth and throat, skin-diseases, etc. 

Chloride of Sodium QSodii CJdoridum'). —This is the chemical 
name of muriate of soda or common salt. In small doses, it is tonic, 
alterative and anthelmintic. It checks bleeding from the lungs, when 
taken in teaspoonful doses. The dose as an alterative is from ten to 
sixty grains. As moderately used in food by most civilized people, 
it promotes digestion and improves the general health. 

Sulphate of Soda (^Sodce Sulphas'). — This has a very pretty 
name, but it will not sound half as well to thousands of young per¬ 
sons, when they are told that it is the well-known Glauber's salts. 
From half an ounce to an ounce of it dissolved in half a tumblerful 
of water acts as a cathartic; a smaller dose, as a laxative and diu¬ 
retic. Its nauseous and bitter taste may be somewhat concealed by 
a little cream of tartar or lemon-juice. 

Sulphite of Soda. (^Sodce Sulphis). — This preparation is in the 
form of transparent crystals, and is very soluble in water. In doses 
of sixty grains, this is said to have been used with success in frothy 
vomitings; it is also well spoken of as a remedy in acute rheuma¬ 
tism, and as a wash in thrush and some diseases of the skin. 

Tartrate of Potassa and Soda (SodcB et Potassce Tartras). — This 
is one of the mildest and most cooling purgatives among the salts. 
It is known as Rochelle salt., and generally agrees well with irritable 
and delicate stomachs. Dose, from four drams to two ounces, in a 
tumblerful of water. The gentle physic called Seidlitz powders is 
composed of two drams of rochelle salt and two scruples of bicarbon¬ 
ate of soda in a blue paper, and thirty-five grains of tartaric acid in a 
white paper. The contents of each paper is dissolved in half a tum¬ 
bler of water by itself; 'one solution is then poured into the other, 
and the whole is drunk during the effervescence. 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1051 


Solomon’s Seal (^Convalaria MuUiJlord). — This is one of our own 
perennial plants, and is found in various parts of the country. The 
root is tonic, mucilaginous and astringent. It acts especially upon 
mucous tissues, and has therefore found its use in clironic dysentery 
and piles, and in chronic inflammation of the stomach and bowels. 
Dose of the decoction, or infusion, from one to four fluid ounces, 
three or four times a day. Large doses purge and vomit. The de¬ 
coction applied locally, relieves the inflammation caused by the poison 
ivy. 

Solution of Arsenite of Potassa (Liquor Potassce Arsenitis ),— 
This is known under the names of arsenical solution and Fowler's 
solution. It is a transparent liquid, having the color, taste and 
smell of spirits of lavender. It has the general action upon the 
human body of the arsenical preparations. It is the preparation 
generally resorted to where arsenic is given internally, and is used 
\^ith considerable success in intermittent fever, leprosy and several 
other skin diseases, St. Vitus’s dance, periodical headache, and some 
other complaints. The dose is from three to five drops, three times 
a day, given in water; generally, it is better not to go beyond five 
drops. Sometimes it disturbs the stomach and binds the bowels, 
producing headache, dizziness and confusion of mind. When such 
effects follow its use, it must be laid aside and a purgative given. 
After an interval of two weeks, it may be resumed in smaller doses. 
It often requires to be used for several months. 

Spanish Flies (Cantharis Vesicatoria), — These insects are of a 
beautiful, shining, golden-green color. They attach themselves to 
such trees, in France, Spain and Italy, as the white poplar, elder, 
privet and lilac, upon the leaves of which they feed. They make 
their appearance in swarms upon these trees in May and June, and 
are shaken off in the morning while torpid with the cold. Internally 
administered, they are a powerful stimulant, exercising a peculiar 
influence over the urinary and genital organs. In large doses, they 
excite violent inflammation of the alimentary canal and urinary or¬ 
gans, strangury, irritation of the sexual organs, headache, delirium, 
and convulsions; also painful priapism, vomiting, bloody stools, sali¬ 
vation, fetid breath, hurried breathing, and difficulty of swallowing. 
They are given internally for chronic gonorrhoea, leucorrhoea, seminal 
weakness, and paralysis of the bladder. Dose of the powder, from 
half a grain to a grain; of the tincture, from twenty to fifty drops. 
Solution of potassa given every hour, in thirty-drop doses, is a 
remedy for strangury produced by cantharides. Spanish flies are 
used externally, in the form of blistering plaster; also in the form of 
tincture, mixed with various solutions, to produce irritation and red¬ 
ness of the skin. 

Spearmint (Mentha Viridis'). — This has carminative, diuretic 
and antispasmodic virtues. The warm infusion of it is much em- 


1052 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


ployed in domestic practice to produce perspiration after taking cold, 
and while suffering from feverish symptoms from various causes. 
The oil of spearmint has similar properties Avith the herb, and may 
be taken in five- to eight-drop doses, on sugar. One ounce of the oil 
of spearmint dissolved in a pint of alcohol, constitutes the essence of 
spearmint. 

Spermaceti (^Cetaceum), — This is a white crystalline substance 
obtained from the head of the spermaceti whale. In househeld prac¬ 
tice, it is considerably used for the coughs and colds of children, 
being generally simmered with molasses or white sugar. It forms a 
part of several cerates and ointments. 

Spider’s Web {Tela Araneo^. — The web of the black or brown 
spider, gathered in barns, cellars, etc., is sometimes given in five- or 
six-grain doses, in pill form, and it is said with good effect, in peri¬ 
odical headache, hysterics, St. Vitus’s dance, asthma, and fever and 
ague. It is likewise applied externally to check bleeding. Care 
should be taken to have it clean and free from dust. 

Spirit of Nitric Ether (^Spiritus Athens Nitrici), — The general 
reader will know this article better under the name of sweet spirits of 
nitre. It is diuretic, diaphoretic, antispasmodic and stimulant, and 
in large doses, a narcotic poison. It is much used in diseases of the 
urinary organs, either alone or combined with sedatives, and other 
diuretics. Dose, from twenty to thirty drops, to be taken in water, 
three or four times a day. 

Sponge (^Spongia), — When burned, this is used as an alterative in 
scrofula, scrofulous tumors, goitre, and obstinate diseases of the skin. 
It is much employed by homoeopathic physicians, though it has much 
less remedial power than iodine. Dose, one to two drams, mixed 
with honey or syrup. 

Spurred Rye {Secale Qomuturri). — This is a diseased product of 
rye, known by the name of ergot. This article has a peculiar effect upon 
the womb, causing it to contract with great energy, when given in full 
doses. It should never be given, however, continuously, for a great 
length of time, as it has been known, when so used, to produce dry 
gangrene, typhus fever, and nervous disorders connected with con¬ 
vulsions. Such were its effects in certain provinces of France, in 
consequence of the use of rye bread contaminated with it. It is use¬ 
ful in excessive uterine hemorrhage, which it arrests by causing the 
womb to contract, and thus to condense its tissue and close up its 
bleeding vessels. It has also been successful in bleeding from the 
lungs. 

Preparations, — Fluid extract, dose, half a dram to a dram; tinc¬ 
ture, four ounces to a pint of diluted alcohol, dose, two and a half to 
five drams; infusion, dose, one to two ounces; wine, five ounces of 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1053 


fluid extract to a pint of sherry wine, dose, two to three drams, in 
cases of labor; for other purposes, one to two drams. 

Squill {Scilla Maritima). — A perennial plant growing in coun¬ 
tries on the Mediterranean. In large doses it is emetic and purga¬ 
tive ; in small doses expectorant and diuretic. It is used in pulmonary 
affections to increase expectoration, and in dropsical complaints to 
augment the secretions of the kidneys. Dose of the dried root, one to 
five grains, generally to be united with nitre or ipecac. 

Preparations, — Fluid extract, dose, as an expectorant and diuretic, 
two to six drops ; as an emetic, twelve to twenty drops; compound 
fluid extract, dose, ten to twenty drops; tincture, two ounces to a 
pint of diluted alcohol, dose, twenty to thirty drops; syrup, dose, 
a quarter to half a dram. 

StarsQrass (Aletris Parinosa,, Fig. 236). — This plant is found in 
dry soils throughout most parts of the United 
States, and called unicorn-root^ ague-root^ and 
crow-corn. The root is an intensely bitter tonic, 
and is used to improve the tone of the stomach, 
and for flatulent colic and hysterics. It is said 
also to give tone to the female generative organs, 
affording a protection against miscarriage. The 
Eclectics call it one of their best agents in chlo¬ 
rosis, suppressed menstruation, engorgement and 
falling of the womb, and painful menstruation. 

Dose of the powdered root, from five to ten 
grains, three times a day. 

Preparations, — Fluid extract, dose, ten to 
twenty drops; tincture, two ounces to a pint of 
diluted alcohol, dose, half a dram to a dram; infusion, two drams to 
a pint of water, dose, one or two ounces; syrup, dose, one to two 
drams; ale tridin, the active principle, dose, one to three grains. 

St. Ignatius’ Bean (Paha Sancti Ignatii ),— The seeds are the 
part used, and are the product of the Ignatia Amara^ — a tree of 
middle size, growing in the Philippine Islands, and is a species of the 
strychnos. These seeds possess a large amount of strychnine, and 
consequently, in medicinal doses, are a powerful nervine tonic, and 
are used for improving the digestive functions, and for rousing and 
strengthening the whole system when prostrated by nervous com¬ 
plaints. 

Preparations, — Fluid extract, dose, five to ten drops; solid ex¬ 
tract, dose, half a grain to a grain and a half. 

Storax (Styrax Officinale), — This is the hardened juice of the 
storax, a native of the countries along the Mediterranean. It is a 
stimulant and expectorant, and is used for chronic bronchitis, laryn¬ 
gitis, and cough. The liquid storax is sometimes employed instead 







1054 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


of copaiba in gonorrhoea and gleet. The dose is from ten to fifteen 
grains. Storax is a constituent in the compound tincture of benzoin. 

Stramonium {Datura Stramonium^ Fig. 237).— This annual 
plant is most known in this country by the 
name of Jamestown weed ; in England by that 
of tJiornapple. The leaves and seeds are med¬ 
icinal. Stramonium is a powerful narcotic; it 
is also antispasmodic, anodyne, and sedative. 
It is used in various nervous affections, as 
chorea, epilepsy, palsy, tetanus, and mania. 
It is much used for relieving acute pains, etc. 
Taken in large doses, it is a powerful poison. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, five to 
fifteen drops; solid extract, dose, half a grain 
to a grain; tincture, two ounces to a pint of alcohol, dose, half a 
dram to a dram, and to be gradually increased. Use with care. 

Sulphur. — This is considerably used in medicine, being laxative, 
diaphoretic, and resolvent. It is chiefly used for piles, chronic rheu¬ 
matism, gout, asthma, and those affections of the breathing organs 
not attended with acute inflammation. Externally and internally, 
it is much employed in skin-diseases, particularly for itch, for which 
it is a specific. In these affections, it is frequently applied in the 
form of sulphur baths. The dose of sulphur is from one to three 
drams, mixed with syrup, molasses, or milk. When sublimed, 
this article is cdllQdi flowers of sulphur., which is the form in which 
it is chiefly used in medicine. 

Sumach (^Rhus Gdabrurn). — Found in almost all parts of the 
United States in old, neglected fields, and by the side of fences. The 
bark and berries are astringent, tonic, antiseptic, and diuretic, and 
are used in diarrhoea, dysentery, gonorrhoea, whites, hectic fever, 
and scrofula. The berries make a valuable gargle in quinsy and 
ulcerations of the mouth and throat, and also a useful wash for 
ringworm, tetter, and ulcers. The excrescences which grow upon 
the leaves have nearly as much astringency as galls, and when pul¬ 
verized and mixed with lard, have a similarly soofhing effect upon 
piles. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, one to two drams; tincture, 
four ounces to thirteen ounces of diluted alcohol, dose, half an ounce 
to an ounce. 

Sunflower {Helianthus Annwas). — The seeds and leaves of this 
plant are expectorant and diuretic, and are useful in several 
pulmonary affections. The seeds yield a fixed oil, in which their 
medicinal virtues are chiefly found. In doses of ten or fifteen drops, 
this oil acts favorably upon inflamed mucous surfaces, and in doses 
twice as large it greatly augments the flow of urine. 






MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1055 


Swamp Dogwood (^Cornus Sericea), — This is found in damp 
places, and along the banks of rivers, in various parts of our country, 
and is known as red osier^ red willow and rose willow. The bark is 
tonic, stimulant and astringent, and has been used for similar pur¬ 
poses with dogwood-bark; it is well spoken of, also, for dyspepsia, 
diarrhoea, malignant fevers, and as an external application to foul 
and ill-conditioned ulcers. Dose of the powdered bark, from 
twenty to fifty grains; of the infusion, from two to three fluid 
ounces. 

Swamp Milkweed (^Asclepias Incarnata). — This is a native of 
the United States, and bears red flowers from June to August. It 
has the name of white Indian hemp. The root is emetic, cathartic, 
and diuretic, and is useful in asthma, bronchitis, rheumatism, syphilis, 
and worms. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, twenty to thirty drops; 
solid extract, dose, three to flve grains; tincture, two ounces to a 
pint of diluted alcohol, dose, one and a half to three drams; infu¬ 
sion, dose, three to five drams; syrup, four ounces fluid extract to 
twelve ounces simple syrup, dose, half a dram to a dram. 

Sweet Fern (^Comptonia Asplenifolia). — This shrub, growing in 
stony pastures in New England and Virginia, is tonic, astringent, 
alterative and aromatic, and is used in diarrhoea, dysentery, cholera- 
hifantum, rheumatism, and debility after fevers. Dose of the decoc¬ 
tion, from one to three fluid ounces, three or four times a day. 

Sweet Flag (^Acorus Calamus). — Found in damp places, in most 
parts of the world. The root is stimulant, tonic, and aromatic; 
useful in wind colic, weakened conditions of the stomach, and dys¬ 
pepsia. Dose of the root, from twenty to sixty grains ; of the infu¬ 
sion, from two to three fluid ounces. 

Sweet Gum {liquidamher Styraciflua'). — This tree grows in the 
Middle and Southern States. Being wounded, it yields a yellowish- 
white, honey-like balsam, which hardens into a gum. This, melted 
with equal parts of lard or tallow, forms an ointment which is used 
in some parts of the country for piles, ringworm of the scalp, fever- 
sores, and other complaints. Used internally, it has very nearly 
the same effects as storax. 

Tag Alder (Alnus Rubra'). — This shrub grows in swamps and 
other damp places, in northern United States. The bark is altera¬ 
tive, emetic, and astringent. It is used in scrofula, secondary 
syphilis, herpes, impetigo, and other skin-diseases. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, one to two drams; infusion, 
two ounces to a pint of water, dose, one to one and a half ounces; 
alnuin, the active principle, dose, one to two grains. 

Tansy (Tanacetum Vulgare). — Tansy is a perennial herb, having 
tonic, emmenagogue, and diaphoretic properties; the cold infusion 


1056 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


being tonic, and useful in dyspepsia, wind in the stomach, jaundice, 
and worms; the warm infusion, diaphoretic and emmenagogue. 
Dose of the infusion, from one to three fluid ounces, two or three 
times a day. 

Tar {Pix Liquida). — The medicinal qualities of tar are like those 
of turpentine, and it is sometimes used in old chronic coughs and 
bronchitis. The vapor of boiling tar was once thought to be very 
serviceable in bronchial diseases, when inhaled. Doubtless it is 
useful in some cases, but its virtues have been extolled above their 
merits. In the form of ointment it has real efficacy in scald head 
and tetter. 

Thimbleweed (Pudheckia Laciniata), — The whole of this herb 
is balsamic, diuretic, and tonic, and in the form of decoction, used 
freely, is said to have been found useful in some urinary complaints, 
as Bright’s disease, strangury, etc. 

Tobacco (Nicotiana Tahacum). — The leaves of tobacco are acrid, 
narcotic, and poisonous, and are chiefly used in the form of oint¬ 
ment, in skin diseases, etc. Its poisonous qualities, however, render 
it dangerous when much used, even externally. Nervous people 
should not smoke. Chewing is not only an unhealthy, but a dis¬ 
gusting habit. 

Trailing Arbutus (^Epigicea Repens), — This grows in sandy 
woods and rocky soils, its flowers appearing in early spring, and ex¬ 
haling a spicy fragrance. The leaves are diuretic and astringent, 
and are very useful in gravel, and most diseases of the urinary 
organs, being regarded in some cases superior to uva-ursi and buchu. 

Preparations —Fluid extract, dose, one to two drams; infusion, 
dose, two to three ounces. 

Tapioca {Janipha Manihot^ Fig. 238). — This plant grows in the 
West Indies and Brazil. It is cultivated 
chiefly on account of the root, which is large¬ 
ly used as an article of food, particularly for 
the sick, or rather for those recovering from 
sickness. The starch which it contains is 
separated by washing, scraping, grating, and 
grinding, and is in the form of hard, white, 
rough grains. It is prepared for use by boil¬ 
ing; and, in debility and low forms of disease, 
may have the addition of wine, nutmeg, or 
other aromatics. 

Tulip Tree {Jjiriodendron TuUpifera ),— 
This is a large and elegant tree growing in 
many parts of the country, and called poplar and white poplar. 
The bark of the root is aromatic, stimulant, and tonic, and in warm 
infusion, diaphoretic. It is used in fever and ague, chronic rheuma- 








MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1057 


tism, and chronic diseases of the stomach and bowels. Dose of the 
powdered bark, from a scruple to two drams; of the infusion, from 
one to two fluid ounces. 

Turkey Corn {Corydalis Formosa). — This perennial plant is 
called wild-turkey pea and stagger-weed^ and grows in rich soils in 
the Southern and Western States. The tuber, which is the medicinal 
part, should only be collected when the plant is in flower. It is tonic, 
diuretic, and alterative. It is much valued as a remedy in syphilis 
and scrofula. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, ten to thirty drops; tincture, 
three ounces to a pint of diluted alcohol, dose, half a dram to two 
drams; corydalin, the active principle, dose, half a grain to a grain. 
A valuable alterative for syphilis is made by uniting eight grains of 
corydalin with ten grains of hydrastin, and dividing into twelve 
powders. Dose, one powder three or four times a day. 

Turmeric (^Curcuma Longa'). — This is a native of the East Indies 
and Cochin China. The root is a stimulant aromatic and tonic, 
somewhat like ginger, employed in debilitated states of the stom¬ 
ach, etc. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, two or three drams; tincture, 
two ounces to twelve ounces of diluted alcohol, dose, one and a half 
to two ounces; infusion, dose, two to four ounces. 

Valerian (^Valeriana Officinalis). — This is a European plant, 
flowering in June or July. The root is tonic, nervine, and antispas- 
modic, and is much used in cases of irregular nervous action, partic¬ 
ularly morbid nervous vigilance, or hypochondria, epilepsy, lowness 
of spirits, and nervous headache. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, half a dram to a dram; solid 
extract, dose, three to eight grains; tincture, four ounces to a pint 
of diluted alcohol, dose, two to three drams ; infusion, half an ounce 
to a pint of water, dose, two to three ounces; syrup, four ounces of 
fluid extract to a pint of simple syrup, dose, two to three drams. 

Vervain (Verbena Hastata). — A perennial plant, common in the 
United States. The root is tonic, emetic, expectorant, and sudorific. 
It is used in intermittent fevers, colds, and obstructed menstruation, 
in the form of warm infusion. The cold infusion is a good tonic in 
loss of appetite, debility, etc. Dose of the powdered root, one or two 
scruples; of the infusion, from two to three ounces, three or four 
times a day. 

Vinegar (^Acetum). —This is refrigerant, diuretic, astringent, and 
tonic; used in fevers and inflammatory complaints, likewise in scurvy 
and typhus, as an antiseptic. It has been found useful in dysentery 
and scarlet fever, saturated with common salt. Externally, it is ap¬ 
plied to bruises, inflammations, sprains, and swellings. It sometimes 
has a good effect as a gargle in putrid sore throat, etc., and as a 
cooling wash in headache during fevers. 


1058 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


Virginia Snake=root (AristolocMa Serpentaria^ Fig. 239).—This 
is a perennial herb of the Middle and Southern States. The root is 
stimulant, tonic, and diaphoretic. It is used in typhoid fevers, when 
the system needs support, but cannot bear active stimulation. Com¬ 
bined with Peruvian bark, it is also used in intermittent fevers. The 
cold infusion is employed in some forms of dyspepsia; likewise as a 
gargle in malignant sore throat. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, one-quarter to half a dram; 
tincture, three ounces to a pint of diluted alcohol, dose, one to two 
drams; infusion, half an ounce to a pint of water, dose, one to two 
ounces, in low forms of fever. The following is a good compound 
tincture: half an ounce each of fluid extract of snake-root, fluid ex¬ 
tract of ipecac, fluid extract of saffron, fluid extract of ladies’ slipper, 
together with half an ounce of camphor, and one and a half pints of 
diluted alcohol; dose, a dram to a dram and a half. 



Fig. 240. Watek-Horehouhd. 


Fig. 239. Virginia Snake Root. 


Water-Horehound (Fig. 240). — This article has been described 
under Bugle-Weed (Lycopus Virginicus). See Bugle-Weed. 

Water-Pepper (Polygonum Punetatum). — This annual plant is 
called smart-weed., and grows throughout our country, in low grounds, 
and along ditches and brooks. It has a pungent, biting taste, and is 
stimulant, diuretic, emmenagogue, antiseptic, and vesicant. It is 
used in coughs, colds, gravel, and womb-complaints. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, ten to forty drops; solid 
extract, dose, two to three grains ; tincture, four ounces to a pint of 
diluted alcohol, dose, half a dram to two drams; infusion, half an 
ounce to a pint of water, dose, half an ounce to an ounce. 

Wahoo (Puonymus Atropurpureus'). —A small shrub growing 
in woods in many parts of the United States. The bark of tbe root 
is a bitter tonic, laxative, alterative, diuretic, and expectorant, and is 
advantageously used in pulmonary affections, dropsy, constipation, 
torpidity of the liver, dyspepsia, and intermittent fevers. 






MEDTClTiTES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1059 


PreparationB. — Fluid extract, dose, one to two drams ; tincture, 
four ounces to twelve ounces of diluted alcohol, dose, half an ounce 
to an ounce. 

Wax. — The yellow and white wax are chiefly used as ingredients 
of plasters and ointments. 

White Hellebore (Veratrum Album), — This is a European 
perennial plant, the root of which is a violent emetic and purgative, 
and in large doses is poisonous; not often used, except externally, 
in the form of ointment or decoction, for the cure of itch and some 
other skin-diseases. 

White Oak (^Quereus Alba), — The inner bark of the white oak 
is astringent, tonic, and antiseptic, and has been used in intermit¬ 
tent fever, chronic diarrhoea, chronic mucous discharges, and passive 
liemorrhages. As a wash applied externally it sometimes arrests 
night-sweats, and as an astringent gargle and injection its use is com¬ 
mon for relaxed palate, spongy gums, leucorrhoea falling of the 
bowel, etc. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose half a dram to a dram; solid 
extract, dose, ten to fifteen grains; tincture, two ounces to a pint of 
diluted alcohol, dose, half an ounce to an ounce. 

V/h\te Pond'-l^iXy (Nymphcea Odorata). — This grows in ponds 
and marshes in many parts of our country. The root is demulcent, 
anodyne, astringent, and alterative; used in dysentery, diarrhoea, 
gonorrhoea, whites, and scrofula. An infusion is sometimes used as 
a gargle in ulcers of the mouth and throat, and as an injection in 
leucorrhoea. Dose of the infusion, from two to three fluid ounces. 

Wild Cherry {PrunusVirginiana), — This tree grows extensively 
in the American forests, flourishing where the soil is fertile and the 
climate temperate. The inner bark is tonic and stimulant to the 
digestive organs, and sedative to the nerves and the circulation. It 
is much used in consumption, scrofula, and dyspepsia. 

PreparationB. — Fluid extract, dose, two to three drams, compound 
fluid extract, dose, half a dram to a dram; infusion, half an ounce 
to a pint of water, dose, one ounce ; syrup, three ounces of fluid 
extract to thirteen ounces of simple syrup, dose, two drams to an 
ounce. 

Wild Cucumber (MomordicaMaterium), —-This, sometimes called 
squirting cucumber., is a native of the south of Europe, and is culti¬ 
vated in Great Britain. It is a powerful hydragogue cathartic, and 
in large doses causes nausea and vomiting. On account of the 
watery stools it produces it is much used in dropsical complaints, 
though the severity of its action forbids its being used alone. Dose, 
a quarter to half a grain, repeated every hour till it operates ; of 
elaterin, from a sixteenth to a twentieth of a grain, given in solution. 


1060 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


Wild Ginger {Amrum Cajiadense), —This is known by the names 
of coltsfoot and Canada snake-root, and is common in all parts of the 
country. The root is tonic, stimulant, aromatic, expectorant, and 
diaphoretic. It is used in pains of the stomach, colic, etc. Dose of 
the powder, half a dram; of the tincture, half a dram to two drams. 

Wild Indigo {Baftisia Tinctoria, Fig. 241). — This perennial 
shrub is found in most parts of the country. 
The bark of the root is purgative, emetic, stimu¬ 
lant, astringent, and antiseptic. It is chiefly 
used for its antiseptic properties. For external 
use it is valuable as a wash or gargle for various 
ulcers, mercurial sore mouth, and scrofulous 
and syphilitic ophthalmia. 

Preparations, — Fluid extract, dose, a quarter 
to half a dram; tincture, two ounces to a pint of 
diluted alcohol, dose, two to four drams; infu¬ 
sion, dose, half an ounce; baptisin, the active 
principle, a quarter to half a grain; gargle, four 
ounces of fluid extract to twelve ounces of water, to be used as 
occasion requires. 

Wild Yam {Bioscorea Villosa), —A perennial vine, found mostly 
at the South. The root is antispasmodic, and is successfully used in 
bilious colic. It is said to bring relief in the most violent cases of 
this complaint. It allays nausea and spasms during pregnancy. It 
is given in the form of decoction, two or three fluid ounces every 
thirty or forty minutes. Dose of the tincture, from a quarter of a 
dram to a dram; of dioscorein, the active principle, one to three 
grains. 

Willow QSalix Alba'). — The willow is common in Europe and 
America. Its bark is tonic and astringent, and is used, occasionally, 
as a substitute for Peruvian bark in intermittent fever. It is also 
employed in the treatment of chronic diarrhoea and dysentery. 
Dose of the powdered bark, one dram; of the decoction, one to two 
fluid ounces. Salicin, the active principle, is given, sometimes, in 
place of quinine; dose, from two to eight grains. . 

Wintergreen QGaultheria Procumhens). — This evergreen grows 
in mountainous, barren regions, throughout our country. The leaves 
are an agreeable stimulant, aromatic and astringent. Used for 
chronic diarrhoea, and as an emmenagogue. The oil and essence are 
useful in flatulent colic; dose of the oil, from five to eight drops, on 
sugar; of the essence, twenty to thirty drops. Much used to flavor 
other medicines. 

Witch-Hazel {Hamamelis Virginica, Fig. 242). — This derives its 
name from its having fruit and flowers together on the same tree. 
It is found in most parts of our country. The bark and leaves are 


i 


Fig. 241. Wild Indigo. 





MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1061 


tonic, astringent and sedative. It is used in bleeding from the lungs 
and stomach, and in diarrhoea, dysentery, 
and excessive mucous discharges. It is 
also used in incipient consumption, and 
for sore mouth, etc. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, one 
to two drams ; infusion, dose, three drams; 
syrup, four ounces of fluid extract to twelve 
ounces of simple syrup, dose, one to two 
drama. 

Wolfsbane {Aconitum Napellus., Fig. 

243). — This has already been described 
under its other common name, which is 
monkshood. See “Monkshood” for its 

1 Fig. 242. Witch-Hazel. 

description. 



Wormseed {Qhenopodium Anthelminticum'). — This perennial is 
called t/erwsaZem and is found in waste places all over the United 
States. An oil is extracted from the seeds, which, in doses of from 
three to five drops, morning and evening, for a child, destroys worms. 
A strong infusion of the tops has a similar effect. The remedy 
should be used four or five days, and be followed by a purge. 



Fig. 243. Wolfsbane. 


Fig. 244. Wormwood. 


Wormwood (^Artemisia Ahdnthium^ Fig. 244). — The tops and 
leaves of this perennial are tonic and anthelmintic; used in inter¬ 
mittent fever, jaundice, and worms. It restores the appetite in a 
weakened state of the digestive organs, and is also useful in amen- 
orrhoea. It is excellent applied as a tincture, or in the form of fo¬ 
mentation, to bruises, sprains, and local inflammations. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, one-third to two-thirds of a 
dram; solid extract, dose, three to five grains ; tincture, two ounces 
to fourteen ounces of diluted alcohol, dose, two to three drams; 


1062 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


syrup, two ounces fluid extract to six ounces of simple syrup, dose, 
one to two drams. 

Yarrow (Achillea Millefolium) . — A perennial herb, common to 
the Old World and New, and growing in old fields and along fences. 
It is tonic, astringent, and alterative, and has been used in intermit¬ 
tent fever, bleeding from the lungs, excessive menstruation, wind 
colic, and chronic dysentery. Dose of the infusion, a wineglassfui 
three or four times a day. 

Yeast (Cerevisice I'ermentum). — Yeast is slightly tonic and stim¬ 
ulating, and has been used with advantage in typhoid fever; also in 
scarlet fever, and in all diseases where there is a disposition to 
putridity. The dose is from one to two fluid ounces every two or 
three hours. It makes an excellent antiseptic poultice for unhealthy 
and fetid ulcers, especially if combined with powdered slippery-elm 
bark and charcoal. 

Yellow Dock {Rumex Crispus, Fig. 245). — The root of this 
perennial plant is alterative, tonic, diuretic, and deter- 
J ^ gent, and is regarded as very valuable in the treat- 
ment of scrofula, syphilis, leprosy, scurvy, and other 
A skin diseases. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, one to two 
drams; solid extract, dose, four to five grains ; syrup, 
T ounces of fluid extract to twelve ounces of simple 

dose, half an ounce to an ounce; rumin, the 
m U active principle, dose, two to three grains. 

Ygjlow Jessamine (Gelseminum Sempervirens ').— 
This abounds in the Southern States, where it is cul- 
^ tivated as an ornamental vine. The root is a power- 

Fig 245 febrifuge, narcotic and relaxant, controlling and 

Yellow Dock, subduing fever, quieting nervous irritability and ex¬ 
citement, equalizing the circulation, promoting perspiration, and recti¬ 
fying the secretions. It is much used by the Eclectics of the West¬ 
ern States, but the general judgment of the profession is that it is 
too powerful a remedy to be safe. My own opinion is, that the 
American hellebore is equally effective with the yellow jessamine, 
and that its general use involves far less danger. 

Preparations. — Fluid extract, dose, two to ten drops; tincture, 
four ounces to a pint of alcohol, dose, fifteen to thirty drops, and in 
crease ; gelseminin, the active principle, dose, half a grain to a grain 
and a half. 

Yellow Ladies* Slipper ( Cypripedium Puhescens). —This perennial 
plant is called American valerian.^ nerve-root., etc. The fibrous roots 
are tonic, nervine, antispasmodic and diaphoretic, and are used in 
nervous headache, nervous excitability, hysterics, neuralgia, and St. 
Vitus’s dance. Dose of the powder, from ten to twenty grains. 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1063 


Preparations, — Fluid extract, dose, half a dram to a dram; solid 
extract, dose, five to ten grains; tincture, two ounces to a pint of 
diluted alcohol, dose, half an ounce to an ounce; syrup, four ounces 
of fluid extract to fourteen ounces of simple syrup, dose, two to three 
drams; cypripedin, the active principle, dose, two to three grains. 

Yellow Parilla (Menispermum Canadense). — This is a perennial 
plant, growing in woods and near streams, throughout the country. 
The root has the properties of a tonic, laxative, alterative, and diu¬ 
retic. It is valued in the treatment of scrofula, syphilis, skin dis¬ 
eases, gout, rheumatism, dyspepsia, general debility and chronic 
inflammation of the stomach and bowels. Dose of the decoction, 
from two to three fluid ounces, three times a day; of the solid ex¬ 
tract, from two to three grains. 

Zinc.—Several preparations of this metal are used in medicine, 
as follows:— 

Acetate of Zinc (^Zinci Acetas), — This is used as an external 
remedy only, generally as an astringent wash for inflammations of the 
eye, and as an injection in gonorrhoea, but only after the acute stage 
of these diseases has past. The strength of these solutions gen¬ 
erally should be one or two grains to a fluid ounce of soft water. 

Chloride of Zinc (Zinci Chloridum). — This is a powerful escharo- 
tic, and is employed as an external application to cancers and obsti¬ 
nate ulcers. A weak solution of it is occasionally employed in old 
chronic gleet, also in whites and purulent discharge from the neck 
of the womb. 

Iodide of Zinc (^Zinci lodidurn), — This is in the form of white 
needles, and is tonic and astringent. It is not much used, except 
externally, being applied in a solution of twenty grains to a fluid 
ounce of water, to enlarged tonsils, by means of a camel’s-hair pencil 
or a* piece of sponge tied to the end of a stick. 

Oxide of Zinc (Zinci Oxidum). — This is an inodorous white 
powder, insoluble in water and alcohol. It is tonic and anti- 
spasmodic, and is given in chorea, epilepsy, whooping-cough, and 
other similar diseases; but it is more especially employed to arrest 
the night-sweats of consumption, for which purpose we have at 
present no other article of equal efficacy. It is sprinkled externally 
upon excoriated surfaces, and is used in ointments. Dose, from two 
to five grains, in the form of pill. 

Precipitated Carbonate of Zinc (Zinci Carhonas Prcecipitas,') — 
This is employed for the same purpose as prepared calamine, being 
adapted only to external use. 

Prepared Calamine (^Calamina Prceparata), — This is in the 
form of a pinkish or flesh-colored powder, of an earthy appearance. 
It is employed only as an external application, being dusted on ex- 


1064 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


conations and superficial ulcerations, as a mild astringent. It should 
be a very fine powder. 

Sulphate of Zinc [ZUnci Sulphas). — This is a colorless, transpar¬ 
ent salt, crystallizing usually in small four-sided prisms. It is tonic 
and astringent, and in large doses, a prompt emetic. Used as a tonic 
in cases of debility attended with irritation. In obstinate intermit- 
tents, it is sometimes conjoined with sulphate of quinia; it is chiefly 
employed, however, in such spasmodic diseases as epilepsy, chorea 
and whooping-cough. As an astringent, it is used externally, being 
applied in solution to bleeding surfaces, as a wash in ophthalmia, 
and as an injection in whites and chronic gonorrhoea. 

Valerianate of Zinc {Zinci Yalerianas). — This is in white, 
pearly scales, with a faint odor of valerianic acid. It is tonic and 
antispasmodic, and is used in the various nervous affections which 
accompany chlorosis. Dose, one or two grains, several times a day, 
in the form of a pill. 

Vaseline {Petrolatum). — This is a transparent, fat-like substance, 
obtained in the distillation of crude petroleum. It is very exten¬ 
sively used in the domestic materia medica, in the treatment of colds 
and many other ailments. Its efficacy has been, however, much 
overrated, its chief utility being that of a neutral, simple unguent, 
and as a vehicle for the application of more active remedies, for 
which purpose it is preferable to the animal fats generally employed. 


PEEPARATI0N8.-PHAEMACY. 


The preparation of medicines for use constitutes the art of phar¬ 
macy. It is the peculiar business of the apothecary. It will not be 
necessary in these pages to describe his art, in all particulars, but 
merely as many of the preparations which it is his duty to prepare 
as are really needed in the treatment of disease. In doing this, I 
shall classify the preparations alphabetically, and begin with 

Cerates. 

These substances have a degree of hardness midway between 
ointments and plasters. They may be spread upon leather or linen, 
without the use of heat, and they do not melt and run when applied 
to the skin. They are made of wax, or spermaceti, combined with 
lard or oil. The articles are melted together by a very gentle heat, 
and during the process of cooling the whole should be well stirred. 

Calamine Cerate. — Prepared calamine and yellow wax, each 
three ounces; lard, one pound. Melt the lard and wax together. 
When the mixture begins to thicken, on cooling, gradually stir in the 
calamine. 

This is called Turner's Cerate^ and is useful for burns, excoriations, 
superficial ulcers, and sores. 

Goulard’s Cerate. — Take of solution of subacetate of lead, two 
fluid ounces and a half; white wax, four ounces; olive oil, nine fluid 
ounces; camphor, half a dram. Mix the wax, previously melted, 
with eight fluid ounces of the oil; remove from the fire, and when 
the mixture begins to thicken, gradually pour in the solution of 
subacetate of lead, stirring constantly, with a wooden spatula, till it 
becomes cool. Then add the camphor, dissolved in the remainder of 
the oil. 

This is the cerate of suhacetate of lead^ and is used for excoriations, 
inflamed burns, scalds and chilblains, and for eruptions of the skin. 
Excellent for blistered surfaces, indisposed to heal. 

Half an ounce of this preparation united with half an ounce of 
simple cerate, and one dram each of calomel and powdered opium, 
makes a very valuable remedy for various eruptions of the skin, of ft 
local nature. 


1065 



1066 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


Resin Cerate. — Take of resin, five ounces; lard, eight ounces; 
yellow wax, two ounces. Melt together with a gentle heat, and stir 
till cool. 

This is known as hasilicon ointment^ and is used as a gentle stimu¬ 
lant to blistered surfaces, indolent ulcers, burns, scalds and chilblains. 

Compound Resin Cerate. —Take of resin, suet, and yellow wax, 
each a pound; turpentine, half a pound; flax-seed oil, half a pint. 
Melt together, strain through linen, and stir till cool. 

This, under the name of Deshler^s salve^ is popularly used for sim¬ 
ilar purposes with the resin cerate. 

Savin Cerate. — Take powdered savin, two ounces; resin ce¬ 
rate, a pound. Mix the savin with the cerate, previously softened. 
Used as a dressing for perpetual blisters. 

Simple Cerate.—Lard, eight ounces; white wax, four ounces. 
Melt together and stir till cool. 

Used for dressing blisters, wounds, etc., where it is desirable sim¬ 
ply to preserve the moisture of the part, and to exclude the air. 

Spanish Flies Cerate, known as hlistering plaster. Take finely 
powdered Spanish flies, a pound; yellow wax and resin, each seven 
ounces; lard, ten ounces. To the wax, resin and lard, previously 
melted together and strained, add the Spanish flies, and, by means 
of the most gentle heat, keep the mixture in a fluid state for half an 
hour, stirring occasionally, then remove the heat and stir till cool. 

This can be easily spread without the aid of heat, and is used for 
the purpose of drawing blisters. It is now, however, superseded in 
a great degree by various preparations, composed for the most part 
of cantharidin,, either dissolved in oil, and applied to the skin by 
means of a piece of paper saturated with it, or incorporated with wax 
and spread in a very thin layer upon fine waxed cloth, silk, or paper, 
constituting the blistering cloth, blistering paper, etc. 

Confections, Conserves and Electuaries. 

These are soft solids, in which medicinal articles are incorporated 
with sugar, syrup, honey, or some other saccharine matter, for the 
purpose both of preserving the mass, and of rendering the medicine 
more palatable and convenient for use. 

Aromatic Confection. — Take of aromatic powder, five and a half 
ounces; powdered saffron, half an ounce; syrup of orange-peel, six 
ounces ; clarified honey, two ounces. Rub the aromatic powder with 
the saffron; then add the syrup and honey, and beat the whole to¬ 
gether in a mortar till they are thoroughly mixed. 

Given in debilitated states of the stomach, as a vehicle for othei 
medicines. Dose, ten grains. 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1067 


Compound Confection of Catechu. — Take of compound powder 
of catechu, five ounces; simple syrup, five fluid ounces. Add the 
syrup gradually to the powder, and mix them well. 

To be given in diarrhoea and chronic dysentery, in the dose of half 
a dram to a dram. 

Confection of Senna, otherwise called lenitive electuary. Take of 
senna, eight ounces; coriander seeds, four ounces; bruised liquorice- 
joot, three ounces; figs, a pound; pulp of prunes, pulp of tamarinds, 
pulp of purging cassia, each, half a pound; refined sugar, two pounds 
and a half; water, four pints. Rub the senna and coriander together 
and separate ten ounces of the powder with a sieve. Boil the residue 
with the liquorice-root and figs, in the water, to one half; then press 
out the liquor and strain. Evaporate the strained liquor, by the 
most gentle heat, to a pint and a half; then add the sugar and form 
a syrup. Lastly, rub the pulps with the syrup, added gradually, and, 
having thrown in the sifted powder, beat all together till well mixed. 

This is a pleasant and admirable laxative, being well adapted to 
the habitual costiveness of pregnant women, and those affected with 
piles ; for this latter purpose, it is still better combined with cream 
of tartar and sulphur, as described in No. 6 of the prescriptions. 

Decoctions. 

These are solutions of vegetable medicines, obtained by boiling 
them in water. They differ from infusions, in being subjected to a 
greater degree of heat, the water during their preparation being kept 
up to the boiling point. The process should be conducted in a 
covered vessel, and the boiling must not be continued for a very long 
time. Medicines whose active principle is volatile are not proper 
for decoctions, the active principle being driven off by heat and lost. 

The usual proportion of vegetable substances used in making de¬ 
coctions is one ounce to a pint of water, and the dose of the decoction, 
from one to three ounces. 


Essences. 

These are generally prepared by dissolving one ounce of the 
essentia] oils of plants in one pint of alcohol. The oils of lemon, 
peppermint, sassafras, etc., are made in this way, and their properties, 
of course, are similar to the oils from which they are prepared. They 
are generally taken in a little sweetened water, in doses of ten drops 
to a teaspoonful. 

Extracts. 

These: are soft solids, obtained by evaporating the tinctures, or 
solutions, of vegetable substances. The active principles of dried 
vegetables can only be extracted by some liquid; this, for preparing 


1068 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


extracts, is either water or alcohol, or a mixture of the two. Those 
obtained by the use of water are called aqueous^ or watery extracts ; 
those by means of alcohol, alcoholic extracts; and those by both 
alcohol and water, hydro-alcoholic extractSo 

Fluid Extracts. 

These are concentrations, into a small bulk, in liquid form, of 
:he active principles of medicinal substances. They are a valuable 
class of remedies, being in some cases preferable to tinctures, having 
less alcohol; and better than extracts or decoctions, because not so 
often injured by heat in their preparation, and not requiring to be 
taken in large doses. Great skill is required in their preparation, 
and they should always be obtained from those who have the repu¬ 
tation of making reliable articles. 

Fomentations. 

Fomentation is a sort of partial or local hot bath, and consists 
either in the application of cloths dipped in hot water, or some hot 
medicated decoction, and applied to the affected part, or of bitter or 
anodyne herbs steeped in vinegar or water, and then, while hot, en¬ 
closed in a muslin bag, and laid upon the diseased place. In either 
case, whether the cloths wet in a decoction of the herbs, or the herbs 
themselves, slightly steeped, be applied in a bag, the application 
should be as hot as can be borne, and not so moist as to wet the bed 
or clothes of the patient. 

Fomentations act by their warmth and moisture chiefly: and 
slightly, in some cases, by their medicinal virtues. Their object is 
to lessen pain and inflammation, by relaxing the parts, and relieving 
tension and spasm. They may be prepared from equal parts of hops, 
tansy, and wormwood, or from equal parts of hops, lobelia, and stra¬ 
monium, etc., etc. 


Infusions. 

Those made of one article only are sufficiently referred to in pre¬ 
vious pages. It will only be necessary here to insert such compound 
infusions as are deemed important. 

Compound Infusion of Catechu. — Take of powdered catechu 
half an ounce, bruised cinnamon a dram; boiling water a pint; mace¬ 
rate for an hour in a covered vessel, and strain. An elegant mode 
of administering catechu. Dose, from one to two fluid ounces three 
or four times a day. 

Compound Infusion of Gentian. — Take of bruised gentian half 
an ounce ; dried orange-peel and coriander-seeds, bruised, each a dram; 
diluted alcohol, four fluid ounces; cold water, twelve fluid ounces. 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1069 


First pour on the diluted alcohol, then, three hours afterward, the 
water. Let the whole stand twelve hours, and strain. An excel¬ 
lent form for using gentian. Dose, one fluid ounce three or foui 
times a day. 

Compound Infusion of Geranium. — Take of geranium root, 
sweet bugle-leaves, golden-seal root, witch-hazel bark, each, in coarse 
powder, one ounce ; boiling water, four pints. Mix, and allow all 
to stand in a covered vessel two hours, applying a gentle heat; 
then strain. Two drams of alum may or may not be added. 

Used in chronic diarrhoea and dysentery, in one or two tablespoon¬ 
ful doses, every two or three hours; also as an injection in gleet, 
whites, falling of the bowel, etc.; and as a gargle in ulcerations of 
the mouth and throat. 

Compound Infusion of Parsley. — Take of parsley roots and 
seeds and subcarbonate of iron, each two ounces; horseradish-root, 
one ounce; squill, juniper-berries, white mustard-seed, mandrake 
root, and queen of the meadow root, each half an ounce; coarsely 
bruise these articles, and place them in boiling cider, and expose 
them for twenty-four hours to a very gentle heat, in a covered earthen 
vessel. The cider should be sparkling and tart. Let the articles 
stand in the cider. 

Useful in dropsy. Dose, one or two fluid ounces three or four 
times a day. 

Compound Infusion of Senna. — Take of senna and manna, each 
one ounce; jalap, cream of tartar, and caraway seeds, bruised, 
each two drams; boiling water, one pint. Add all the ingredients 
to the water, in a covered vessel, and let them stand twelve hours. 
Then add four ounces of elixir salutis. 

This is a valuable, and not disagreeable, gentle physic for various 
purposes. Dose, from one to three ounces. 

Compound Infusion of Trailing Arbutus. — Take of queen of 
the meadow root, dwarf-elder bark, marshmallow root, and trailing 
arbutus, each, coarsely bruised, half an ounce; add to them one pint 
of boiling water and one pint of Holland gin, and steep by the fire 
four hours, in a closely covered vessel. Strain, and sweeten with 
honey. 

Excellent for gravel, suppression of urine, scalding of urine, and 
various other disorders of the urinary organs. Dose, from an ounce 
to a wineglassful, with more or less frequency, according to the ur¬ 
gency of the case. 

Injections. — Clysters. 

These are preparations to be introduced into the lower bowel by 
means of a syringe. A sufficient number of them are given among 
the recipes. It is not necessary to repeat them here. 


1070 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


Liniments. 

These are liquid preparations, generally a little thicker than water, 
and thinner than oils, intended only to be applied to inflamed, pain¬ 
ful, or swelled parts. They are designed to soothe, or quiet, or 
stimulate, or make red the part to which they are applied; and are 
rubbed on with the hand, or a piece of flannel or cotton, and fre¬ 
quently in connection with heat, by sitting or standing before a 
fire. 

A large number of liniments are given under the head of recipes. 
To those I add a few valuable ones here. 

Camphor Liniment. — Take six drams of camphor, and dissolve it 
in one fluid ounce of chloroform, and add to this one fluid ounce of 
olive oil. 

For sprains, neuralgia, rheumatism, etc. 

Compound Camphor Liniment.—Take two ounces and a half 
of camphor, a fluid dram of oil of lavender, seventeen fluid ounces 
of alcohol, and three fluid ounces of strong solution of ammonia, 
dissolve the camphor and oil in the alcohol; then add the ammonia, 
and shake till they are mixed. 

To be used as a rubefacient and anodyne for local pains, particu¬ 
larly rheumatism. 

Compound Liniment of Ammonia.—Take five fluid ounces of 
strong water of ammonia, two fluid ounces of tincture of camphor, 
and one fluid ounce of spirit of rosemary. Mix them well together. 

This is used as a prompt and powerful rubefacient, or even vesi¬ 
catory, in neuralgia, rheumatism, gout, spasms, and inflammations. 

Croton Oil Liniment. — Take one fluid ounce of croton oil and 
seven fluid ounces of oil of turpentine. Mix, and shake them well 
together. 

A good rubefacient and pustulating preparation to apply to the 
chest and other parts. 

Liniment of Opium. —Take six ounces of Castile soap, an ounce 
and a half of opium, three ounces of camphor, six fluid drams of oil 
of rosemary, and two pints of alcohol. Macerate the soap and opium 
in the spirit for three days; then filter, and add the oil and camphor, 
and shake briskly. 

This is a useful anodyne and rubefacient liniment for bruises, 
sprains and pains of a rheumatic and gouty nature. 

Liniment of Spanish Flies. —Take an ounce of powdered Span¬ 
ish flies, and half a pint of oil of turpentine. Mix, and apply gentle 
heat to them, in a covered vessel, for three hours. Then strain. 

Employed with advantage externally in the sinking stage of ty¬ 
phoid fevers. If so powerful as to cause blistering, it may be weak¬ 
ened by adding flax-seed or olive oil. 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1071 


Liniment of Turpentine. — Take half a pint of oil of turpentine, 
and a pound of resin cerate. Melt the cerate, and add the oil to it, 
mixing them well. 

I'his is a valuable remedy for scalds and burns, and should be 
applied soon after the accident, and be discontinued when the inflam¬ 
mation excited by the fire is removed. The burned or scalded sur¬ 
face should be covered with lint wet with the liniment. 

Opodeldoc. — Take three ounces of white bar soap, sliced, an 
ounce of camphor, a fluid dram each of oil of rosemary and oil of 
origanum, and a pint of alcohol. Digest the soap in the alcohol by 
means of a gentle heat until it is dissolved; then add the camphor 
and oils, and when they are dissolved pour the whole into broad¬ 
mouthed vials. 

This is the camphorated soap liniment^ and is used as an anodyne 
application to sprains, bruises, painful tumors, etc. 


Medicated Waters. 

Those preparations consisting of water impregnated with some 
medicinal substance are called medicated waters. They are pre¬ 
pared from volatile oils by triturating in a mortar a dram of the oil, 
more or less, with a small quantity of carbonate of magnesia, and 
then very gradually pouring on one quart of water, while the tritura¬ 
tion is continued. At last the preparation is filtered through paper. 
The quantity of oil, magnesia, and water, used for each preparation, 
is as follows: 

Oil of bitter almonds, sixteen minims; carbonate of magnesia, a 
dram; water, one quart. 

Oil of cinnamon, half a fluid dram; carbonate of magnesia, a 
dram; water, one quart. 

Twenty minims of oil of roses, a dram of carbonate of magnesia, 
and one quart of water. 

Oil of fennel, half a fluid dram; carbonate of magnesia, a dram; 
water, a quart. 

Peppermint-water, spearmint-water, and pennyroyal-water, are 
all prepared from the same quantities of their several oils as cinna¬ 
mon-water. 

The dose of these waters is half a fluid ounce to two fluid ounces, 
except the bitter almond water, which is one or two fluid drams. 

Camphor Water — Take two drams of camphor, forty minims of 
alcohol, four drams of carbonate of magnesia, and one quart of 
water. Rub the camphor first with the alcohol, afterwards with the 
carbonate of magnesia, and lastly with the water, gradually added. 
Then filter through paper. 


1072 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


Medicated Wines. 

Wines are used in making certain preparations, because the alco¬ 
hol they contain will extract from plants, etc., some medicinal prop¬ 
erties which water will not, and at the same time is less stimulating 
than the tinctures, etc., made from alcoholic spirits. 

Compound Wine of Comfrey (^Restorative Wine Bitters), — Take 
one ounce each, bruised, of comfrey, Solomon’s seal, and spikenard; 
and half an ounce each, bruised, of chamomile flowers, Colombo, and 
gentian. Cover these with boiling water, and let them stand twenty- 
four hours in a covered vessel. Then add two quarts of sherry wine. 
Macerate fourteen days, express and strain. 

Valuable in leucorrhoea and other female complaints. Dose, from 
half a fluid ounce to two fluid ounces, three or four times a day. 

Compound Wine of Golden Seal. — Take one dram each, bruised, 
of golden seal root, tulip-tree bark, and bitter-root, half a dram of 
pulverized cayenne, and two quarts of sherry wine. Macerate foi 
fourteen days, with occasional shaking; then express and. strain. 

This is a pleasant bitter tonic in dyspepsia, etc. Dose, from half 
a fluid ounce to two fluid ounces, three times a day. 

Wine of Ipecacuanha. — Take two ounces of bruised ipecac, and 
one quart of sherry wine. Macerate fourteen days, with occasional 
shaking. Then express, and filter through paper. 

This is a valuable emetic preparation, — especially for children. 
Dose, as an emetic, for an adult, one fluid ounce; as an expectorant, 
from ten to thirty minims; for a child two years old, as an emetic, 
one fluid dram, repeated every fifteen minutes till it operates. 

Mixtures. 

These are preparations in which medicinal substances which 
cannot be dissolved in water are suspended in it by means of 
some viscid matter, like sugar or gum-arabic. Their object is to 
conceal the taste, prevent the sickening effect, and make it more easy 
to take disagreeable medicines. To make a perfect mixture requires 
skill. Generally, the medicines to be suspended should be tritur¬ 
ated in a mortar with the sugar, gum-arabic, etc., before the water is 
added. 

Almond Mixture. — Take half an ounce of sweet almonds, half a 
dram of powdered gum-arabic, two drams of sugar, and eight fluid 
ounces of water. Soak the almonds in the water, and, having re¬ 
moved their external coat, beat them with the gum-arabic and sugar 
in a mortar, till they are thoroughly mixed; then rub the mixture, 
gradually adding the water, and lastly, strain. 

This is an agreeable, nutritive demulcent, in bronchial, dysenteric, 
and urinary affections. It must be used freely, the dose being from 
two to five fluid ounces. 


MEDICINES AND THEIH PREPARATIONS. 


1073 


Chalk Mixture. — Take half an ounce of prepared chalk, two 
irams each of refined sugar and powdered gum-arabic, and four 
fluid ounces each of cinnamon-water and water. Rub them together 
till they are thoroughly mixed. 

This is much used in looseness of the bowels, accompanied with 
acidity, particularly among children. If an increase of its astrin- 
gency be required, add laudanum, or kino, or catechu. 

Compound Mixture of Iron. — Take a dram of myrrh, twenty-five 
grains of carbonate of potassa, one scruple of powdered sulphate of 
iron, half a fiuid ounce of spirit of lavender, one dram of refined 
sugar, and seven and a half fluid ounces of rose-water. Rub the 
myrrh in a mortar, gradually adding the rose-water, then mix with 
these the spirit of lavender, sugar, and carbonate of potassa, and 
lastly, the sulphate of iron. Pour the whole into a glass bottle, and 
keep it well stopped. 

This is considerably used in chlorosis, and other affections requir¬ 
ing the use of iron. 

Brandy Mixture.—Take four fluid ounces each of brandy and 
cinnamon water, the yolks of two eggs, half an ounce of refined 
sugar, and three drops of oil of cinnamon. Mix them. 

A useful stimulant and nutritive draught, to be used in the sink¬ 
ing stage of low forms of fever. 

Extract of Rhubarb and Potassa (Neutralizing Extracf). — Take 
two pounds of the best rhubarb, one pound each of cinnamon and 
golden seal. Grind or coarsely bruise the articles, and mix them; 
macerate them for two days in one gallon of the best fourth proof 
brandy. Then express the tincture with strong pressure, and add 
to it one fluid dram of oil of peppermint, previously dissolved in a 
little alcohol. Break up the compressed residue from the press, and 
place it in a percolator, and gradually run warm water through it 
until the strength is exhausted. Evaporate this solution to four 
pints, and while the liquor is still hot, dissolve in it two pounds of 
bicarbonate of potassa, and three pounds of refined sugar. Continue 
the evaporation, if necessary, until, when added to the tincture first 
obtaiiied, it will make a gallon and a half, then mix the two solu¬ 
tions together. 

This is a useful preparation for diarrhoea, dysentery, cholera morbus, 
summer complaints of children, acidity of the stomach, heartburn, 
etc. Dose, one fluid dram. 

Metauer’s Aperient. — Take one ounce and a half of pulverized 
aloes, four ounces of bicarbonate of soda, two fluid ounces of com¬ 
pound spirits of lavender and two quarts of water. Place the whole 
in a jar or jug, and let them stand fourteen days, shaking well onof* 
a day. Then pour off from the dregs. It improves by age. 


1074 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


This preparation is one of the best-known aperients for costive- 
ness,—particularly when connected with bilious dyspepsia. For 
that class of bilious persons who overeat, and have acid stomachs, it 
has great value. In bilious cases, the nitro-muriatic acid, taken 
before meals (the aperient after meals) may be usefully associated 
with it. In the constipation of hysteria and hypochondriasis, the 
fluid extract of valerian may be added to it. Dose, from two drams 
to an ounce. 

Saline Mixture {White Liquid Physic). — Take half a pound of 
sulphate of soda, and one and a half pints of water. Mix, and dis¬ 
solve the soda; then add two fluid ounces of nitro-muriatic acid, and 
one dram and eight grains of powdered alum. 

Used to allay nausea and vomiting, and as a cooling purgative; 
also for colic, diseases of the liver, diarrhoea, dysentery, intermittent 
fevers, etc. 

This is one of the remedies of the Eclectic school of physicians, 
and is held by them in high esteem. Dose, a tablespoonful in a gill 
of water, to be repeated every hour or two until it causes one or two 
evacuations from the bowels. 

Ointments. 

Ointments are composed of fatty substances, about the consistence 
of butter, impregnated with medicine. All gritty matter should be 
excluded from them. To prevent the rancidity to which they are 
liable, a little glycerin is now frequently added. 

Ointment of Acetate of Lead. — Take two ounces of white wax 
and four ounces of lard ; melt them together, and add two and a half 
drams of finely-powdered acetate of lead; stir constantly till cold. 
This is useful for burns, scalds, ulcers and excoriations. 

Ointment of Bayberry. — Take half a pound each of tallow, 
white turpentine and bayberry, and four ounces of olive-oil; melt 
together and strain. 

Good for scrofulous and indolent ulcers. 

Ointment of Belladonna.—Take a dram of extract of belladonna 
and an ounce of lard; mix them. 

A useful anodyne application for painful tumors, neuralgia, etc. 

Ointment of Creosote. — Take half a fluid dram of creosote and 
an ounce of lard; mix them. 

A useful application for sypliilitic, scrofulous and cancerous ulcers. 

Compound Ointment of Galls.—Take six drams of finely-pow¬ 
dered galls, six ounces of lard, and a dram and a half of pulverized 
opium ; rub them together. 

A valuable preparation in irritable piles. 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1075 


Ointment of Red Iodide of Mercury. — Take one dram of red 
iodide of mercury, and seven drams of ointment of white wax; in¬ 
corporate them thoroughly together by trituration in a mortar. 

Used as a dressing for indolent scrofulous ulcers. 

Ointment of Nitrate of Mercury. — Take one ounce of mercury, 
eleven, fluid ounces of nitric acid, nine fluid ounces of fresh neats- 
foot oil, three ounces of lard. Dissolve the mercury in the acid, then 
heat the oil and lard together in an earthen vessel to 200° F.; then 
add the mercurial solution, and stir with a wooden spatula, constantly, 
as long as effervescence continues, and afterward occasionally till the 
ointment stiffens. 

Milder Ointment of Nitrate of Mercury. — Take an ounce of oint¬ 
ment of nitrate of mercury, and seven ounces of lard; rub them 
together. 

The first of the above two preparations is the citrine ointment^ and 
is much and advantageously employed as an external application in 
porrigo, impetigo, psoriasis and pityriasis. It is nearly a specific for 
inflammation of the eyelids connected with the formation of scaly 
matter about the lashes. The second of these two preparations is 
merely a dilution of the first. 

Ointment of Oxide of Zinc. — Take half an ounce of oxide of 
zinc and three ounces of lard; rub them together. 

This is a mild asti-ingent application in chronic ophthalmia, erup¬ 
tions of the skin, sore nipples, and other excoriations. 

Ointment of Poison Hemlock.—Take one dram of extract of 
poison hemlock and one ounce of lard; rub them together. 

An anodyne application for painful swellings, ulcers and piles. 

Ointment of Poke. -— Take a dram of the extract of poke and one 
ounce of lard; mix them. 

For malignant ulcers, scaldhead, itch, etc. 

Ointment of Stramonium. — Take one dram of the extract of 
stramonium leaves, and one ounce of lard; rub the extract with a 
little water till it is uniformly soft, and then with the lard. 

Used as an external application in irritable ulcers, painful piles and 
skin eruptions. 

Simple Ointment. — Take a pound of white wax, and four pounds 
of lard; melt them together with a gentle heat, and stir constantly 
till cold. 

Ointment of Rose-Water. — Take a fluid ounce of rose-water, two 
fluid ounces of oil of almonds, half an ounce of spermaceti, one dram 
of white Avax; melt together, by means of a water-bath, the oil, sper¬ 
maceti, and wax; then add the rose-water, and stir the mixture con 
stantly till cold. 


1076 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


This is the well-known preparation called cold cream^ and is used 
with much advantage for chapped lips and hands, excoriations, etc. 

Spermaceti Ointment. — Take five ounces of spermaceti, fourteen 
of white wax, and a pint of olive-oil; melt them together over a slow 
fire and stir constantly till cold. 

A mild dressing for blisters, wounds and excoriated surfaces. 

Tar Ointment. — Take a pound each of tar and suet; melt the 
suet with a gentle heat, and add the tar to it; then stir constantly 
till they are cold. 

A useful stimulating application to various scaly and scabby erup¬ 
tions, particularly leprosy and scaldhead. 

Ointment of White Hellebore. — Take one ounce of powdered- 
white hellebore root, four ounces of lard, and twelve drops of oil of 
lemons ; rub them thoroughly together. 

A useful ointment for the cure of itch. 

Ointment of Wild Indigo.— Take one pound of powdered wild 
indigo root, moisten it thoroughly with alcohol and let it stand 
twenty-four hours; then put it in a percolator and add alcohol as 
long as the liquid which passes contains the taste of the root. Distil 
the alcohol from this filtered tincture until half a gallon of tincture 
is obtained. Melt one pound of fresh butter, without salt, add the 
above tincture, and carefully evaporate the rest of the alcohol; stir 
constantly till cold, after the alcohol has nearly passed off. 

This is one of the preparations of the Eclectics, and is a cleansing, 
detergent, antiseptic and discutient ointment, useful in scrofulous, 
erysipelatous and malignant ulcers, eruptions of the skin, etc. 

Pile Ointment. — Take three handfuls each of witch-hazel bark, 
white-oak bark and sweet-appletree bark; bruise or grind them, and 
add to them three pints of water; boil down to one pint and strain; 
add to this liquid half a pound of lard, and simmer till the water all 
disappears, stirring continually both before and after removing from 
the fire till it cools. 

This forms a brick-colored anodyne, astringent ointment, admirably 
adapted to the cure of pile-tumors. 

Compound Lead Ointment. — Take two and a half pounds oi 
olive-oil, four ounces each of beeswax and unsalted butter, and half 
a pound of white turpentine; melt them together, strain, and then 
heat to nearly the boiling point; then gradually add one pound of 
red lead, stirring constantly till the mixture becomes black or brown; 
then remove from the fire, and when it is partly cool, add to it a 
mixture of twelve ounces of honey and half a pound of powdered 
camphor. 

This is a very healing ointment, and is much used for ulcers, burns, 
wounds, and skin-diseases. 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1077 


Compound SuIphurOintment.—Take one ounce of sulphur, one 
dram each of ainmoniated mercury and benzoic acid, one fluid dram 
each of sulphuric acid and oil of bergamot, two drams of nitrate of 
potassa and half a pound of lard. First melt the lard with a gentle 
heat, then add the other ingredients, stirring constantly till they are 
cold. 

A sovereign remedy for itch. 

Pills. 

Pills are small masses of medicinal substances in globular shape, 
and of a size convenient for swallowing. Each pill generally weighs 
from four to five grains. Those medicines which cannot be dissolved 
in water, and are particularly unpleasant to the taste, are usually given 
in the form of pill. Sugar, or gelatine coated, as now very exten¬ 
sively used for every important medicine, and in a great variety of 
combinations, they are a very popular form of taking medicine. Phy¬ 
sicians cannot do better than to use the pills when made by a reliable 
firm. 

The method of making pills is as follows: If the substance to be 
worked into pills be a solid extract, add a few drops of water to it, 
and rub it to the right consistence ; if it be a resin, add to it a few 
drops of alcohol; if it be a soft or liquid substance, rub up with it 
some inert substance, or crumb of bread, or wheat flour, or starch, or 
pulverized gum-arabic; if it be a powder, mix it with some soft sub¬ 
stance, as confection, or syrup, molasses, honey, or mucilage of gum- 
arabic. The materials must be well mixed and rubbed into a uniform 
mass, which should be rolled with a spatula or knife into a cy¬ 
linder of just the same size throughout. This is to be divided 
equally into the number of pills required, each of which is rolled 
into a spherical form between the thumb and finger, or upon the palm. 

So many valuable pills are prescribed among the “ Recipes,” that 
it is not necessary here to add to their number. 

Plasters; 

Plasters are composed of wax, resins, gums, fats and oils, and 
sometimes medicinal substances, and are spread upon linen, muslin, 
or leather. When cold they are hard; but when brought to the 
warmth of the human body, they so far soften as to adhere firmly to 
the skin, but do not “run” so as to spread outward and soil the 
under-clothes. They are intended generally to excite and irritate 
the skin; sometimes as mechanical supporters, and sometimes to 
affect the system by having their medicinal matters absorbed. 

Belladonna Plaster.— Take three ounces of resin plaster, and an 
ounce and a half of extract of belladonna, add the extract to the 
plaster previously melted by a gentle heat, and mix. 


1078 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


A useful anodyne application in neuralgia, rheumatic pains, and 
dysmenorrhoea. 

Compound Capsicum Plaster.—-Melt together half a pound ot 
resin and two ounces of beeswax; to this add one pint of spirit in which 
two ounces of powdered cayenne, enclosed loosely in a linen bag, has 
been digested one hour by a gentle heat; evaporate the spirit by a 
moderate heat, and add one ounce of powdered camphor and one 
fluid dram and a half of oil of sassafras; stir constantly till cold. 

This may be used whenever a stimulating plaster is required. 

Compound Galbanum Plaster. —Take two ounces of galbanum, 
three ounces of burgundy pitch, half an ounce of resin, half an ounce of 
yellow wax, and four ounces of lead plaster; melt them all together 
over a gentle fire. 

This is a valuable strengthening plaster, and may be used for 
weakness of various parts, as well as for scrofulous enlargement of 
glands and joints. 

Compound Lead Plaster.—Take one pound of lead plaster; melt 
it by a moderate heat, and then add two fluid ounces each of linseed 
oil and tincture of opium, six fluid ounces of oil of turpentine, and 
two-thirds of a pound of oil of origanum; stir together till cold. 

Used for burns, scalds, cliilblains, etc. 

Compound Resin Plaster.—Take three pounds of resin, four ounces 
each of beeswax and hemlock gum; melt the articles together, then 
remove from the fire, and, when nearly cold, add gradually one fluid 
ounce each of oil of hemlock, oil of sassafras, and olive oil, with half 
an ounce of camphor, dissolved in them, and half a fluid ounce of oil 
of turpentine. Pour the whole into cold water, and work in the 
hands till cold, forming it into rolls. 

This is an excellent strengthening plaster, useful for rheumatism, 
enlarged joints, glands, and wherever a weakened part needs gentle 
stimulation and support. 

Spiced Plaster.— Take one ounce each of powdered ginger, cloves, 
cinnamon and black pepper; one- dram of pulverized cayenne; half 
a fluid ounce of tincture of ginger, and a sufficient quantity of honey. 
Mix the powders, and then add the tincture and honey to form a stiff 
poultice. 

This is applied with great advantage over the stomach in cases of 
nausea and vomiting. 

Compound Tar Plaster. —Boil three pounds of tar half an hour, 
then add one pound and a half of burgundy pitch, one pound of white 
gum turpentine (after having melted them together and strained). 
Stir together, then remove from the fire and add ten ounces each of 
finely-powdered mandrake-root, bloodroot, poke-root and Indian tur¬ 
nip ; mix thoroughly together. 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1079 


This is an irritant, rubefacient, suppurative plaster, and is con 
siderably used by the Eclectics to produce counter-irritation and re¬ 
vulsion in neuralgia, rheumatism and other painful affections, as well 
as in chronic inflammation of internal organs. To be spread thinly 
on soft leather, and renewed daily on the same leather. Four days 
are required to produce suppuration. If it produce great pain oi 
inflammation, remove it, and apply mutton-tallow or elm-poultice. 

Lead Plaster. — Take one pound and a quarter of very finely pow¬ 
dered semivitrified oxide of lead, one quart of olive oil and half a 
pint of water. Boil together over a gentle fire, stirring constantly 
till the oil and litharge unite and form a plaster. If the water nearly 
all evaporates before the process is completed, add a little boiling 
water. 

A useful plaster for ulcers, burns, excoriated surfaces, etc. 

Red Oxide of Lead Plaster. —Melt together one quart of olive-oil 
and one ounce each of beeswax and resin; heat to the boiling point, and 
then add gradually three-quarters of a pound of powdered red-lead. 
Stir constantly, and when the oil has taken up the lead, the mixture 
will be brown or shining black; then remove from the fire, and when 
nearly cold add four scruples of powdered camphor, and stir together. 
It should not be removed from the fire until it has acquired a proper 
consistence for spreading, which may be easily ascertained by allow¬ 
ing a portion of it to cool on a knife. 

This is a valuable plaster for scrofulous and syphilitic ulcers, also 
for burns, scalds, and several skin-diseases. 

Poultices. — Cataplasms, 

Bread-and-Water Poultice. — Put the needed quantity of boiling 
water in a basin; throw in crumbled white bread, or cracker, and 
cover with a plate. When the bread or cracker has soaked up all it 
will, drain off the remaining water. Spread one-third of an inch 
thick, and apply. 

Flaxseed Poultice. — Put boiling water in a basin, and stir in 
flaxseed meal to make a thick paste. Spread on linen and apply. 

Yeast Poultice. — Mix half a pint of yeast with one pound of 
flaxseed-meal. Stir carefully while heating. 

Carrot Poultice. — Boil the proper quantity of carrots till they are 
quite soft. Strain off the water, mash them to a pulp, and add a 
little lard or sweet oil to prevent them from getting hard, then 
spread. A good application for malignant and offensive sores. 

Oatmeal Poultice-Place hot water in a basin, and stir in oat¬ 

meal slowl}^ while it boils, till the poultice is of the right thickness 
that is, till it will not run on the rag on which it is spread. 


1080 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


Indian-Meal Poultice.— Made the same as oatmeal poultice. 

Arrow-Root Poultice-Mix two or more tablespoonfuls of arrow- 

root with a little cold water, in a basin, till it is all united with the 
water. Then add boiling water, and stir till the whole becomes a 
thick paste. 

Slippery Elm Poultice.—Stir ground slippery-elm bark into hot 
water, and let it swell. This is a very soothing poultice for irritable 
sores. 

Onion Poultice. — Made in the same way as the carrot poultice. 
This is quite stimulating, and induces indolent sores to maturate 
more freely. It is excellent for slow boils. 

Charcoal Poultice_Take either the bread-and-milk, or the In- 

dian-meal poultice, and stir into it one-quarter its bulk of finely pul¬ 
verized charcoal. Excellent for thoroughly cleansing a foul sore or 
ulcer. 

Anodyne Poultice. — Take half an ounce of the extract either of 
foxglove, or henbane, or stramonium, or conium, or belladonna, and 
mix it with half a pint of tepid water. Then stir in as much flax¬ 
seed meal as will make a poultice of the right thickness. Always 
be careful not to apply this poultice where there is much skin off, 
lest the extract used be so much absorbed as to produce poisonous 
effects. Tliese poultices allay the pain of cancerous and other sores. 

Lobelia Poultice. — Powdered lobelia and ground slippery-elm 
bark, each, one ounce. Stir these into hot weak lye, to make a poul¬ 
tice. For wounds, fistula, whitlow, boils, erysipelas and stings of 
insects. 

Poke-Root Poultice-Poast a sufficient quantity of fresh poke- 

root in hot ashes. When it is quite soft, pound it, and make a poul¬ 
tice. To be applied to tumors to scatter them, or hasten their suppu¬ 
ration. To be removed every four hours. 

Mustard Poultice. — Stir up a tablespoonful of ground mustard 
with a little water, to the consistence of paste. Spread upon linen 
or brown paper, and cover with thin muslin, that the mustard may 
not stick to the skin when the poultice is removed. They can now 
be bought all prepared, either on paper or cloth, of several different 
degrees of strength, and are much better than the home-made. 


Powders. 

A SINGLE substance used as a powder is called a simple powder; 
two or more united, a compound powder. Under the above head, I 
shall describe only compound powders. In preparing compound 
powders, the substances, if of different degrees of hardness, should 


MEDICINES AND THEIE PREPARATIONS. 


1081 


generally be pulverized separately. Many powders require to be ex¬ 
cluded from the light, which may be done by covering the bottles in 
which they are kept with black varnish. 

Aromatic Powder. — Take two ounces each of cinnamon and gin¬ 
ger, and an ounce each of cardamom deprived of the capsules, and 
grated nutmeg. Rub them together into a very fine powder, and 
keep in well-stopped bottles. 

The powder is stimulant and carminative, and in cases of weak¬ 
ened digestion, may be given in ten to thirty-grain doses. 

Compound Powder of Aloes and Canella—Take a pound of aloes 
and three ounces of canella. Rub them separately to a fine powder, 
and mix them. 

This is the preparation known as liiera picra^ or simply picra. It 
may be used for amenorrhcea, or generally as a bitter to correct cos¬ 
tiveness, and improve the appetite. 

Compound Powder of Catechu—Take two ounces each of catechu 
and kino, and half an ounce each of cinnamon and nutmeg. Reduce 
all to a fine powder, mix and pass them through a fine sieve. 

For chronic diarrhoea, dysentery, etc. Dose, from fifteen to thirty 
grains. 

Compound Powder of Chalk.—Take half a pound of prepared 
chalk, four ounces of cinnamon, three ounces each of tormentil and 
gum-arabic, and half an ounce of long pepper. Rub them separately 
into a very fine powder, and mix. 

This powder is warm, stimulant, astringent and antacid, and is 
well fitted for diarrhoea not connected with inflammation. 

Compound Powder of Chalk with Opium.— Take six ounces and 
a half of compound powder of chalk, and four scruples of powdered 
opium. Mix them. 

The opium in this preparation increases the efficacy of the com¬ 
pound powder of chalk in diarrhoea. Dose for an adult, ten to fif¬ 
teen grains, and repeated after each discharge. 

Compound Powder of Golden Seal. — Take two drams each of 
powdered golden seal, blue cohosh and helonias, and mix them. 

Useful in dyspepsia, chronic inflammation of the mucous mem¬ 
brane of the stomach, etc. Dose, half a teaspoonful to a teaspoonful, 
three or four times a day. 

Compound Powder of Hydrastin-Take half a dram each, in 

powder, of hydrastin, leptandrin, rhubarb and myricin. Mix thor¬ 
oughly, and divide into thirty-two powders. 

This is tonic and laxative, and is useful in dyspepsia, jaundice, 
chronic inflammation of the bowels, and during recovery from ex¬ 
hausting complaints. One powder may be taken often enough to 
produce one movement of the bowels a day. 


1082 


MEDICINES AND THEIE PREPAKATIONS. 


Inhaling Powder. —Take one dram of crystals of nitrate of silver, 
and two and a half drams of lycopodium. Work the lycopodium 
into a very stiff paste, with a little warm water, in which the nitrate 
is dissolved. Spread this thin in a shallow dish, cover it so as to shut 
out the light, and set it where it will dry; when thoroughly dry, pul¬ 
verize. 

I have used this powder with great advantage in many cases of 
bronchitis, by directing three to four grains of it to be inhaled once 
a day, in an instrument constructed for that purpose. This is the 
only really valuable catarrh snuff ever used. A pinch of it taken 
once a day (never oftener) for nasal catarrh, will often do excellent 
service. 

Compound* Powder of Ipecacuanha.—Take a dram each of pow¬ 
dered ipecacuanha and opium, and one ounce of sulphate of potassa. 
Rub them together into a fine powder. 

This is the well known Dover"*s powder. It is an admirable ano¬ 
dyne and diaphoretic, and is much used in inflammatory complaints, 
particularly rheumatism and pneumonia, complicated with low ty¬ 
phoid symptoms. Dose, from five to ten grains. 

Compound Powder of Jalap. — Take half an ounce of pulverized 
jalap and senna, one ounce of pulverized bitartrate of potassa, half a 
dram of pulverized ginger, and ten grains of pulverized cayenne. 
Mix thoroughly. 

This is a valuable purgative medicine, and may be used in most 
cases where a simple cathartic is required. Dose, half a teaspoonful 
to a tablespoonful. 

Compound Powder of Kino. — Take fifteen drams of kino, half an 
ounce of cinnamon, and a dram of dried opium. Rub them sepa¬ 
rately to a very fine powder, and mix them. 

This is anodyne and astringent, and is useful in diarrhoea, etc. 

Compound Powder of Rhubarb.— Take four ounces of powdered 
rhubarb, one pound of magnesia, and two ounces of finely powdered 
ginger. Mix thoroughly, and preserve in well stopped bottles. 

An excellent laxative and antacid, and well adapted to the bowel- 
complaints of children. 

Compound Powder of Rhubarb and Potassa (^Neutralizing Pow- 
Zer).—Take half an ounce each of powdered rhubarb, bicarbonate 
of potassa and peppermint leaves. Mix thoroughly. 

Valuable in diarrhoea, cholera morbus, dysentery, summer com¬ 
plaint of children, sour stomach, heartburn, etc. 

Worm Powder. — Take one ounce each of powdered white Indian- 
hemp root (Asclepias incarnata')., mandrake, pink-root, and bitter-root; 
two ounces of powdered balmony, and four scruples of powdered 
aloes. Mix thoroughly. 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1083 


A very good remedy for all kinds of worms. A teaspoonful of 
the powder may be mixed with a gill of molasses, and a teaspoonful 
of this given to a child every hour or two till it operates. After 
this, give a teaspoonful three times a day, for a few days. 

Syrups. 

A STRONG solution of sugar and water is a simple syrup. When 
the water is first charged with some medicinal substance, and sugar 
is added to this, we have a medicated syrup. Refined sugar should 
always be preferred in preparing medicated syrups. 

Simple Syrup. — Take two and a half pounds of refined sugar, and 
a pint of water; dissolve the sugar in the water by heat, remove any 
scum that may arise, and strain while hot. 

Syrup of Almonds.-^ Take a pound of sweet almonds, four ounces 
of bitter almonds, three pints of water, and six pounds of refined 
sugar. Blanch the almonds, then rub them in a mortar to very fine 
paste, and add, during the trituration, three fluid ounces of the water, 
and one pound of the sugar. Mix the paste thoroughly with the 
remainder of the water. Strain with strong expression, add the 
remainder of the sugar to the strained liquor, and dissolve by a 
gentle heat. Strain through fine linen, and after it is cool, put it 
into bottles, thoroughly stopped, and keep in a cool place. 

This is demulcent, nutritive and sedative, and is sometimes added 
to cough mixtures, etc. 

Syrup of Citric Acid -Take two drams of powdered citric acid, 

four minims of oil of lemons, and two pints of syrup. With one 
fluid ounce of the syrup, rub the citric acid and oil of lemons, then 
add the remainder of the syrup, and dissolve by a gentle heat. 

This is much employed as an agreeable and cooling addition to 
drinks, especially to carbonic-acid water. Tartaric acid, being cheaper 
than citric acid, is often substituted for it, and the preparation thus 
made is much sold under the name of lemon syrup. 

Syrup of Garlic. — Take six ounces of fresh garlic, sliced and 
bruised, one pint of diluted acetic acid, and two pounds of refined 
sugar. Macerate the garlic in ten fluid ounces of the diluted acetic 
acid in a glass vessel, four days, and express the liquor. Then mix 
the rest with what remains of the acid, and again express, till sufficient 
has passed to make the whole when filtered measure a pint. Then 
pour the filtered liquor on the sugar in a bottle, and shake till it is 
dissolved. 

Excellent in the bronchial affections of children. Dose, a tea¬ 
spoonful, for a child a year old. 

Syrup of Ginger. — Add two fluid ounces of tincture of ginger to 
a quart of simple syrup; evaporate the alcohol by a gentle heat. 


1084 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


This is carminative and stimulant, and gives tone to the debilitated 
stomach, removing wind, etc. It is added to other medicines to im¬ 
prove their flavor. 

Compound Syrup of Hypophosphites.— Take 256 grains of hypo- 
phosphite of lime, 192 grains of h 3 ^ophosphite of soda, 128 grains 
of hypophosphite of potassa, 96 grains of recently precipitated hypo- 
phosphite of iron, 240 grains of hypophosphorous acid solution, 12 
ounces of white sugar, half an ounce of extract of vanilla, and a 
sufflcient quantity of water. Dissolve the salts of lime, soda and 
potassa, in six ounces of water; put the iron salt into a mortar and 
gradually add solution of hypophosphorous acid till it is dissolved ; to 
this add the solution of the other salts, after it has been rendered 
slightly acidulous with the same acid, and then water, till the whole 
measures nine fluid ounces. Dissolve this in sugar, with heat, and 
flavor with the vanilla. Without flavoring, this syrup is not unpleasant, 
being slightly saline, and not at all ferruginous. Any other flavor¬ 
ing may be used, as orange-peel, orange-flower or ginger. It is also 
suggested to physicians that glycerine may be used, who]ly or par¬ 
tially, in place of sugar, when indicated, six ounces and a half of 
glycerine being substituted for twelve ounces of sugar. Dose, a tea¬ 
spoonful, three times a day before meals. 

Syrup of Ipecacuanha. — Take one ounce of ipecacuanha, in 
coarse powder, one pint of diluted alcohol, two pounds and a half of 
sugar, and one pint of water. Macerate the ipecacuanha in the alco¬ 
hol, fourteen days, and filter; evaporate the filtered liquor to six fluid 
ounces, filter again, and add water to make the liquor measure a pint; 
then add the sugar, and proceed as directed for syrup. 

This is chiefiy used in complaints of children. Dose, as an emetic, 
for an adult, two fluid ounces; for a child a year or two old, one or 
two fluid drams. As an expectorant, for an adult, two fluid drams; 
for a child, flve to twenty minims. 

Syrup of Lemons.—Take a pint of strained lemon-juice, two 
pounds and a half of refined sugar, and two and a half fluid ounces 
of rectified spirit; boil the juice ten minutes, and strain; then add 
the sugar, and dissolve. After the syrup has cooled, mix the spirit 
with it. 

A cooling and grateful addition to drinks in fevers, and serves to 
cover the taste of salts and other purgatives. 

Aromatic Syrup of Rhubarb. — Take two ounces and a half of 
bruised rhubarb, half an ounce each of bruised cloves and cinnamon, 
two drams of bruised nutmeg, two pints of diluted alcohol, and six 
pints of syrup. Macerate the rhubarb and aromatics in the alcohol 
for fourteen days, and strain ; then, by a gentle heat, evaporate the 
liquor to a pint, and, while hot, mix it with the syrup previously 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1085 


This is a warm cordial laxative, admirably fitted for the bowel 
complaints of infants. Dose, a fluid dram, repeated every two hours 
till it operates. 

Syrup of Seneka. — Take four ounces of fluid extract of seneka, 
and one pint of water; mix, and dissolve in the liquid one pound of 
refined sugar, and proceed as directed for syrup. 

This is a stimulating expectorant, used in colds, coughs, etc., after 
inflammatory symptoms have subsided. Dose, for an adult, one or 
two teaspoonfuls, as often as necessary. 

Syrup of Squill.—To one pint of vinegar of squill, add two 
pounds of refined sugar, and proceed as directed for syi’up. 

It is a useful expectorant for coughs and bronchial affections of 
infants and children. Dose, half a dram to a dram. 

Syrup of Tolu. — Take two fluid ounces of tincture of tolu, and 
one pint of simple syrup; mix, and gently heat the mixture to evapo¬ 
rate the alcohol. 

This is chiefly used to flavor other preparations. 

Syrup of Wild-Cherry Bark. — Place two pounds and a half of 
coarsely powdered wild-cherry bark in a percolator, and pass through 
it one gallon of water. Strain this and dissolve in it by heat sixteen 
pounds of refined sugar. 

This makes an elegant tonic and sedative preparation, and is mixed 
with various other articles in prescribing for dyspepsia, consumption, 
etc. 

Compound Syrup of Partridge Berry.—Take half a pound of 
partridge berry, and two ounces each of helonias, blue cohosh, and 
high cranberry bark; add to them one quart of brandy, and macerate 
four days. Press out the brandy; and place the herbs in three quarts 
of boiling water, and boil down to two and a half pints. Strain, add 
one pound of sugar, and evaporate to two and a half pints. Remove 
from the fire, and when nearly cold, add the brandy previously pressed 
out. 

This is considerably used by the Eclectic physicians, under the 
name of mother's cordial^ and may be usefully employed by all 
physicians in suppression of the menses, painful menstruation, pro¬ 
fuse menstruation and habitual abortions. Dose, from one to two 
ounces, two or three times a day. 

Compound Syrup of Phosphates (Chemical Food ),—Take ten 
drams of protosulphate of iron, twelve drams of phosphate of soda, 
twelve drams of phosphate of lime, twenty drams of phosphoric 
acid (glacial), two scruples of carbonate of soda, one dram of car¬ 
bonate of potassa, sufficient quantity of muriatic acid, sufficient 
quantity of water of ammonia, two drams of powdered cochineal, 
sufficient water to make twenty fluid ounces, three pounds of sugar. 


1086 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


and fifteen drops of oil of orange. Dissolve the sulphate of iron in 
two fluid ounces of boiling water, and the phosphate of soda in four 
fluid ounces of boiling water. Mix the solutions, and wash the pre¬ 
cipitated phosphate of iron till the washings are tasteless. 

Dissolve the phosphate of lime in four fluid ounces of boiling 
water, with sufficient muriatic acid to make a clear solution, precipi¬ 
tate it with water of ammonia, and wash the precipitate. 

To the freshly precipitated phosphates, as thus prepared, add the 
phosphoric acid, previously dissolved in the water. When clear, add 
the carbonates of soda and potassa, and afterwards sufficient muriatic 
acid to dissolve the precipitate. 

Now add the cochineal mixed with the sugar, apply beat, and when 
the syrup is formed, strain and flavor it. 

This is an elegant syrup, agreeable both to the eye and taste, and 
has been extensively sold and used as a nutritive tonic, in chronic 
debility, in cases of broken down constitution, wasting of the flesh, 
etc. 

Compound Syrup of Rhubarb and Potassa (Neutralizing Cor- 
dial). — Take half a pound each of powdered rhubarb and bicarbonate 
potassa, and four ounces each of cinnamon and golden seal; macerate 
for four days in one gallon of best fourth proof brandy. Express 
the tincture with strong pressure, and add to it two fluid drams of 
oil of peppermint, previously dissolved in a little alcohol. Break up 
the cake from the press, place it in a percolator, and gradually pass 
through it warm water till the strength is exhausted. Evaporate 
this solution to four quarts, and while the liquor is still hot, dissolve 
in it six pounds of refined sugar. Continue the evaporation, if neces¬ 
sary, till the addition of the tincture first obtained will make three 
gallons. Then add the tincture. 

A valuable antacid and laxative in diarrhoea, dysentery, cholera 
morbus, and summer complaint of children. Dose, for an adult, a 
tablespoonful, to be taken as circumstances require. 

Compound Syrup of Sarsaparilla. — Take a pound each of sarsa¬ 
parilla, yellow parilla, and pipsissewa; an ounce and a half of guaia- 
cum; one ounce each of red roses, senna, and liquorice root; and 
three minims each of oil of sassafras, anise, and partridge berry; di¬ 
luted alcohol, five pints, and four pounds of refined sugar. Grind 
and mix the sarsaparilla, yellow parilla, pipsissewa, guaiacum, roses, 
senna, and liquorice, and add to them the alcohol. Let the whole 
stand fourteen days, then express and filter. Evaporate by a water- 
bath to one quart, and add the sugar. Lastly, rub the oils in a mor¬ 
tar with a little of the syrup, and thoroughly mix with the remainder. 

This is a valuable alterative syrup, and is used for syphilis, scrofula, 
diseases of the skin, etc. It is much improved by adding half an 
ounce of the iodide of potassium to each pint of the syrup. Dose, a 
tablespoonful. 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 1087 

Compound Aromatic Syrup of Senna. — Take four ounces of 
senna, one ounce and a half of jalap root, half an ounce of rhubarb, 
one dram of cinnamon, one dram of cloves, and half a dram of nut¬ 
meg. Reduce these articles to a coarse powder; add one quart of 
diluted alcohol. Let the whole stand two days and percolate. Filter, 
dissolve in it one pound of refined sugar, and add one dram of oil of 
lemons. 

An excellent cordial physic. 

Compound Syrup of Stillingia. — Take a pound each of queen’s 
root and turkey corn; half a pound each of pipsissewa leaves and 
elder flowers ; and four ounces each of prickly-ash berries and carda¬ 
mom seeds. Grind all the articles, mix, and place them in a jar, and 
moisten them well with alcohol. Let them stand two days; then 
place them in a percolator, and gradually add hot water till two pints 
are obtained, which must be strained and set aside. Then continue 
the percolation so long as there is a sensible taste of the spirit. Re¬ 
serve this also. Then continue the percolation till what is obtained 
is almost tasteless. Boil down this last till the addition of the two 
reserved tinctures will make two gallons of the whole. Now add 
twelve pounds of refined sugar, and make a syrup. 

This is one of the Eclectic medicines; and is quite an effective 
alterative for syphilis, scrofula, etc. Improved by adding iodide of 
potassium. Dose, from a teaspoonful to a tablespoonful. 

Compound Syrup of Yellow Dock. — Take two pounds of yellow- 
dock root, one pound of the bark of the root of false bittersweet, and 
half a pound each of American ivy and figwort. Make a syrup 
according to the directions for compound syrup of stillingia, using 
sixteen pounds of sugar, and making two gallons of syrup. 

A valuable preparation for scrofula. Improved by iodide of potas¬ 
sium. Dose, a tablespoonful, three or four times a day. 

Tinctures. 

An ethereal tincture is one which is made with ether as the solvent 
instead of alcohol, and an ammoniated tincture, one made with water 
of ammonia as the solvent. 

Simple tinctures, in which only one medicinal article is used, are 
made thus: 

Tincture of Aconite.— Take eight ounces of powdered aconite- 
root, and one pint of alcohol. Mix, and let them stand for two weeks, 
frequently stirring. Then express, and filter through paper. 

Given in fevers and inflammatory diseases. Dose, three drops 
every hour or two in a little water. 

In the above manner all simple tinctures are made. Some medi¬ 
cines require alcohol to extract their active principle ; some only 
diluted alcohol. 


1088 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


One Ounce to the Pint of Alcohol. — In preparing simple tinctures 
from the following articles, alcohol is used, and one ounce only of the 
medicine is employed to the pint, namely: 

Castor, Saffron, Leptandria. 

One Ounce to the Pint of Diluted Alcohol. — In making tinctures 
from the following articles, one ounce is used to the pint of diluted 
alcohol : 

Iodine, Quassia. 

Two Ounces to a Pint of Alcohol: 

Assafoetida, Camphor, Oil of Peppermint, Oil of Spearmint, Ben¬ 
zoin, Colchicum seeds, Lupulin. 

Two Ounces to a Pint of Diluted Alcohol: 

Cardamom, Cotton-Bark, Cochineal, Colombo, Colchicum, Ergot, 
Galls, Hemlock, Cubebs, Foxglove, Black Hellebore, Henbane, Lactu- 
carium. Lobelia, Poke, Shrubby Trefoil, Bloodroot, Squill, Valerian, 
Bittersweet, Belladonna. 

Three Ounces to a Pint of Diluted Alcohol: 

Peruvian Bark, Rhatany, Poison Hemlock, Sheep Laurel, Stramo¬ 
nium, White Hellebore, Yarrow, Prickly Elder, Jalap. 

Four Ounces to a Pint of Alcohol: 

Nux Vomica, Ginger, Guaiacum, Black Cohosh. 

Four Ounces to a Pint of Diluted Alcohol: 

Yellow Jessamine, Prickly-ash Berries, Ergot, Matico. 

The following tinctures embrace those which vary from the above 
proportions among the simple tinctures, and also the compound 
tinctures: 

Tincture of Orange-Peel. — Take three and a half ounces of dried 
orange-peel and one quart of diluted alcohol. Macerate for seven 
days, express and filter. 

Tincture of Buchu.— Take five ounces of buchu, and one quart 
of diluted alcohol. Digest seven days ; pour off the clear liquor, and 
filter. 

Tincture of Indian Hemp. — Take of extract of Indian Hemp 
(Cannabis Indica) one ounce, and one pint of alcohol. Dissolve the 
extract in the spirit. Dose, from twenty to thirty drops. 

Tincture of Cantharides. — Take an ounce of bruised Spanish 
flies, and two pints of diluted alcohol. Macerate for fourteen days, 
express and filter through paper. 

Dose, from twenty drops to a dram, three or four times a day. 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1089 


Tincture of Cayenne Pepper. — Take an ounce of pulverized 
cayenne, and two pints of diluted alcohol. Macerate fourteen days, 
and filter through paper. 

Tincture of Catechu. —Take an ounce and a half of catechu, an 
ounce of bruised cinnamon, and one pint of diluted alcohol. Let 
them stand together two weeks, frequently shaking; then express 
and filter. 

DosC; from thirty drops to a tablespoonful. 

Tincture of Cinnamon. —Take an ounce and a half of powdered 
cinnamon, and one pint of diluted alcohol. Let them stand together 
for two weeks; express and filter. 

Dose, from one to thi’ee teaspoonfuls in sweetened water. 

Elixir Vitriol. — Take half a pint of alcohol; drop into it seven 
fluid drams of sulphuric acid, and let the mixture stand three days 
in a close vessel; then add two drams of powdered ginger, and three 
drams of powdered cinnamon. Macerate seven days, and filter. 

Useful in diarrhoea, dysentery, etc. Dose, from five to fifteen 
drops. To avoid injury to the teeth, it should be taken through a 
quill, or glass tube, or else the mouth should be rinsed immediately 
after swallowing it. Use with care. 

Tincture of Lobelia. — Take four ounces of lobelia, and one pint 
each of distilled vinegar and alcohol. Macerate two weeks, express 
and filter. 

Dose, as a nauseant or expectorant, from thirty to forty drops. 

Tincture of Opium. (Laudanum), — Take two and a half ounces 
of opium, and two pints of diluted alcohol. Macerate fourteen days, 
express, and filter through paper. Dose, from ten to twenty drops. 

Tincture of Tolu — Dissolve one ounce of balsam of tolu in one 
pint of alcohol, and filter. 

Tincture of Rhubarb. — Take three ounces of bruised rhubarb, 
half an ounce of bruised cardamom, and a quart of diluted alcohol. 
Macerate two weeks, express, and filter through paper. 

Tincture of Virginia Snake=Root. —- Take three ounces of bruised 
Virginia snake-root, and one quart of diluted alcohol. Macerate two 
weeks, express, and filter through paper. 

This is advantageously added to the infusion of Peruvian bark, in 
low states of the system. Dose one to two fluid drams. 

Compound Tincture of Aloes. — Take three ounces of powdered 
aloes, one ounce of saffron, and two pints of tincture of myrrh. 
Macerate fourteen da 3 rs, and filter. 

This is the well-known elixir proprietatis,^ or more commonly, elixir 
pro. It is considerably used in female disorders, connected with sup¬ 
pressed, retained, or deficient menstruation. Dose, one to two fluid 
drams. 


1090 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


Compound Tincture of Assafoetida.— Take half an ounce each 
of lupulin, assafoetida, in small pieces, bruised stramonium seeds, 
powdered valerian root, and one pint and a half of alcohol; macerate 
two weeks, shaking frequently, then express and filter. 

This is anodyne and antispasmodic, and is used in epilepsy, St. 
Vitus’s dance, and hysterics. Dose, a teaspoonful. 

Compound Tincture of Benzoin. — Take three ounces of benzoin, 
two ounces of purified storax, one ounce of balsam of tolu, half an 
ounce of powdered aloes, and two pints of alcohol. Macerate two 
weeks and filter. 

This is used in chronic diseases of the air-passages. Dose, from 
thirty to fifty drops. 

Compound Tincture of Cardamom. — Take six drams of bruised 
cardamom, two ounces of bruised caraway, five drams of bruised cin- 
lamon, five ounces of seeded raisins, one dram of bruised cochineal, 
and two pints and a half of diluted alcohol. Macerate two weeks, 
and filter. 

This is a very agreeable aromatic; used as a carminative, and to 
improve other preparations. Dose, one or two fluid drams. 

Compound Tincture of Catechu. — Take three ounces of catechu, 
two ounces of bruised cinnamon, and two pints of diluted alcohol. 
Macerate fourteen days, express and filter. 

This is frequently added to chalk preparations for diarrhoea, etc. 
Dose, from one to three fluid drams. 

Compound Tincture of Cinnamon. — Take one ounce of bruised 
cinnamon, half an ounce of bruised cardamom seeds, three drams of 
bruised ginger, and two pints of proof spirits. Macerate fourteen 
days, express, and filter. 

This is a warm, aromatic tincture, useful in spasms and debility 
of the stomach. Dose, one to two fluid drams. 

Compound Tincture of Black Cohosh. — Take one fluid ounce 
of tincture of black cohosh, half a fluid ounce of tincture of blood- 
root, and two fluid drams of tincture of poke-root. Mix. 

This is used in diseases of the lungs, liver, and stomach. Dose, 
from twenty to fifty drops, three or four times a day. 

Compound Tincture of Blue Cohosh. — Take one ounce of pow¬ 
dered blue-cohosh root, half an ounce each of bruised water-pepper 
and ergot, two fluid drams of oil of savin, and twelve fluid ounces of 
alcohol; mix, macerate for a fortnight, and filter. 

A uterine tonic, used for suppressed and painful menstruation, etc. 
Dose, a teaspoonful, two or three times a day. 

Compound Tincture of Colchicum. —Mix one fluid ounce each 
of tincture of black cohosh and tincture of colchicum-seed. 

Used for inflammatory rheumatism and gout. Dose, ten to fifty 
drops. 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1091 


Compound Tincture of Gentian. —Take two ounces of bruised 
gentian, one ounce of orange-peel, half an ounce of bruised carda¬ 
mom seeds, and two pints of diluted alcohol. Macerate fourteen 
days, express, and filter. 

An elegant bitter, much used in dyspepsia, and as an addition to 
tonic mixtures for a weakened state of the stomach. Dose, one or 
two fluid drams. 

Compound Tincture of Golden Seal. — Take one ounce each of 
powdered lobelia-seed and golden seM, and one pint of diluted alco¬ 
hol. Macerate two weeks, express, and filter. 

This is used as a local application to diseased mucous membranes, 
in leucorrhoea, gleet, etc. 

Ammoniated Tincture of Guaiac. — Take four ounces of pow¬ 
dered guaiac, and a pint and a half of aromatic spirits of ammonia- 
Macerate for two Aveeks, and filter. 

This tincture has considerable reputation in the treatment of 
chronic rheumatism. Dose, one or two fluid drams. 

Compound Tincture of Hemlock (^G-olden Tincture). — Take one 
ounce each of powdered balsam of tolu, guaiacum, gum hemlock, and 
gum myrrh, one ounce and a half of oil of hemlock, one ounce of oil 
of wintergreen, and four pints of alcohol. Mix, let them stand four¬ 
teen days, shaking frequently, then filter. 

This is used by the Eclectics for rheumatism, wind colic, water- 
brash, soreness of the chest, etc. Dose, a teaspoonful in a wineglass¬ 
ful of water. 

Compound Tincture of High Cranberry. — Take one ounce of 
high cranberry bark, powdered, half an ounce each of powdered 
lobelia-seed and bruised skunk-cabbage seed,.two drams each of 
bruised stramonium-seed, powdered bloodroot and capsicum, and two 
pints of alcohol Macerate two weeks, express, and filter. 

This is an Eclectic remedy, and is useful in nervous and spasmodic 
complaints, particularly hysterics, etc. Dose, from twenty drops to 
a teaspoouful. 

Compound Tincture of Lavender. — Take three fluid drams of 
oil of lavender, one dram and a half of oil of anise, one ounce of 
powdered cloves, three drams of mace, one ounce of raisins, two 
ounces of red saunders, and one gallon of Jamaica rum. Mix, and 
macerate fourteen days, then express and filter. 

This is often used for flatulence, hysterics, and faintness. Dose, 
from one to three teaspoonfuls, in water. 

Compound Tincture of Lobelia. — Take one ounce each of 
coarsely powdered lobelia, bloodroot, skunk-cabbage, wild ginger, 
and pleurisy root. Place them in a vessel, and pour over them one 
pint of boiling water or vinegar, and cover tightly. When cold, add 
three pints of alcohol. Macerate two weeks, then express and filter. 


1092 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


A valuable emetic for infants and children, in croup, whooping- 
cough, bronchitis, and convulsions. Used also as an expectorant, in 
couglis, pleurisy, etc. Dose, as an emetic for a child, half a teaspoon- 
fnl and upwards. 

Compound Tincture of Lobelia and Capsicum. —Take one ounce 
each of powdered lobelia, capsicum, and skunk-cabbage, and one pint 
of diluted alcohol. Mix, macerate fourteen days, and filter. 

A prompt antispasmodic fin cramps, spasms, lock-jaw, etc. Dose, 
half a dram to a dram. 

Compound Tincture of Myrrh (Hot Drops). — Take four ounces 
of bruised myrrh, two ounces of capsicum, and four pints of alcohol. 
Mix, macerate a fortnight, and filter. 

Applied externally, and occasionally given internally for distress 
of stomach, flatulence, etc. 

Camphorated Tincture of Opium. — Take one dram each of pow¬ 
dered opium and benzoic acid, one fluid dram of oil of anise, two 
ounces of clarified honey, two scruples of camphor, and two pints of 
diluted alcohol. Macerate fourteen days, and filter. 

This is known to all the world as paregoric elixir. It is an agree¬ 
able anodyne and antispasmodic, and a good deal used among chil¬ 
dren to allay cough, and to relieve pains, diarrhoea, etc. 

Compound Tincture of Peruvian Bark.—Take two ounces of 
red bark, powdered, one ounce and a half of bruised orange-peel, 
three drams of bruised Virginia snake-root, one dram each of safeon, 
cut, and red saunders, rasped, and twenty fluid ounces of diluted 
alcohol. Macerate two weeks, express, and filter. 

This is HuxharrCs tincture. It is an excellent stomach cordial, and 
is used with advantage in low forms of fever, etc. Dose, from one 
to three fluid drams. 

Compound Tincture of Rhubarb (Sweet Tincture of HhuharJ )).— 
Take two ounces and a half of bruised rhubarb, six drams of bruised 
liquorice root, three drams each of bruised ginger and saffron, two 
ounces of refined sugar, and one quart of diluted alcohol. Macerate 
one week, express, and filter. 

A warm, gentle aperient, well fitted for debilitated states of the 
stomach. Dose, from a dram or two to an ounce. 

Tincture of Senna and Jalap (Elixir Salutis). — Take three 
ounces of senna, one ounce of powdered jalap, half an ounce each.ol 
bruised coriander and caraway seeds, two drams of bruised cardamom 
seeds, four ounces of sugar, and three pints of diluted alcohol. Mace¬ 
rate two weeks, express, and filter. 

This is a warm cordial purgative, useful in costiveness, and gout 
attended with debility. Dose, two fluid drams to an ounce. 

Compound Tincture of Tamarac (Boneh Bitters). — Take three 
ounces each of tamarac-bark and juniper-berries, two ounces of 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1093 


prickly-ash bark, one ouiice and a half each of wild-cherry bark and 
seneca snake-root, and half an ounce of tansy; powder coarsely, and 
mix; then add one pint and a half of whiskey, and let them stand 
twenty-four hours; then place the whole in a vapor displacement 
apparatus, and force through the mixture the vapor of another pint 
of whiskey, after which steam from water enough to make the tinc¬ 
ture equal to six quarts. To this add twelve ounces of molasses, and 
six ounces of thoroughly dissolved alcoholic extract of mandrake. 

This is tonic, diuretic, and aperient. Useful in dyspepsia, etc. 
Dose, a tablespoonful three times a day. 

Ammoniated Tincture of Valerian. — Take four ounces of 
bruised valerian, and one quart of aromatic spirit of ammonia. Mace¬ 
rate two weeks, express, and filter. 

This is used as an antispasmodic in hysterics and other nervous 
diseases. Dose, one or two fiuid drams, in sweetened water. 

Compound Tincture of Virginia Snake-root (^Sudorific Tincture). 
— Take eight scruples each, in coarse powder, of Virginia snake- 
root, ipecacuanha, saffron, opium, and camphor, and one pint of Hol¬ 
land gin or proof spirit. Mix, macerate two weeks, express, and 
filter. 

This tincture tends powerfully to induce perspiration, and is used 
for such purpose when it is desirable to procure sleep, etc. Dose, 
from ten drops to a teaspoonful, every hour or two, in catnip or 
balm tea. 


Vinegars. 

Vinegar of Lobelia. — Take two ounces of powdered lobelia-seed, 
and one pint of distilled vinegar. Macerate in a close vessel one 
week; then express and filter, and add one fluid ounce of alcohol. 
This is useful as an emetic and expectorant; externally, it is valua¬ 
ble in skin diseases. Dose, one to four teaspoonfuls, as often as 
necessary. 

Vinegar of Squill.—Take two ounces of sliced squill, and one 
pint of distilled vinegar; macerate in a close glass vessel one week, 
then express, strain, and add one fluid ounce of alcohol. 

This is expectorant and diuretic, and is sometimes used for coughs 
and diseases of the chest. 


1094 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 



Lemons. 

One of the leading physicians of New York says Lemons are 
one of the greatest blessings Qod has bestowed 
upon mankind. 

Most of the lemons used in the civilized world come from the Island 
of Sicily. 




MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1095 


They are very healthful and good, not only for allaying thirst, but 
will cure a multitude of disorders. 

The juice of a lemon contains citric acid, and as a result decreases 
the acid secretions of the body and increases the alkaline. Citric acid, 
which is the acid of the lemon, not only decreases the secretion of 
gastric acid but increases very materially the secretion of saliva. The 
very thought of a lemon is sufficient to make the mouth water. 

Debility. 

If you feel ^‘so tired” your bones ache, and you have a bad taste 
in your mouth, squeeze lemon juice into fresh water enough to make 
a sour beverage and drink freely of it many times a day, for it is surely 
a foe to sour stomach and bile—it will pass it off through the natural 
channels and leave the stomach, liver and kidneys in a fresh and more 
healthful condition. 


Headache. 

If you have a throbbing headache, drink the juice of half a lemon 
in fresh water, repeat the other half in thirty minutes; take a slice 
of lemon and rub the bits over the brow and temples and the pain 
will soon go away. 

Heartburn. 

Lemon juice taken before meals will be found very advantageous 
as a preventive and cure for heartburn. 

Fevers. 

When the mouth is parched and dry, lemon juice added to a little 
warm water and given in small doses will increase saliva and refresh 
the patient. This should not be given if the bowels are disordered. 

Dyspepsia. 

Juice of half a lemon should be taken in a little warm water before 
each meal; avoid sweets. Repeat for several days and a marked 
improvement will surely follow. 

Rheumatism or Gout, 

The juice of a lemon should be taken in a little warm water at night 
j ust before retiring. This has proved a very beneficial relief to the 
most obstinate cases. 


Colds and Coughs. 

Take the juice of two lemons, add ten drops of camphor and a 


1096 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


tablespoonful of granulated sugar. Mix well and take a teaspconiul 
every half hour until relief is obtained. 

For the Hair. 

If your hair is falling out, rub slices of lemon thoroughly into the 
roots and over the scalp, washing the head afterwards with warm, 
soft water. This is a sure cure for dandruff and preserves and 
strengthens the roots of the hair. 

For the Complexion, Face or Freckles. 

Squeeze lemon juice into milk, rub the mixture over the face and 
neck. Leave on over night and you will rejoice in the fresh glow of 
your complexion. This will also remove tan and freckles. 

For the Hands. 

Mix lemon juice and glycerine, rub 5 mur hands with it at night, 
and if you are not too nervous, wear large old gloves and you will 
wonder at their dazzling whiteness. 

For Mosquito or Insect Bites. 

Touch the hurt spot with pure lemon juice and you will soon find 
relief and cure. 


Removing Corns or Warts, 

Bind on a slice of lemon with bandage successively for a few days 
and the corn or wart can be easily removed. 

Poisoning from Opium or Other Narcotics. 

Give an emetic to cause vomiting, say one-half teaspoonful of mus¬ 
tard in one-half pint of water, then give the juice of a whole lemon 
in pure water, which will counteract the effects. 

Seasickness. 

For one week before going aboard ship take the juice of a lemon in 
pure water just before eating breakfast. This has been tried and 
proved as a sure preventive by many travelers. 

La Qrippe. 

Take as hot a bath as you can bear, soak the feet for twenty minutes 
in hot mustard water, immediately going to bed; covering yourself up 
well, drink the juice of a lemon in hot water, this will cause perspira¬ 
tion and relief. Be careful going out of doors next day and avoid 
drafts and cold. 


MEDICINES AND THElH PREPAHATloNS. 


1097 




CAYENNE PEPPER. 

Well known and most useful remedy for Scarlet 
Fever. (See index Cayenne Pepper.) 


DANDELION. 

Sure cure for Dyspepsia. Liver Complaint, etc. 
(See index under Dandelion.) 


BLACKBERRY. 

Sure cure for diarrhoea and dysentery. Be sure 
and use this valuable remedy. No doctor is 
needed when this is taken faithfully. (See index 
under Blackberry.) 


CELERY. 

For nervous complaints make a tea by boiling 
celery stocks and leaves until very soft; drink 
several times a day. The above also gives imme¬ 
diate relief from rheumatism. 



















1098 


•medicines and their preparations. 



HYDRANGEA. 

Infallible in dissolving and removing Gall and Blad¬ 
der Stones. (See index under Hydrangea.) 



POKE. 

Sure cure for Felons and Tumors. (See index under 
Poke.) 



PUMPKIN. 

Most valuable for expelling the Tape Worm. 
Will expel the head of the worm, which is absolute¬ 
ly necessary to insure permanent relief. (See 
index under Pumpkin.) 


TOMATO. 

Tomato is a valuable remedy for Cholera In¬ 
fantum. Prepare by taking several ripe tomatoes, 
peel and add sugar to the taste, strain and give a 
teaspoonful every half hour until cured 


















MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1099 



SKULLCAP. 

Sure cure for Neuralgia and Sciatica. This 
remedy is easily prepared in the home. (See index 
under Skullcap.) 



TULIP. 

(Poplar or White Poplar.) 

Sure cure for Fever and Ague. This remedy is 
used with great success in curing long standing cases 
ot this disease. (See index under Tulip Tree.) 


V 



Sure cure for suppressed or painful menstruation 
and womb complaint. (See index under Star Grass.; 



WHITE POND LILY. 

Sure cure for Leucorrhea. (See index under White 
Pond Lily.) 













PRESCRIPTIONS. — RECIPES, 


These prescriptions are numbered, and referred to by correspond¬ 
ing numbers in the treatment of the various diseases. This arrange¬ 
ment saves the trouble of writing out each prescription every time it 
is wanted under the several disorders. When there are several 
recipes, each of which is suitable in a certain stage of a complaint, 
this plan affords the means of referring to them all in a little space, 
by simply giving their numbers. The doses named are always for 
grown persons^ unless it is otherwise stated. For young people, from 
15 to 21, give f of dose. For children, from 7 to 15, ^ of dose. 
In administering medicines of all kinds, the strength and condition 
of the patient should be taken into consideration. 

Great pains have been taken in preparing these prescriptions. A 
considerable portion of them are the favorite recipes of our most 
distinguished physicians who have compiled this valuable book. 
They are compounded from the latest discoveries in medicine. 


Emetics. 

1. Ipecac powder, in 30-grain doses, taken in lukewarm water and 
repeated every 20 minutes if needed. Wine or syrup of ipecac is a 
more useful and palatable emetic for infants and children: it may be 
given in 1 to 2 teaspoonfuls as a dose. Useful in poisoning, overloaded 
stomach, croup, etc. 

2. Mustard flour is a very prompt emetic and always on hand for an 
emergency. Dose, 1 dessertspoonful in \ pint of warm water; repeated in 
10 minutes if needed. 

3. Sulphate zinc is a very prompt emetic producing little irritation; 30 
grains, with thirty of Ipecac, generally sufiSce, but the dose may be re¬ 
peated. 


1100 



MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1101 


4. Apomoiphia, when injected under the skin in doses of J grain, 
produces vomiting in 3 to 10 minutes. It may also be given by the mouth 
in doses of J of a grain. 

Purges. Cathartics. 

5. Precipitated sulphur, 15 grains; magnesia, 1 scruple. Mix. To be 
taken each night at bedtime, for costiveness and bleeding piles. 

6. Confection of senna, 2 ozs.; cream of tartar, 1 oz.; sulphur, 1 oz.; 
syrup of ginger enough to make a stiff paste. Mix. A piece as large as 
a nutmeg is to be taken as often as necessary to keep the bowels open. 
One of the very best remedies for piles. 

7. Rochelle salts, 2 drams; bicarbonate of soda, 2 scruples; water, ^ 
pint. Mix. To this mixture add 35 grains of tartaric acid, and take the 
whole foaming. This is the recipe for Seidlitz powders. 

8. Calcined magnesia, 1 dram; water, 2 ozs. Mix. To be taken at a 
draught. Husband’s magnesia, in powder form, taken in teaspoonful 
doses every 2 hours till bowels move, is a excellent mild saline. 

9. Sulphate of magnesia (epsom salts), 2 drams ; freshly roasted coffee 
in coarse powder, 2 scruples; hot water, 4 ozs. Mix and boil for three 
minutes, and strain. This may be sweetened, and taken every morning 
for habitual costiveness, or repeated once in three hours, if an immediate 
effect is desired. 

10. Castor-oil, 1 oz.; the yolk of one egg; put together, and add 
simple syrup, J oz.; peppermint water, 2 ozs. Mix. To be taken at a 
draught, after being well stirred or shaken. Equally palatable is a table¬ 
spoonful or two of castor-oil between 2 layers of lemon juice. 

11. Sulphur, 1 dram; cream of tartar, 2 drams. Mix. To be taken 
in syrup or molasses. 

12. Rhubarb, 10 grains; calcined magnesia, J dram. Mix. To be 
taken in syrup or molasses. 

13. Powdered senna, J dram; powdered jalap, 10 grains; powdered 
cloves, 10 grains. Mix. To be taken in sweetened water. 

14. Compound licorice powder, or so-called German powder, is a 
thorough physic in heaping teaspoonful doses. It is a physic very com¬ 
monly used. Best taken in milk, but not bad in water. 

15. Garfield tea, bought in packages and steeped per directions, is also 
a simple carthartic, and may be continued for a while each night. No 
physic proper should be so used for any great length of time. 

16. Castor-oil, 1 dessert spoonful to 2 tablespoonfuls. 

17. Castoria is a proprietary medicine, yet one which children and in¬ 
fants take readily and without any deleterious effect. 

18. Sulphate of magnesia, 1 oz.; cream of tartar, 1 oz.; pure water, 
1 pint. Mix. A wine-glassful occasionally. 

19. Compound extract of colocynth, Jdram; aloin, 2 grains; extract 
of belladonna, 2 grains. Mix, and divide into 8 pills. One as required- 


1102 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


20. The solution of citrate of magnesia, which all druggists keep in 
stock in pint bottles, is the most palatable, the simplest, and most effeca- 
cious saline we have. The ordinary dose is ^ bottle; this may be repeated 
in 4 hours. 

21. Syrup of figs is another proprietary medicine of some value; it con¬ 
tains senna. Dose, 2 to 4 teaspoonfuls. Is agreeable to children. 

22. Aloin, strychnia and belladonna, in pill form, is sold everywhere 
by druggists, and is a suitable mild cathartic. The pill is put up in vary¬ 
ing strengths, but that which contains aloin, grain, is a moderate strength 
pill. 

23. Sulphur, 1 teaspoonful; cream of tartar, 10 grains; saltpetre, 5 
grains. Mix. To be taken at a dose. 

24. Manna, 2 drams; fennel water, 1 oz. Mix. One dessert spoon¬ 
ful, as a cathartic for an infant. 

25. Castoria (See No. 17) and aromatic syrup of rhubarb are good laxa¬ 
tives for children. 

26. Cascara sagrada is an herb which has become extremely popular 
and useful in constipation, as it is a tonic laxative. It is given in various 
forms, of which the best are the aromatic preparations of cascara, in tea¬ 
spoonful doses at night, the solid extract in pill form, in doses of J to ^ 
grain, 1 to 3 three times daily, or Maltine with cascara, in 1 to 4 teaspoon¬ 
ful doses at bedtime. These preparations may be contined for long inter¬ 
vals if need be. 

27. Epsom salts, 2 drams; dissolve in pure water, 1 oz. Then add 
sweet spirits of nitre, 2 drams; laudanum, 10 drops. Dose, a tea¬ 
spoonful, to be repeated according to circumstances. 

28. Aromatic syrup of rhubarb, in teaspoonful doses to a young child, 
or in tablespoonful doses to an older child, is a good corrective. 

29. Compound extract of colocynth, J dram ; extract of jalap, 15 grains. 
Mix. Make 12 pills. Two or three pills will produce active operation of 
the bowels. Add ext. belladonna, 2 grs., to prevent gripes. 

30. Solution of the citrate of magnesia, in wineglass doses, every two 
hours, till it operates, or in ^ bottle dose for a single dose. 

31. Pulverized gamboge, 12 grs.; pulv. scammony, 12 grs.; elate- 
rium, 2 grs.; croton oil, 8 drops; ext. of stramonium, 3 grs. Mix. Make 
12 pills. One pill is a dose, repeated every hour until it operates. 

32. Compound cathartic pills, improved, in doses of two to three pills, 
produce in four hours one or two complete and full operations. 

33. See Nos. 17, 20, 21, and 25. 

34. Leptandrin, gr. 12; podophyllin, gr. 2; euonyrain, gr. 12; in- 
s])issated ox-gall, gr. 48. Divide into 24 pills. Take one pill one to 
three times a day. 

35. Pulverized rhubarb, 2 scruples; bicarbonate of potassa, 1 scruple; 
ext. of nux vomica, 5 grs. Mix. Make 20 pills. One pill twice a day. 

.36. Leptandrin, grs. 12; ext. nux vomica, grs. 6; euonymin, grs. 12; 
iridin, grs. 12; ext. cascara sagrada, grs. 8. Divide into 24 pills. Take 
one pill three times daily if needed. 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1103 


37. Sweet tiuct. of rhubarb, 4 ozs.; bicarbonate of soda, 2 drams. Mix. 
From a teaspoonful to a tablespoonful, as occasion may require. 

38. Pulverized rhubarb, 2 ozs.; bicarbonate of potassa, 1 oz. Mix. Of 
this take enough to produce one movement of the bowels per day. 

39. Leptandrin, 30 grs.; podophyllin, 5 grs.; pulv. cayenne, 10 grs.; 
ext. nux vomica, 6 grs.; quinine, 12 grs. Mix. Make 24 pills. One, 
two or three times a day. 

40. Podophyllin, 2 grs.; leptandrin, 10 grains; cream of tartar, 5 scru¬ 
ples. Mix. Divide into 10 powders. One is a dose. 

44. Comp, powder of jalap, 1 oz.; cream of tartar, 1 oz. Mix. One 
teaspoonful is a dose, to be taken in sweetened water. 

42. Pulverized charcoal, drams; pulv. rhubarb, 2 scruples; pulv. 
ipecac, 6 grains; extract of hyoscyamus, 12 grs. Mix. Divide into 12 
portions. Give one every three or four hours. 

43. Pulverized blood-root, 1 dram ; pulv. rhubarb, 1 dram; castile soap, 
2 scruples. Mix, and divide into 32 pills. Take one morning and night. 
Excellent for costiveness. 

44. Rochelle, 14 drams; magnesia, 11 drams; powdered charcoal, 8 
drams. Mix. Dose, a heaping teaspoonful, in dyspepsia and costive¬ 
ness, with foul breath, etc. 

45. Pulverized rhubarb, 8 grs.; pulv. guaiacum, 8 grs.; galbanum, 2 
grs.; pulv. ipecac, 2 grs. Mix. Make 8 pills. Take one or two pills 
light and morning. For a weak stomach and a bilious condition. 

Tonic and Cathartic. 

46. Podophyllin, 4 grs.; leptandrin, 8 grs.; quinine, 8 grs.; ext. nux 
vomica, 2 grs. Mix. Make 16 pills. One, two, or three pills at bedtime, 
according to the requirements of the case. 

47. Sulphate of iron, 1 scruple; ext. cascara, 7 grains. Mix and make 
into 20 pills. One pill twice a day. An excellent remedy in chlorosis, 
when the bowels are confined. 

48. Carbonate of iron, 1 dram; pulverized rhubarb, J dram; aloin, 6 
grains; extract of hops, ^ dram. Mix. Make 30 pills. One pill three 
times a day. 

49. Fluid extract of senna, 1 dram; compound fiuid extract of gentian, 
J dram; fluid extract of ginger, ^ dram; aromatic spirits of ammonia, 
^ dram. Mix. To be taken in a wineglassful of sweetened water. 

50. Aromatic s^^rup of rhubarb, 1 oz. ; tincture of Colombo, 1 oz. Mix. 
Dose, two teaspoonfuls three times a day. 

51. Compound infusion of gentian, 6 ozs.; epsom salts, 4 drams; di¬ 
luted sulphuric acid, 16 drops. Mix. A tablespoonful every six hours. 

52. Tr. aloes, J oz.; pulv. gum-arabic, 5 grs.; magnesia, 1 dram; 
white sugar, 5 grs.; comp, infusion of gentian, ozs.; water, IJ ozs.; 
tinct. of ginger, ozs. Mix. From a teaspoonful to a tablespoonful to 
bfi taken night and morning. 


1104 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 

4 

53. Pulverized Peruvian bark, 1 oz.; pulv. rhubarb, J dram; pulv. mu¬ 
riate of ammonia, 1 dram. Mix. Divide into eight powders. Take one 
three times a day. 

54. Oxide of zinc, 2 drams; magnesia, ^ oz.; quinine, 1 scruple. Mix. 
Divide into 32 powders. Take one four times a day. 

55. Sprudel salts, 1 teaspoonful in J glass warm water on arising; crab- 
orchard water, 1 tablespoonful in ^ glass water on arising; Hunyadi 
Janos, J glass or more in water; 1 teaspoonful phosphate of sodium in a 
glass of hot water on arising; are all good saline I’emedies for biliousness. 


Carminatives. 

56. Manna, 1 oz.; aniseed, bruised, 1 dram; coiling water, J pint. 
Mix. Let the mixture stand for half an hour, then strain, and add three 
drams of carbonate of magnesia, so as to make a perfect mixture. Take 
a wineglass full every two or three hours till it operates. For the drum¬ 
head state of the bowels. 

57. Thoroughwort, 2 ozs.; ginger and cloves, each, ^ oz.; ext. dan¬ 
delion, 4 ozs. ; water, 1^ pints. Boil to one-third, and add sugar, IJ 
pounds, and brandy, j pint. An excellent cordial cathartic to act upon 
the liver. 


Tonics. 

58. Chamomile flowers, oz.; cold water, 1 pint. Macerate for one 
hour and strain. A wineglassful to be taken several times a day. 

59. Sulphate of quinine, 15 grains; diluted sulphuric acid, 15 drops; 
compound tincture of cardamom, 3 drams ; tincture of hops, 3 drams ; com¬ 
pound infusion of roses, 6 ozs. Mix. A teaspoonful two or three times a 
day, in chlorosis. 

60. Diluted sulphuric acid, 2 drams; syrup of orange-peel, 2 ozs.; cin¬ 
namon-water, 1 oz. Mix. A teaspoonful or two in a wineglass of water 
two or three times a day. 

61. Bland’s iron pill, 3 grains, three times daily. This pill is often 
united with strychnia, grain, and arsenious acid, grain, which adds 
to its efficiency. If constipation exists, there may also bC added ext. cas- 
cara, | grain, in chlorosis, anaemia, and conditions requiring iron. 

62. Sulphate of quinine, 12 grains; aromatic sulphuric acid, 24 drops; 
syrup, 1 oz.; peppermint water, 1 oz. Mix. In intermittent fever, take 
one tablespoonful once in three hours. Ordinarily, one teaspoonful is a 
sufficient dose. Or quinine, 10 grains, four hours before the expected chill. 

63. Compound infusion of gentian, 8 ozs.; nitro-muriatic acid, 30 
drops. Mix. Take one tablespoonful three times a day. 

64. Bicarbonate of soda, J oz.; compound infusion of gentian, 4 ozs.; 
tincture of Colombo, 1 oz.; syrup of orange-peel, ^ oz. Mix. Take a 
tablespoonful three times a day. 

65. Sulphate of quinine, 1 scruple; alcohol, 4 ozs.; sulphuric acid, 5 
drops ; Madeira wine, 1 quart. Mix. Two wineglassfuls a day. 

66. Tinct. gentian compound, teaspoonful in wineglass water before 
eating. 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1105 


67. Quinine, 1 scruple; alcohol, 4 ozs.; sulphuric acid, 5 drops. Mix. 
Take a teaspoonful three times a day, or quinine pills, 2 gcs. each, one 
three times a day. 

68. Arseniate of iron, 3 grains; extract of gentian, 2 drams; pulver¬ 
ized licorice, 1 dram. Mix. Make 20 pills. Take one pill three times 
a day. If the eyelids become inflamed, discontinue for a few days, and 
then begin again. 

69. Soft water, 3 ozs.; quinine, 10 grains; diluted sulphuric acid, 10 
drops; simple syrup, 1 oz. Mix. A teaspoonful every two or three 
hours. 

70. Quinine, 10 grains; diluted sulphuric acid, 10 drops; white sugar, 
4 drams; cinnamon water, 4 ozs.; tincture of kino, 2 drams. Mix. One 
teaspoonful every three hours. 

71. Tartrate of iron, 40 grains; soft water, 2 ozs.; syrup of ginger, 
J oz. Mix. 20 to 40 drops every three hours. 

72. Potassio-tartrate iron, 4 scruples; quinine, 4 scruples; alcoholic ext. 
of black cohosh, 4 scruples. Mix. Make 48 pills. 

73. Pill, citrate of iron, quinine, and strychnia, 2 grains. One pill three 
times daily. 

74. Precipitated carbonate of iron, 30 drams; ext. of conium, 15 drams; 
syrup of balsam of tolu, 6 ozs.; oil of cinnamon, 12 drops; oil of lemon, 
12 drops; alcohol, 2 ozs.; water, 1 pint; brandy, ^ pint; loaf-sugar, 
4 ozs. Mix. Give from one to three tablespoonfuls three or four times a 
day, in insanity. 

75. Citrate of iron, 1 dram; sulphate of quinine, ! scruple; ext. of nux 
vomica, 8 grs. Mix. Make 32 pills. One pill three times a day. 

76. Nitric acid, 1 dram; hydrochloric acid, Jdram; comp. Infusion of 
gentian, 1J ozs. Mix. One teaspoonful in water is a dose. 

77. Sulph. quinine, 1 dram ; tartaric acid, 6 grs.; water, 1 drop. Mix. 
Make 30 pills. Dose, one pill, to be repeated as often as needed. 

78. Diluted nitric acid, 4 drams; diluted muriatic acid, 4 drams; syrup 
of orange-peel, 1 dram ; water, 1| ozs. Mix. One teaspoonful in a wine¬ 
glass of water, taken before meals. 

General and Nerve Tonics. 

79. Valerianate of iron, quinine and zinc, of each 1 grain in pill form, 
taken three times daily, is an excellent nervine; or pill sumbul comp., on'" 
three times daily. 

80. Iron by hydrogren, 48 grs.; arsenious acid, 1 gr.; ext. of nux 
vomica, 5 grs. Mix. Make 24 pills. For an adult, one pill three times 
a day. 

81. Valerinate quinine, 1 grain; extract valerian, 1 grain; extract of hy- 
oscyamus, J grain. One pill every two or three hours till quiet, then one 
every four or six hours. 

82. White vitriol, 1 dram; ext. of nux vomica, 8 grs. Mix. Make 32 
pills. One pill three times a dav. 


1106 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


83. Strychnia, 2 grs.; ext. of aconite, 16 grs.; ext. of hyoscyamus, 16 
grs.; quinine, J dram. Mix. Make 32 pills. One pill three times a day. 

84. Citrate of iron, 1 dram; trisnitrate of bismuth, 1 dram; sulphate of 
quinia, 1 scruple; ext. of nux vomica, 6 grs. Mix. Make 32 pills. Take 
one pill three times a day. 

Nerve-Tonics and Antispasmodics. 

85. Strychnine, 2 grs.; ext. belladonna, 5 grs.; alcoholic extract of 
black cohosh, 2 scrupleso Mix. Make 40 pills. One pill four times 
a day. 

86. Strychnine, 2 grs. ; diluted phosphoric acid, 1 oz. ; peppermint 
water, 3 pints. Dissolve the strychnine in the acid ; then add the pepper¬ 
mint water. A tablespoonful to be taken three times a day, in palsy, dys¬ 
pepsia, neuralgia, and in most states of the nervous system requiring tone. 
Also in fever and ague. 

87. High-cranberry bark, 1 oz.; skunk-cabbage root, ^ oz. ; scullcap, 
J oz.; cardamom seeds, 2 drams; pulv. cayenne, 2 drams. Put these to 
a pint of wine; shake well every day for three or four days. A table¬ 
spoonful four times a day. 

88. Aconitia, grain; antifebrin, 2 grains; quinine, 1 grain; ar¬ 
senic chlorophos., grain; strychnia, y^-q grain. One pill. Take one 
such pill every two to four hours, according to pain. Used in neuralgia. 

89. Extract of valerian, 12 grs.; extract of hyoscyamus, 12 grs.; 
oxide of zinc, 24 grs. Mix. Make 12 pills. One pill twice a day. 

90. Extract of hyoscyamus, 48 grs.; extract of valerian, 24 grs. *, 
camphor, 24 grs. Divide into 24 pills. Take one every four hours. 

91. Extract of hyoscyamus, J dram; aconitia, ^ gr.; strychnine, 2 
grs.; pulverized cayenne, Jdram; phosphide of zinc, 5 grs. Make 30 
pills. Take one four times a day. Excellent in neuralgia. 

92. Antikamnia, 60 grs.; caffein, 24 grs.; divide into 12 capsules. 
Take one every two hours for neuralgia of face. See also 88. 

93. Valerianate of iron, valerianate of zinc, valerianate of quinine; of 
each, 30 grs., to be divided into 30 pills or capsules. Take one three 
times a day for the neuralgic condition. 

94. Tincture of veratrum viride, 2 drams; bromide of soda, 4 drams: 
elixir of anise, 1 oz.; syrup of orange, 2 ozs. Take a teaspoonful in 
wineglass of water every two to four hours according to nervousness. 

95. Strychnine, 1 gr.; arsenious acid, 1 gr.; quinine, 20 grs.; reduced 
iron, 20 grs.; extract cannabis indica, 5 grs. Divide into 30 pills or 
capsules. Take one three times daily. 

96. Simple syrup, 1 oz.; prussic acid, 1 drop. Mix. A teaspoonful 
morning and evening. If no dizziness or sickness is produced within 
forty-eight hours, repeat the dose three times a day. This is for a child 
six mouths old; add one drop more of the acid for each additional year of 
the child’s age. 

97. Phosphide of zinc, 5 grs.; extract of nux vomica, 7 grs.; extract 
of cannabis indica, 5 grs. Divide into 30 pills or capsules, and take one 
three times daily as a nerve tonic. 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1107 


98. Quinine, 12 grs.; reduced iron, 10 grs.; arsenious acid, J gr.; 
phosphide of zinc, 2 grs. Divide into 24 pills. Take one three times 
daily for a child from 8 to 12 years of age. For St. Vitus’s dance. Or, 
Fowler’s solution, 1 oz. Give 3 drops to a child of 8 to 12 years in a 
little water three times daily, and increase dose by one drop every third 
day till eyes become puffy or nose waters. Then stop for three days and 
begin again. Give also pepto-mangan, 1 bottle; a teaspoonfiil three 
times daily. This latter is an elegant form of mild iron, and does not 
stain the teeth or constipate. 

99. Phenacetin, 50 grs.; divide into 6 powders; give one every two 
hours till pain ceases. Or chlorodyne, one dram; aromatic spirits of 
ammonia, one dram; elixir simplex, 1 oz. Mix. One teaspoonful in a 
tablespoonful of hot water every 20 minutes till relieved. 

100. Extract of high cranberry bark, 1 scr.; euonymin, J scr.; iridin, 
J scr.; pulverized cayenne, 1 scr. Mix. Make 20 pills. Take one pill 
an hour after each meal. Simpler yet is a tablespoonful of crab-orchard 
water in J glass plain water once or twice a day. 

101. Iodide of potash, peppermint water; of each 2 ozs. Give 10 to 30 
drops in ^ glass water three times daily on a full stomach; for secondary 
and tertiary syphilis and similar complaints. For a child give 5 to 10 
drops. 

102. Elixir of the three iodides, 6 ozs.; one teaspoonful in water three 
times daily. 

103. Syrup of iodide of iron, 1 oz. Thirty drops three times a day, in 
water. An excellent remedy in chlorosis, and all other low states of the 
blood connected with scrofula. Or, a pill of iodide of iron, 1 gr., three 
times daily. 

Expectorants and Cough Preparations. 

104. Apomorphia, 1 gr.; chloroform, 10 drops; elixir yerba santa, 
2 ozs. Take one teaspoonful every two hours. 

105. Infusion of senega, 4 ozs.; syrup of ipecac, 1 dram; syrup of 
squills, 3 drams; tartar emetic, 1J grs. Mix. A teaspoonful every 
ten minutes. 

106. Wine of ipecac, IJ drams; chloroform, 5 drops; syrup of tolu 
sufficient to make 1 oz. Give J teaspoonful every two hours for a child 
three years old. 

107. Tincture aconite, 20 drops; wine of antimony, IJ drams; chloro¬ 
form, 10 drops; elixir terpin hydrate, enough to make 2 ozs. Give tea¬ 
spoonful every two hours. 

108. Bromoform, 1 oz. Give 5 drops in tablespoonful of water four 
times daily to a child eight years old suffering with whooping cough. 
This dose is to be well mixed and quickly given, because bromoform does 
not mix well with water. It is to be increased by 1 drop every other day 
till about 10 drops are given at a dose. Other ages in proportion. Burn 
also a cresolene lamp. 

109. Tincture bloodroot, 4J ozs.; wine of ipecac, 2 drams; tincture of 
aconite 20 drops; honey, J oz.; McMunn’s elixir, IJ drams; elixir yerba 
santa to make 3 ozs. Take teaspoonful every two hours. 


1108 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


110. Wine of ipecac, 2 drams; chloroform, 15 drops; liquid Dover’s 

1 dram; linoline, or compound emulsion of flax-seed (omitting the chloral 
and morphine) enough to make 3 ozs. One. teaspoonful every two hours: 
for hard, dry cough. 

111. Tincture of lobelia, 2 drams; tincture of bloodroot, 4 drams; 
honey, 1 oz.; dilute hydrocyanic acid, IJ drams; cherry-laurel water 
enough to make 3 ozs. Give one teaspoonful every two hours. 

112. Syrup of tolu, 1 oz.; syrup of squills, J oz.; wine of ipecac, 

2 drams; codeia, 2 grs.; mucilage of gum-arabic, IJ ozs. Mix. Take 
a teaspoonful occasionally. 

113. Tincture bloodroot, 2 drams; syrup of tolu, 1 oz.; mucilage of 
gum-arabic, 3 ozs.; diluted hydrocyanic acid, 40 drops; codeia, 4 grs. 
Mix. Dose, from one to two teaspoonfuls. 

Carminatives, 

114. Aromatic spirits of ammonia, 2 drams; tincture of cardamom com¬ 
pound, 1 oz.; tincture of capsicum, 10 drops; chloroform, 15 drops; 
spirits of lavender compound enough to make 2 ozs. Give teaspoonful in 
wineglass of hot water every fifteen minutes till relieved. 

115. Compound tincture of cardamom, 2 ozs.; compound tincture of 
lavender 2 ozs; Hayden’s Viburnum Compound, 2 ozs. Mix. One tea¬ 
spoonful at a time, as occasion may require. 

Narcotics and Anodynes. 

116. Hayden’s viburnum compound, or dioviburnum. One teaspoon¬ 
ful every J hour while in pain. Two tablespoonfuls of gin, and even of 
brandy in hot water also relieve at times. 

117. Powdered camphor, 12 grs.; powdered Castile soap, 12 grs., 
codeia, 4 grs.; syrup, 2 scrs. Mix. Make into 12 pills. Take one 
every hour till the effects of opium are experienced. 

118. Laudanum, J oz.; wine of ipecac, J oz.; spirits of nitric ether, 
J oz. Mix. One teaspoonful every hour, till narcotic effects are observed. 

119. Camphor, 2 drams; chloroform, 1 dram; the yoke of an egg. 
Mix, and rub together; and then add, McMunn’s elixir, 3 drams; aromat¬ 
ic spirits of ammonia, 1 oz. Mix well. Take one teaspoonful every 
hour until it proves anodyne. 

120. Camphor, J dram; extract of hyoscyamus, 20 grs.; mucilage of 
gum-arabic, 2 scrs. Make 10 pills. 

121. Chloroform, 2 ozs.; compound sulphuric ether, 2 ozs.; cardamom, 
2 ozs.; tincture cayenne, 1J ozs.; hydrocyanic acid, diluted, ^ oz. Mix. 
Dose, half a teaspoonful every three hours till anodyne effects are exper¬ 
ienced. 

122. Extract of belladonna, 10 grs.; hydrocyanic acid, 40 drops; 
tincture Colombo, 1 oz.; simple syrup, 1 oz.; soft water, 2 ozs. Mix. 
One teaspoonful three or four times a day. Excellent in gastralgia and 
irritable dyspepsia. Also in asthma. 

123. Extract of belladonna, 6 grs.; pulverized ipecac, 10 grs.; con¬ 
fection of roses, 2 grs. Mix. Make 30 pills. Take 1 pill twice a day. 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1109 


Diaphoretics and Sedatives. 

124. Tincture of American hellebore, 1 dram; tincture of blank cohosh, 
•2 ozs. Mix. Take one teaspoonful from three to six times a day. 
Excellent for neuralgia. 

125. Pulverized gum arabic, 1 scr.; soft water, 2 ozs.; sweet spirits 
of nitre, J oz.; tincture of veratrum viride, 20 drops. Mix. Give half 
a teaspoonful every half hour. 

126. Phenacetine, 10 grs. taken on tongue with a glass of hot lemon¬ 
ade ; children in proportion to age. 

127. Dover’s powder, 10 grs. on retiring, taken with hot drink. 

Diuretics. 

128. Spirits of Mindererus, 2 ozs.; sweet spirits of nitre, 1 oz. Tea¬ 
spoonful every three hours. 10 to 30 drops, diluted, for children. 

129. Diuretin, 10 grs. every two hours. 

130. Infusion of digitalis, 4 ozs.; acetate of potash, 2 drams; sweet 
spirits of nitre, 2 drams; cinnamon water, 1J ozs. Mix. A tablespoon¬ 
ful every four or five hours. 

131. Acetate of potash, 4 drams; lemon juice, 1 oz.; syrup and water 
of each, 1 oz. Teaspoonful in wineglass of water every two hours. 

Refrigerants. 

13r. Cream of tartar, 2 scrs.; water, 1 quart. Mix. Flavor to suit. 

133. Bicarbonate of soda, 30 grs.; water, 6 ozs. Mix. To this mix¬ 
ture add 25 grs. of tartaric acid, and take the whole foaming. 

Stimulants. 

134. Muriate of ammonia, 1 oz.; soft water, 9 ozs. Mix. Take one 
tablespoonful three or four times a day. 

135. Aromatic spirits of ammonia, 2 drams; ether, 1 dram; chloro- 
dyne, 20 drops; spirits of camphor, 1 dram. Mix. Half a teaspoonful 
as often as required. 


Alteratives. 

136. Proto-iodide of mercury, 5 grs.; extract of opium, 5 grs. Mix. 
Make 20 pills. Take one pill night and morning. For syphilis. 

137. Biniodide of mercury, 5 grs.; extract of conium, 2 scrs. Mix. 
Make 20 pills. Take one pill night and morning. For syphilis. 

138. Compound infusion of sarsaparilla, 1 pint; iodide of potassium, 
J oz. Mix. Take a teaspoonful after each meal. 

139. Compound infusion of sarsaparilla, 1 pint; corrosive sublimate, 
4 grs. Mix. Take a teaspoonful four times a day. For syphilis. 

140. Compound infusion of gentian, 4 ozs.; iodide of potassium, J OE. 
Mix. One teaspoonful after each meal, well diluted. 


1110 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


141. Iodide of arsenic, 5 grs.; soft water, 1 pint. Mix. One tea¬ 
spoonful three times a day. 

142. Blue pill, 12 grs.; pulverized ipecac, 3 grs.; extract of hyos- 
cyamus, 4 grs. Mix. Divide into 12 parts, one to be given every three 
hours. For syphilis. 

143. Pulverized bloodroot, 1 scr.; iodide of arsenic, 2 grs.; extract 
of cicuta, 2 scrs. Mix. Make 40 pills. One pill three limes a day. 

144. Iodide of potassium, 1 dram; water, J oz. Mix. Thirty drops 
to a child 7 years old, every hour. 

145. Compound syrup of stillingia, 1 pint; iodide of potassium, 1 oz. 
Mix. A tablespoonful after each meal. 

146. Fluid extract of sarsaparilla, 4 ozs.; fluid extract of pipsissewa, 
1 oz.; water, 1 quart; iodide of potassium, 2 ozs. Mix. Take a table¬ 
spoonful three times a day. 

147. Bicarbonate of potassa, 3 drams; water, 4 ozs. Mix. Add a 
tablespoonful of the solution to the same quantity of lemon juice, pre¬ 
viously mixed with a tablespoonful of water. To be taken foaming, 
several times a day. 

148. Blue pill, J dram; extract of henbane, 1 scr. Make 10 pills. 
One pill at night. For syphilis. 

149. Mercury with chalk, J dram; extract of conium, 1 scr. Make 
into 8 pills. Take one pill night and morning. For syphilis. 

150. Corrosive sublimate, 4 grs.; extract of opium, 5 grs. Mix, and 
make into 20 pills. Take one pill night and morning. For syphilis. 

151. Iodide of potassium, 1 dram; syrup of sarsaparilla, 4 ozs. Mix. 
Take two teaspoonfuls three times a day. For syphilis. 

Astringents. 

152. Sugar of lead, 2 scrs.; ergotine, 1 scr.; conserve of red roses, 
1 scr. Beat into a mass, which is to be divided into 30 pills. Take one 
every hour, until beneficial effects are observed. 

153. Tally’s powder, J dram; prepared chalk, 1 scr. Mix, and divide 
into 12 equal powders. 

154. Chalk mixture, 4 ozs.; tincture of catechu, J oz.; papine, 3 
drams. Mix. Dose, in diarrhoea, two to four teaspoonfuls three times 
a day. 

155. Oil of turpentine, 1 dram; mucilage of gum arabic, 1 dram; 
simple syrup, J oz.; cinnamon water, 2 ozs. Mix. To be taken at a 
draught. 

156. Sugar of lead, 16 grs.; prepared chalk, 1 dram; pulverized ipe¬ 
cac, 4 grs. ; pulverized opium, 2 grs. Mix. Divide into 16 portions, 
one to be given every three or four hours. 

157. Sugar of lead, 8 grs.; vinegar, 8 drops; white sugar, 1 dram; 
soft water, 1 oz. Mix. A teaspoonful three or four times a day, until 
the discharges are abated. 

158. Prepared chalk, J dram; pulverized ipecac, 3 grs. Mix. Make 
12 powders. Give one, two or three times a day. 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1111 


159. Pulverized catechu, 2 drams; bruised cinnamoii, J dram; boiling 
water, 5 ozs. Steep in a covered vessel for one hour and strain. A tea¬ 
spoonful every two, three, or four hours, according to age, nature of the 
case, etc. 

160. Soft water, 1 oz.; sugar of lead, 5 grs.; vinegar, 6 drops; loaf 
sugar, 3 drams. Mix. A teaspoonful every hour or two. 

161. Tincture of catechu, ^ oz.; laudanum, 2 drams; spirits of cam¬ 
phor, 2 drams; tincture of myrrhse, 2 drams; tincture of cayenne, 2 
drams. Mix. Dose, from half a teaspoonful to a teaspoonful, for 
diarrhoea. 

162. Syrup of orange-peel, 1 oz.; tincture of catechu, 2 grs.; tincture 
of cinnamon, 6 drams; tincture of cardamom, 2 drams. Mix. Dose, a 
teaspoonful. A valuable remedy in diarrhoea. 


Counter-Irritants. 

163. Tincture of Spanish flies, 1 oz.; olive oil, 2 ozs.; alcohol, J pint. 
Mix. To be applied externally, watching the effect, so as not to produce 
a blister. 

164. Water of ammonia, 1 dram; olive oil, 1 oz. Mix. Apply to 
the skin. 

165. Mustard powder, 1 tablespoonful. Mix with a little water to 
make a thick paste. Then spread upon a piece of brown paper or cotton 
cloth, and cover its surface with a piece of thin muslin to prevent the 
mustard from sticking to the flesh. Place it upon the sore or painful part, 
and keep it on fifteen or twenty minutes, or till a good degree of redness 
is produced. 

166. Vinegar of Spanish flies, 1 oz.; spirits of camphor, 1 oz. Mix. 
To be rubbed gently upon the skin. If applied freely, and rubbed 
thoroughly in, it may produce a blister. 

167. Yellow wax, rosin, lard, each, 6 drams. Melt over a slow fire, 
and then stir in slowly, when at a very moderate degree of warmth, IJ 
drams of pulverized Spanish flies, to make an ointment. 

168. Water of ammonia, strong, 1 oz.; alcohol, 1 oz. Mix. Wet a 
piece of cotton cloth, and lay it upon the painful part, and cover it with 
flannel to prevent evaporation. 

Ointments. 

169. Mercurial ointment, 1 oz.; extract of belladonna, 1 oz.; extract 
of henbane, 1 oz.; camphor, 10 grs. Mix. For external use. 

170. Extract of belladonna, ^ dram; vaseline, J oz. Mix. To be 
rubbed on the neck of the womb in painful menstruation. 

171. Prussic acid, 2 drams; sugar of lead, 1 dram; cocoanut oil, J 
oz.; vaseline, J oz. Make an ointment. 

172. Neapolitan ointment, 2 drams; extract of belladonna, 1 dram 
Mix. 

173. Extract of belladonna, 15 grs.; vaseline, 1 oz. Mix. 


1112 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


174. Sulphuret of lime, 1 dram; camphor, in powder, 15 grs.; vaseline, 

1 oz. Make an ointment. 

175. Elder-flower ointment, 1 oz.; oxide of zinc, 1 dram. Make an 
ointment. 

176. Oxide of zinc, ointment, 1 oz. 

177. Naphthaline, 2 scrs.; vaseline, 1 oz. Make an ointment. To be 
spread upon linen, and applied to the diseased skin night and morning. 

178. Mild nitrate of mercury ointment, 3 drams; sugar of lead, 16 
grs.; rose-water ointment, 1 oz. 

179. Laudanum, J dram; sulphur, J dram; oxide of zinc, 1 dram; oil 
of almonds, 1 oz.; vaseline, 3 ozs. Make an ointment. 

180. Olive oil, 4 ozs.; white wax, 2 drams. Melt these together, and 
then add honey, 2 drams; croton oil, 20 drops. 

181. Elder-flower ointment, 1 oz.; pulverized blue vitriol, 1 scr. 
Make an ointment. 

182. Purified beeves’ marrow, or lard, 6 drams; oil of sWeet almonds, 

2 drams ; pulverized Peruvian bark, 1 dram. Mix. 

183. Pulverized sulphate of copper, 10 grs.; extract of Spanish flies, 
5 grs.; vaseline, 1 oz. Mix. Rub into the scalp. 

184. Iodide of lead, 1 dram; vaseline, 2 ozs. Mix. To be rubbed 
on the surface. 

185. Iodide of potassium, 1 dram; vaseline, 2 ozs. Mix. 

186. Basilicon ointment, 1 oz.; red precipitate, 1 dram. Mix. 

187. Iodide of potassium, J dram; vaseline, 1 oz. Mix. 

188. Veratria, 4 grs.; vaseline, 5 drams. Mix. 

189. Tobacco leaves (fresh and sliced), 10 ozs.; diluted acetic acid, 4 
pints; basilicon ointment, 13 ozs. Boil the tobacco in the acid, strain, 
and evaporate the decoction to six ounces. Add this to the basilicon 
ointment, heated, and stir tiU cold. For gathered breasts. 


Liniments. 

190. Sweet oil, 1 oz.; strong water of ammonia, 1 oz. Mix. To be 
rubbed on with a piece of flannel. 

191. Lime-water, 2 ozs.; flax-seed oil, 2 ozs. Mix. Apply outwardly. 

192. Olive-oil, 1 oz.; solution of potassa, 2 drams; strong mercurial 
ointment, 1 dram. Mix. 

193. Olive-oil, 4 ozs.; oil of amber, 2 drams; oil of rosemary, 2 
drams. Mix. 

194. Spirits of turpentine, 1 oz.; linseed oil, 1 oz.; lime-water, 1 oz. 
Mix. For external use. 

195. Oil of hemlock, 2 drams; oil of origanum, 1 dram, camphor, 1 
dram; opium, 1 dram; alcohol, 4 ozs. Mix. 

196. Soap liniment, 2 ozs.; chloroform, 1 dram. Mix. 

197. Tincture of aconite-root, J oz.; opium liniment, J oz. Mix. 
For neuralgia, etc. Apply a teaspoonful to the painful part. 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1113 


198. White soap, 12 ozs.; camphor, 6 ozs.; oil of rosemary, ozs.; 
alcohol, 4 pints; opium, 3 ozs. Mix and filter. An excellent liniment, 
acting at times like a charm in the removal of local pains. 

199. Sulphuric acid, 1 dram; spirits of turpentine, 1 dram; olive oil, 
3 drams. Mix the oil and spirits of turpentine first, then gradually add 
the sulphuric acid. A valuable liniment for chilblains. To be rubbed on 
two or three times a day. 


Washes, Lotions, Gargles, etc. 

200. Bruised white-oak bark, 1 oz.; water, 1J pints. Boil down to a 
pint, and strain. To be used as a wash. 

201. Borate of soda or borax, 2 drams; water, 4 ozs. Mix. To be 
used as a lotion. 

202. Alum, 2 drams; water, 4 ozs. Mix. To be used as a lotion. 

203. Tannin, 1 scr.; water, 4 ozs. Mix. For external use. 

204. Biborate of soda, J oz.; rose water, 6 ozs.; sulphate of morphia, 6 
grs. Mix. To be used as a wash in itching of the female privates. 

205. Chlorinated soda, 1 oz.; water, 12 ozs. Mix. Rinse the mouth 
with it two or three times a day, but do not swallow. 

207. Rose-water, 5 ozs.; sugar of lead, 8 grs.; sulphate of zinc, 8 
grs. Mix. 

208. Rose-water, 4 J ozs.; nitrate of silver, 2 grs. Mix. 

209. Sulphate of zinc, 8 grs.; tannin, 1 scr.; water, 5 ozs. Mix. 

210. Chloride of zinc, 6 grs.; soft water, 2 ozs. Mix. 

211. Nitrate of silver, 10 grs.; soft water, 1 oz. Mix. 

212. Corrosive sublimate, 5 grs.; soft water, 1 pint. Mix. 

213. Alcohol, 1 pint; soft soap of potash, 1 pint. Dissolve and filtei^ 
then add oil of citron, 1 oz. Mix. It will answer a good purpose if the 
oil of citron be omitted. 

214. Nitrate of silver, 2 scr.; nitric acid, 12 drops; soft water, 1 oh 
Mix. Apply with a piece of lint tied to the end of a stick. 

215. Copperas, 1 oz. ; soft water, 1 pint. Mix. 

216. Alcohol, I 2 ozs. ; rose-water, 4 ozs. Mix. 

217. Corrosive sublimate, 6 grs.; spirits of rosemary, 1 oz.; alcohol, 1 
oz. ; emulsion of bitter almonds, 6 ozs. Mix. 

218. Solution of sugar of lead, 12 drops; laudanum, 1 dram; water, 4 
ozs. Mix. To be applied externally only. 

219. Nitrate of silver, 1] drams; soft water, 1 oz. Mix. 

220. White vitriol, 1 dram ; rose-water, 3 ozs. Mix. Apply outwardly. 

221. Hydrocyanic acid, 4 drams; sugar of lead, 15 grs.; alcohol, 4 
drams ; water, 7 ozs. Mix. Apply externally. 

222. Corrosive sublimate, 5 grs. ; almond mixture, 2 pint. Mix. Ap¬ 
ply externally. 

223. Rose-water, 4 ozs. ; pulverized borax, 2 oz.; sulphate of morphine, 
6 grs. Mix. To be applied to the parts many times a day. 


1114 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


224. Sugar of lead, 2 drams; laudanum, 1 dram; soft water, 1 pin:. 
Mix. For external use. 

225. - Corrosive sublimate, 5 grs.; cologne, 2 ozs.; soft water, 6 ozs. 
Mix. For external use only. 

226. Acid nitrate of mercury, 1 dram ; soft water, 4 ozs. Mix. Apply 
every second day. 

227. Sugar of lead, 3 grs.; soft water, 1 oz. Mix. As a wash in in¬ 
flammation of the mouth in infants. 

228. Mucilage of gum arabic, 1 oz.; syrup of orange-peel, i oz.; 
chloride of lime, 15 grs. Mix. 

229. Decoction of Peruvian bark, 3 ozs.; syrup of orange-peel, 1 oz.; 
chloride of soda, 1 oz. Mix. 

230. Creosote, 4 drops; mucilage of gum-arabic, i oz.; camphor-water, 
8 ozs. Mix. 

231. Vinegar, 1 dram; alcohol, 3 drams; simple syrup, 1 oz. ; water, 
3 ozs. Mix. 

232. White-oak bark, 1 oz. ; water, 1 pint. Boil away one quarter, and 
strain; then add alum, 1 scr. Apply to the parts with a soft sponge, or 
dossil of lint, several times a day. 

233. Hydrochloric acid, J dram; honey, 1 oz.; rose-water, 1 oz. Mix. 
Apply three or four times a day. 

234. Sulphate of copper, 1 dram; soft water, 1 oz. Mix. To be ap¬ 
plied twice a day to the ulcers in gangrene of the mouth. 

235. White vitriol, 1 dram; soft water, 2 drams. Mix. Then add 
honey, 2 drams; tincture of myrrh, 2 drams. To be applied twice a day 
to the ulcers in gangrene of the mouth. 

236. Creosote, 1 dram ; alcohol, 1 dram. Mix. To be applied, with a 
camel’s-hair pencil, to the gangrenous ulcers of the mouth, aHer running a 
lancet through the sloughs, and touch with a little strong carbolic acid till 
surface is white. Can repeat next day. 

237. Acid nitrate of mercury, h dram; soft water, 1 oz. Mix. To be 
injected into the throat with the shower-syringe, or applied to ulcers with 
a cameFs-hair pencil. 

238. Rose-water, 4 ozs.; sugar of lead, 2 drams. Mix., For external 
use. 

239. Rose-water, 2 ozs.; sugar of lead, 1 scruple. Mix. For ex¬ 
ternal use. 

240. Tincture of arnica, J oz.; cold water, 4 ozs. Mix. For external 
use. 

241. Tincture bloodroot, 2 ozs.; solution chloride of soda, 2 ozs.; 
tinct. henbane, 2 ozs. Mix. 

242. Bucket of warm water; cayenne pepper, pulverized, 1 tablespoon¬ 
ful; ground mustard, 2 tablespoonfuls. Mix. As a foot-bath in sup¬ 
pression, etc. 

243. Chlorate of potash, } oz.; strong hydrochloric acid, 40 drops; 
water, 1 pint. Mix. An excellent wash for chronic fetid ulcers, —soon 
converting a foul ulcer to a healthy-looking one. A good g-argle. 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1115 


244. Powdered golden seal, 1 dram; powdered cranesbill, 1 dram; 
powdered witch-hazel bark, 1 dram. Mix. Pour upon these half a pint 
of boiling water. Let them stand till cold. To swab an ulcerated throat 
in scarlet fever, and for other purposes. Still better, listerine, 1 oz.; per¬ 
oxide of hydrogen, 2 ozs.; water, 1 oz. Use as a gargle. 

245. Pulverized cayenne, 1 dram; salt, 1 dram; boiling water, 1 gilL 
Mix, and let them stand fifteen minutes. Then add one gill of vinegar. 
Let them stand an hour, and strain. Put a teaspoonful in a child’s mouth 
once an hour, in malignant scarlet fever. 


Injections. 

246. Castor oil, 1 gill; pulv. cayenne, 10 grs.; molasses, 1 gill; table 
salt, 1 teaspoonful; warm water, 1 pint. Mix. 

247. Senna leaves, 2 drams. Steep in a pint of water. Then add one 
ounce of epsom salts, and strain. A quarter of this may also be taken as 
a brisk purge. 

248. Castor oil, 2 ozs.; tincture prickly-ash bark, J oz.; comp, tinct. 
of Virginia snake-root, 2 drams; infusion of boneset and senna, equal 
parts, J pint. Mix. 

249. Castor oil, 1 oz.; salts of tartar, J oz.; warm water, 1 pint. Mix. 

250. Epsom salts, 1 oz.; senna leaves, J oz.; pulv. cayenne, 10 grs.; 
boiling water, 1 pint. Let the water stand upon the senna and cayenne 
fifteen minutes. Then pour it off, and add the salts. 

251. Thoroughwort, 1 oz.; senna, 1 oz.; lobelia, J dram; cayenne, 10 
grs.; epsom salts, 1 tablespoonful; molasses, J pint; boiling water, 1 
pint. Make a strong decoction of the herbs, and then add the salt and 
molasses. 

252. Wine of ipecac, 1 oz.; spirits of turpentine, 1 oz.; castor oil, 1 
oz.; molasses, ^ pint; warm water, J pint. Mix. 

253. Flax-seed tea, 1 pint; laudanum, 40 drops. Mix. 

254. Nitrate of silver Crystals, 10 grains; corrosive sublimate, 5 grs.; 
sugar of lead, IJ drams; white vitriol, IJ drams; soft water, 6 ounces. 
Mix. An injection for certain forms of whites, etc. Or corrosive sublimate 
tablets, 1 to 3 pints of water used night and morning. 

255. Bruised galls, J oz.; two large poppy-heads; water, 1 pint. Boil 
a quarter of an hour, and strain. For piles. 

256. Common salt, 1 oz.; chamomile flowers, ^oz.; pulv. aloes, 1 dram. 
Boil the chamomile and aloes five minutes, in one pint of water, then strain 
and add the salt. 


Hair-Oils, Washes, etc. 

257. Cologne, 2 ozs.; tincture of Spanish flies, 2 drams; oil of rose¬ 
mary, 10 drops; oil of lavender, 10 drops. Mix. Apply cautiously. L 
soreness of the scalp is produced, omit for a short time. 

258. Castor oil, 2^ pounds; strongest alcohol, 2J pints; pulverized 
Spanish flies, i oz.; oil of bergamot, 2J ozs.; otto of roses, 20 drops. 


1116 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


Mix. Let them stand for a few days, and filter. A superior preparation 
for keeping the hair from falling, and to prevent dandruff. 

259. Tincture benzoin comp., 2 drams; tinct. Spanish flies, 2 drams; 
castor oil, 6 ozs.; oil bergamot, 1 dram; oil of cassia or verbena, 15 
drops; strong alcohol, 9|- ozs. Mix. As a hair wash, better even than 
the above. 

260. Slaked lime, 2 drams; bicarbonate of soda, 3 drams; lard, 2 ozs. 
Mix. 

261. Slaked lime, 1 oz.; bicarbonate of potassa, 2 ozs.; charcoal in 
powder, 1 dram. Mix. Apply to the parts, and wash off when dry. 
Keep in well stopped bottles. 

262. Slaked lime, 4 ozs.; orris powder, IJ ozs. Mix. Apply to the 
parts, and wash off when dry. 

263. Spanish white, J pound; litharge,^ pound; slaked lime, J pound. 
Mix. Pulverize in a mortar. To be kept dry. When used, mix with 
water to a paste the thickness of cream. Spread on the hair and lay over 
it a wet cloth over night. 

264. Sulphur, 1 oz; sugar of lead, 1 oz.; rose-water, 4 ozs. Mix. 
Apply to the hair. 

265. Nitrate of silver, 1 dram; nitric acid, 1 dram; soft water, 1 pint; 
sap green, 3 drams; pulverized gum-arabic, 1 dram. Mix. Keep well 
corked. 

266. Hydrosulphuret of ammonia, 1 oz.; liquor potassa, 3 drams; soft 
water, 1 oz. Mix. Apply this with a tooth-brush fifteen or twenty minutes. 
Then brush the hair over with the following: nitrate of silver, 1 dram; 
soft water, 2 ozs., using a clean comb to separate the hair. 


niscellaneous. 

267. Fluid extract of spurred rye, 2 ozs. . Dose, one teaspoonful three 
times a day. For profuse menstruation from a relaxed state of the womb. 

268. Sulphate of iron, 1 dram; sub-carbonate of potash, 1 dram. Mix, 
and make into 38 pills. One pill twice a day, and gradually increasing to 
four a day, in chlorosis. 

269. Sulphate of iron, 1 dram; extract of hops, 15 grs.; extract of 
poppies, 15 grs.; oil of cinnamon, 15 drops. Mix, and make into 24 
pills. One pill two or three times a day. 

270. Oxide of zinc, 2 drams; extract of cicuta, 2 scruples. Mix. Make 
48 pills. 

271. Pulverized savin, 1 scruple; sulphate of copper, 1 scruple. To 
be sprinkled on venereal lumps or tumors, called condylomata, on the 
female genitals, or elsewhere. 

272. Balsam of copaiba, 1 oz.; oil of cubebs, 2 drams; laudanum, 1 
dram; mucilage of gum arabic, 2 ozs.; sweet spirits of nitre, ^ oz.; com¬ 
pound spirits of lavender, 3 drams; camphor-water, 4 ozs. ; white sugar, 
2 drams; oil of partridge-berry, 5 drops. Mix. Take a tablespoonful 
three or four times a day. For gonorrhoea; or capsules of copaiba and 
cubebs. 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1117 


273. Balsam of copaiba, 1 oz.; pulverized cubebs, 2 ozs.; essence of 
peppermint, 30 drops. Make a thick paste, like dough, or get capsules. 

274. Pulverized borax, 1 oz.; pulverized white sugar, 1 oz. Mix. A 
little to be dissolved on the tongue. 

275. Pulverized borax, J oz.; honey, 4 ozs. Mix. 

276. Hydrochloric acid, 1 dram; honey, 1 oz. Mix. For touching 
large curdy patches in sore mouth of children. 

277. Pulverized ipecac, 3 grains; precipitated sulphur, 2 scruples; 
extract of hyoscyamus, 6 grains. Mix. Divide into 12 parts. One to 
be taken every three or four hours. 

278. Pulverized belladonna-root, 5 grains ; compound ipecac powder, 10 
grains; precipitated sulphur, ^ dram; white sugar, 2 scruples. Mix. 
Make 20 powders. One every three hours to a child two years old. 

279. Pulverized alum, 25 grains; extract of cicuta, 12 grains; syrup of 
red poppies, 2 drams ; spearmint water, 3 ozs. Mix. A dessert-spoonful 
every six hours for a child two or three years old. 

280. Camphor, 1 dram; sulphuric ether, 1 oz. Mix. Ten drops every 
half hour. 

281. Pulverized rhubarb, 1 scruple; one half scruple Gray powders; 
aromatic powder, 5 grains. Mix. Divide into 10 powders. One every 
four or five hours. 

282. Pulverized bloodroot, ^ to 1 oz.; chloride of zinc, ^ to 2 ozs.; 
water, 2 ozs. Add enough wheat flour to make a paste as thick as mo¬ 
lasses. 

283. Sal. volatile, ^ dram; camphor-water, 1 oz. Mix. 

284. Tincture of nux vomica, J oz.; tinct. aconite, 2 drams; volatile 
tinct. of guaiacum, 2 drams. Mix. Thirty drops every threp hours. 

285. Tincture of black cohosh, 2 ozs.; tinct. of digitalis, 2 drams. 
Mix. One teaspoonful from two to five times a day. 

286. Barberry bark, 1 oz.; pipsissewa herb, 2 ozs.; wild cherry bark, 
1 oz.; bitter-root, 1 oz. Mix. Infuse for several hours in 4 pints of 
water. One tablespoonful three or four times a day. 

287. Horse-radish root, 1 oz.; bayberry bark, 1 oz.; barberry bark, 1 
oz.; wild cherry bark, 1 oz.; prickly-ash bark, 1 oz. Reduce the whole 
to a coarse powder, and infuse for several hours in 4 pints of cider. A 
tablespoonful three or four times a day. 

288. Mercurj^, 95 parts; balsam of storax, 48 parts; diacalon plaster, 
312 parts; wax, rosin, turpentine, each, 16 parts; ammonia, bdellium, 
each, 5 parts; olibanum and myrrh, each, 5 parts; saffron, 3 parts; spirits 
of lavender, 2 parts. Mix, and spread. For external use only. 

289. Populin, 20 grs.; sanguinarin, 10 grs.; pulv. white sugar, 30 grs. 
Rub well together, and divide into 16 powders. Take one four times a 
day. At the same time use prescription 73. 

290. Ptelein, 24 grs.; hydrastin, 24 grs.; extract of belladonna, 3 grs.; 
extract of nux vomica, 2 grs. Mix. Make 24 pills. Take one three 
times a day. 

291. Strychnia, 2 grs.; pulv. cantharides, 4 grs.; pulv. arnica-leaves, 
1 dram. Mix. Divide into 32 powders. One to be taken three times a 
day 


1118 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


292. Wine of colchicum seeds, 1 oz.; fluid extract of dandelion, 1 oz. 
Mix. One teaspoonful three times a day. 

293. Willow-bark, 1 oz.; boiling water, 1 pint. Boil for ten minutes, 
and strain. Dose, a wineglassful once in three hours. 

294. Canada balsam, 1 dram; slaked lime, 1 dram. Mix, to form a 
paste. An excellent remedy for toothache, when pressed into the cavity; 
or use a drop or two of a 4 % cocaine solution. 

295. Tincture black cohosh, 1 oz.; iodide of potassium, 2 drams; syrup 
of ipecac, 1 oz.; spring water, 2 ozs. Mix. A teaspoonful three or four 
times a day, in rheumatism and cell-dropsy. 

296. Tincture black cohosh, 1 oz.; tinct. myrrh, 6 drams; camphor, 1 
dram; tinct. cayenne, 1 dram. Mix. Take 30 or 40 drops four times a 
day, for dropsy. 

297. Solution chloride of soda, 6 drops; water, 2 ozs. Mix. To be 
taken at a draught. A sure remedy for offensive breath from deranged 
stomach. 

298. Cream of tartar, J oz.; fresh lemon-peel, bruised, 4 ozs.; white 
sugar, 4 ozs.; boiling water, 3 pints. Mix, and after standing a while, 
strain. 

299. Citric acid, ^dram; bi-carbonate of potassa, J dram ; lemon syrup, 

1 oz.; soft water, 6 ozs.; epsom salts, 1 oz. Mix. Two tablespoonfuls, 
to be repeated every four hours, if necessary. 

300. Hardwood ashes, 1 quart; common soot, J gill; water, 6 pints. 
Digest, settle, and filter. Take one tablespoonful three times a day, in 
acidity of stomach. Milk of magnesia is also a very simple and eflScient 
remedy. 

301. Peppermint water, 1^ ozs.; wine of colchicum-root, J oz.; iodide 
of potash, 3 drs.; magnesia, 1 scruple. Dose. — One teaspoonful three 
or four times a day. Excellent for rheumatism of a chronic or gouty type. 
For the acute form of ordinary rheumatism, some form of salicylic acid 
must be used, like the following: Salicylate of soda, 4 drs.; tinct. carda¬ 
mom comp., tinct. gent. comp, of each, 2 oz. Mix, and take, one tea¬ 
spoonful in water every two hours, till ears ring, then once in three or four 
hours. Tongaline in one-dram doses, every two hours, is an excellent all¬ 
round rheumatic medicine. 

302. Cream of tartar, ozs.; sulphate potassa, ^ oz.; pulv. squills, 

2 drs.; tartar emetic, 2 grs. A teaspoonful of this mixture to be taken 
four or five times a day, in dropsy. 

303. Pulv. alum, J dram; white precipitate, 1 grain. Rub these well 
together, and place the powder in a bottle; then add IJ drams of glycerin. 
Shake the bottle until the mixture is of the consistence of cream, and re¬ 
peat the shaking whenever it is about to be applied to the skin. For ex¬ 
ternal use in erysipelas. 

304. Copaiba, 5 drams; yolk of one egg; gum of extract of opium, 1 
grain; water, 7 ounces. Mix. To be used as an injection several times 
a day in gonorrhoea. 

.305. Tannin, 3 grains; extract belladonna, f gr.; extract conium, 2j 
grains; infusion of senna, 3 ozs.; fennel-water and syrup of marshmallow, 
each li ozs. Mix. A tablespoonful to be taken every two hours, in chronic 
bronchitis and other complaints. 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1119 


306. Glycerin, 1 dram; tannin, 1 dram. Dissolve the tannin in the 
glycerin. Excellent for sore nipples, and for chaps and excoriations 
generally. 

307. Collodion, 1 oz.; Venice turpentine, oz.; castor oil, 2 drams. 
Mix. To be applied outwardly, for chilblains and chaps. For cancer, 
manganic acid. Not as pamful as other caustics. 

308. Sulphate of copper, 2 grains ; wine of opium, 1 dram ; soft water, 
2 drams. Mix. Apply freely with a soft camel hair brush, three times a 
day, for purulent ophthalmia. 

309. Pure acetic acid, 2 drams; soft water, 3 ozs.; simple syrup, 3 
drams. Mix. A teaspoonful is to be taken every three hours, in scar¬ 
let fever, at the same time using sheet baths with tepid water. 

310. Compound tincture of Peruvian bark, 4 ozs.; citrate of iron, 44 
grains ; citric acid, 20 grains. Dissolve the citric acid in the tincture, and 
then the citrate of iron. After a few days filter. Dose, one to two tea¬ 
spoonfuls. 

311. No. 1. Gallic acid, 10 grains; dissolve in alcohol, 2 drams; 
water, 6 drams. No. 2. Crystals of nitrate of silver, ^ dram; water, J 
oz. Dissolve and add strong liquor of ammonia till it becomes clear; 
then add powdered gum-arabic, and dilute, if necessary, to 6 drams. 
This will color black; to color brown^ reduce it. An excellent hair-dye. 
Use the common directions where there is a No. 1 and No. 2. 

312. Epsom salts, 2 drams; magnesia, 1 scruple; syrup of ginger, 1 
dram; spearmint water, 11 drams. Mix. To be taken at a draught. 
This will be retained by the stomach when most other things are rejected. 

313. Diluted nitro-muriatic acid, 2 drams; sweet spirits of nitre, 2 
drams; simple syrup, ^ oz., water, 7^ ozs. Mix. Two tablespoonfuls 
are to be taken three times a day. Excellent in dyspepsia, with foul 
tongue and inactive liver. 

314. Rose-leaves, 1 scruple; boiling water, 8 ozs.; diluted nitric acid, 
2^ drams. Mix. After standing half an hour, strain, and use as a wash 
for ulcers. 

315. White vitriol, 1 dram; water, 1 pint. Mix. To be used as a 
wash for ulcers, etc. 

316. Citrate of'iron and strychnine, 1 dram; syrup of orange-peel, 2 
ozs.; soft water, J pint. Mix. Give one teaspoonful three times a day 
in neuralgia, and in other cases in which a nerve-tonic is needed. 

317. Aloes and soap pill, 10 grains. Divide into two pills; or, com¬ 
pound pill of aloes, 10 grs. Divide into two pills. 

318. Compound colocynth pill, 2J scruples; castile soap, 9 grs.; oil 
of anise, 2 drops. Mix, and make 12 pills. Two to be taken at bed¬ 
time. 

319. Compound tincture of senna, 2 drams; epsom salts, 2 drams; 
diluted sulphuric acid, 8 drops; spirits of nitric ether, ^ dram; infusion 
of rhubarb, 10 drams. Mix. To be taken at a draught. 

320. Sulphate of iron, 2 grs.; epsom salts, 2 scr. ; diluted sulphuric 
acid, 10 drops; compound tincture, 1 dram; syrup of poppies, 1^ drams; 
pimento water, 9 drams. To be taken at a draught twice a day. 


1120 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONSc 


321. Pulverized rhubarb, 12 grs.; carbonate of magnesia, 10 grs.; 
aromatic spirit of ammonia, J dram ; syrup of ginger, 1 dram ; spearmint 
water, 10 drams. Mix. To be taken at a draught. 

322. Comp, infusion senna, 5 drams ; infusion rhubarb, 5 drams ; comp, 
tincture cardamon, ^dram; syrup, IJ-drams. Mix. To be taken at a 
draught, by dyspeptic persons. 

323. Carbonate of soda, 10 grs; aromatic spirit of ammonia, ^ dram; 
tincture of orange-peel, 1 dram; syrup of orange-peel, 1 dram; compound 
infusion of gentian, 10 drams. Mix. To be taken at a draught twice 
a day. 

324. Trisnitrate of bismuth, 1 dram; comp, tragacanth powder, 2 
drams; compound tincture cardamom, ^ ounce; tincture of ginger, ^ oz.; 
spearmint water, 7 ounces. Mix. Two tablespoonfuls to be taken twice 
a day, in dyspepsia. 

325. Solution of acetate of ammonia, oz.; tincture of orange-peel, 1 
dram; syrup of orange-peel, 1 dram; tincture of cayenne, 20 drops; 
comp, infusion of orange-peel, 6 drams. Mix. The whole to be taken to 
relieve headache, after intoxication. 

326. Magnesia, 15 grs.; solution of potassse, 15 drops; comp, tincture 
of senna, 1 dram; comp, infusion of senna, 6 drams; syrup of ginger, 
1 dram ; comp, infusion of orange-peel, ^ oz. Mix. Taken at a draught, 
as an aperient, in sick and bilious headaches. 

327. Aromatic spirits of ammonia, 1 dram ; tincture of Colombo, 1 dram ; 
infusion of Colombo, 10 drams; syrup of poppies, 1 dram. Mix. To be 
taken at a draught, three times a day. 

328. Diluted sulphuric acid, 15 drops; diluted hydrochloric acid, 10 
drops ; tincture of orange-peel, 1 dram ; comp, infusion of gentian, 6 drams ; 
syrup of poppies, 1 dram. To be taken at a draught, three times a day, 
half an hour before meals. 

329. Diluted nitric acid, 12 drops; diluted hydrochloric acid, 8 drops; 
infusion of cascarilla, 11 drams; syrup of poppies, 1 dram. Mix. To be 
taken at a draught, twice a day. 

330. Colocynth co., 6 grs.; comp, pill of rhubarb, 4 grs.; ext. hyoscy- 
amus, 2 grs. Mix. Make two pills ; 1 pill to be taken at night. 

331. Ext. hyoscyamus, 2J grs.; pulv. camphor, 2J grs. Mix. Make 
two pills; one to be taken when the pain is most severe, in nervous head¬ 
ache ; or even better, acetanilid, 8 grs.; camphor, 2 grs. ; citrate of caf¬ 
feine, 4 grs. Divide in four capsules, one every half-hour, for three or 
four times. 

332. Comp, tragacanth powder, 8 grs.; oil of lemon, 3 drops; camphor- 
water, 11 drams; comp, tinct. cardamom, J dram; tincture hyoscyamus, 
•Jdram; chloroform, 15 drops. Mix. 

333. Tinct. hyoscyamus, ^ dram ; aromatic spirit of ammonia, ^ dram; 
syrup of orange-peel, ^ dram ; peppermint water, 10 drams. Mix. In 
nervous and hysterical cases. 

334. Soap liniment, 2J ozs.; liquor ammonia, J dram: laudanum, J ozi 
Mix. Make a liniment. 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1121 


335. Comp, pill of colocynth, 7 grs. ; ext. of colchicum, 2grs.-, oil of 
caraway, 1 drop. Mix, and make two pills. To be taken at bedtime in 
rheumatic headaches. 

336. Chloride of zinc, 6 oz.; pulv. bloodroot, 2 ozs. ; myrtle wax, 1 
oz.; water of extract of opium, 6 drams; extract of conium, 6 drams. 
Mix, and make an ointment. 

337. Iodide of lead, 1 scr.; glycerin, 1 dram; spermaceti ointment, 2 
ozs. Make an ointment. 

338. Rhubarb pulv., J oz.; spearmint herb, pulv., J oz.; pulv. casca- 
rilla, ^ oz. ; pulv. bicarbonate of potassa, J oz.; pulv. wild-cherry bark, J 
oz. Mix, and pour on one quart of hot water. Let this stand till cold, 
and add half a pint of brandy. Dose, half a wineglassful. 

339. Ext, belladonna, 6 grs.; pulv. ipecac, 10 grs.; confection of 
roses, 2 grs. Mix. Make 30 pills, one pill to be taken twice a day. 

340. Dioscorein, 12 grs.; pulv. camphor, 4 grs.; pulv. cayenne, 12 
grs.; white sugar, 1 scr. Mix. Divide into four powders. Give one 
every fifteen minutes. 

341. Leptandrin, 12 grs.; geranium, 12 grs.; myricin, 12 grs. Mix. 
Divide into twelve powders, of which one may be given three or four 
times a day. 

342. Quinine, J dram; pulv. catechu, 1 dram; pulv. opium, 15 grs. 
Mix. Make 32 pills. Give one pill three times a day. 

343. Compound syrup of rhubarb and potassa, 4 ozs.; tincture of 
prickly-ash berries, 1 oz.; essence of peppermint, 1 dram; paregoric, 4 
drams. Mix. A tablespoonful should be given every hour until it oper¬ 
ates gently on the bowels. 

344. Pulv. camphor, J dram; pulv. opium, 16 grains; pulv. cayenne, 
J dram. Mix. Make 16 pills; one every hour, in cholera. 

345. Rhubarb, 4 ozs.; black-cohosh root, 2 ozs.; wild-cherry bark, 2 
ozs.; geranium, 2 ozs. : coarsely powder them, and mix. Add two pints 
of brandy and two pints of water. Let the mixture stand five or six days, 
stirring often, and then strain. Add four pints of water to the dregs, boil 
slowly to two pints, strain, and add to this the previous tincture. Sweeten 
with white sugar. Take a tablespoonful every one, two, or three hours. 

346. Beth root, 1 oz.; geranium, 1 oz.; blackberry-root, 1 oz.; wild- 
cherry bark, 1 oz.; cinnamon, 1 oz. Powder the whole, and add to them 
1^ pints brandy, and IJ pints water. Let them stand several days, stir¬ 
ring frequently. Add sweetening if preferred. Dose, one or two tea¬ 
spoonfuls every two or three hours. 

347. Raspberry leaves, 1 oz. ; geranium, 1 oz.; blackberry-root, 1 oz. ? 
leptandra root, 1 oz. Mix, and make three pints of strong decoction. 
Dose, a teaspoonful every hour. Suitable for a gargle. 

348. Sugar of lead, 24 grs.; vinegar, 1 dram; syrup of poppies, 1 oz.; 
rose-water, 3 ozs.; soft water, 4 ozs. Mix. Dose, one or two table- 
spoonfuls. 

349. Potassio-tartrate of iron, ^ oz.; syrup of orange-peel, 1 oz.; water, 
4 oz. Mix. Take two teaspoonfuls three times a day. 


1122 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


350. Geranium, golden seal, marshmallow, wild-indigo root, rosemary, 
each half an ounce. Mix, and make one pint of strong infusion. After 
straining, add two drams powdered borax and one gill of honey. An 
excellent astringent gargle. 

351. Bromide of soda, 3 drams; syrup of orange, or any other syrup, 
three ounces. Take on.e teaspoonful in water as often as needed. For 
headache, nervousness, etc., can take every half-hour. 

352. Wine of ipecac, 10 drops in water every half-hour to croupy child, 
one year old; 30 drops to vomit the child. 

353. Hydrochlorate of ammonia, J oz.; diluted acetic acid, J oz.; a\ 
cohol, J oz.; camphorated mixture, 15 ozs. Mix. A good scattering 
wash for hydrocele, etc. 

354. Chloride of soda, nitrate of potash, and hydrochlorate of ammonia, 
equal parts, and water enough to dissolve them. Mix. An excellent 
freezing mixture. 

355. Antipyrin, 3 drams; syrup or water, 2 ozs. Teaspoonful every 
hour till fever is less; or phenacetine, 8 grs., every two hours till fever is 
subdued, then once in four hours. 

356. Chloral hydrate, 4 drams ; syrup acacia and syrup checkerberry, of 
each, 1 oz.; Teaspoonful in water every hour till asleep. If the taste is 
very objectionable it may be taken in two .teaspoonful doses by rectum in 
a little cold starch-water. 

357. Bromidia; teaspoonful in water every hour till asleep. 

358. Jaborandi, fluid extract, 3 drams; syrup, 1 oz. Teaspoonful every 
hour, to produce sweating. 

359. Pill, compound cathartic. Two for a dose. 

360. ** Green Soap.’* Rub well in at night and wash off in the morning 
with water. 

361. Powdered camphor and chloral, equal parts, sufficient quantity to 
make a liniment, rubbed well together. External use. 

362. Wilkinson’s Ointment. (See Scabies.) 

363. Dilute hydrocyanic acid, 1 dram; solution acetate of ammonia, 2 
ozs.; tincture digitalis, 3 drams; rose-water, 5 ozs. For pruritus, itch¬ 
ing, etc. 

364. Corrosive sublimate, 2 grs.; tincture benzoin, J dram; almond 
emulsion, 1 oz. Used to destroy the epidermis in cases of freckles, acne, 
pimples, etc. 

365. Alum, 5 parts; salicylic acid, 45 parts. Dust on freely. 

366. Corrosive sublimate, 4 grs.; dissolved in 1 oz. tincture of myrrh. 
Paint on to the part affected by ringworm night and morning. 

367. Bromide of soda and ammonia, 20 grs. each, in a cup of valerian 
tea four times a day. Increase up to 8 or 10 times a day if former dose 
proves insufficient. Take also daily oxide of zinc and extract of bella¬ 
donna, of each J gr , morning and night. In bad cases use pill 4 times 
daily. 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1123 


368. Fluid extract gelseminum, 3 drops in water every half hour for 
3 or four times. Useful in facial neuralgia; or exalgine, 4 grs. every 
hour for two or three times. 

369. Atropia, of a gr. One such pill each night for sweating; on« 
such pill 2 or 3 times a day for acute cold in head, with watery secre¬ 
tions ; or pill “ coryza,” one every half hour for three times, then once an 
hour till throat is dry, afterwards once in three or four hours. 

370. Sulphate quinine, J gr.; ext. belladonna, gr.; pulv. ipecac, ^ 
gr.; comp, ipecac powder, gr. One such pill every two hours, for 
chronic bronchitis and emphysema. 

371. Carron oil. Made by adding equal parts linseed-oil and lime-water. 
For burns, apply freely; also boracic acid, 18 grs., dissolved in 1 dram 
hot glycerin and olive-oil, 1 oz. 

372. Camphor, 8 grs.; carbolic acid, 8 grs.; starch, 2 drams; oxide of 
zinc, 2 drams; vaseline, J ounce. Make an ointment. 

373. Carbolic acid, 20 drops; calamine, 1 dram; glycerine, | dram; 
water, 6 ounces. Make a lotion. 

374. Fuller’s earth, Comfort Powder, Talcum Powder and similar 
preparations are excellent for the ordinary superficial variety of acute 
eczema. Particularly useful on chafing and oozing surfaces. 

375. Salicylic acid, 30 grs.; green soap, 1 dram; vaseline, 1 ounce. 
Mix and make ointment. To be applied twice daily. This ointment may 
be gradually increased in strength till the desired effect is produced. It 
should thin out the thickened, scaly skin. If too much redness or other 
irritation is produced, stop ointment for a day or two and use vaseline. 


Dictionary of Drugs and Medicines 

GIVING THEIR 

LATIN AND ENGLISH NAMES. 

Any honest druggist will tell you that more than half the prescrip¬ 
tions given by physicians are simple remedies, but are written in Latin 
to mystify their patrons, for which they are in many cases charged 
exorbitant prices and are kept in ignorance of the effect the 
medicine will have upon the body. We therefore give the following 
Latin and English name of all the principal drugs, that you may 
easily read and understand the doctor’s prescription. 


Latin. 

English 

Amygdalus Communis, 

Almonds. 

Alumen, 

Alum. 

Ampelopsis Quinquefolia, 

American Ivy. 

Arnica Montana, 

Arnica. 

Alpinia Cardamomum, 

Cardamom. 

Anthemis Nobilis, 

Chamomile. 

Atropa Belladonna, 

Deadly Nightshade. 

Aralia Hispida, 

Dwarf Elder. 

Allium Sativum, 

Garlic. 

Apocynum Cannabinum, 

Indian Hemp. 

Arum Triphyllum, 

Indian Turnip. 

Aqua Calcis, 

Lime Water. 

Aspidium Filix Mas, 

Male Fern. 

Althoea Officinalis, 

Marshmallow. 

Aconite, 

Monkshood. 

Argenti Nitras, 

Nitrate of Silver. 

Allium Cepa, 

Onion. 

Aurantii Cortex, 

Orange Peel. 

Amygdalus Persica, 

Peach. 

Aralia Spinosa, 

Prickly Elder. 

Anagallis Arvensis, 

Red Chickweed. 


1124 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


112S 


Latin. 

Aletris Farinosa, 

Acorus Calamus, 

Alnus Rubra, 

Acetum, 

Asarum Canadense, 

Artemisia Absinthium, 
Achillea Millefolium, 

Berberis Vulgaris, 

Barosma Crenata, 

Baptisia Tinctoria, 

Cimicifuga Racemosa, 
Caulophyllum Thalictroides, 
Canella Alba, 

Carium Carui, 

Castoreum, 

Capsicum Annuum, 

Carbo Ligni, 

Chloroformum, 

Caryophyllus Aromaticus, 
Coccus Cacti, 

Cuprum, 

Cupri Sulphas, 

Creosotum, 

Cubeboe, 

Cornus Florida, 

Cochlearia Armoracia, 

Cetraria Islandica, 
Cypripedium Pubescens, 

Citrus Limonum, 

Calx, 

Calx Chlorinata, 

Colchicum Autumnale, 
Cinchona, 

Conium Maculatum, 

Crocus Sativus, 

Cassia Acutifolia, 

Cantharis Vesicatoria, 
Cetaceum, 

Comptonia Asplenifolia, 
Corydalis Formosa, 
Chenopodium Anthelminticum 
Cerevisioe Fermentum, 
Cypripedium Pubescens, 
Digitalis Purpurea, 

Diospyros Virginiana, 
Dioscorea Villosa, 


English. 

Star Grass. 

Sweet Flag. 

Tag Alder. 

Vinegar. 

Wild Ginger. 
Wormwood. 

Yarrow. 

Barberry. 

Buchu. 

Wild Indigo. 

Black Cohosh. 

Blue Cohosh. 

Canella. 

Caraway 

Castor. 

Cayenne Pepper. 
Charcoal. 

Chloroform. 

Cloves. 

Cochineal.. 

Copper. 

Sulphate of Copper. 
Creosote. 

Cubebs. 

Dogwood. 

Horseradish. 

Iceland Moss. 

Ladies’ Slipper. 
Lemon. 

Lime. 

Chloride of Lime. 
Meadow Saffron. 
Peruvian Bark. 

Poison Hemlock. 
Saffron. 

Senna. 

Spanish Flies. 
Spermaceti. 

Sweet Fern. 

Turkey Corn. 
Wormseed. 

Yeast. 

Yellow Ladies Slipper. 
Foxglove. 

Persimmon. 

Wild Yam. 


1126 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


Latin. 

Epigioea Repens, 

Fel Bovinum, 

Ferri Citras, 

Ferrum, 

Ferri Phosphas, 

Ferri Sulphas, 

Ferri et Potassoe Tartras, 
Gossypium Herbaceum, 
Geranium Maculatum, 
Gentiana Lutea, 

Glycyrrhiza Glabra, 

Gaultheria ProcumlDens, 
Hydrargyri Piluloe, 

Hydrargyri Chloridum Mite, 
Hyoscyamus Uiger, 

Humulus Lupulus, 

Hydrangea Arborescens, 
Hyssopus Officinales, 

Hepatica Americana, 
Hoematoxylon Campechianum, 
Hedroma Pulegioides, 
Helianthus Annuus, 

Hamamelis Virginica, 

Iris Versacolor, 
lodinum, 

Ichthyocolla, 

Ipomoea Jalapa, 

Juglans Cinerea, 

Juniperis Communis, 

Juniperus Sabina, 

Janipha Manihot, 

Kalmia Latifolia, 

Liquor Ammonioe, 

Liquor Ammonioe Acetates, 
Lappa Minor, 

Linum Usitatissimum, 

Lactuca Sativa, 

Lobelia Inflata, 

Leonurus Cardiaca, 

Liquor Potassoe, 

Laurus Sassafras, 

Liquidamber Styraciflua, 
Liriodendron Tulipifera, 

Melissa Officinales, 

Myrica Cerifera, 

Marubium Vulgare, 


English. 

Trailing Arbutus. 

Beefs’ Galls. 

Citrate of Iron. 

Iron. 

Phosphate of Iron. 

Sulphate of Iron. 

Tartrate of Iron and Potassa. 
Cotton. 

Cranesbill. 

Gentian. 

Liquorice. 

Wintergreen. 

Blue Pill. 

Calomel. 

Henbane. 

Hops. 

Hydrangea. 

Hyssop. 

Liverwort. 

Logwood. 

Pennyroyal. 

Sunflower. 

Witch Hazel. 

Blue Flag. 

Iodine. 

Isinglass. 

Jalap. 

Butternut. 

Juniper. 

Savin. 

Tapioca. 

Mountain Laurel. 

Water of Ammonia. 

Solution of Acetate of Ammonia. 
Burdock. 

Flaxseed. 

Lettuce. 

Lobelia. 

Motherwort. 

Solution of Potassa. 

Sassafras. 

Sweet Gum. 

Tulip Tree. 

Balm. 

Bay berry. 

Horehound. 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1127 


Latin. 

Monarda Punctata, 
Monotropa Uniflora, 
Magnesia Usia, 
Magnesia Sulphas, 
Myristica Moschata, 
Mentha Piperita, 
Mentha Viridis, 
Momordica Elaterium, 
Nepeta Cataria, 

Nepeta Glechoma, 
Nicotiana Tabacum, 
Nymphoea Odorata, 
Oleum Tiglii, 

Oleum Ricini, 

Oleum Morrhuoe, 

Oleum Terebinthinoe, 
Oleum Olivoe, 
Pimpinella Anisum, 
Populus Candicans, 
Prinos Verticillatus, 
Potassii lodidum. 
Plumbum, 

Podophyllum Peltatum, 
Potassoe Nitras, 
Petroselinum Sativum, 
Plantago Major, 
Phytobacca Decandra, 
Potassoe Bicarbonas, 
Potassii Bromidum, 
Picroena Excelsa, 
Polygala Senega, 

Pix Liquida, 

Polygonum Punctatum, 
Prunus Virginiana, 
Petrolatum, 

Rubus Villosus, 
Rhamnus Catharticus, 
Rhus Toxicodendron, 
Rosa Gallica, 

Rheum Palmatum, 
Rosemarinus Officinales, 
Ruta Graveolens, 

Rhus Glabrum, 

Rumex Crispus, 

Sal Ammoniac, 

Solanum Dulcamara, 


Engasn. 

Horsemint. 

Ice-plant. 

Magnesia. 

Sulphate of Magnesia. 
Nutmeg, 

Peppermint. 

Spearmint. 

Wild Cucumber. 
Catnip. 

Ground Ivy. 

Tobacco. 

White Pond-Lily. 
Croton Oil. 

Castor Oil.. 

Cod-Liver Oil. 

Oil of Turpentine. 

Olive Oil. 

Anise. 

Balm of Gilead. 

Black Alder. 

Iodide of Potassium. 
Lead. 

Mandrake. 

Nitre. 

Parsley. 

Plantain. 

Poke. 

Bicarbonate of Potassa. 
Bromide of Potassium. 
Quassia. 

Seneka. 

Tar. 

Water Pepper. 

Wild Cherry. 

Vaseline. 

Blackberry. 

Buckthorn. 

Poison Oak. 

Red Rose. 

Rhubarb. 

Rosemary. 

Rue. 

Sumach. 

Yellow Dock. 

Muriate of Ammonia. 
Bittersweet. 


1128 


MEDICINES AND THFIll PREPARATIONS. 


Latin. 

Sanguinaria Canadensis^ 
Sambucus Canadensis, 
Solidago Rigida, 

Sempervivurn Tectorum, 
Senecio Aureus, 

Statice Caroliniana, 
Spiritus Aetheris Nitrici, 
Strychnos Nux Vomica, 
Spigelia Marilandica, 
Stillingia Sylvatica, 

Salvia Officina’es, 

Smilax Officinales, 
Scutellaria Lateriflora, 
Symplocarpus Foetidus, 
Sapo, 

So doe Bicarbonas, 

Sodoe Boras, 

Sodoe Sulphis, 

Spongia, 

Secale Co^nutum, 

Scilia Maritima, 

Sty rax Officinale, 

Salix Alba, 

Trillium Pendulum, 
Tussilago Farfara, 
Taraxacum Dens Leonis, 
Trifoliurn Pratense, 

Tela Araneoe, 

Tanacetum Vulgare, 

Uva Ur si, 

Ulmus Fulva, 

Veratrum Viride, 
Viburnum Opulus, 
Verbascum Thapsus, 
Valeriana Officinales, 
Veratrum Album, 
Xanthoxylum Fraxineum, 
Zinci Chloridum, 

Zinci Sulphas, 

Zingiber Officinale, 


English. 

Blobdroot. 

Elder. 

Hardleaf Goldenrod. 
Houseleek. 

Liferoot. 

Marshrosemary. 

Sweet Spirits of Nitre. 
Nux Vomica. 
Pink-Root. 
Queens-Root. 

Sage. 

Sarsaparilla. 

Skullcap. 

Skunk Cabbage. 

Soap. 

Bicarbonate of Soda. 
Borate of Soda. 
Sulphite of Soda. 
Sponge. ■ 

Spurred Rye 
Squill. 

Storax. 

Willow. 

Belhroot. 

Coltsfoot. 

Dandelion. 

Red Clover. 

Spider’s Web. 

Tansy. 

Bear berry. 

Slippery Elm. 
American Hellebore. 
High Cranberry. 
Mullein. 

Valerian. 

VTiite Hellebore. 
Prickly Ash. 

Chloride of Zinc. 
Sulphate of Zinc. 
Ginger. 



SIMPLE HOME REMEDIES 

IN 

LATIN AND ENGLISH 


5 = one drachm =■ one teaspoonfuL 

o = one ounce = two tablespoonfuls = | ^ teaspoonfuls or 

(4 dessertspoonfuls. 

m = one minim one drop, 
gr = one grain == same. 


Latin. 

Potass. lodidi. 

ASTHMA. 

English. 

5ii Iodide of Potassium, 

Sodii Bromidi, 

3iii 

2 teaspoonfuls 

Bromide of Sodium, 

Tr. Belladonnse, 

3ii 

3 teaspoonfuls 
Tincture of Belladonna, 

Spts. Etheris Compositos, 

5v 

2 teaspoonfuls 
Compound spirits of ether. 

Syrupus Simplicis, 

Biv 

5 teaspoonfuls 
Simple syrup, 8 tabiespoonfuls 

little water four times a day. 

Sig. One teaspoonful in 


APPENDICITIS. 

Morphinse Sulph., gr. ii Morphine, 2 grains 

Tr. CamphorsB, 5ii Tincture of Camphor, 

2 teaspoonfuls 

Syr. Zingiberis, 5 hi Syrup of Ginger, 6 tablespoonfuls 

Sig. Teaspoonful in little water every two hours until pain is 
relieved. 


BARBER’S ITCH. 

Icthyolis, 5 hi Ichthyol, 3 teaspoonfuls 

Sulphur^e, 5h Washed Sulphur, 2 teaspoonfuls 

Unguenti Zin. Oxidi, 5h Oxide of Zinc ointment, 2 ounces 

Keep parts greased constantly with ointment. 


1129 


1130 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


Latin. 

Acidi Salicylici, 
Tr. Opii Deod, 
Lanolini 


BUNION. 

English. 

gr. X Salicylic acid, 10 grains 

5ii Laudanum, 2 teaspoonfuls 

5i Lanoline, 1 ounce 


Apply to joint and cover with cloth. 


BRONCHITIS [Acute). 


Ammonii Chloridi, 

5ii 

Chloride of Ammonium, 


Tr. Hyoscyamus, 

3iii 

2 teaspoonfuls 
Tincture of Hyoscyamus, 

Elixir Terpini Hydrat, 

giii 

3 teaspoonfuls 
Elixir of Terpin Hydrate, 

Teaspoonful in water every three hours. 

3 ounces 

Potass. lodidi. 

BRONCHITIS (Chronic). 

3ii Iodide of Potassium, 

2 drachms 

Eucalyptol, 

3i 

Eucalyptol, 

1 drachm 

Syr. Tolutani, 

5 11 

Syrup of Tolu, 

2 ounces 

Syr. Pruni Virg, 

5ii 

Syrup of Wild Cherry, 

2 ounces 

Teaspoonful in water 4 times a day. 


Potass. Citratis, 

BRIGHT’S 

3iii 

; DISEASE. 

Citrate of Potash, 

3 drachms 

Potass. Acetatis, 

3i 

Acetate of Potash, 

1 drachm 

Spts. Aetheris Nitrosi, 

Si 

Sweet Spirits of Nitre, 

1 ounce 

Aquae Dist., 

gill 

Distilled water. 

3 ounces 


Teaspoonful in water 4 times a day. 

BILIOUSNESS. 

Acidi Hydrochlorici DU., 5iii Dilute Hydrochloric Acid, 3 drachms 
Tr. Nucis Vomicae, ^ui Tincture of Nux Vomica, 3 drachms 

Essence Pepsini, oiii Essence of Pepsin, 3 ounces 

Teaspoonful in water after meals. 

BOILS. 

Ichthyolis, 5ii Ichthyol, 2 drachms 

TJnguenti Acidi Boracici, gi Boracic Acid ointment, 1 ounce 
Apply frequently. 

CARBUNCLE. 

Hot flaxseed poultices until opened, then prescription recommended 
for boils. 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1131 


Latin. 

CHOLERA MORBUS. 

English. 


Acidi Tannici, 

gr. XX Tannin, 

20 grains 

Acacia, 

5i Gum Arabic, 

1 ounce 

Tr. Opii Deod, 

gtts. XXX Laudanum, 

30 drops 

Aquae, 

Oh Water, 

1 quart 

Warm and use 

as a rectal injection; repeat every 2 or 

3 hours if 

needed. 

Mentholis, 

CATARRH. 

gr. vi Menthol, 
gr. vi Camphor, 

6 grains 

Camphorae, 

6 grains 

Albolene, 

gi Albolene, 

1 ounce 




Use frequently. Spray nose with atomizer. 
COLIC (Bilious). 


Aquae Camphorae, 
Spts. Etheris Comp., 

Morphinae Sulph., 
Syr. Zingiber is, 


1 ounce 


5i Camphor Water, 

5v Compound spirits of ether, 

5 drachms 

gr. ii Morphine, 2 grains 

5ii Syrup of Ginger, 2 ounces 


Teaspoonful every hour or two until pain is relieved. 


Aquae Camphorae, 

COLIC 

(Wind). 


5i 

Camphor water, 

1 ounce 

Spts. Chloroform!, 

5i 

Spirits of Chloroform, 

1 ounce 

Tr. Cardamom! Comp., 

giii 

Compound tincture of Cardamom, 
3 ounces 


Teaspoonful in water every half hour or so until better. 

CHOLERA INFANTUM. 

Bismuth! Subgall, ^in Subgallate of Bismuth, 3 drachms 

Salolis, gr. xx Salol, 20 grains 

Tr. Opii Camphorae, Zn Paregoric, 2 drachms 

Aquae Camphorae, ^iii Camphor Water, 3 ounces 

Twenty to thirty drops in little water every 2 hours. 


CONSTIPATION. 

Ext. Cascarae Sagradae FI. 

Twenty drops to one teaspoonful in water at bedtime. 


5 hi Fluid extract of Cascara Sagrada, 

3 ounces 


1132 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS 


Latin. 

CROUP 

Potass. Bromidi, 

5ii 

Tr. Belladonna, 

5fs 

Syr. Aurantii, 

oi 

Aquse Distill. 

ad giv 

Teaspoonful every hour 


(Simple). 

English. 

Bromide of Potassium, 2 drachms 
Tincture of Belladonna, J drachm 
Syrup of Orange, 1 ounce 

Distilled water to make 4 ounces 
until breathing is easier 


CROUP (Membranous). 

^ . ..... 

Hydrargyri Chloridi Mite, 5ii Calomel, 2 drachms 

Vaporize a quantity that can be scooped upon a ten cent piece 
by heating in an iron spoon or plate. Confine fumes to child’s crib 
by making tent of large sheet. 

CANKER. 

Potass. Chloratis, gr. xxx Chlorate of Potash, 

Tr. Myrrhse, mxxx Tincture of Myrrh, 

Tr. Gentianse, Tincture of Gentian, 

Teaspoonful in water every 3 hours. 

CHILBLAINS. 

Acidi Tannici, gr. xxx Tannin, 30 grains 

Ichthyolis, Ichthyol, 1 drachm 

Unguenti Simplicis, Simple ointment, 5 drachms 

Keep tender points covered with ointment. 


30 grains 
30 drops 
3 ounces 


DIARRHCEA. 


^ .... 

Bismuthi Subnitratis, 

3iii 

Tr. Catechu, 

3vi 

Tr. Opii Deod., 

3ii 

Mist. Cretse Comp., 

giii 


Sig. Teaspoonful i 


Subnitrate of Bismuth, 3 drachms 
Tincture of Catechu, 6 drachms 
Deodorized tincture of opium, 

2 drachms 

Compound chalk mixture, 3 ounces 
Use carefully, 
water every 3 hours. 


DIPHTHERIA. 

n 

(See description of disease for use of antitoxin). 

Acidi Sulphurous!, gi Sulphurous acid, 1 ounce 

Syrupi Simplicis, gii Simple syrup, 2 ounces 

Sig. Teaspoonful in i glass of water every two or three hours. 
Caution .—Sulphurous acid is not sulphuric acid. 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1133 


DYSPEPSIA. 


Latin. 

Carbo Ligni, 5iii 

Bismuthi Subnitratis, 

Salolis, 

Divide in chart No. xii. 

Sig. One powder on tongue 


English. 

Wood charcoal, 3 drachms 

Subnitrate of Bismuth, 3 drachms 
Salol, 30 grains 

Divide in 12 powders, 
followed by water at mealtime. 


DYSPEPSIA (Gastnc). 

Acidi Hydrochlorici DU., 5ii Dilute Hydrochloric Acid, 

2 drachms 

Elixir Lactopeptini, giii Elixir of Lactopeptine, 3 ounces 

Sig. Teaspoonful in water at mealtime. 

DYSPEPSIA (Nervous). 

^ ... . 

Sodii Bromidi, 5iii Bromide of Sodii, 3 drachms 

Tr. Nucis Vomicae, ’^iii Tincture of Nucis Vomica, 

3 drachms 

Aquae Dist., giii Distilled Water, 3 ounces 

Sig. Teaspoonful in little water after meals. 

ECZEMA. 

Ung. Zinci Oxidi, Zinc Oxide Ointment, 

Ung. Acidi Boracic, aa 5 is Boracic Acid Ointment 
Sig. Keep parts covered with ointment. 

ERYSIPELAS. 

Ichthyolis, 5i Ichthyol, 

Vaselini, gi Vaseline, 

Sig. Spread cloth with ointment to cover area slightly 


EPILEPSY. 

3vi Bromide of Sodium, 6 drachms 

5iv Distilled water, 4 ounces 

Sig. Teaspoonful in \ glass of water four or five times a day. 


inflammation. 


Sodii Bromidi, 
Aquae Distill., 


J ounce 
i ounce 


1 drachm 
1 ounce 
larger than 


EARACHE. 

01. Olivae, 3ii Olive or sweet oil, 2 drachms 

Tr. Opii Deod., 3i Laudanum, 1 drachm 

Sig. Warm five or six drops in spoon and place in canal of ear. 


1134 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


FEVER (Typhoid). 

Latin. _ English. 

Salolis Salol, 30 grains 

Bismuthi Subnitratis, 3ii Subnitrate of Bismuth, 2 drachms 

Aquse Menth. Pip., Peppermint water, 4 ounces 

Sig. Shake well. Dessertspoonful in water every 4 hours. 

FEVER (Malarial). 

Quinise Bisulph., 5i Bisulphate of Quinine,. 1 drachm 

Divide in chart No. xii. Divide in 12 powders. 

Sig. One powder with water 4 times a day. 


Vini Colchici, 
Potass. lodidi, 
Aquse Dist., 

Sig. 


GOUT. 

3 hi Colchicum wine, 

3iii Iodide of Potassium, 

5 hi Water, 

Teaspoonful in water four times a day. 


3 drachms 
3 drachms 
3 ounces 


HYDROPHOBIA. 

Solution Hydrargyri Chloridi Sol. of Bichloride of Mercury 
Corrosivi (1 to 1000), Oi (1-1000) 1 pint 

Sig. Wash wound with solution after cauterizing with lunar 
caustics. 


HAY FEVER. 

Potass. lodidi, 3i Iodide of Potash, 1 drachm 

Tr. Hyoscyamus, 3i Tincture of Hyoscyamus, 1 drachm 

Aquse Menth. Pip., 5hi Peppermint water, 3 ounces 

Sig. Teaspoonful in water four or five times a day. 

HEART BURN. 

Sodse Bicarb, 5 fs Bicarbonate of Soda, J ounce 

Ft. chart (sample) gr. x. A sample powder of 10 grains. 

Sig. Quantity equal to sample after meals. 

HYSTERIA. 

Sodii Bromidi, 3 hi Bromide of Soda, 3 drachms 

Tr. Valerians, 3ii Tincture of Valerian, 2 drachms 

Tr. Gentian®, ghi. Tincture of Gentian, 3 ounces 

Sig. Teaspoonful in water. Repeat half hourly if needed. 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1135 


INFLUENZA 

Latin. 

Phenacetini, gr. v 

Salolis, gr. ii 

QuininiB Bisulph., gr. ii 

Ft. Chart. No. i. Dispense tales 
No. X. 

Sig. One powder every 


AND GRIPPE. 

English. 

Phenacetin, 5 grains 

Salol, 2 grains 

Quinine, 2 grains 

Make one powder of above. Dis¬ 
pense ten powders like samplOv 
four hours until relieved. 


Tablet Fel Bovis Comp. 
Dispense No. xxx. 

Sig. 


JAUNDICE. 

Tablets of Compound Ox Gall. 
Dispense Number 30. 

One tablet after meals. 


LEUCORRHEA. 

Pulv. Alumini, giii Alum powder, 3 ounces 

Plumbi Acetatis, gifs Acetate of lead, IJ ounces 

Sodii Boratis, gh Borax, 2 drachms 

Sig. Two teaspoonfuls added to a quart of water to be used ex¬ 
ternally as an injection. 


MEASLES. 

Tr. Aconiti, mxv Tincture of Aconite, 

Spts. Aetheris Nitrosi, gi Sweet Spirits of Nitre, 

Elix. Simplicis, ad giv Simple Elixir, 

Sig. Teaspoonful in water four times a day. 


15 drops 
1 ounce 
3 ounces 


MENSES {Absence oj), AMENORRHCEA. 


Tr. Ferri Chloridi, 

Tr. Aloes, 

Tr. Nucis Vomicae, 

Syr. Rhei Aromatici, 


Tincture of Chloride of Iron, 

4 drachms 

Tincture of Aloes, 4 drachms 
aa giv Tincture of Nux Vomica, 

4 drachms 

giv Aromatic Syrup of Rhubarb, 

4 ounces 


Sig. Teaspoonful in water four times a day. 


MENSTRUATION {Painful), DYSMENORRHCEA. 

Tablets Migraine, Migrain tablets. 

Dispense No. xxx. Dispense thirty. 

Sig. One tablet, repeat in 30 minutes, then every 3 hours if needed 
for pain. 


1136 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


MENSTRUATION (Profuse), MENORRHAGIA. 

I^ Latin. English. 

Pil. Ergotin (Bonjean), aa gr. i Ergotin pills, 1 grain each 

Dispense No. xxiv. Dispense twenty-four. 

Sig. One pill four times a day. 

MUMPS. 

Tr. Ferri Chloridi, 3 hi Tr. Chloride of Iron, 3 drachms 

Glycerini, . 3iv Glycerine, 4 drachms 

Aqu 2 e Dist., 5 hi Distilled water, 3 ounces 

Sig. Teaspoonful in water through a glass tube three times a day. 




NETTLE RASH (Urticaria). 


Sol. Acid Carbolici, 5%, gh 5% sol. Carbolic Acid, 
Chloral Hydrate, gr. xxx Chloral Hydrate, 

Aquae Calcis, 0 Lime Water, 

Sig! Use externally as a wash. 

NEURALGIA. 

Pulv. Phenacetine, gr. v Phenacetin, 

Sodii Bromidi, gr. x Bromide of Sodium, 

Sig. This quantity every two or three hours. 


2 ounces 
30 grains 
J pint 


5 grains 
10 grains 




PLEURISY. 

Ti*. lodini, 5 L Tincture of Iodine. 

Use externally. External use. 

Sig. Apply to painful area with cameFs hair brush. 




1 ounce 


PILES (Hemorrhoids). 

Xing. Gall ct Opii, 5i Gall and Opium ointment, 

Sig. Apply after bathing parts in cold water. 

PYEMIA. 


Pil. Strychnia Sulph, aa gr. 1-40 Pill of Sulphate of Strychnine,. 

1-40 grain 

Sig. One pill four times a day. 

Pil. Quinim Sulph, ^ aa gr. ii 2-grain Quinine pills. 

Sig. One pill three times a day. 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1137 


RHEUMATISM {Acute). 

Latin. English. 

Tablet Sodii Salicylatis, aa gr. v Salicylate of Sodium tablets, 
Dispense No. xxx. 5 grains each 

Sig. Two pills with water three or four times a day. 

RHEUMATISM {Chronic). 

Potass. lodidi, 5ii Iodide of Potash, 2 drachms 

Sodii Salicylatis, 5iv Salicylate of Sodium, 4 drachms 

Syr. Sarsaparilla Comp, Compound syrup of Sarsaparilla, 

4 ounces 

Sig. Teaspoonful in water after meals and at bedtime. 


Tr. Opii Deod., 
Ichthyolis, 

Lanolini, 

Sig. 


SHINGLES. 

3ii Laudanum, 
3ii Ichthyol, 
gi Lanoline, 
Apply to affected parts. 


SCIATICA. 


2 drachms 
2 drachms 
1 ounce 


Tr. Aconiti, gi Tincture of Aconite, 1 drachm 

Linimenti Chloroformi, gii Chloroform Liniment, 2 ounces 

Linimenti Saponis, §i Soap Liniment, 1 ounce 

Mark ^‘Poison.” 

Sig. Poison. Apply externally as a liniment. 


Syr. Ferri lodidi, 
Sig. 


SCROFULA. 


gii Syrup of the Iodide cf Iron, 

2 ounces 


Five drops in water after meals. 


TONSILLITIS. 

Sol. Hydrogenii Peroxidi, giii Peroxide of Hydrogen, 3 ounces 
Sig. Dilute one teaspoonful with two or three of water and use 
frequently as a gargle. 


TOOTHACHE. 

Collodii Flex, Collodion. 

Acidi Carbolici C. P., aa gtts. iv Pure Carbolic Acid. 

Mix three or four drops of each together. 
Sig. Apply to cavity of tooth. 


1138 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


Latin. 
Sodii Salicylatis, 
Sodii Bicarbonatis, 
Aquse. Menth. Pip., 
Sig. 


WATER BRASH. 

English. 

5iii Salicylate of Sodium 
5iii Bicarbonate of Soda, 
giii Peppermint water. 
Teaspoonful in water after meals. 


3 drachms 
3 drachms 
3 ounces 


WORMS. 

Pulv. Santonin, gr. ii Santonin, 2 grams 

Hydrargyri Chi or. Mite, gr. iii Calomel, 3 grains 

Ft. chart. No. i. Make one powder. 

Sig. Give half the powder for child under five and follow with 
dose of castor oil. 


WHOOPING COUGH. 




Tr. Belladonnie, 

Si 

Sodii Bromidi, 

Sii 

Syr. Tolutani, 

5 iii 


Sig. One teaspoonful in 


Tincture of Belladonna, 1 drachm 
Bromide of Sodium, 2 drachms 
Syrup of Tolu, 3 ounces 

water every 3 or 4 hours. 



MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS 


1139 


if 

k. 



1. Frontal headache, eye-strain, 
neuralgia, nervous headache. — The 
application of cloths as hot as can 
be borne, changing frequently, will 
prove ©f great service. Loosen the 
clothing about the neck, lie down 
in dark room. Or tie a bandage 
tightly about the forehead wet with 
cologne or camphor water. In some 
cases an ice bag or cold cloths re¬ 
lieve where warmth fails. 

2 . Temporal headache, congestive 
headache, earache. — Apply hot 
water bottle or hot hop or salt bag 
or a small size mitigated mustard 
plaster. 

3. Sore throat, laryngitis, croup.— 

Wrap throat with cloth 
wrung out of very hot 
water (careful not to 
burn patient) and cov¬ 
er with large dry towe 1 
or flannel cloth. This 
is to steam throat. 

4 . Pneumonia, bron¬ 
chitis, lung fever or 
congestion.—L a r g e, 
hot flaxseed poultices 
applied constantly and 
changed when cold. 
When discontinued 
wipe dry and apph 
hot dry flannel to pre-’ 
vent'taking cold. (See 
index.) 

5 . Colic or gastritis. 
—Mustard poultice or 
plaster applied to pit 
of stomach in conjunc¬ 
tion with appropriate 
internal treatment. 
(See index.) 

6. Appendicitis.— 
Hot flaxseed poultices 
applied constantly to 
tWs region with very 

milddiet and quietness of the bowels. 
Or cloths wrung out of hot water to 
which a little turpentine has been 
added. (See index.) 

y.Intestina troubles, cold in bowels, 

‘ peritonitis.— Hot flaxseed poultices, 
hot wet turpentine stupes as advised 
for No. 6, spice bags or hot water 
bottles. 

8. Retention of Urine. — The ap¬ 
plication of heat at this point will 
often allow the bladder to be 
emptied. May be applied in form 
of hot cloths, hot water bag, or hot 
plates. (See index.) 

10. Water on the Knee.—Cata¬ 
plasm of kaolin, obtainable at any 
druggist’s is the best and surest 
remedy. 

11. Sprained ankle. —The first 
application should be cold wet 
cloths applied about ankle joint for 
12 to 24 hours and later the joint 
kept entirely at rest for several days 
either in a pillow with splints on 
either side to retain the joint in one 
position or else the joint shoulc- 
be put in a plaster cast. 







1140 


MEDICINES AND THEIR PREPARATIONS. 


1. Headache, congestion of 
the base of the brain, occipital 
headache.—A hot water bottle 
or small mustard poultice ap¬ 
plied to nape of neck in con¬ 
junction with hot foot baths, 
are efficient in these troubles. 

2. Stiff-neck, torticollis or wry 
neck.—Bathing with hot alco¬ 
hol and water, or chloroform or 
ammonia liniments are useful 
applications. 

3. Nose bleed (epistaxis).— 
Cold applications, as piece of 
ice or large cold key placed in 
position 3. Holding a wad of 
tissue paper between upper lip 
and teeth under nostril of 
bleeding side. 

4. Pleurisy.—P a i n t with 
tincture of iodine for acute and 
chronic pleurisy though hot 
flaxseed poultices are possibly 
better for the very painful 
acute variety. Swathing the 
lower portion of the chest with 
firm bandages to prevent too 
deep breathing gives great re¬ 
lief. 

5. Backache, lumbago.— 

Thorough massage of the back 
muscles in region of No. 5, 
using some bland and soothing 
oil like sweet or olive oil is ex¬ 
cellent. Avoid irritating ap¬ 
plications like mustard poul¬ 
tices but use porous plasters in 
their place or adhesive plaster 
straps. 

6. Sciatica.— P a i n t i n g 
course of sciatic nerve with 
tincture of iodine or the appli¬ 
cation of three or four fly blis¬ 
ters about three-fourths of an 
inch square, two or three 
inches apart, down the back. 












PROPRIETAEY AND PATENT MEDICINES. 


Nothing in the world has given rise to so much superstition and 
blind folly as the following of fanatic leaders in the curing of disease. 
Since Hippocrates, and even back to Apollo himself, if we may be¬ 
lieve old Grecian and Roman tales, quackery in medicine has reigned 
supreme. 

It pleases people to follow up what appears miraculous in life. 
Results are more important to the minds of many people than the 
circumstances effecting results; hence, if a person by hook or crock 
recovers from a disease while using some patent medicine, he as¬ 
cribes to its employment some specific usefulness, irrespective of the 
natural course of the malady, or whatever else he may or may not 
have done. 

In this way ancient amulets and modern patent medicines have 
seemed to cure cancer, leprosy, liver and kidney and other diseases ; 
and in this way enormous fortunes have been made by advertising in 
gorgeous attire some specific oil or balsam, the apparent defenders of 
health and strepgth. Patent medicines are sold to make money, and 
not to cure the public ; their usefulness is generally in inverse ratio 
to their labels. 

There are, however, some good patent medicines. In some cases 
they will prove just the thing the system needs, but the risk is too 
great unless recommended by some physician. It is their blind, in¬ 
discriminate use that we condemn. Their formula not being known 
is what makes them dangerous. They usually are made up of some 
powerful stimulant which makes the patient feel better for a time, 
and then leaves the system more relaxed than ever, and hurts the 
nerves or digestion. We will point out a few that are useful. 

There is another class of medicines which are put up by the 
great pharmaceutical houses, which deserve popular use. Their com¬ 
position being known, there is no secrecy about them. They are 
prepared in the most scientific manner. These houses have a name 
to preserve, and have ample means to procure the services of the best 
chemists, and, using such large quantities of drugs, they can procure 
the best and most uniform. They do not claim to be cure-alls, but 
are compounded for special diseases or conditions, which are plainly 
stated, and are only claimed to be a remedy for such diseases or con* 


1141 



1142 


PKOPKIETARY AND PATENT MEDICINES. 


ditions of the system. They are just what your physician would 
prescribe. The difficulty is in rightly choosing from the vast number. 

Of late there has sprung up a class of houses who make it a cus¬ 
tom to imitate any well-known medicine which has proved valuable, 
and, by selling their imitations cheaper and using some flaring labeh 
palm off these imitations as being just as good. We would advise 
that they be shunned like the plague. If there is anything that 
ought to be pure, it is the drugs, stimulants and nourishment that we 
take as medicine. 

While we do not claim to give a list in this chapter of all valu¬ 
able remedies, we recommend several of the best and most valuable, 
which have stood the test of use, and can be taken with safety and 
benefit. Read in the front part of the book a description of your 
trouble, then turn to the department in this chapter corresponding 
to it, and choose the remedy. In all cases the directions will be 
found on the wrapper of the remedy. 

Asthma. —Kola-Koloid (T. Metcalf Co.). The well-known integrity 
of this house is a sufficient guarantee of the value of this remedy. Soden’s 
Mineral Pastilles are also good. 

Anti-Fat. — Phytoline is used very extensively. Thyroid Tablets of 5 
grains each 3 times a day are very effectual. 

Anti-5crofulous. — lodia, an alterative and tonic; is much used by 
the best physicians. This is purely a vegetable medicine. It eliminates 
specific poison from the blood, which is the seat of the disease, and its 
tonic power gives strength to the system to throw off the disease. 

Chapoteant Sol. Iodide Strontium is much used. Is very easily 
digested, but is rather expensive. 

Syrup Trifolium Compound is a harmless remedy; is a vegetable 
remedy, and, taken a long time, is a very good remedy to purify the 
blood. 

Biliousness. — Garfield Tea and Fig Syrup contain no salicylic acid, 
minerals or opium. Are purely vegetable remedies, and can be used by 
infants, children and adults with safety. India Cholagogue is an old 
remedy of worth. 

Consumption. — Cod Liver Oil is an old and much-used remedy, not 
only for consumption but for all wasting diseases. It nourishes the body 
and builds up the tissues. The trouble is to get it pure. The pure, pale 
oil, extracted from the fresh, healthy livers of the fish, known as Burnett’s, 
sold by Theo. Metcalf Co., Boston, is the most desirable. It can be emul- 
sionized with an egg-beater. The dose should rarely be over a table¬ 
spoonful and can be combined with coffee, eggs, milk or ice cream well 
beaten together to make it more palatable and more easily digested. 

Coughs. — King’s Consumption Cure is one of the best cough mixtures. 
Linonine is composed of flaxseed-oil combined with chloroform, and is 
good to soften and allay a common hard cough. 

Diabetes. —Gluten Flour (Metcalf) is the best food and is free from 


PROPRIETARY AND PATENT MEDICINES. 


1143 


starch. In making the bread it should be mixed with a spoon with wheat 
bran. The hands should never touch the Gluten Flour. No other bread 
should be eaten, or potatoes or other starchy foods. If the patient gets 
tired of Gluten Flour alternate with Soga Bean Meal. 

Digestive Medicines. — Horsford’s Acid Phosphate. It promotes di¬ 
gestion without injury and thereby relieves the diseases caused by indiges¬ 
tion. It is excellent for acidity of the stomach and is a very pleasant and 
healthful drink combined with some syrup and soda. There are so many 
different causes of dyspepsia, it is often necessary to try several remedies. 
The following are good: Liquid Lactopeptine, Liquid Pancreaticus more 
especially for bowel indigestion. The various preparations of pepsin are 
good. 

Disinfectants. —Eucaline (T. Metcalf Co.) is used around the house 
as a disinfectant during disease as a preventative from contagion. Diluted 
it makes a good tooth and mouth wash, a few drops in a tumbler of water. 
Is good to sweeten bowls and bath-tubs. Can be used in the water-pan 
of furnaces to cleanse the air and in fact where any disinfectant is used. 
Chloride of lime and sulpho-naphthol are also much used. 

Foods, Invalid and Baby. —Mellin’s Food is one of the oldest and 
best; it needs no cooking. Mixed with milk it contains all that is neces¬ 
sary to nourish the body. It is the best known baby food and is invalu¬ 
able for those suffering from nervous prostration or non-assimilation of 
food. Malted Milk is a good food for all ages but is more particularly 
adapted for adult invalids. Bartlett’s Food is good for nervous children. 
Robinson’s Groats and Barley, intended for children, is a laxative food. 

Headaches. — The remedies for headaches are numberless. If they 
are constant or chronic it is well to leave off smoking, tea or coffee drink¬ 
ing for three months and see if that is not the sole cause. If a female, 
have a physician and see if they are not caused by some womb trouble. 
For immediate relief a cup of black coffee without sugar or milk is as safe 
and good as anything. Most of the headache powders, pills, etc., are 
made up of caffeine, bromides, guarana and the coal-tar products. 

Quinacetine (Metcalf) is one of the best remedies and has the advantage 
of leaving no unpleasant effects. 

The following are good for immediate relief: Bromo-Caffeine, Bromo- 
Seltzer, Elixir Guarana, Nervease and Phenacetine. The last two should 
be used sparingly. 

Hypnotic and Sleep-Producing Medicines. — Bromidia is much 
used. It is composed of chloral and the bromides. Every fluid dram 
contains 15 grains each of pure chloral hydrate and purified bro. pot., 
and J grain each of gen. imp. ex. cannabis ind. and hyoscyam. In the 
restlessness and delirium of fevers it is invaluable. It is well to take out¬ 
door exercise and drink a cupful of Mellin’s Food, warm or malted mUk 
just before retiring. 

^ron Preparations _Elixir Three Chlorides is a good blood-maker. 

Schlotterbeck’s Syrup, Phospho-Chloride of Iron is a good preparation of 
liquid iron and easily digested. 

Liquid Beef Preparations. — Beef Peptonoids, Liquid Beef Pepto- 
opids, and Liquid Peptonpids with Creosote, are preparations of beef in a 


1144 


PEOPRIETARY AND PATENT MEDICINES. 


very digestible form, palatable and very nourishing. Bovox, Bovinine 
and Wyeth’s Beef Juice are very nourishing and are valuable for travellers 
and to take between meals when faint. 

Liver and Kidney Medicines. — Garfield Tea is a good family med¬ 
icine, is harmless, contains no minerals and clears the liver and kidney of 
effete matter. Buchu and Hyoscyamus Comp. (Tyree’s) to soothe an irri¬ 
table bladder. In kidney troubles consult the best physicians obtainable. 

Liquid Malts. — Are chiefly serviceable in inability to digest starchy 
foods, and in convalescence. All of the following are good : Tarrant’s 
and Hoff’s Malts, Liquid Bread, Trommer’s Malt with Iodides, Trommer’s 
Citrate of Iron and Quinine, and Trommer’s Malt with Pepsin. 

Laxatives. — For chronic constipation there is nothing more useful 
than Rliamnus Fragula (Metcalf), made from buckthorn bark. It is a 
simple and harmless remedy, the results good and sure, and invigorates the 
bowels. — Glycones (Lilly). Frequently, especially for babies and young 
children, it is well to move the bowels without taking medicine internally. 
Glyconos are the best. They are in two sizes, children’s and adults’. 
They are invaluable for travellers. They produce prompt, painless and 
copious stools. Garfield Tea is mild, harmless and sure. One oi the best 
and pleasant to take, and has no nauseating effects. For babies, Garfield 
Fig Syrup. 

Loss of Nervous Energy, and Impotency. — Sterility in both the 
male and female. The first thing to do is to break off at once and forever 
even the thoughts of what causes impotency and loss of energy. If male, 
bathe the parts in cold water night and morning and pay no attention to 
various advertisements of free remedies, etc. See chapter on Masturbation 
and Impotency. The best remedy for loss of energy and impotency is Kola 
(Metcalf). Nothing can compare with Kola Koloid. Its use by the 
negro in Africa has extended all over the world. It is well known tha 
they raise the largest families and their energy in this respect can perhaps 
be traced to the use of Kola. 

Nerve Tonics. — Coca Wine. As a stimulating tonic there is perhaps 
no better remedy known than Metcalf’s Coca Wine. It is an invigorator 
for the aged, a quick builder for the enfeebled, is a palliation for mental 
troubles, and is valuable to tone up the system after a run of fever. 
Chapoteant Sol. Bromide Strontium is a good and agreeable preparation 
and is well tolerated by the stomach. Phillips’Fhospho.-Muriate Quinine 
Compound is a good general tonic. Of the bromides the following are 
good: Elixir Potassium Bromide, Elixir Sodium Bromide, Elixir Ammo¬ 
nium Bromide. Coca Wine is the safest and best. 

Neuralgia. — Is usually caused.by poverty of the blood. See Nerve 
Tonics. Quinacetine (Metcalf) is one of the best remedies. Its use is 
not followed by any unpleasant effects. 

Painful Menstruation and Vaginal Remedies. — Orange Blossoms 
(J. A. McGill) come in tne form of suppositories and is administered 
direct to the seat of the disease. They are safe and harmless. Have stood 
the test of use, can easily be administered by the patient and are a specific 
for profuse menstruation. Wine of American Ash (Metcalf), made from 


t»ROPRIETAEY AND PATENT MEDICINES. 


1145 


the outside bark of the white ash, is used in the treatment of the various 
uterine affections, namely, prolapsus, versions, menstrual irregularities, 
inflammation, leucorrhoea, etc., depending upon chronic enlargement for 
their basis. While relief and marked benefit may be obtained by a few 
weeks’ use it may be as many months before absolute freedom from suffer¬ 
ing may result. lodia is much used. It is a combination of the active 
principles obtained from the green roots of stillingia helonias, saxifraga 
menispermum and aromatics. Each fluid dram also contains five grains 
each iod. potas. and phos. iron. Used especially for leucorrhoea, impaired 
vitality, habitual abortion and general uterine debility. The surgical 
craze for the treatment of diseases of the pelvic organs has prevented phy¬ 
sicians from studying as carefully as they should the medical treatment. 
At least it would be well to see what medicines will do before resorting to 
the knife. Antiseptic Vaginal Cones and Boro-Glyceride Suppositories 
are also good. 

Piles. — Hamamelis Suppositories and Comfort Powder are both good 
remedies. See chapter on Hemorrhoids. 

Plasters. — Their number is legion. Bell-Capsic, Cuticura and Cap¬ 
sicum are all good. 

Pain Medicines. — One of the very best of all opium preparations is 
Papine and it is efficacious in most cases. Papiue is the anodyne or pain- 
relieving principle of opium, the narcotic and convulsive elements being 
eliminated. One fluid dram is equal in anodyne power to J of a grain of 
morphine. 

Prostate Gland Diseases. — Sommetto is used largely for these 
troubles, especially for the aged. 

Rheumatic Medicines. — Quinacetine (Metcalf). This remedy is 
safe and has no unpleasant or injurious effects. Merrill’s Alkaline Elixir 
is a pleasant and effective remedy in many varieties of rheumatism. 
Tongaline is used in both rheumatism and gout. It is laxative if taken 
too often. lodia is a good remedy for chronic rheumatism. 

Salves. — Cuticura and Salvacea. 

Stimulants. — Coca Wine (Metcalf) is one of the best and most 
harmless. Kola Koloid is another excellent preparation. Vin de Chapo- 
teant is a good stimulant on the old beef, iron and wine plan. 

Skin Diseases. — The various preparations of Sarsaparilla are good. 
Syrup Trifolium Compound is one of the best remedies to purify the 
blood. A cure from this remedy is almost certain to remain so. Sul¬ 
phur is also good. Hamamelis for an external application is soothing 
and cooling. It is excellent for reducing inflammation. 

Syphilis. — lodia is a purely vegetable remedy made from the juices of 
the green herbs. Can be taken for a long time without injury to any 
organs of the body. It improves the nutrition, purifies the blood and is a 
specific for syphilis in all stages. 


1146 


PROPRIETARY AND PATENT MEDICINES. 


Stomach Tonics. — Horsford’s Acid Phosphate for indigestion, Tar¬ 
rant’s Seltzer Aperient for acidity and belching of wind. For a strict tonic 
the following are good: Elixir Calisaya Bark and Bismuth, Elixir Calisaya 
and Iron, Elixir Calisaya, Bismuth and Pepsin. 

Throat Tablets. — Chloramine Tablets, Wyeth’s Red Gum Lozenges, 
and Troches Guaiac are all good. 

Vaginal Remedies. — Orange Blossoms are the best for general use. 
Antiseptic Vaginal Cones and Boro-Glyceride Suppositories are also largely 
used. 

Whooping Cough. — Vapo~Cresoline. Is a liquid to be burned over 
a night-lamp. It relieves the cough and hastens recovery. 

Wounds. — Aristol, Dermatol and Iodoform are used to promote 
healing. 

Antiphlogistin is a substance with an earthy base to which several 
antiseptics and cromatics have been added. The efficiency lies in 
the withdrawal of water from the inflamed area, together with the 
constant application of an antiseptic poultice to the affected part. 
In pneumonia used as a poultice it has been claimed to exert a power¬ 
ful influence and gives relief. Antithermolin and several other 
preparations have a formula quite similar to the above and are said 
to accomplish the same purpose. 

The latest pharmacopoeia accepts a preparation which is called 
Cataplasm of Kaolin. This will be made by druggists at a much 
cheaper price than proprietary compounds, as the formulae is furnished 
to all and consequently is without the stigma of ^‘secret formula.’’ 
Its action is supposed to be identical with the- preparation just de¬ 
scribed. 




THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 






THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 

A TREATISE ON HOW TO KEEP YOUNG 

By AUGUSTA PRESCOTT 


It was a wise old philosopher who said to his daughter: “Keep 
young, my child, and you will keep beautiful.’’ To this he might have 
added, “Keep healthy and you will keep young.” 

Youth, health and beauty are the three qualities sought by woman¬ 
kind. Perhaps in the triple quest, beauty stands first, but it is hard 
to think of beauty without roses and of roses without youth. 

Keep healthy and you will keep young. You can cheat Father 
Time and actually hold him at bay. Follow this beauty quest 
patiently and faithfully, and you will keep so young that none but 
the family Bible can testify how old you are. 

A French writer of the days of Louis XI said: “Make beauty a 
virtue; strive for it; work for it steadily; keep at the beauty contest 
unceasingly; and do not give up ever—even though the task looks long 
and apparently hopeless.” 

The first fault of the woman who is growing in years is the figure. 
It grows heavy and becomes the middle-aged figure. She sleeps a 
little longer in the morning; is a little more tired during the day; 
eats more than she used to; goes to bed earlier, and is less careful 
of her appearance. 

And this is what happens: She grows fat; her chin doubles; her 
abdomen creeps up; her belt line is too high and too big; her limbs 
become awkward; and her figure is bulky. She has passed from 
youth into middle age, but really there is no excuse for this,—it is 
simply carelessness and neglect of the charms Nature has given her; 
it is for the want of supplying her skin and muscles with fresh warm 
blood by proper and careful exercises—which, if followed out for 
fifteen minutes twice a day, should keep, restore and insure beauty 
of face and figure. 

The woman who is beginning to look old, and the young woman 
who wants to keep her good looks, should both learn that youth 
and beauty depend principally upon eight things, all of which are ex¬ 
tremely important. 


1148 





1 


Correct position for walking. This will give grace and body poise 








1150 


THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL. 


The figure: A woman should be neither too fat nor too thin, and 
in this connection it may be remarked that flesh is easily controlled. 

The complexion; Should be smooth and clear. 

The mouth, includes the care of two rows of shining teeth. 

The eyes: Should be bright, shaded with good lashes and out¬ 
lined with nice even brows. 

The cheeks govern the shape of the face, and should be full and 
dimpled. 

The throat should be just slender enough to support the head like 
a column; a thick, heavy throat is an abomination, and a double chin 
is a sure sign of age. 

The hands should be tapering, white, well shaped and crowned 
with ten rosy nails. 

The hair, which is woman’s crowning glory, should be kept natural, 
thick and becomingly dressed. 

We might add other points of beauty, but these are enough for the 
average woman. 

For the woman who is in fair form and wishes to remain so, should 
take the following exercises twice a day, clad in a loose suit for gym¬ 
nasium work, and once a day before exercising take a tepid bath made 
brisk with aromatic vinegar. 

First. The first lesson, and most important, is walking correctly. 
Put the body in the correct position, walk slowly with head erect, 
shoulders back, lungs full of air, chin high and far back, abdomen in, 
and hands at sides. In this position bend the body forward at the 
belt line; take long steps and turn the feet outward. This will give 
you the fashionable carriage which is both feminine and pretty. This 
exercise should be practised for at least ten minutes daily. 

Second. With a wand in your hand, mount a footstool. 

This exercise consists in balancing, first on one foot, then upon the 
other, at the same time raising and lowering the wand high above 
the head. 

Third. The bending exercises must be taken up cautiously. Women 
who are delicate should not bend more than two or three times at a 
lesson. The exercises consist of walking or running around the room 
on all fours and bending backward until the hands almost touch the 
floor if possible, if not, as far a.s you can; of bending forward until 
the palms of the hands lay flat upon the carpet, and of swaying far 
to one side, then to the other. 

These exercises are enough for the average woman, and if practised 
faithfully twice each day together with the bath, will prevent super¬ 
fluous flesh, and make the skin fresh and the muscles supple, strong 
and capable of their natural beauty and functions. 

For the stout and middle-aged woman we recommend the dumb¬ 
bell exercise (See page 1175). 

The dumb-bells should be of wood of the lightest ihake. This 
exercise, together with the bath, will surely reduce the form to its 



Good exercise lor stout women. 



A severe exercise for strengthening the back 













1152 


THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL. 


natural size, bringing the muscles back to their natural position 

The bath for a stout woman should be as cool as she can comfort¬ 
ably take. If her heart is weak—as of course it is—she should not 
take an ice bath, but a bath of cool water made spicy with bath 
vinegar. 

For water of the right temperature for a stout woman it is well to 
draw it the night before on retiring and let it stand until morning. 
It will then be the same temperature of the room, to which should be 
added the bath perfume or bath vinegar. 

An excellent bath perfume can be made by taking a pint of spirits 
of cologne, into this put half an ounce of oil of rose geranium, add 
one grain of musk and let stand for two weeks. Pour all into a two 
quart bottle and fill up with the very best alcohol. This should last 
about six months, and costs about a dollar. Use a small cupful to 
a bath. 

There is a Frenchwoman making her fortune selling a bath vinegar 
to the British aristocracy. Here is her secret, it is not expensive: 

Procure a large rose jar, fill with dried rose petals, also dried green 
leaves of the rose, the leaves of dried clover, sweet grasses broken 
into bits and red clover heads gathered in season. Spice the leaves 
with cloves, salt, and a few drops of oil of rose geranium, and stir 
thoroughly with the hand or a long stick. The contents of the jar 
is called Preserved Aromatic Leaves and is the foundation of the 
bath vinegar. 

The bath vinegar is made as follows:— 

Into a gallon jug put a quart of pure red wine vinegar, into this 
put a cup of Preserved Aromatic Leaves (prepared as above), cover 
the whole closely; at the end of three days strain off the vinegar and 
add a pint of pure alcohol. Then bottle. This makes a very invig¬ 
orating mixture; one that wakens the skin and keeps it young. 

Another bath vinegar is made by adding a quart of strawberries 
to a quart of red wine vinegar. Let stand for three days, then strain 
and bottle for the bath. A cup in a tub of water makes a complexion 
bath. 

A rose-leaf pillow made from the contents of the Preserved Aro¬ 
matic Leaves is good for headache. 

A long bolster-like pad filled with the same leaves will quiet aching 
nerves, if a hot-water bag is laid upon the pillow to bring out the 
scent. 

For perfuming the house nothing can equal the beneficial effects of 
a rose jar of Preserved Aromatic Leaves, stirred in the lower hall 
every morning. 

One of Queen Victoria’s physicians advised her to perfume her 
house daily. Her Majesty had a horror of contagious diseases. 
^‘Stir a rose jar every day in the hallway,” advised the doctor, ^'and 
you will keep away germs, insects and disease microbes, for such pests 
wijl not enter when the room is filled with sweet scents.” 


THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL. 


1153 


The extent of the beneficial effects of sweet scents upon the nerves 
is wonderful. The ancients, when ill, burned sweet spices, and the 
Bible says in olden times they treated the sick with sweet scents. 
In the hospitals of the large Oriental cities the nurses scatter a per¬ 
fume about daily. Your physician will tell you that very sensitive 
women absolutely revive if given a whiff of violet. Violets are for 
the nerves, rose for the spirits, and Spanish scents and pinks for the 
head. 

The nervous woman should take a little ammonia and scent it with 
violet for the best results to her nerves. 

The restless woman is positively soothed by a bottle of fine perfume, 
and should consider it a necessity instead of a luxury. It should be 
a household remedy, kept in great bottles, home made and in constant 
use. 


The Complexion, or Care of the Skin» 

Dieting has its effects not only upon the figure but upon the skin. 
There was once a time when dieting meant going without food, 
and many a woman after two or three days of hunger gave it up as a 
very bad bargain. “I’d rather be fat,” she said, “I don’t like to 
starve to death, I cannot diet.” Now, in the light of recent science, 
dieting does not mean being hungry. It means eating all you want, 
but of food that agrees with you. The complexion, the spirits, the 
eyes, the liver, so much that is essential to the woman beautiful, 
depend upon the kind of food you eat. You can utterly destroy 
your beauty with the wrong kind of food. 

The gifted Kipling declares he could tell by their “pastry skins” 
the women who live on pie. He said bad skins lived in the great pie 
belt of America. Yet Kipling was wrong. Pie, well baked and eaten 
warm, is good food. Hot pie, hot bread, hot foods of any kind are 
bad. They hold the heat too long in the stomach and, while lying 
there waiting to cool, it irritates the lining of the stomach. A very 
hot biscuit holds its heat a long time, long enough to injure the strong¬ 
est stomach, but a moderately warm biscuit is good food. 

Salt food is bad for the complexion. It holds the digestion back. 
Salt preserves food and very salt meat is retained in the stomach 
too long. It upsets the digestion and injures the skin. 

Sweets and sours are good for the complexion, but they should be 
taken at the right time. 

The society woman who is dependent upon her beauty for her 
“belledom” is always dieting. Her best diet is the milk diet. For 
a week twice a year she takes nothing but milk. New York society 
women usually go upon this milk diet during Lent, as being the most 
convenient time, and for a week they take nothing into the system but 
milk. 

The dose for the milk diet as laid down by King Edward’s physician 


I 




Steam the face with a sponge. A "flesh brush can be used lightly on a dull skin 












THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL. 


1155 


at a famous country health cure is: ''Take a glass of milk upon rising. 
Then follow it with a glass every hour all day. Add a pinch of salt 
if you prefer. Drink water between the glasses of milk. The milk 
will wash all impurities out of the system.'’ Milk thus taken is not 
very fattening. 

Women who are not very strong and who do not like the milk diet, 
and women who are very hungry, as well as women whose complex¬ 
ions are not very good, and want to improve them, can adopt a be¬ 
twixt and between diet, which will do for every day in the year, the 
whole year around. It is called the complexion diet, and is used 
all the world over. 


The Complexion Diet. 

In the morning on rising take a glass of cool water. Drink another 
glass when sitting down to breakfast. Let the breakfast consist of 
fruit if you like, if so, take no cream on your fruit. 

The union of acid and cream will cause a sour stomach and. a poor 
skin. Baked apples are good, but do not eat baked apples and cream. 
The same can be said of strawberries and cream. For breakfast eat all 
the toast you want, eat one lamb chop if you like, and one small cup 
of coffee, but do not drink anything else with your meal. 

At noon (if you dine in the middle of the day) take soup, meat, 
baked potatoes, spinach or asparagus and celery and lettuce. Drink 
nothing and eat lightly of dessert. 

Drink all the water you want between meals but nothing at your 
meals. It was Bismark’s physician who, on being asked to treat an 
otherwise beautiful Berlin lady for a poor complexion, said, "She is 
hopeless. She drinks too much.” To the highly offended lady the 
physician explained that he meant too much water with her meals. 

For the evening meal take cooked fruit, toast, a very little weak 
tea and all the good wholesome cake you want. Eat no fruit that 
is not cooked, and do not take meat more than once a day. This 
will give a dietary that will cure the worst complexion, and inci¬ 
dentally it will benefit the teeth. 

Wrinkles. 

Wrinkles come in a woman’s face as soon as she is fully grown. If 
she be near-sighted and frown, they will come at an earlier age. 
Worry, care, a tired-out state of the system and sickness brings 
furrows into a woman’s brow long before she is old enough to deserve 
them. 

A wrinkle is like a crinkle in a piece of tissue paper. It is there, 
but it is easily smoothed out. It is work that must be done repeatedly, 
as wrinkles come back day by day, and with them you cannot look 
young. ; 




Plaster treatment for wrinkles. Dip the finger tips in skin food and massage across the lines 










Massage to make the neck plump and remove holJcws This will strengthen and make the arms plump. 






1158 


THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL 


The wrinkle cure begins with a good face cream or skin food. This 
can be made at home. The best skin food or massage cream is as 
follows:— 

Of pure mutton tallow take enough to fill an egg shell, warm it, 
and put in a double boiler over hot water, add half the amount of oil 
of sweet almonds. Scent with 5 drops of oil of rose geranium, beat 
with an egg beater as it cools. This can be used as a retiring cream. 

At night before going to bed your hard work begins. 

First, thoroughly wash the face. If you have not been out in the 
dust a good washing with the finger tips will do, otherwise you should 
steam the face. This is easily performed by holding a sponge of hot 
water to the skin. Do not burn the face, but lift the sponge, letting 
the water drip over the face; repeat until the skin is hot. 

A flesh brush is good. It should be very soft and rubbed very 
lightly upon the skin. An assistant can give you the flesh brush 
treatment, running lightly over your face, neck and shoulders, using 
hot water and pure soap; rinse well afterwards. Then take the mas¬ 
sage cream and massage the wrinkles. Take a little of the cream, 
melt it slightly, dip your clean finger tips and rub them across the 
wrinkles. They will smooth out under the magical influence of your 
fingers and the cream will sink into the cuticle and plump out the 
skin. It is the greatest wrinkle destroyer known. But wrinkles,’ 
after one has reached the age of forty years, must be rubbed out 
nightly or at least three times a week. That is the only way to 
banish them. 

The plaster treatment has been tried with good results, and will 
appeal to women who have not time for the massage. The wrinkle is 
stretched flat, and slender strips of plaster are applied. When taken 
off, the wrinkle will be much lighter. 

The arms and shoulders can be made plump by exercise, and by 
applying the skin food. Rub the food in, leaving it on the skin over 
night if possible. If the neck is thin and the chin is double—a 
combination often seen—take the neck and throat exercises which is 
as follows:— 

Bend the head backward and forward and sway the arms. Mas¬ 
sage the neck with skin food. It will plump out the hollows and give 
a nice round neck. 


Care of the Hands. 

The care of the hands resembles the care of the face. The hands 
must be creamed every night. Once a week the nails should be filed 
until they are the shape of the tips of the fingers. The society 
woman with taper fingers will have pointed nails, but the business 
woman whose finger tips are blunt, should cut her nails rounding. 
The prettiest results are always obtained by filing the nails the shape 
of the finger tips. 




Massage for square jaw and double chin. 


To reduce the double chin. 










After soaking the finger tips, shape the nails gently. 



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The tired, nervous woman is rested by music 






THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL, 


1161 


% 

The very long nail is good if one can keep it from breaking. To 
do so, rub the finger nails every night with vaseline and almond oil, 
and they will not break. 

Wliite spots are scars caused by the orange wood stick or by some 
sharp instrument used for pushing back the flesh from the base of 
the nails. Be careful not to press on the nail as you push back the 
flesh. 

To clean the hands after working, take sweet oil and thoroughly 
rinse the hands with it, rubbing round and round as though one were 
using a cake of soap. Then fill in under the nails with a good hand 
soap by scraping the nails over the soap. Wash off in several waters, 
wiping and drying thoroughly. 

Freckled hands in summer are caused by letting the sun touch the 
hands immediately after they have been washed. The freckles can 
be removed with lemon juice followed by cold cream, or with a 
cucumber water. 

To make cucumber water, steep a cut-up cucumber in a pint of 
water; strain and add a teaspoonful of borax powder. Once a week 
wash the hands in a great basin of tepid water into which add about 
five drops of tincture of benzoin. This keeps the skin white. 

Sleep. 

Beauty depends largely upon one's sleep. The woman who sleeps 
soundly is more apt to keep her beauty than one who is sleepless. 
Plenty of exercise and plain food generally induce sound sleep. 

Almost a sure cure :or sleeplessness is that of remaining up until 
one is really sleepy The woman who is awake from three to five 
every morning should try by remaining up until 12 o’clock to sleep 
until 7 0 clock the next morning. This should break up the habit of 
waking early 

Sleeping with the arms over the head is an indication of backache. 
Young women with aching muscles most always throw the arms over 
the head to relieve the strain upon the back. Indigestion and a weak 
stomach also cause the afflicted one to raise her arms over her head 
at night. This is a bad habit, as it strains the muscles of the abdomen, 
and should be cured by rest and proper exercise; sometimes by eating 
before one goes to bed will help cure the habit. Crackers are too 
indigestible, but a good slice of bread and butter will sometimes assist 
in the cure. 

Women who are recovering from a serious illness and wish to 
recover their beauty as well as their health, should devote certain 
moments of rest listening to strains of sweet-music, which has a very 
strong influence upon the convalescent, as it is very quieting to the 
nerves. 

Fresh air is beauty’s great aid. An outdoor shady corner, with 
music, and a rose pillow, will call back the bloom to the cheeks and 
should be indulged in every day the weather permits. 


1162 


THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL. 


Olive oil is a great beautifier. A tablespoonful taken before each 
meal will fill out the tissues and help the digestion, without making 
one fat. 


Care of the Mouth. 

The middle aged woman seldom or never has a lovely mouth. The 
teeth sometimes go early in life, and by the age of forty-five they 
are possibly in a poor condition. When you see an otherwise pretty 
woman with a crooked mouth, or with her mouth far to one side you 
say, “Some of her teeth are gone.” If you investigate, you will find 
spaces on the crooked side of her mouth. As she lost her teeth her 
cheek on that side fell in, her mouth drew to one side and her beauty 
disappeared. 

This can easily be avoided. Have your missing teeth supplied. In 
these days a good dentist implants teeth. He will also bridge or 
crown them in such a way that no gold is visible. Go to a cosmetic 
dentist. A cosmetic dentist is one who aims at beauty. He tries to 
make you better looking. He restores your teeth until they look just 
as they did when you were a girl of seventeen. He bleaches them, 
he straightens them, he replaces your teeth, and sends you home with 
a handsome mouth. 

It is never pleasant to go to a dentist, but there is nothing which 
so amply repays one. Shun the dentist who puts gold in the front 
of your mouth. There is such a thing as an “old fogy” dentist, 
who tries to place a gold cap just where it will grin at the world every 
time you open your mouth. A cosmetic dentist will pivot the tooth. 
Don’t argue, but find a dentist who is j\dl of his art. 

Keep the teeth nice by cleaning them with a good tooth paste at 
least twice a day. Once a week go over them lightly and quickly 
with some finely powdered pumice. Do not rub hard enough to hurt 
the enamel, but only sufficient to take off the stains. Rinse the 
teeth before going to bed at night, and always bear in mind that a 
sweet mouth is a most attractive feature. 

Care of the Eyes. 

In summing up beauty’s requirements, it is difficult to say how the 
eyes should be classified, they are so much to the face. Beautiful 
eyes should be large and full. The lashes healthy and long, the eye¬ 
brows almost straight across the forehead. Meeting brows give one 
a scowling look. On the other hand scanty brows make one look 
frightened. If your eyebrows are thin, take a little vaseline and heat 
it with an equal quantity of pure almond oil. Stir together, pour 
into a jar and let cool; at night set the bottle in hot water and when 
the mixture is melted, apply to the eyebrows with a camel’s hair 
brush. Paint them as delicately as though you were painting them 
upon a canvas. 











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Removing hairs from eyebrows that meet. Massage the scalp lighth^ once a week 







1164 


THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL. 


Washing the eyes with hot water at night will add much to their 
beauty. This clears them of dust and gives them a chance to rest 
during the night. On coming in upon a dusty day, wash the eyes with 
water to which borax powder has been added. In buying borax for 
the eyes, tell the druggist how you wish to use it; add a little to the 
water and bathe your eyes, every day. 

Fat faced women always have small eyes. As the fat increases on 
the face the cheeks puff up and the eyes dwindle. Eyes can be made 
larger if one will take the trouble to massage the cheeks until the fat 
is less noticeable. Never touch the eyes with the hands to make 
them larger. 

Delicate women have large eyes with shadows under them. As 
they grow older these shadows become bags, generally caused by 
internal troubles. Bags under the eyes destroy the beauty of the 
face. To get rid of these bags or eye sacs, massage carefully and 
persistently, also reform the diet,-for the eyes are particularly the 
sign of a bad liver. It is good to eat apples, cooked and raw; correct 
the liver and the eye sacs will disappear. 

If the brows meet between the eyes, or if there is superfluous hair 
upon the upper lip, something must be done for its removal. The 
electric needle is best. If you wish to use the electric needle it is 
easily and cheaply acquired. Buy a set of electric cords, a wrist 
electrode, a needle, needle holder and a galvanic battery. The last 
mentioned can be used for many household purposes and is always 
money well spent. The outfit aside from the battery costs about 
three dollars. 

A woman troubled with superfluous hair on her upper lip pulled 
out the hairs and applied weak ammonia water; only half came back, 
she repeated the remedy, and after several treatments all the hairs 
disappeared. 

If the hands and arms are covered with superfluous hair, the hairs 
can be made less noticeable by bleaching them with peroxide of hy¬ 
drogen. Add a little ammonia to the peroxide. Ammonia will in 
time kill the constitution of the hair, and the hairs will fall out, mean¬ 
while they will be so very light as to be hardly visible. Powdered 
pumice will take a light growth of down off the arms and wrists. 

The Hair. 

The hair should be studied by a woman as carefully as the care of 
the face. The hair is a great addition to any woman’s looks, but 
from lack of proper care is frequently quite the reverse. It should 
be heavy, glossy, clean, and so arranged that it acts as a frame to the 
face. In these days all women can have heavy hair. The scalp 
should be massaged once a week with the finger tips and where the 
hair is getting thin, there should be the oil treatment for the scalp. 

Pour into a thimble enough oil to half fill it. Use castor oil if 




COPYBIGMI t^05 
PHY6<C5ANS PWB CO 
BOSTON MASB 


A Perfect “Cupid Bow” Mouth. 


1166 


THE WOMAN BEAUTIFUL. 


you are equal to the odor, otherwise use pure oil of almonds. Part 
off the hair, dip the tips of the fingers one by one in the oil, and then 
carefully,, so not to make the hair oily, go down the parting, gently 
spatting and massaging it. Part off the hair again, pat it, and con¬ 
tinue until the whole scalp has been slightly oiled, but do not get a 
particle of oil upon the hair. 

Shampoo the hair once in three weeks. With either an egg or soap 
shampoo. 

For egg shampoo, use tepid water, wet well, then rub m the yolks 
of two eggs, rinse with several hot waters: in the last use a little borax 
to sofcen the water. 

For soap shampoo, use the best castile soap Make a suds but 
never rub the soap on the hair; rinse carefully 

To brighten the color of the hair, add a little baking soda to the 
shampoo, afterwards washing it out well. To make the hair “ bloom, ” 
dry in the sun, afterwards shaking it out to ventilate. 

Excellent Hair Tonic. 

Take a 5-cent bar of white castile soap and dissolve in a quart ot 
boiling water, boil 10 minutes, cool anti add one pint of bay rum, one 
tablespoonful of borax and 20 grains of quinine. Add a tablespoon- 
lul to your shampoo water. 

To Bleach or Redden the Hair. 

To change the color of the hair is never good taste, but the hair 
can be brightened in some simple way. The woman who must bleach 
her hair can do so with pure peroxide of hydrogen, but it will look 
bleached, and moreover it requires constant care to keep it colored 
as it grows out. To redden the hair, wash it in henna tea made by 
steeping henna leaves in hot water. 

A woman should take stock of her attractions frequently. She 
should study her weak points, fortify and improve them, it is labor, 
but labor well spent, for only in this way will she keep herself young 
and attain the desired end, namely, that of being always a young; and 
beautiful woman. 


To Enlarge the Bust. 

An efficacious, yet safe method to enlarge the bust is a persistent 
massage with some bland oil, of which cocoanut or olive oil are good 
examples. With a rotary motion and little oil, the breast should be 
thoroughly rubbed morning and night for some weeks, and a gratify¬ 
ing result will be obtained. 

The employment of tablets, fancy formulas, etc., will only too 
often result in disappointment if not disaster. 


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A STUDENT OF PHYSICAL CULTURE. 

Showing perfect Arm, Chest and Waist Development, 




PHYSICAL CULTURE — GYMNASTICS 


In America the noblest interests of the race have reached unpar¬ 
alleled development. In no other country, in no other age, has 
mental culture been so complete and universal. It is an era in the 
progress of the race. The fruits of labor which in other times and 
lands have been wasted upon the abnormal life of the few, have here, 
like air and light, the two great representative gifts of Heaven, found 
their way to the normal life of the million. 

But in this hour of triumph the national life is jeopardized by 
physical exhaustion. While the admiring world looks on, our bodies 
upon which as a foundation our higher faculties must rest, crumble 
and give way. Precocious brains are borne about by doubtful spines; 
brilliant talents are linked with dying bodies. 

Men, women, and children should be strong, but it should be the 
strength of grace, flexibility, agility, and endurance; it should not be 
the strength of a great lifter. Let me allude to the gymnastics of the 
cii’cus. Permit me to call special attention to three features — to the 
man who lifts the cannon, to the india-rubber man and to the general 
performer. The lifter and the india-rubber man constitute the two mis¬ 
chievous extremes. It is impossible that in either there should be 
the highest physiological conditions ; but, in the persons of general 
performers, is found the model gymnast. They can neitheiTTt great 
weights nor tie themselves into knots, but they occupy a point 
between these two extremes. They possess both strength and flexi¬ 
bility, and resemble fine, active, agile, vigorous carriage-horses, which 
occupy a point between the slow cart-horse and the long-legged, loose- 
jointed animal. The race-horse has a much more vigorous circula¬ 
tion than the cart-horse. It is a fact not unfamiliar to horsemen, 
that when a horse is transferred from slow, heavy work to the car¬ 
riage, the surface veins about the neck and legs begin at once to en¬ 
large ; when the change is made from the carriage to the cart, the 
reverse is the result. 

And when we consider that the principal pbjeot of all physical 
training is an elastic, vigorous condition of the nervous system, the 
superiority of light gymnastics becomes still more obvious. The 
nervous system is the fundamental fact of our earthly life. All other 


1169 



1170 


PHYSICAL CULTURE. 


parts of the organism exist and work for it. It controls all, and is 
the seat of pain and pleasure. 

The impressions upon the stomach, for example, resulting in a bet¬ 
ter or worse digestion, must be made through the nerves. This su¬ 
preme control of the nervous system is forcibly illustrated in the 
change made by joyful or sad tidings. 

Could we have an unbroken succession of good news, we should 
all have good digestion without a gymnasium. But in a world of 
vexation and disappointment, we are driven to the necessity of muscle 
culture, and other hygienic expedients, to give the nervous system 
that support and vitality w^hich our fitful surroundings deny. 

If we would make our muscle-training contributive in the highest 
degree to the healthful elasticity of our nerves, the exercise.must be 
such as will bring into varied combinations and play all our muscles 
and nerves. Those exercises which require great accuracy, skill and 
dash are just those which secure this happy and complete intermar¬ 
riage of nerve and muscle. 

Another point I take the liberty to urge. Without accuracy in the 
performance of the feats, the interest must be transient. This prin¬ 
ciple is strikingly exemplified in military training. Those who have 
studied our infantry drill have been struck with its simplicity, and 
have wondered that men could go through with its details every day 
for years without disgust. If the drill-master permits carelessness, 
then authority alone can force the men througli the evolutions ; but 
if he enforce the greatest precision, they return to their task every 
morning for years with cheerfulness. 

At this point it may be urged that those exercises which liasten the 
action of the thoracic viscera to any considerable degree are simply 
exhaustive. This is another blunder of the “ big-muscle ” men. Thev 
seem to think you can determine every man’s constitution and health 
by the tape-line; and that all exercises whose results are not deter¬ 
minable by measurement are worthless. 

I need scarcely say there are certain conditions of brain, muscle, 
and of every other tissue, far more important than size; but what I 
desire to urge more particularly in this connection is the importance, 
the great physiological advantages, of just those exercises in which 
the lungs and heart are brought into active play. These organs are 
no exceptions to the law that exercise is the principal condition of 
development. Their vigorous training adds more to the stock of 
vitality than that of other organs. 

I have said an elastic tone of the nervous system is the physiolog¬ 
ical purpose of all physical training. If one may be allowed such an 
analysis, I would add that we exercise our muscles to invigorate the 
thoracic and abdominal viscera. These in their turn support and in¬ 
vigorate the nervous system. All exercises which operate more di¬ 
rectly upon these internal organs, as. for example, laughing, deep 
breathing, and running, contribute most effectively to the stamina of 



Perfect back and shoulder development. 



1172 


PHYSICAL CULTUEE. 


the brain and nerves. It is only this mania for monstrous arms and 
shoulders that could have misled the intelligent gymnast on this 
point. 

As our artificial training is designed to fit us for the more success 
ful performance of the business of life, I suggest that the training 
should be, in character, somewhat preparatory for those duties. If 
you would train a horse for the carriage, you would not do it by 
driving at a slow pace before a heavy load. If you did, the first fast 
drive would go hard with him. 

Just so with a man. If he is to lift barrels of flour, or kegs Oi. 
nails, as a business, he may be trained by heavy lifting; but if his 
business requires the average velocity and free motions of human 
occupations, then upon the basis of his heavy slow training, he will 
find himself, in actual life, in the condition of the diay-horse, who is 
pushed before the light carriage at a high speed. 

Is it true that in either intellectual or physical training, bold, 
brilliant efforts, under proper conditions and limitations, exhaust the 
powers of life? On the contrary, is it not true that we find in vigor¬ 
ous, bold, dashing, brilliant efforts the only source of vigorous, bold, 
dashing and brilliant powers ? 

In this discussion I have not considered the treatment of invalids. 
The principles presented are applicable to the training of children 
and adults of average vitality. 

I will rest upon the general statement that all persons of both 
sexes, and of every age, who are possessed of average vitality, should, 
in the department of physical education, employ light apparatus, and 
execute a great variety of feats which require skill, accuracy, cour¬ 
age, dash, presence of mind, quick eye and hand, —in brief, which 
demand a vigorous and complete exercise of all the powers and 
faculties with which the Creator has endowed us; while deformed 
and diseased persons should be treated in consonance with the phi¬ 
losophy of the jSwedish Movement Cure^ in which the movements are 
slow and limited. 

We rejoice to see that the American people of all classes and both 
sexes are taking more and more interest in outdoor sports. The 
bicycle, if used in. reasonable moderation, will prove a great factor 
in the physical development of both sexes; but the danger is that 
the American idea of trying to outdo others will cause the young 
with untried muscles to attempt century runs and generally to overdo; 
while, if they should take reasonable rides, and enjoy the fresh air 
and scenery, it would prove a benefit to mind and body. 

There are many simple contrivances to use at home, if not convem 
lent to take full gymnastic courses. We give a description of several, 
either of which, if faithfully used, will be of great benefit. 



PERFECT ARM DEVELOPMENT. 



Lifting heavy dumb-bell to show perfect physical development—(In 
dumb-bell practice, however, only the light wooden 
dumb-bells should be used.) 



PHYSICAL CULTURE. 


1175 


Dunib=bell Exercise. 

To those, then, who say they have no time for exercise, we heartily 
recommend our home lessons, which, in connection with a daily walk 
will be just exactly what is required to secure physical perfection 
and muscular strength, without putting yourself to but very little 
trouble to attain it. Ten or fifteen minutes daily, morning and even¬ 
ing, or to suit convenience it may not be so divided, but may all be 
taken in the morning, or all in the evening, will, in connection with 
walking, keep the muscular system in perfect condition, and thus 
insure perfect bodily health. 

Exercise should never he taken immediately after a 'plentiful meal, 
nor should it he taken to excess, particularly during hot weather. In 
the former case too much cerebral influence for the time being ex¬ 
pended in muscular action, the amount of it conveyed to the stomach 
is insufficient for the laborious function that viscus has to perform, 
and indigestion is the consequence. It is possible to fatigue the body 
beyond a proper point, in w^hich case repose becomes necessary; but 
this is a rare occurrence compared with the instances of insufficient 
exercise, or where the mind is stretched’beyond its natural power to 
bear, by the ambitious student, the covetous and careworn merchant. 

All persons of both sexes, and of every age, who are possessed of 
average vitality, should, in the department of physical education, 
employ light apparatus, and execute a great variety of feats, which 
require skill, accuracy, courage, dash, presence of mind, quick eye 
and hand,—in brief, which demands a vigorous and complete exer¬ 
cise of all the powers and faculties with which the Creator has en¬ 
dowed us. 

The following dumb-bell exercise will prove a tremendous advan¬ 
tage, perfect development and good health. 

In no case should the pupil bend the legs at the knee, or his arms 
at the elbow, unless it is so directed. No rule in the dumb-bell ex¬ 
ercises is so important as this. If it be forgotten, exercises with 
dumb-bells will lose more than half their value. 

No. 1, The position is shown in Fig. 1. Thumbs outward. Bells 
exactly horizontal. Turn the thumb ends of the bells to the hips, 
and then back again to the position shown in the figure. Repeat 
ten times. Let the change be made with the greatest accuracy. 
When it is well done, no matter which end is at the hip, a straight 
rod run through one dumb-bell, lengthwise, would at the same time 
run through the centre of the other. 

In this and all subsequent dumb-bell exercises, the pupil must be 
careful not to bend the elbows. When exceptions to this rule occur, 
they will be plainly indicated. 


1176 


PHYSICAL CULTURE. 


No. 2. Position seen Fig. 2. Keep the elbows pressed against 
the sides and twist the bells so the ends are exactly reversed. Be 
sure they are exactly in line with each other, and the forearms par¬ 
allel. Repeat ten times. 



Figure 1. Figure 2. 

No. 3. In passing from No. 2 to No. 3, bring the bells to the chest, 
and on the next beat to the position in Fig. 3. The palms of the 
liands are upward. Bells exactly horizontal and parallel to each 
other. Turn the hands over, knuckles upward. Bells now exactly in 
the same position as before. Repeat ten times. 



Figure 3. 


Figure 4. 


No. 4. In passing from No. 3 to No. 4, bring the bells to the chest, 
and on the next beat to the position in Fig. 4. The palms forward. 










THYSICAL CULTURE. 


1177 


Twist the bells so the knuckles are forward. Repeat ten times. Anns 
to be kept parallel from first to last. 

No. 5. Position as in Fig. 5. In passing from No. 4 to No. 5, 
bring the bells to the chest. Twist the arms so that the bells are 
exactly reversed. 

It will be seen in the figure, the palms are upward. AVhen the 
bells are reversed, the knuckles are upward. Keep the arms parallel. 
Repeat ten times. 

In passing from one exercise to another, I have spoken of bringing 
the bells to the chest. They should strike the chest exactly at the 
point shown in Fig. 6. 



Figure 5. Figure 6. 

No. 6. Thrust the two bells down by the side of the legs. Bring 
to the chest, and thrust them sideways. Bring to the chest and 
thrust them upward. Bring to the chest and thrust them forward. 

Repeat these jour thrusts jive times. 

When the down thrust is made, the pupil must be careful that at 
the lowest point the bells are precisely horizontal, and parallel to each 
other. When the side thrust is made, the arms must be horizontal, 
the bells perpendicular and parallel to each other. When the upward 
thrust is made, the arms must be accurately perpendicular, bells 
parallel and horizontal. 

AVhen the forward thrust is executed, the arms must be exactly 
horizontal, and the bells perpendicular and parallel. 

No. 7. Raise the right-hand bell from the side of the leg into the 
arm-pit, five times. {Fig. 7.) Left, five times. Alternately and 
simultaneously, five times. 

Be sure that each time when the bells come into the arm-pits they 
are exactly horizontal. 

No. 8. Passing from No. 7 to No. 8, bring the bells to the chest; 
on the next beat to the top of the shoulders; on the next beat carry up 



1178 PHYSICAL CULTURE. 

the right, reaching accurately the position seen in Fig. 8. Repeat five 
times. Left the same. Alternately and simultaneously, each five times. 



Figure 7. Figure 8. 

No. 9. Passing from No. 8 to No. 9, bring the bells to the chest 
(the dotted lines in Fig. 9 show it), then down by the sides; in all, 
as usual, keeping good time to the music. Now carry the right bell 



Figure 9. Figure 10. 

to the chest, then up, reaching the position shown in Fig. 9. Return 
to the hip, marking one beat on the chest in going down. Repeat 
ten times. Left, the same. Alternately and simultaneously, ten times. 










PHYSICAL CULTURE. 


1179 


No. 10. Bring the bells to the chest. Strike out the right one in 
front, arm precisely horizontal, bell perpendicular. {Fig. 10.) Re- 
peat twenty times. Left, the same. Alternately and simultaneously, 
twenty times. 

As usual, keep the chest well forward, and the shoulders drawn 
far back. 

No. 11. Holding the bells in the position seen in Fig. 11, bring 
tkem with great force into the position seen in the dotted line, forty 
times. In beginning this elbow-thrust backward, it is well to first 
raise the bells a foot, that they may be brought back with more force, 
and more directly into the position seen in the dotted lines. But in 
carrying them forward again, it should be first into the position seen 
in the figure. 



No. 12. Stamp the left foot, then the right, then charge out into 
the position seen in Fig. 12. Make sure that the leg behind, in this 
and all subsequent charges, is kept entirely straight, while the one 
forward is placed as shown in the figure. Holding the arms as illus¬ 
trated, force the entire person into the position of the dotted lines, 
five times. There should he no motion in the shou der joints. The 
chest is pushed far forward, and the shoulders drawn well hack. These 
directions are applicable to all charging exercises, in which a different 
course is not plainly indicated. 

It will be observed that the charge in No. 12 is exactly sideways. 

Rise to the perpendicular again, stamp with the right foot, then the 
left, and lastly charge out on the left side, and repeat the perform¬ 
ance of the right side five times. 

No. 13. Rise to the perpendicular, stamp with the left foot, then 
with the right, then charge out as shown in Fig. 13. Under the 
directions given in No. 12, sink five times. 

Same on the left side, of course with the intermediate stamping. 


1180 


PHYSICAL culture. 


No. 14. After the regular stamping, the pupil should charge in 
the manner illustrated in Fig. 14. Sink five times. 

Same on the left side. 

In this, as in Figs. 12 and 13, the charging is exactly sideways. 



No. 15. Stand upright, hands by the side. Raise the right hand, 


as shown in Fig. 15, five times, 
simultaneously, five times. 


Left, the same. Alternately and 



Figure 15. 



Figure 16. 


In this the arm is carried up with a quick, strong effort, and ar¬ 
rested at the horizontal line, precisely as if it had struck a rock. 
When it is brought back to the side again, it is with the same force 
and sudden arrest. This and the next one are among the most 
severe of the dumb-bell exercises. 









PHYSICAL CULTURE. 


1181 




No. 16. Assuming the position seen in Fig. 16, force back the 
right arm, as seen in the dotted line, five times. Left the same. Al¬ 
ternately and simultaneously, five times. 

The arm must not be bent at the elbow. 

The directions given in No. 15, in regard to force and sudden 
arrest, are applicable to this exercise. 


Figure 19. Figure 20. 

tion of the dotted line in Fig. 17. Repeat five times. Left hand 
the same. Alternately and simultaneously, five times. 


- igure 17. Figure 18. 

No. 17. Beginning as in No. 15, with the arms hanging, combine 
ihe two exercises, Nos. 15 and 16, in one sweep, reaching the posi- 






1182 


PHYSICAL CULTURE. 


No. 18. Stand upright, arms hanging. Raise the right arm to 
the horizontal, at the side, with the palm up. Repeat five times. 
Left, the same. Alternately and simultaneously^ five times. The 
position of one of the arms is seen in Fig. 17. 

No. 19. Having the arms extended at the sides as shown in Fig. 
18, raise the right arm to the position seen in the dotted line, five 
times. Left, the same. Alternately and simultaneously, five times. 

In raising the dumb-bells over the head, be careful that they are 
in such a position that, when the two are up together, they are 
exactly horizontal and parallel to each other. 

No. 20. Beginning as in No. 18, arms hanging, combine Nos. 17 
and 18, in one sweep, each arm five times. Alternately and simul¬ 
taneously, the same. 




Figure 21. figure 22. 

No. 21. Standing upright, arms hanging, charge into the position 
shown in Fig. 19; remaining thus, thrust the arms in front, in a 
horizontal line, five times, alternately and simultaneously. Rising to 
the perpendicular, stamp with the right foot, then the left, then charge 
out with the left foot, and repeat the exercises with the arms. 

It will be seen by the figure that the leg behind is kept entirely 
straight and rests on the toe. The special point in this exercise is 
to reach the dumb-bell as far forward as possible. 

No. 22. Standing as represented in Fig. 20, force the right arm 
into the position shown in the dotted line, five times. Left the same. 
Alternately and simultaneously, five times. 

In this exercise keep the body as erect as possible. 


PHYSICAL CULTURE. 


1183 


No. 23. Having the anus, perpendicular 
over the head, perform the same exercise 
as in the last number, with right hand, left 
hand, then alternately and simultaneously. 

No. 24. Placing the feet in position of 
Fig. 21, raise the arms with great force 
from the hanging position to that seen in 
Fig. 21. On the next beat bring the arms 
to the position seen in Fig. 22; on the 
next to that seen in Fig. 23; on the next 
beat sweep back to the position seen in 
Fig. 22; then to the position seen in Fig. 

Figure 23. 21. Repeat five times. Stamp right and 

left, then step out with the left foot, then swing the arms over the 
head, performing the same exercise on the left side. 

In this exercise neither arms nor legs should be bent. 

No. 25. Stand erect, arms horizontal in front and parallel to each 
other. Carry the right hand backward in the horizontal plane (Fig. 
24) as far as possible; return it. Repeat ten times. Left the same; 
alternately and simultaneously, ten times. 




Figure 24. • Figure 25. 

No. 26. Standing erect, arms hanging, stamp with the left foot; 
then with the right; then charge into the position seen in Fig. 25, 
and thrust the arms in a direct line upward, alternately and simul¬ 
taneously, ten times. Assuming the erect position, drop the arms 
by the side, stamp the right foot, then the left, and charge out on 
the left side; repeat the exercise with the arms. 

In this exercise, it will be seen, the leg behind is straight, that 
charged forward, considerably bent. 





1184 


PHYSICAL CULTURE. 


No. 27.‘ As in nearly all other exercises, begin with the heels 



Figure 26. 



Figure 27. 


together, body erect, chest forward, shoulders back, arms hanging, 
dumb-bells horizontal and parallel to each other. Step diagonally 



backward with the right foot, as seen in Fig. 26, and repeat the 
exercises in No. 26. Same with the left foot. 











PHYSICAL CULTURE. 


1185 


In this exercise the forward leg is kept straight, that behind is bent 
as much as possible. 

No. 28. Bells on the chest. Carry the right arm out at the side, 
thrusting it as far back as possible; suddenly bring it back to the 
chest in a circle as if grasping a large body standing in front. Repeat 
five times. Left hand, same. Alternately and simultaneously, same. 

In this exercise the arms should be 
kept in the horizontal plane, and should 
in the performance of the exercise enclose 
as large an armful of the imaginary 
objects as possible. 

No. 29. Standing erect, arms hanging 
at the side, suddenly turning the body to 
one side as far as you can twist it with¬ 
out moving the feet, carry the arms to 
the position seen in Fig. 27. Bring them 
back to the sides, while at the same time 
you bring the body to the first position. 
Swing the arms up on the other side, and 
so continue, alternating twenty times. 

No. 30. Standing erect, arms hanging, 
bring the bells to the chest, then to the 
floor, as shown in the dotted line in Fig. 
28; then rising, bring the dumb-bells again 
to the chest, and on the next beat thrust 
Figure 30. them as far upward as possible, rising on 

the toes; then back to the chest. Repeat twenty times. 




No. 31. 







1186 


PHYSICAL CULTURE. 


chest), thrust the right arm out at the side as seen in Fig. 29, ten 
times. Left, the same. Alternately and simultaneously, the same. 

No. 32. Standing erect, arms hanging, carry the arms to the hori¬ 
zontal in front; then to the position over the head seen in Fig. 30; 
now down to the horizontal again, and then to the floor as seen in 
the dotted line. Repeat ten times. 

In this exercise there must he no bending at the knees or elbows. 

No. 33. Standing erect, arms hanging, charge out with the right 



foot, and sweep the left arm as shown in Fig. 31; on the next beat 
return to the first position. Repeat five times. Same on the left 
side. Alternately, five times. 

No. 34. Standing erect, arms hanging, without moving the body, 
carry the right foot out sideways, lifting it from the floor, and bring¬ 
ing it back to the other foot, without bending the knee, five times; 
then charge into the position seen in Fig. 32, and return to the first 
position, five times. 

The arm which is brought over the head must be carried in a 
direct line from the side to the position over the head, and not 
brought toward the front of the body in its passage up or down. 






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PHYSICAL CULTURE. 


1189 




"A noble soul dwells in a strong body." 

—Japanese Proverb. 


JIU-JITSU 


-BY— 

American College of Physical Culture 

We know that you will find interest in reading and demonstrating 
to your own satisfaction the effectiveness of Jiu-Jitsu, in its mildest 
form, as a means of self-defense. 

This is the first time that all the secrets of the Japanese national 
system of physical training and self-defense have been given to Wes¬ 
tern people. Less than a generation ago, you could not have obtained 
this knowledge at any price. So religiously have the principles of 
Jiu-Jitsu been guarded that no foreigner has ever before received 
official instruction from one who has taken the highest degree in the art. 

Jiu-Jitsu is the most wonderful system of physical training the 
world has ever known. It is a science. It is muscle dominated and 
directed in every detail by brain. The Japanese are the hardiest race 
of people in the world to-day, and we attribute their wonderful 
strength and power of endurance solely to the persistent practice of 
their national system of physical development. Jiu-Jitsu develops 
every muscle and strengthens every organ in the human body. It 
does not produce knotted muscles, but develops the body harmoni¬ 
ously and uniformly. It affects those minute muscles which are not 
reached by any other system. It strengthens the heart action, scien¬ 
tifically renews and invigorates every tissue, and helps every organ to 
perform its functions. The man or woman who devotes ten minutes 
daily to the practice of Jiu-Jitsu will enjoy a degree of health and 
strength that will make him or her thoroughly alive and fully con¬ 
scious of the possession of perfect manhood or womanhood. (The 
improvement of the average American pupil in from thirty to sixty 
days is as follows; Development of the chest, three to four inches; 
chest expansion, three to five inches; upper arm, one to two inches; 
forearm, one-half to one inch; 
thigh, two to three inches; and 
the entire body in proportion.) 

Jiu-Jitsu is also a natural and 
positive cure for constipation, in¬ 
digestion, and all forms of dyspep¬ 
sia, insomnia, pulmonary troubles, ^ 




PHYSICAL CULTURE. 

and lack of vitality. Its practice 
improves the appetite, accelerates 
circulation, and aids assimilation. 

And to the increased vigor and 
tone of the system the brain re¬ 
sponds, and the mental capacity 
as well as the physical is improved. The Japanese enjoy better health 
than any other nationality. With them consumption is very rare, 
dyspepsia has no meaning, and physical weakness is an affliction with 
which only the aged are beset. Extreme leanness is regarded in 
much the same manner as Americans regard {ihysical deformity, and 
extreme corpulency is unknown. There is a reason for all this and 
it is found in Jiu-Jitsu. 

As a means of self-defense, Jiu-Jitsu is as potent at short range as 
the most deadly weapon that human ingenuity has devised. A 
Japanese skilled in this art has no fear of any form of personal attack. 
He will even defend himself unarmed against a swordsman and emerge 
from the combat victorious. The science of Jiu-Jitsu takes into 
account the vulnerable points in the human body. It comprehends 
the laws of mechanics, thus enabling the weak to overthrow the 
strong. One unskilled in the art is entirely at the mercy of the ex¬ 
pert Jiu-Jitsuian, no matter how unequally matched in point of size 
or strength the contestants may be. An opponent may be overcome 
and remain unharmed if it be the will of the operator, or he may be 
seriously disabled by a slight pressure exerted at a vulnerable point, 
or a sharp twist of the arm, as to be rendered utterly helpless and 
unable to renew the attack. 

The following illustrations give some idea of the first lessons in 
Jiu-Jitsu, which represents Professor J. J. O’Brien, who was for many 
years a resident of Japan, and received his diploma as Professor of 
Jiu-Jitsu from the Government of Japan. 

Professor O’Brien was the teacher who instructed President Roose¬ 
velt, members of his Cabinet, and heads of many of the Departments 
in Washington. 



1190 














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PROF. J. J. O’BRIEN. JAMES J. CORBETT. 

Block tor left head. 



t 



PROF. J. J. O’BRIEN. JAMES J. CORBETT. 

Preventing opponent from breaking clinch. 






PHYSICAL CULTURE. 


1199 


. Jiu=Jitsu. 

Some of our readers, no doubt, will prefer a thorough course in 
Jiu-Jitsu. The Physicians’ Pubhshing Company has used every 
effort" to obtain the only reliable instruction in Jiu-Jitsu in this 
country, and has purchased from the American College of Physical 
Culture and Jiu-Jitsu Professor John O’Brien’s complete course. 

Professor O’Brien was for ten years Inspector of Police at Naga¬ 
saki, Japan, and received a diploma as Professor of Jiu-Jitsu from the 
Japanese government. He came to America well known and highly 
recommended, and it was he who introduced Jiu-Jitsu in this coun¬ 
try,—first in Washington, D. C., by giving instruction in the art to 
President Theodore Roosevelt, members of his Cabinet, and heads of 
many of the departments. 

We have therefore issued in book form twenty-eight (28) lessons 
in Jiu-Jitsu, giving full description with about one hundred full-page 
illustrations of the Jiu-Jitsu holds and locks. This we will send to 
any reader of ‘^The Household Physician” by their filling out the 
blank below and maihng to us, enclosing fifty cents for the book in 
paper binding, and one dollar in cloth binding. 


PHYSICIANS^ PUBLISHING COMPANY 
95 Milk Street, Boston, Mass. 

Gentlemen: 

Please find enclosed Post-office Order for . 

Please send me hook of Jiu-Jitsu in . binding. 

Name .. 


Address 








FOLLOWING ARE FOUR PAGES GIVING 
AN IDEA OF THE PHYSICAL CULTURE 
LESSONS INCLUDED IN THE BOOK MEN¬ 
TIONED ON THE PRECEDING PAGE. 



PHYSICAL CULTURE. 


1201 


CURE FOR RHEUMATISM. 


SAMPLE PRESCRIPTION. 



READY POSITION. 

Stand on tiptoe, feet about twelve inches apart, dumb¬ 
bells under the armpits. 

MOVEMENT. 

(i) Sink slowly down by bending the knees outward, 
straightening the arms by the sides; exhale. (2) 
Straighten the legs and resume ready position; inhale. 
The heels should not touch the floor throughout the exer¬ 
cise. Count I, 2 (sink, raise.) 

Note. — Keep the back perpendicular while descending ; this is 
done by looking direct to the front; fully inflate the chest and 
stiffen the legs when descending. 


TABLE 

DAYS 

TIMES 

1 


2 


3 


4 


5 


6 


7 


8 


9 


10 


11 


12 


13 


14 



Principal muscles used: Quadriceps, and biceps of the thighs and 
arms, deltoids, gastrocnemius, tibialis anticus, also lungs. 


♦ From American College of Physical Culture and Jiu-Jitsu. 

























1202 


PHYSICAL CULTURE. 


This is one of the prescriptions given for obesity, as 
illustrated on the opposite page. 



READY POSITION. 

Hands on the hips, waist drawn in, bend 
iDody forward. 


MOVEMENT. 

Rotate slowly in a circle from the waist line, 
from right to left, reverse. Count i, 2 (right, 
left.) 

Note. — Bend as far as possible when going to the rear, 
and forward when going to front; keep the legs straight. 
This movement affects the liver, also abdomen and back. 


TABLE 

DAYS 

TIMES 

1 


2 


0 


4 


5 


6 

7 

— 

8 


9 


10 


11 


12 

13 

14 




Where drugs fail, our system is successful in the following cases : — 
Constipation, indigestion, nervous troubles, general debility, sleepless¬ 
ness, obesity, liver complaint, kidney trouble, pulmonary disorders, 
catarrh, headaches, dyspepsia, diarrhoea, giddiness, weak heart, spinal 
curvature, feeble circulation and rheumatism. 


♦ From American College of Physical Culture and Jiu-Jitsu. 























A very pronounced case of obesity. This student when 
enrolled in the American College of Physical Culture 
and Jiu-Jitsu had no chest development whatever. 



1204 


PHYSICAL CULTURE. 


This is one of the series of prescriptions given for increas¬ 
ing the bust in the particular case shown on the opposite 
page. 



READY POSITION. 

Arms extended in front of body. Heels on ground 
and knuckles upwards. 

MOVEMENT. 

(i) Carry the arms downwards and backwards (in a 
parallel groove) as far as possible, pressing the hands well 
back; at the same time rise on the tip-toe ; press the chest 
forward, inhaling to the utmost. ( 2 ) Pause a moment 
and return to ready position, completely emptying the 
lungs. Count i, 2 (inhale, exhale). 

Note: — This is a powerful breathing exercise and should be 
done slowly. Inhaling should take place the whole time the hands 
are traveling from front to rear. The movement of hands forward 
should be done smartly, forcing the air out of the lungs quickly. 


TABLE 

MYS 

TIMES 

1 


2 


3 


4 


5 


6 


7 


8 


9 


10 


11 


12 


13 


14 



Principal muscles used : Deltoids, latissimus dorsi, rhomboideus, gas¬ 
trocnemius (or calf), quadriceps, pectoralis major, serratus magnus. 


* From .\merican College of Physical Culture and Jiu-Jitsu. 

























Copyrighted, 1905, American College Physical Culture. 


The first portrait is of a lady pupil who suffered from 
indigestion in a very chronic form. 

The second picture illustrates the perfect figure of the same 
lady after four months’ treatment of ten minutes’ exercise 
each day with the methods of the American College 
of Physical Culture and Jiu-Jitsu. 



12()() 


PHYSICAL CULTURE. 


CURE FOR CONSTIPATION. 

SAMPLE PRESCRIPTION. 



READY POSITION. 

Lie flat on back, arms stretched above head 
and in line with body. 


MOVEMENT. 

(i) Draw up both knees, clasp them with the 
hands, press them well to the chest, exhaling. 
(2) Extend the legs and arms, inhaling deeply, 
and repeat. Count i, 2 (inhale, exhale.) 


Note.— This exercise affects the abdominal muscles, and the 
digestive organs, also the lungs and legs, and should be done 
SLOWLY, emphasizing the breathing. In the extension of the leg 
contract the quadriceps firmly by pressing the heel forward. 


TABLE 

DAYS 

TIMES 

1 


2 


3 


4 


5 


6 

7' 

1 

1 

1 

8 


9 


10 

i 

11 

— 

12 

13 


14 



Principal muscles used: Rectus abdominis quadriceps and’biceps of 
thigh, gluteus maximus, deltoids, pectoralis major, serratus magnus and 
lungs, etc. 


* From American College of Physical Culture and Jin-.Jitsu. 
























PHYSICAL CULTURE. 


1207 


The Whitely Exerciser. 

As this method is introduced with the strictly American idea of 
turnishing “ the shortest route and fastest time ” to health and 
strength, you may expect some radical departures from older meth¬ 
ods. 

After your regular day’s work is ended, you are not asked to do 
another each evening, performing feats of strength which tax your 
endurance to the utmost, and leave you ‘‘ all broke up ” tlie next 
day. It has been demonstrated that heavy gymnastics, like numer¬ 
ous other ponderous and unwieldy things of the past, are by no means 
the best. On the contrary, exercises that admit of numerous move¬ 
ments of the muscles without greatly taxing the vital forces, 
produce huger development and better quality. Muscular tissue 
built in this way is not only strong, but quick and active, while that 
developed with heavy weights is hard and slow. 

You are not required to waste time in the preliminary study of 
an intricate system of movements. For brain-workers, a system that 
requires study is directly at variance with one of the prime objects 
of muscular exercise, namely, entire relief from mental strain. But, 
if you don’t have to think, it is because someone has done it for 
you; for the exercises, howbeit simple, are scientifically arranged to 
bring into action every muscle in your bodjL 

Dumb-bells and Indian clubs exercise the muscles of the arms and 
shoulders but do not reach the muscles that pull the arms down¬ 
ward. 

The Whitely Exerciser is at once complete, compact and noiseless ; 
requiring no floor-room, no changing of weights, for it adjusts itself 
to any degree of resistance; no buckling of straps or other parapher¬ 
nalia ; can be put up in two minutes without the use of a single tool, 
and if desired can be removed from the hooks and put out of sight in 
a moment and readjusted for use just as quickly. It imparts an easy, 
gliding motion, necessary to successful development. 

It is equally adapted to ladies, gentlemen and children. 

Directions for Putting up. — The Exerciser will work at any 
angle, so select any place in your room that permits an unobstructed 
floor space in any direction. Better work toward a window that wiL' 
permit of ventilation from above than away from it. 

Standing on an ordinary chair, screw two hooks into the door or 
window-frame on a level with your nose and from two to six inches 
apart as best suits the form of the woodwork ; lower hooks two inches 
from the floor, or in the floor if you are short of stature. 

Should there be a sill or other obstruction to be avoided, put the 
lower hooks in the floor at sufficient distance from the wall to make 
the cords clear the obstruction. 

The middle pulley is purposely made without a swivel to prevent 


1208 


PHYSICAL CULTURE. 


twisting of the cord when in use, so run out any twist between it 
and the pulleys attached to the triangle before putting it on the 
hook. The pulleys on the triangle are swiveled that the Exerciser 
may adjust itself to any movement or work in any direction, and if 
the cords twist together between them and the handles a pull on the 
latter will untwist them. 

The rubber cord, or rather cable, is calculated to withstand unlim¬ 
ited use and a much greater tension than required for ordinary exer¬ 
cise, but don’t, on that account, abuse it unnecessarily. • 

Don’t use a cord that is too strong for you. If you do you will 
be exhausted but not benefited by your exercise. The cords are made 
of various strengths, be sure you obtain one adapted to you; that is, 
one that pulls easily when close to the Exerciser. As you grow 
stronger, you have only to stand a little further from the Exerciser 
to obtain a resistance suited to your increasing strength. 

It is not how much you pull, but how often, so use no more force 
than is agreeable. 

If your exercise is too vigorous or too heavy, you will be exhausted 
before 3^ou can complete it. It is better to exercise all parts of the 
body a little than a few much. If you are sick or weak, exercise 
very moderately, and stop the moment you feel the least exhausted. 
If well and strong, be moderate for the first week or two, or exercise 
will make you sore. When a muscle is tired it hurts, and to force 
it beyond that point is harmful. 

Exercise when you have time for it. Not for an hour after meals, 
certainly, unless it be very moderately. After eating, your stomach 
needs all your force, and much of your blood, which under exercise 
would be drawn to the muscles. 

Perliaps the most convenient time to exercise is just before retir¬ 
ing, as it puts the body and brain in condition for refreshing sleep. 
Sedentary people should keep the apparatus in the office, if possible, 
to exercise when they feel the need of it, — that is when your brain 
is tired, and your thoughts refuse to. flow freely. A little vigorous 
exertion will renew the supply of blood in the brain, and with new 
blood will come clear thought and new ideas. 

A tired feeling is not always due to exhaustion; it is more fre¬ 
quently due to congestion of the blood in some particular spot, and 
is quickly dispelled by exercise. Make the attempt, but if the tired 
feeling does not soon disappear, you will understand that it is true 
exhaustion for which sleep is the only remedy. 

Make up your mind that you will exercise, be it midnight or morn¬ 
ing, when you retire, and you will be repaid for it in the quality of 
sleep that follows; though at such times, unless excited, it is well to 
somewhat curtail the amount of each movement, or you will tire be¬ 
fore you finish the list. At such times, also, some regard to the mus¬ 
cles that have beeen used during the day is advisable; but when you 
have time to exercise each group of muscles completely, this matter 


PHYSICAL CULTURE. 


1209 


will regulate itself, for those that have heen used during the day 
will tire sooner than the others. Nature puts a limit to muscular 
development, beyond which no amount of exercise will force it, and 
it is therefore only necessary to exercise all the muscles regularly, to 
eventually bring the entire body to a symmetrical shape, and the 
highest stage of development. 

If practicable, take your exercise in the condition indicated in the 
cuts ; for at least once a day the body should be free to act without 
restraint of clothing, and moreover, fresh air is a tonic to the skin 
which lessens your chances of taking cold. 

Fresh air is an indispensable adjunct to exercise, but the room 
should never be chilly. 

Never exercise beyond the ability of the heart to keep pace with 
you ; palpitation is a sure indication of excess. Exercise only as 
vigorously as is agreeable, and in keeping with your strength. 

Do not exercise long or hard early in the morning, as it is apt to 
exhaust you before the vital forces are fully aroused, and you do not 
recover during the day. If you rise as late as half past eight or nine, 
vigorous exercise is not likely to hurt you, unless you bolt your 
breakfast, and rush off to work immediately following it. 

In making the movements, endeavor to forget you are exercising, 
and, if possible, imagine you are doing the things the movements in¬ 
dicate. 

Exercise No. 1. — Throwingo Suspend the apparatus as in posi¬ 
tion No. 4, grasp the handles with either hand, and make a move¬ 
ment exactly as though throwing a ball or light stone. Having tired 
the muscles on one side, change to the other and repeat the move¬ 
ment until that side is tired, also. 




This movement brings into play the muscles in front of the neck, 
the large muscles on the front of the chest, the muscles on the front 


1210 


PHYSICAL CULTURE. 


and side of the abdomen, nearly all the muscles of the legs, and broad¬ 
ens the chest. Draw in the breath as you take the first position, and 
blow it out forcibly as you make the movement. 

If the tension is not strong enough with one handle, it may be 
doubled by taking both in one hand. 

Before releasing your hold on the handles relax the tension and 
give the cords time to untwist. If oiled tlie swivels will revolve 
without assistance. 

Exercise No. 2. — Hoisting. — Take a handle in each hand and 
make a movement as though hoisting a bucket of pitch or gravel to 
the roof of a high building. 



This exercise brings into action the muscles on the sides of the 
neck, muscles of the fore-arms, back-aims, muscles of the back that 
draw the shoulders together, side muscles, and muscles on front of 
thighs. In making this movement, endeavor to send the “ bucket ” 
as high as possible at each sweep of the arm. In doing so, you will 
diaw the arm back and around in a way that is necessary to develop 
the particular muscles which this movement is intended to reach. 

Take in the breath as one hand is drawn down, and as the other 
comes down, expel it. 

Exercise No. 3. — Suspend Exerciser as per cut, and use each hand 
alternately. This exercise strengthens the muscles of the arm, 
shoulder and thigh. Another exercise is made by turning the back 
to the Exerciser. Putting the cords over the shoulders, hands on 
back, then bend forward and back. This movement is particularly 
intended to reach the large muscles on the front of the chest and 
abdomen. 





PHYSICAL CULTURE. 


1211 




Exercise No. 4. — Swimming and Rowing .— Exercises the mus^ 
cles used in swimming or rowing, that is, the large muscles of the 
back that pull the arms downward and backward. This movement may 
be made sitting 91 * standing. If made sitting, it is well to spread the 




knees as you draw the arms down, and as the arms go up, bring them 
together. This latter part of the movement exercises the muscles 

















1212 


PHYSICAL CULTURE. 


on the inside of the legs which are much used in swimming. Draw 
in the breath as the arms go up, and expel it as you draw them down. 

This movement is a good chest-expander. 

Exercise No. 5 . —Putting the shot. — Shift the apparatus to 
position No. 6. Grasp the handle in one hand, and make a move¬ 
ment as though throwing a heavy stone or shot. Draw in the breath 
as you begin the movement, expel it as you finish. When the 
muscles of one side are tired, change to the other and repeat the 
movement. 



The exercise expands particularly the upper portion of the chest, 
exercises the fore-arm and biceps, or front muscles of the upper arm, 
triceps, or back muscles of the upper arm, the upper portion of the 
large muscles on front of the chest, and muscles on side of shoulder; 
also the side muscles of the body, and nearly all the muscles of the 
legs and feet. 

Rowing. — This movement maybe made either 
sitting or standing, though it is 
better made sitting. With a 
handle in each hand, make a 
movement as you would in 
rowing: as the body goes for¬ 
ward spread the knees, as rep¬ 
resented in the first cut, and as 
you go back, bring them to¬ 
gether as shown in the second. 

The breath may be drawn in 
either as the body goes forward 
or backward, but as a rule, in 
any exercise, it is better to take 


Exercise iNo. 6. — 





PHYSICAL CULTURE. 


1213 


the breath before the exertion. In this movement be careful to draw 
the arms and shoulders well back; for rowing, as it is generally per¬ 
formed with the sliding seat, tends 
to contract the front of the chest. 

The movement made as indicated 
in the cuts, or in rowing without 
the sliding seat, overcomes that 
objection to the sport. In rowing, 
we use the muscles of the fore-arm, 
biceps, back muscles of the shoul¬ 
ders, nearly all the muscles of the 
back, and the muscles of the back 
of the neck have considerable to 
do. With the sliding seat, the 
muscles in front of the legs do 
much of the work, but as all the 
other movements exercise the legs, 
there would be nothing gained in 
having the seat for this exercise. 

In fact, the development of the 
muscles on the inside of the legs, as is done in the way the move¬ 
ment is here described, is much more to the point; for with the 
exception of exercise No. 4, these muscles have had little work. 

Exercise No. 7. — Lie down on floor. Head to Exerciser. Lift 
hands straight over head, touch the floor and sink to hips. Raise 
body to sitting position without lifting feet from the floor. 



strengthen the abdominal muscles. 












1214 


PHYSICAL CULTURE. 


Inhale the breath fully as the arms ascend, and expel it forcibly as 
they descend. 

Exercise No. 8.— Bowling. — Suspend one handle again as in 
position No. 6 ; with the other hand free, make a movement as though 




to throw a ball as in bowling. Draw in the breath and expel it in 
the forward movement. 

This exercise develops the muscles of the arms and legs. 

As a finishing touch, this old-fashioned exercise for expanding the 
chest is given. From a position with the hands down at the sides, 
raise the arms laterally to a position high over your head, keeping 



the elbows straight. Inhale all the breath you possibly can as«the arms 
go up; bring the arms down again to the position first indicated, but 
retain the breath for a moment after you have finished the movement. 







































EXPLANATION OF (colored) ILLUSTRATION OF HORSE 

1. Brain. 

2. Small brain. 

3. Nostrils. 

4. Spinal column and ribs. 

5. Jaw. 

6 . Tongue. 

7. Trachea or windpipe. 

8 . Gullet running to stomach between the lungs. 

9. Lungs showing bronchial tubes. 

10. Heart. Is directly under the sixth rib, but in the drawing it 

is moved forward, to show bronchial tubes in lungs. 

11. Liver. 

12 . Stomach. 

13. Spleen. 

14. Left kidney. 

15. Large intestine. 

16. Small intestine. 

17. Bladder. 

18. Rectum. 

19. Scrotum. 
















VETERINARY. 


A FULL DESCRIPTION’IN PLAIN LANGUAGE OF THE 


Anatomy, also the Diseases, 

OF THE 

HORSE, 

CATTLE, 

SHEEP, 


AND DOG, 

GIVING ALL THE SYMPTOMS OF raEIR DIFFERENT 
DISEASES, AND IMPARTING THE KNOWLEDGE OF 
DISTINGUISHING ONE DISEASE FROM ANOTHER, TO¬ 
GETHER WITH INVALUABLE PRESCRIPTIONS AND 
THE LATEST DISCOVERIES IN VETERINARY MEDICINE 

For their Prevention and Cure. 


/ BY 

CHARLES P. LYMAN, F.R.C.V.S., 

President United States Veterinary Medical Association, 

Veterinarian-in-Chief to the Agricultural Department at Washington, D. C., 

Member Massachusetts Veterinary Society, 

Fellow of Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, England, 

Professor of Theory and Practice, and Dean of the School of Veterinary Medicine in 

Harvard University, 

Secretary of the Board of Cattle Commissioners of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 




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VETERINARY MEDICINE. 


While it cannot be said to be absolutely true that a full knowledge 
of the histories and biographies of the institutions and men who have 
preceded us can be taken as an infallible guide in our actions, it is 
certainly true that the indications furnished by such studies are exceed¬ 
ingly apt to give us the surest general guides that we can have. That 
experience is the best teacher is proverbial, but it is also equally true 
that it is the most costly of teachers; therefore a good knowledge of 
the recorded experiences of others may be of considerable economic 
value to us. 

There is evidence that t\Le Egyptians practised veterinary medi¬ 
cine and surgery in very remote times; but it is from the Greeks that 
we first obtain any definite information in regard either to veterinary 
or human medicine, in antiquity. The writings of Hippocrates, about 
four hundred years before the beginning of the Christian era, afford 
excellent evidence of the study of medicine both among animals and 
man. 

From this onward, for hundreds of years, the practise of veteri¬ 
nary and human medicine proceeded hand in hand, descending through 
a fine of men whose names are even now familiar, all of whom indus¬ 
triously studied diseased animals and men and wrote, to great length, 
the results of their work. Therefore it is seen that veterinary medi¬ 
cine of antiquity was really a system of medicine applied to both men 
and animals, oftentimes by the same individual. 

It was then, as it is to-day, true, that during all of the long period, 
the followers of medicine at different times became divided into vari¬ 
ous sects, cults, or schools; each of which was able to defend the new 
positions taken by them with more or less plausible statements, the 
relation of which would be entirely outside of the present purposes. 

From the third century onward, veterinary medicine began to 
have a literature and regular practitioners of its own, especially in 
the service of the Roman army; and it was not until during the fifth 
century that the first indications appear of the introduction of the 
absurd and irrational practises which were, for so long a time, causes 
of discredit to the veterinary art. 

In excuse for this, however, it may be said, that this time was 
that of the beginning of the so-called Dark Ages, or period of intellec¬ 
tual darkness, in Europe, during which medicine and much other 

1217 , 



1218 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


scientific knowledge was maintained, until nearly at the end of the 
fifteenth century, by no more than a thin connecting line, kept for 
the most part by the monks, who certainly, while not adding any¬ 
thing to the ancient knowledge, allowed it to become thoroughly 
mixed with magic, demonology, and superstition. Therefore it is 
that toward the end of the fifteenth century Anglo-Saxon animal 
medicine, from which that of the present day in America has almost 
entirely descended, was made up of a mixture of magic, superstition, 
and the remnants of the ancient science. 

Because, apparently, at about this time the King of England and 
others of wealth in that country began to desire better horses than 
were then available to them at home, and to have these animals better 
cared for, a farrier of repute was imported from Italy to give instruc¬ 
tion to this end. This is interesting as giving the time of the beginning 
of the application of the term Farrier to those who had theretofore 
been “horse doctors’’; just as since then the term Veterinary Sur¬ 
geon has supplanted that of Farrier, and within a few years the 
term Doctor of Animal Medicine has begun to be used instead of 
“Veterinary Surgeon.” It may be that we are slowly working back 
to the condition of the beginning; and that the terms Science of Medi¬ 
cine and Medical Doctor will come into common use and be under¬ 
stood to mean what it did in the beginning; that the graduate of a 
medical school is capable of practising his art and science upon either 
the animal or man, as he may elect; much as now the physician 
divides practise among men into several various specialties. 

Further facts concerning the more modern progress of medicine 
and the different schools of practise can be advantageously read by 
those interested in the subject, in the earlier part of this volume, under 
the title of “Progress of Medicine and the Different Schools.” 


Definitions. 


While no attempt will be made here to treat this subject ex¬ 
haustively, it is still felt that, for those who really care to make them¬ 
selves fairly well able to distinguish one disease from another, at 
times, some idea should be had of what is meant by the terms and 
what their presence generally indicates. 

A Symptom is a sign of disease, obvious to all who see the animal; 
the symptoms of some disorders are much more noticeable than those 
of others. All symptoms, in animal practise, are objective, that is, 
they must be found as a result of a person’s observation of the ailing 
animal; he cannot describe his own feelings or state just where the 
pain is located. A good or bad observation of these, results in a good 
or bad Diagnosis, that is to say, a valuable or a valueless opinion as to 
what the matter is; and this is by far the hardest and most impor¬ 
tant part of the whole matter, for it is a comparative easy process, 
the name of the disorder having once been ascertained without doubt, 
to find out how the case should be treated, what medicines or care 
are likely to give the best results. To help this there are a certain 
set of what, in all animals, may be called general symptoms, a f\dl 
understanding of which will very much simplify the whole matter 
and generally point to the part of the body, at any rate, in which 
the disorder exists. These general symptoms will be found by: 

First. A close observation of the expression of the face and the 
position in which the animal places his body when he is allowed to 
do what he wishes. 

Second. The condition and color of the membranes lining the 
nostrils and the eyelids. 

Third. The pulse. 

Fourth. The movements made in breathing. 

Fifth. The condition of the surface of the body and the extrem¬ 
ities, i.e., feet, legs, and tips of the ears; and 

Sixth. The internal temperature of the body. 

Expression. — The face may show anxiety, alarm, or be '^pinched.’’ 
This indicates some disorder accompanied by pain, the present impor¬ 
tance of which is shown by the expression; as anxiety; a newly real¬ 
ized pain of slight degree; alarm; an increased and considerable pain; 
while the pinched expression indicates either very severe or long 
continued suffering. 


1219 


1220 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


Appearance of Membranes. — This, in health, is a palish red and 
should be examined, so that its healthy color may be easily recognized. 
Increased redness is a sign of over-excitement of the blood circulation 
and, unless it be due to recent exercise, which is a natural cause, indi¬ 
cates fright, great excitement, anger, overwork of the heart, or general 
fever. Small, deep red scattered dots, or even rather larger patches of 
red, indicate the presence of something that has changed the quality of 
the blood; some disorder of the blood. These diseases generally 
arise from unhealthy surroundings, poor quality of food, or a contagion. 

Yellowness indicates a disorder of the liver either functional 
or organic, in which some of the bile is not fully excreted from the 
blood. Organic disease, i.e., disease of the liver itself, is comparatively 
very rare; the symptom generally means some disordered condition 
of the digestion, and is helped by a good physic, epsom salts in 
preference. 

A Livid or Bluish Color. — A condition of the blood in which 
there is an insufficient amount of oxygen; it may arise from any 
cause which prevents the free access of air into the lungs; as bronchitis, 
pneumonia, various troubles in the throat or nostrils, too much pres¬ 
sure on the windpipe as from a high breastplate, a small collar, a 
tight cribbing strap; certain cases of heaves, especially in an animal that 
has eaten a large amount of hay or grass. The slaty color is often 
seen in the nostrils of old horses, where its existence may be simply 
due to old age and a consequent poor circulation of the blood. 

Pallidity, Bloodlessness, Anaemia, and General Debility. — If it 

happens suddenly, it is due to a large loss of blood; as from an inter¬ 
nal or external hemorrhage; in which case the extremities will be 
cold, the pulse fast, and the animal may yawn more or less. 

The. condition of the tongue and mouth is occasionally of con¬ 
siderable importance in helping to point out the seat of trouble. 
Over-redness of it indicates an irritable and congested condition of 
the digestive organs. Around the free borders of the tongue and 
upon its surfaces, more particularly the under one, large, irregularly 
shaped but very shallow patches are occasionaly met with, which are 
due to some form of indigestion in the stomach probably. In some 
other forms of dyspepsia there will be seen a slightly foul or soapy 
condition of the membranes in the mouth, although the foul condition 
of the mouth and tongue so commonly seen in human medical prac¬ 
tise is not by any means so common in animals; its nearer approach 
being in the dog. 

Dryness of the Mouth is often indicative of inflammatory dis¬ 
eases, more particularly those affecting those of the digestive organs. 

An Over=nioist Condition of the mouth arises from an over-secre¬ 
tion by the salivary glands, and may be due to catarrhal disease, 


THE PULSE. 


1221 


inflammation of the membrane at the extreme end of the cavity of 
the mouth (pharyngitis), paralysis of the muscles of swallowing (not 
particulary uncommon in the horse), the presence of sharp teeth (in 
horses), or some foreign body which may have become lodged between 
the teeth, in the cheek, under the tongue, or some other part of the 
cavity, as a thorn from the hay, a sliver of wood, piece of bone (in 
dogs), etc.; nausea, choking, certain weeds in the hay or pasture, and 
other conditions which may or may not be easily discoverable. In 
these latter conditions in horses or cattle the over-secretion can be 
controlled by the proper administration of belladonna. 

Sudden pallor of the mouth and tongue, with coldness of the body 
surface and extremities denotes approaching death from hemorrhage. 
A soft, flabby tongue with perhaps a little swelling of it, leaving 
impressions of the teeth upon its sides, indicates a chronic indiges¬ 
tion, and will be best treated with a dose of physic, to be followed by 
a course of good tonic medicine. 

The Pulse. 

The pulse is more conveniently examined in the larger animals 
at the artery (the sub-maxillary) which passes under the under jaw 
bone, in a slight groove which lies a little forward of the turn which 
the under jawbone makes to go upward toward the joint lying a little 
below the base of the ear. To find it easily, the finger had best be 
moved backward and forward under the part described until the 
little groove mentioned is found, and the artery, feeling like a soft 
cord, is felt Then, with light pressure, the finger is to be held still 
upon the part until the beat of the pulse is felt, when its character 
and the number of beats per minute can be ascertained. It may 
also be felt at the temporal artery or, in fact, at any place where an 
artery comes near enough to the surface and has a bone underneath 
it which is sufficiently near to the surface to permit of light pressure 
of the artery against it by the finger. It is better, however, to always 
use the same artery for the examination, when possible, because 
this gives a better opportunity for the comparison of the pulse of 
one animal with that of another; and the touch of the examiner thus 
becomes better educated. The throbbings of the pulse, felt by the 
finger, are chiefly due to the fact that the artery expands during the 
contractions of the heart which pumps the blood, and that it returns 
to its previous condition while the heart is again filling with blood, 
coming to it from the veins, in preparation for its next stroke. 

The Pulse of the Horse is about forty per minute, but this varies 
somewhat under conditions of size, age, and breed. The larger or 
older the animal is the less frequent the normal pulse, while in high¬ 
bred horses, as the trotters and thoroughbreds, it beats more fre¬ 
quently, all things considered. So that, under varying circumstances, 


1222 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


it is not at all inconsistent with health to find a variation of ten beats 
per minute; thus in one animal it may be thirty-five, while in another 
forty-five, and still both be right for the given animal. 

The Pulse of the Cow beats from fifty to fifty-five times in the 
minute, but the declarations of the pulse in these animals in this respect 
are not greatly to be depended upon, for, while the animal may be in per¬ 
fect health the pulse may reach seventy or eighty beats. The act of 
chewing the cud, the various stages of pregnancy, the activity of the 
milk glands, whether she be eating considerable grain, or none at all, 
at the particular time, as well as fatness or leanness of the animal, 
will tend to cause variations which, even so, may be normal for the 
given animal at the time. 

The Pulse of the Sheep is from seventy to eighty beats per 
minute and subject to the same variation as that of the cow, but in 
a much less degree, as will be easily appreciated, without further 
description. 

The Pulse of the Dog ranges from eighty to one hundred, de¬ 
pending upon his age, size and breed, as already described. 

In health, and when the animal has been at rest for some time in 
a medium temperature, there is nearly a uniform relation between 
the frequency of the pulse and of the breathing movements, the 
proportion being about one respiration to three or four pulsations. 

There are four variations in the character of the pulse which should 
be noticed here: 

First. As regards the number of beats within a given time: /re- 
quent or infrequent. 

Second. As regards the relative time which seems to be occupied 
by each heat and the interval between them: quick or slow. 

Third. As regards the apparent dilatation of the artery: large 
or small. • 

Fourth. As regards the compressibility of the artery by the 
finger: hard or soft. 

Symptoms Afforded by the Variation in the 
Pulse Beats. 

The Frequent Pulse.—Any increase in the number of beats 
beyond the normal, for the given animal, indicates some degree of 
excitement of the heart, which may be due to simple exercise, in 
which case it is normal and amounts to nothing as a symptom of 
disease. Otherwise it indicates a fevered condition; a long con¬ 
tinued pulse of this kind shows a serious illness, in which instances 
the increasing gravity of the case will be indicated not only by the 
increase in frequency, but, as the weakness of the animal increases. 


PULSE BEATS. 


1223 


the pulse will become smaller in volume, thus showing that the heart 
participates in the^ general weakness, which, in its turn, is due to the 
cause which has given rise to the fevered condition. 

Excessive evacuations of blood, urine, or from the bowels, will 
cause a greater frequency of the pulse, which generally bears a direct 
relation to the danger of the situation. 

The Quick Pulse indicates nervous irritability or debility, and, if 
continued, little strength. When a quick beat followed by an abrupt 
cessation, with a comparatively long interval, is present, it indicates 
extreme nervous irritability or, rarely, an organic disease of the heart. 

The Slow or Long Pulse indicates a plethoric condition of the 
body; a functional disturbance of the heart due to certain stomach 
troubles, in which cases the pulse beat is often lost, at varying inter¬ 
vals (irregular intermittence). When accompanied by infrequency, 
some disorder of the brain, as compression of that organ, from some 
cause or other, and occasionally to organic heart disease. These 
conditions are not commonly alarming and may generally be relieved 
by a good dose of cathartic medicine. If organic heart disease be 
the cause, the plethoric condition of body is not usually present, in 
addition to which the beats of the heart will commonly be found to 
be in excess of those of the pulse. 

A Large Pulse indicates a prolonged and forcible contraction of 
the heart from some cause, to be ascertained by further examina¬ 
tion. It may be associated with either strength or feebleness of the 
pulsations. In a large, strong pulse the artery is not easily com¬ 
pressible under the finger; it indicates the first stages of some pain¬ 
ful disorder, as founder in the feet of horses. In a large, feeble 
pulse there is a weak impulse, and although the full size of the artery 
is easily felt, its walls are quite compressible under the finger; it 
indicates either general debility, as in anaemic or bloodless conditions 
of the body or debility of the heart. 

The Small Pulse is recognized when the artery seems full, 
although the impulse is felt to be like a very small cord or wire running 
through it. This condition may result from some internal congestion, 
as of the lungs, from feeble contractions of the heart, or from great 
hardness of the arterial coats, as in lockjaw or strychnine poisoning. 

A Hard Pulse is that property by which the artery resists com¬ 
pression and results from a contraction of the muscular coats of the 
arterial walls. Hardness of the pulse is often associated with small¬ 
ness; it is then termed corded, wiry, or thready; this condition is 
often met with in the earlier stages of inflammatory diseases, par¬ 
ticularly during the occurrence of a fever chill; in all dangerous inflam¬ 
mations of serous membranes, as that of the membrane lining of the 
heart (endocarditis), or the abdominal cavity (peritonitis), or covering 
the uterus (metro-peritonitis). 


1224 


VETEKINARY DEPARTMENT. 


It may be shown in cases of hypertrophy of the left side of the 
heart and so be present independently of any inflammatory disorder. 

A Soft Pulse, readily recognized by the feebleness of the impulse 
and compressibility of the arterial wall, is generally accompanied 
by smallness, and indicates oncoming death as a result of some pro¬ 
gressive exhaustive disorder; the heart’s impulse is slight, the tensity 
of the artery is diminished, and the volume of the blood is small. 

In order to have a strong, good pulse, there must be vigor of the 
heart; steady resistance to pressure on the part of the arterial walls, 
and enough good blood in the body. There may be a sharp, forcible 
beat, but if this is not sustained by a certain amount of subsequent 
pressure, it indicates irritation rather than energy. A contracted 
pulse, however sharp the impulse, cannot be called a strong one. A 
strong pulse is considered a sign of an active, vigorous state of the 
system. 

The pulse of a dying animal is nearly always small, very rapid 
and thready; without force or fulness. It may become impercep¬ 
tible before death; a small pulse of over one hundred and twenty to 
the minute is difficult to count with precision. 

Pulsation of the Veins is often seen in the jugulars of cattle, 
especially during rumination and is quite compatible with health. 
If the neck of a horse having a lean neck is extended, by lifting his 
head up from the chin considerably, there may be an appearance of 
a jugular pulse; this, however, arises from a beating of the artery 
(carotid), lying immediately underneath the vein, made visible by 
the parts being tensed and pressed together. Otherwise pulsation 
of the jugular veins is ordinarily explained by an insufficient closing 
of some of the valves of the heart (tricuspid); thus allowing a certain 
amount of the blood, coming to the heart, to be sent back into the 
veins." This is an organic disease of the heart and, practically, 
incurable. 

Symptoms Afforded by Variations of the 
Respiratory Function. 

Breathing may be quickened, difficult or laborious, slow, thoracic, 
or abdominal; and be attended by such signs as sneezing, coughing, 
sighing, or yawning. The breath may be hot, as in some internal 
inflammations; or cold, as in cases of great prostration; bad smelling, 
as in abcess or gangrene of the lung, occasionally during convales¬ 
cence from bronchitis; from catarrh; from certain diseased bones of 
the head; from bad teeth; or from certain disordered conditions of 
the stomach, throat, tongue, gums, or cheeks. 

Quickened Breathing indicates recent exercise or excitement; 
fevers, pain, or anything which accelerates the circulation of the blood; 
or prevents the free access of air into the lungs. 


VARIATIONS OF THE RESPIRATORY FUNCTION. 1225 

Difficult Breathing (dyspnoea), may depend upon pain, as in 
pleurisy, disease of the muscles between the ribs; wounds or injury 
to the chest, external as well as internal. 

Anything which diminishes the free use of the nostrils, larynx, or 
windpipe may make the breathing exceedingly difficult and be 
accompanied by such sounds as those designated by the terms blow¬ 
ing, roaring, or whistling. In heaves in horses the breathing is often 
made distressing and noisy by exercise. All diseases of the lungs by 
which any considerable portion of these organs are made impervious 
to air, or through which a dropsy into the cavity of the chest (hydro¬ 
thorax) takes place, give rise to this symptom. 

Difficult breathing is not always to be regarded as indicating dis¬ 
ease of the respiratory organs only, for in many acute diseases, en¬ 
tirely unassociated with those organs, the breathing not only becomes 
quickened, but labored and difficult to an extreme degree. It should 
always, however, be regarded as a symptom of importance, not only 
as pointing clearly to certain diseases, but as indicating grave altera¬ 
tions in the condition of the blood, or in the functions of the nervous 
system. Diseases may be seriously aggravated, and a tendency to 
a fatal termination given them by difficult breathing, owing to the 
decreased oxygenation of the blood. 

Snoring or Stertorous breathing arises from a relaxed con¬ 
dition of tissues at the posterior part of the mouth, and, when asso¬ 
ciated with disease, is a symptom of some gravity, showing the presence 
of a disorder because of which the brain is not performing its proper 
function; not necessarily disease of the brain. So long as the respira¬ 
tory movements remain fairly strong and frequent it does not indicate 
immediate danger, but when the movements are slow, that of inspira¬ 
tion delayed, the general sensitiveness will be diminished even to 
complete insensibihty (coma), and death will be near. 

Slow Breathing, if marked, indicates some disordered condition 
of the brain. 

Thoracic Breathing denotes that the muscles of the abdomen 
(belly) are prevented from participating, to their usual and natural 
extent, in the performance of the respiratory movements. The 
condition indicates some trouble within the abdominal cavity, or 
painful injury to its walls. Its presence suggests dropsy into the 
cavity, which may mean organic disease of the liver or kidneys, or 
other less frequent but important organic disorders; anaemia, acute 
inflammation of the lining membrane (peritonitis), wind colic, large 
abdominal tumors, or pain from injuries or wounds of the abdominal 
walls, as from a hard blow given with a club, or laceration of the 
skin or parts immediately beneath, as from a barbed wire or other 
cutting or tearing instrument. 

Abdominal Breathing is present when the movements are per¬ 
formed, as fully as possible, by the muscles of the belly, the ribs being 


1226 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


held as still as they can be. Its presence indicates some painful dis¬ 
order or an obstruction within the chest, as pleurisy, or dropsy; or 
painful condition of the walls, as from injuries to them, or inflamma¬ 
tion of the muscles between the ribs. 

Irregular Breathing indicates a condition in which the usual 
harmony between the inspiratory and expiratory movements ceases 
to exist. It is seen in heaves in horses, certain cases of chronic bron¬ 
chitis, asthma, and, less frequently, other disorders. 

Cough. — Of this several varieties and sub-varieties are described. 
Of these there are two greater divisions: the moist and the dry. 

The iToist Cough, sufficiently described by its name, is present in 
the later stages of catarrhal fever and bronchitis, as well as in any 
cases wherein the natural fluid secretion of any part of the air pas¬ 
sages is increased. 

The Dry Cough is generally present in the early stages of catarrh, 
bronchitis, or pleurisy, as well as irritation arising from any marked 
disturbances of the membrane lining the air passages; in dentition, 
when there is a loud, dry cough, frequently repeated, at intervals 
(spasmodic). 

Cough does not always indicate diseases of the air passages, for 
it is often present in certain forms of indigestion, or in animals, dogs 
and horses principally, that have worms, as well as from choke and 
less common causes. These are all called sympathetic coughs. 

External Temperature. 

The symptoms afforded by the apparent variations in tempera¬ 
ture of the external surface of the body are few, but are generally 
noted as being very good aids in helping to locate the disorder. Cold 
or cool extremities indicate an improper and too small blood supply 
at the part; and, when occurring persistently, it becomes a symptom 
of some importance, as indicating a tendency toward internal conges¬ 
tions or weakness of the action of the heart. 

Sweating, aside from that which properly comes from exercise, 
or too much clothing, indicates pain, and, if in patches, pain or im¬ 
paired nervous function of the part. 

Internal Temperature. 

Clinical thermometry, as it is called, is the means by which the 
internal temperature of the body of any animal may be easily meas¬ 
ured; and a knowledge of how to understand the indications thus 
furnished are extremely valuable in many instances, as they often 
give the earliest notice obtainable of certain oncoming disorders, as 


TEMPERATURE. 


1227 


well as being an early indicator of progress, for good or bad, in a pa¬ 
tient under continued treatment. 

Two facts justify its application to practise: the invariability 
of the temperature in a healthy animal, and its variations from this 
in those who are the victims of a wide class of disorders. 

A normal temperature does not necessarily indicate health, but 
all those animals in which the temperature either exceeds or falls 
short of the normal range, for any length of time together, are not 
healthy. The ranges of temperature in disease which may occur 
in the horse, and still be followed by recovery, is from ninety-five to 
one hundred and eight; in cattle, from ninety-five to one hundred and 
ten; and in dogs, ninety-eight to one hundred and five. 

Unappreciable influences which do not at all disturb the tem¬ 
perature of a healthy animal, quite frequently derange that of the 
sick one before they affect the sickness in any other observable degree, 
until some time afterward. Thus we are furnished with a notice of 
coming trouble and can take early measures to prevent bad results. 

In this same direction the discovery of a constant abnormal tem¬ 
perature, in an animal which in all other ways is apparently healthy, 
is an early means of discovering or confirming the suspected existence 
of latent disease. This is valuable, for instance, in a stable of horses, 
among which a case of glanders has been found, the use of the ther¬ 
mometer for a few days, subsequent to the discovery, among the 
remaining horses, although they appear to be in perfect health, will 
give early opportunity for removing any others that may have been 
attacked by the contagion, and so help materially in limiting the 
spread in that stable. 

A normal temperature during sickness is only a relative sign, which 
will exclude certain classes of disease; its value being in this only. Cer¬ 
tain abnormal temperatures are generally associated with a certain 
type of disease. A rapid increase of the heat of the body, and decrease 
of the appreciable surface heat is associated with chills and generally 
is a sign of an oncoming, strong attack of fever. A protracted tem¬ 
perature of one hundred and two or more is usually accompanied with 
dulness, thirst, frequency of the pulse, and increasing thinness of the 
body. 

Any considerable diminution of warmth in the extremities, as 
the legs and ears, with a high temperature, or with one below the 
normal, is expressed by a small pulse, sunken eyes, and, if it be main¬ 
tained, collapse and death. An elevated temperature, whatever Us 
cause, has by itself an influence on the functions of the general sys¬ 
tem. When it is only slightly raised, its action may not be appre¬ 
ciated; but when it is, and remains, considerably raised, the most 
evident effect will be a loss of flesh; the pulse and respirations will 
be faster and the brain may exhibit functional disturbances; the 
secretion of urea increases, making the urine heavy and of a dark 
.color; and there is a tendency to local congestion and fatty degenera- 


1228 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


tion of various organs; and, as already intimated, we know that the 
continuance of life is impossible with certain continued elevations of 
temperature. 

A clinical thermometer is obtainable, at a small cost, from most 
any druggist, who will also gladly explain the proper method of 
using it. All internal temperatures, in animals, are taken by insert¬ 
ing the wet or well soaped thermometer into the rectum, for about 
two thirds of its length, and letting it remain there for three minutes. 
An instrument of four inches, or even a little less, is as good for use 
among animals as one that is larger. Care must be taken to see 
that the mercury column is properly shaken down just before it is to 
be used. 

General Diseases Common to all Animals. 

Morbid State of the Blood. — A nutritive fluid circulates through 
the tissues of all organized life. This liquid, which is essential to 
life, is known as the sap in plants, and the blood in animals. The 
sap is probably simply nutritive; the liquid flesh, as the blood has 
been called, is a nutrient and something more, for it is also the means 
by which some of the used-up materials are removed from the system, 
as it flows through the liver, kidneys, lungs, etc. The characteris¬ 
tics of the living animal organism are ceaseless change and ceaseless 
waste. Directly it begins to hve it begins to die. In the blood, as 
in the different tissues, the process of decay and regeneration, of 
destruction and reconstruction, only terminate with the extinction 
of vitality. During action the tissues waste; during repose they are 
nourished and the waste repaired. Hence an animal must have pure 
air, good sound food in proper quantity, pure soft water, and a proper 
amount of exercise, rest, and sleep, in order that he may have a due 
supply of good nutrient blood, to be distributed to the various tissues 
for their healthy, proper nourishment. ^‘The blood is the life’’; good 
blood is healthy life. 

In early hfe the amount of this nutrition absorbed by the various 
tissues of the body is greater than the expenditure of used-up tissues; 
hence there is a gradual, healthy increase in weight. But in old age 
this operation is reversed, until the means of repair are at length 
exhausted; used-up material is thrown off, new healthy material 
does not take its place, and the animal dies of old age. 

Something of the same thing happens in disease, the early opera¬ 
tion of which is to upset the normal equilibrium between supply and 
waste; the tissues of the body continue to waste, in an excess, which 
is not removed; useless or poisonous agents then become generated 
within the body, from this retention, and sickness of more or less 
moment results. 

Life is only to be maintained by the circulation of pure arterial 
blood; and whether no blood circulates through the arteries or only 


GENERAL DISEASES. 


1229 


that which has become impure and contaminated from various causes, 
the result will sooner or later be the same; the death of the animal. 

When no blood circulates the death takes place from fainting 
(syncope); and this is of two kinds. First, ancemia, when there is a 
want of the due supply of blood to the heart, as is witnessed in fatal 
hemorrhages. Second, by asthenia, when there is a failure in the 
contractile power of the heart, seen to occur from the action of cer¬ 
tain poisons, intense terror, from overdoses of electricity, concus¬ 
sion of the brain, as well as certain forms of apoplexy. Death may 
also take place from a mixture of these two causes, as may be particu¬ 
larly noticed in fatal cases of starvation and hngering disorders. 

Death may also take place from the circulation of venous blood 
through the arteries, and this may result in two ways: suffocation 
(apnoea) when the access of air to the lungs is prevented, as in drown¬ 
ing, strangulation, choking, immobility of the respiratory muscles 
from a bad case of wind colic, pneumonia, when a large portion of 
the lung tissue has become solidified, dropsies into the cavity of the 
chest, etc.; and coma, in which, although the air passages are free, the 
muscular movements required for respiration cease, owing to in¬ 
sensibility produced by some trouble with the brain, as milk fever in 
cows; cerebro-spinal meningitis in horses and dogs; some forms of 
distemper in dogs; as well as in some other disorders not so frequently 
met with. 

Thus in death by apnoea there is, successively, impeded respira¬ 
tion, the circulation of non-oxygenated blood, and insensibility; while 
in coma, the order of the phenomena is reversed; there is first insensi¬ 
bility, followed by a cessation of the muscular movements of the chest 
walls; and the consequent circulation of blood which has not been 
made “arterial,” i.e., oxygenated. 

The blood may be described as being an albuminous fluid, charged 
with various salts holding the elements of fibrin in solution, and con¬ 
taining both red and white globules (corpuscles). Its specific gravity 
is high; the extremes, compatible with health, will vary from 1050 to 
1059, as measured with distilled water at 1000. The gravity is di¬ 
minished by bleeding, anaemia, or albuminuria; while it is increased 
by conditions inducing excessive watery discharges either from the 
bowels or kidneys. It is most probable that the average relative 
weight of the blood to that of the body is about as one to fourteen, 
the maximum being found as the digestion of a hearty meal is draw¬ 
ing to a close. The blood-vessels of an healthy adult horse, of one 
thousand pounds weight, probably contain about seventy-two pounds 
of blood. 

The blood receives matter from three sources: the atmospheric 
air through the lungs; the digestion which takes place in the 
alimentary canal; and the secondary digestion, as that process has 
been called, by which the waste tissues of the body are absorbed, to 
be discharged from the economy. 


1230 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


In return it furnishes material for building up the tissues, for 
forming the secretions, while it also warms every part of the body. 
Hence whatever interferes with the process of digestion, or respira¬ 
tion. with the excretory organs, as the bowels, liver, kidneys, and 
skin, as well as the healthy condition of the nervous system, will 
affect the composition of the blood and so induce a disorder of more 
or less gravity. 

Plethora-Congestion_Is fulness of blood. When the blood merely 

exists in too great a quantity in one or more of the organs or tissues, 
there is said to be a partial plethora or congestion of the organ or tis¬ 
sue affected, in which case there is no increase in the total amount of 
blood or any of its constituents in the body. 

If an organ or a part of any living body becomes irritated from 
any cause, as from proper exercise, there is an increased flow of blood to 
that part. If the irritation is carried beyond that which is natural 
and proper to the part, as from “catching cold” in the lungs, or from 
a strain of a tendon, the blood-vessels then become unable to pass 
the blood through them properly; as a result, swelling takes place, that 
is, there is an active congestion of the 'part. This condition, after a 
time, either decreases little by little (resolution), ends in slight hemor¬ 
rhage into the immediate tissues from rupture of the overloaded ves¬ 
sels, or passes on to inflammation. 

Again, the circulation of the blood through a part may be sluggish 
owing to a want of tone in the walls of the veins; this gives rise to 
what is called a passive congestion there. When the return of blood 
through a vein, on its way to the heart, is impeded by any pressure 
upon the vessel from without, it is described as a mechanical conges¬ 
tion. Such a condition may be brought about by a badly fitting 
collar on a draft horse, or by tying a string around a part of the leg 
or tail, as is not infrequently done by a mischief-maker. 

The condition so commonly found in horses, which seem other¬ 
wise to be in good health, wherein the legs swell or a swelling appears 
along the under part of the belly or around the sheath, generally so 
easily removed by exercise, is a passive congestion due to want of 
tone of the veins of the part. 

General Plethora—Horses, Cattle, and Sheep. 

This is a condition of over fulness of blood of the whole body and 
generally appears among young, fast thriving animals; more par¬ 
ticularly horses, cattle, and sheep. 

Causes. — Excess of some highly nutritious food; a need of 
more exercise; or a mixture of both. To illustrate from my case 
book: Two brown geldings, one six and the other five years old, had 
been allowed to stand, without work, for the greater part of the 
winter in the same stable, with and upon the same food, hay and oats, 


GENERAL PLETHORA. 


1231 


as had been given to the other horses which were in full work. When 
they were first put to work in the spring they had sweat profusely 
after very little exertion, the respirations were greatly accelerated, 
and there was a small dripping hemorrhage of dark colored blood 
from the nostrils. One of them had been markedly dizzy. When 
seen they were very fat; the membranes much deepened in color; 
pulse fuller and harder than natural; the surface of the body felt 
warmer than usual, and the blood-vessels of the surfaces of the shoul¬ 
ders and limbs stood out like cords. 

A large flock of sheep which were kept by a golf club, for the 
purpose of keeping the grass close, in the summer, were put into 
some sheds through the winter and fed upon hay and a large ration 
of grain, without roots. Early in the spring they became dull, 
without appetite, and evidently dizzy; several of them died before 
medical attendance was requested; none after it had been instituted. 

Symptoms. — The veins are distended, as shown on various parts 
of the bodies in short-haired animals; there is great redness of the 
membranes of the eyelids and nose, the congestion of the eyelids is 
sometimes so great as to give them quite a swollen appearance. The 
pulse is large and /somewhat hard and resistant to the touch; the 
animal is indolent and occasionally dizziness is evidenced by his 
pressing his head (boring) against the side of a building or some 
other firm object. The respiration slow. If unrelieved, death follows, 
beginning with coma. It is not necessary that the subject of this 
disorder be fat; a too sudden increase in the richness of the food may 
produce the disorder before the thin animal begins to lay on much 
flesh. 


Treatment will consist in making proper changes in the food, 
restricting its quantity or lessening its high quality; seeing that 
sufficient exercise is allowed or given; and the administration of a 
good dose of cathartic medicine, which had better be of epsom salts. 
Bleeding is contra-indicated. The cathartic dose for the various 
animals may be made as, for a horse of eleven to twelve hundred 
weight: 


R. Epsom Salts li to IJ lbs. 

Powdered Ginger-root \ ounce 

Molasses \ pint 

Lukewarm water 1 quart 

Mix. When the salts are thoroughly melted turn down from a 
bottle, in the usual way. Give all at a dose. 


The same dose may be given to cattle, except that the salts may 
be from one pound for a small cow to two pounds for a larger bullock. 

In sheep: Salts 4 oz. to 6 oz., ginger 1 dram, molasses 1 tea¬ 
spoonful, and water J pint. 


1232 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


Ansemia —Horses, Cattle, Sheep, and Dogs. 

Causes. — This is a conditon of deficiency or poverty of the blood 
arising generally in animals that have been deprived of some one or 
more of the conditions which have already been described as being 
necessary to the formation of healthy blood. It is also met with in 
instances wherein the digestive functions have been imperfectly per¬ 
formed; where small hemorrhages repeatedly take place, as well as in 
the course of many debilitating, or organic diseases. 

Symptoms.—The chief of these copsist in a great pallor of the 
meinbranes. The membrane of the eyelids is pale, clear, and waxy 
looking, the mouth is cool, and the tongue has an unnatural softness. 
The pulse is frequent, small, quick, and possibly irregular. Any 
sudden excitement is not unlikely to produce some degree of palpita¬ 
tion of the heart, which, however, is not material in itself as it is gen¬ 
erally no more than functional. The respirations^ if the animal is 
perfectly quiet, are not particularly noticeable for any irregularity. 
The temperature is normal, or slightly below that, in cases which do 
not depend upon the presence of some other disease. There may be 
more or less loss of appetite, with indigestion, flatulency, and, in cer¬ 
tain instances, even colicky pains. Urine, of a very light color, will be 
passed in considerable quantities. General debility of the muscular 
system, which often proceeds to such an extent as to simulate paralysis 
of the hinder part, may be shown. 

In horses dropsical swellings of the limbs is not uncommon, but 
is seldom seen in cattle. In sheep, dropsies of the cavities of the chest 
and abdomen are not uncommon. When the disorder is of long stand¬ 
ing a general shrinkage of the body (atrophy) sets in, dropsical effusions 
take place, the breathing becomes difficult, diarrhoea is present, the 
pulse gets very frequent, irregular, an'd weak; and the heart’s action 
is rapid and palpitating. Death takes place from starvation and 
exhaustion, unless some of the mentioned complications have occurred, 
when there may be fainting, convulsions, or coma. 

Treatment. — In simple cases we have the satisfaction of knowing 
that the removal of the cause, the use of stimulants and tonics, to¬ 
gether with a careful oversight of the food to be allowed, quantity and 
quality, the amount and kind of exercise to be given, and the proper 
allowance of sunlight and air, will effect a cure, after a time. Remem¬ 
bering that, in simple cases, all of the trouble is directly dependent 
upon the poor condition of the blood which, in its turn, is due to non- 
assimilation of^ the ordinary food, an attempt should be made to 
begin a correction of matters by the use of such stimulants as sweet 
spirits of niter, whiskey, or rum for the larger animals, and brandy 
for dogs, in their proper doses, two or three times daily. While 
one or other of them often give great benefit in a surprisingly short 


ANEMIA. 


1233 


time, they will not by any means cure; indeed their use is not well 
born in some instances, so that it is always better to begin by giv¬ 
ing small doses, when, if there is marked increase in breathing or 
symptoms of uneasiness or colic appear, they must be at once stopped. 
Iron in some one or other of its forms must furnish the basis of the 
curative treatment. 

In all the animals the tincture of the chloride may be given with 
good results, especially in those cases wherein the appetite is poor 
or fickle; begin with rather small doses, three times a day, in about 
four times its own bulk of cold water; or if the animal will eat a little 
grain, as oats, the dose may be mixed with a small quantity of them 
and will be eaten. As the appetite improves the iron must be increased 
until the full dose is reached, and this should be continued for as long 
as the animal seems to require it. An occasional dose of raw linseed 
oil, to overcome the constipating effect of the iron, may or may not 
have to be given. Or, after the animal begins to show a regular 
appetite, one or other of the following powders may be given to a 
horse or cow of ordinary size: Powdered gentian root and powdered 
sulphate of iron, of each three ounces, well mixed together and divided 
into twelve powders, one of which is to be given in damp grain feed, 
morning and night. Or, if the digestion seems to be somewhat im¬ 
paired or there is marked weakness, this powder may be used: Sul¬ 
phate of iron, bicarbonate of soda, of each three ounces; powdered 
nux vomica, powdered golden seal, of each two ounces: all to be made 
into twelve powders, one to be given twice daily, as above. The same 
treatment will give good results in sheep, if the doses of each agent are 
properly moderated. (See table of doses.) For dogs the stimulants may 
be used; the tincture of iron is good, but it blackens the teeth and the 
bowels are more apt to become constipated. The best method of 
giving the iron will be in the use of Blaud’s Pills, which is a regular 
prescription and may be got from any druggist; the dose being the 
same as for humans, excepting that for very young or small dogs the 
pill may be cut into thirds or halves. Such a pill should be given 
three times a day. The food of dogs should also be changed at first 
to milk, with which a tablespoonful of lime water to each tumblerful 
of milk should be used. This mixture, slightly warmed, should be 
given in small quantities each two or three hours. 

In cases of anaemia, resulting from organic disease, treatment vfill 
be palliative at the best; it will not cure. 

Blood Poisoning—Horses, Cattle, Sheep, and Dogs. 

Pyaemia and Septicaemia, two very important diseased conditions 
of the system, are caused by the introduction into it of putrid matters 
from one source or another. 

Pyaemia is a purulent contamination of the blood, resulting in 


1234 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT, 


the formation of abscesses in various regions of the body. Purulent 
meaning that which has the character of, or consists of, pus (matter). 

Causes. — Inflammation of bone, as induced by a blow upon it; 
inflammation of veins, which generally only takes place as the result 
of an injury to parts; certain abscesses, and certain unhealthy wounds, 
including particularly those about the genital organs, such as may be 
received by the mother at the time of the birth of the young animal. 

Symptoms. — These, at the very beginning, are well marked; 
first there is a decided chill, followed by a gradual rise in the internal 
temperature, which generally bears a direct proportion to the degree 
of the chill and runs from one hundred and two, to one hundred and 
six. Because of the tendency to new formations of pus, at various 
points within the body, the chills will be occasionally and irregularly 
repeated; after the first two or three times of this, each chill will be 
followed by profuse sweatings, which will be followed in their turn by 
a hot and dry skin. During the chill the temperature will be higher, 
possibly so high as one hundred and eight; it may then suddenly fall 
even to about normal, soon to rise again, however; and this intermittent 
type of temperature readings is almost peculiar to this disorder. The 
membranes of the eyelids are rather sallow and, later on, may become 
markedly jaundiced. The force of the heart-beat is markedly dimin¬ 
ished at an early period. The pulse is frequent, small, and occasion¬ 
ally intermittent, having eighty or even as many as one hundred and 
twenty beats to the minute, in the horse, with a corresponding 
increase in the other animals. It does not vary with the variations 
of the temperature. There is great restlessness and prostration of 
strength which often proceeds to exhaustion. Digestion is much 
disturbed, diarrhoea is generally present, and the discharges have a 
disagreeable character. Respirations are hurried, shallow, and always 
faster just before a chill. The appetite is lost from the first. As 
death approaches there is more or less delirium, shown by the animal 
throwing his head from side to side, or beating it upon the floor, if he 
is lying down. Coma gradually follows until the animal becomes 
entirely unconscious and dies. 

When internal organs become sufficiently involved to interfere 
with their action the fact will be evidenced in complication with the 
other symptoms. The duration of pysemia is variable; it is usually 
acute, lasting from two to ten days; occasionally a case recovers, but 
the termination is generally unfavorable. If death occurs within the 
first six or seven days it is due to the intensity of the poison; if later, to 
exhaustion, unless some important complication, as pneumonia, takes 
place. There is a form of this disease in horses, resulting from horse 
ail (strangles), and called bastard strangles when the disorder runs an 
essentially chronic course. The symptoms are much milder than in 
the acute form and there are sometimes intervals of apparent recovery, 
which, however, are usually followed by relapse and, in the end, death. 


BLOOD POISONING. 


1235 


Treatment. — If recovery is to be hoped for at all it will follow 
only upon the most careful attention to the case. No such measures 
as bleeding, physicking, or blistering will be withstood. The great 
object to be gained is the purification of the blood, and sustaining the 
strength as well as possible while this attempt is being made. If 
there is a wound it should be dressed most carefully with some good 
disinfecting fluid, as one part of lysol to forty or fifty of water and, 
after it has been thoroughly* cleansed, dusting the part over with finely 
powdered iodoform, and covering it with a little absorbent cotton 
and a bandage, whenever possible. Do not use iodoform on dogs unless 
they can be prevented from getting it into their mouths, for it is poison¬ 
ous if swallowed. If there be an unopened abscess from any cause use 
warm linseed meal poultices, changing them twice a day until it 
‘‘breaks'" or is ready to be opened; then, after the open abscess has 
been thoroughly cleansed, treat as for a wound. 

There is, perhaps, no other disorder in which so large an amount 
of stimulants can be administered with so much benefit. Give, 
therefore, whiskey, rum, or brandy, in as large doses, within the 
prescribed limits, as the case will bear. Let the animal have good, 
easily digested food, as ground oats, chopped hay, in which is mixed a 
a little cornmeal, the whole to be moistened with sufficient warm water 
to hold the meal to the hay. This may be given to horses, cattle 
and sheep, in rather small quantities, three times daily. In dogs a very 
small quantity, as a teaspoonful for small ones, of finely chopped 
raw, lean beef, may be given as often as each three hours, if it is eaten 
with relish; in addition to which warmed milk with lime water, with 
a little sopped stale bread, may be fed once or twice daily; or strong 
beef broth instead of the milk, if it is preferred. In fact, all of the 
animals may have milk or raw eggs added to the regular food, and 
be the better for it, at times. Pain, if present, is to be relieved by 
tincture of opium in doses sufficient to accomplish the object, but no 
more. If the case improves a little with the stimulants, and the 
appetite is retained fairly, sulphate of quinine will be found to be 
the best tonic, or, in small dogs, a pill of the citrate of iron 
and quinine, one grain each, will be good. If whiskey is being 
used with horses or cattle a medium dose of quinine may be 
added to each drench of the whiskey and water. And finally, the 
most important and difficult measure of all, the purifying of the 
blood, is to be attempted. For this purpose there is no better agent 
than the sulphite of soda, which should be used, from the first, in 
large doses, with just sufficient water to allow its being floated down 
into the stomach; say for horses and cattle, one ounce of the sul¬ 
phite, in saturated solution,‘to be given two or three times a day. 

Simply stated, the remedies for this condition may be said to 
consist of asbolute cleanliness, stimulants, nourishing food, sunlight 
and pure air, tonics, and the removal of all sources of further irrita¬ 
tion, as fast and as far as may be possible. 


1236 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


Septicaemia is a constitutional disorder due to the absorption 
into the blood of a poisonous material which has been the product 
of decomposing animal matters; the introduction may be direct, 
as from a badly treated wound of any sort, or by the continuous 
absorption of foul gases. It is closely allied to that fever which 
follows wounds accidentally made through the skin, or certain surgical 
operations. 

Causes. — Decomposing tissues which cause septicaemia may be 
in the body, as in gangrene of the lung; a retained and decomposing 
after birth; a wound within the cavity of the vagina, etc. Or on the 
body, as in any wound, more particularly those that have been accom¬ 
panied by blows or tears, or, markedly, when an animal has been 
extensively burned or scalded; or outside the body, for it is said it 
has been introduced through the breathing apparatus, where no 
wound has existed. 

Symptoms will vary much with the amount of the poison that 
has been introduced into the system. They may be exceedingly 
urgent, or so mild as to attract but slight attention. In a well marked 
case there is, at first, a chill which may or may not be noticed, so 
slight is it; there is a rapid rise in temperature, perhaps to 106° or 107°. 
The pulse is frequent, 70, 80, or OO.beats in the minute; its character 
is thready. The respirations are feeble, hurried, and more or less 
labored; the membranes of the eyelids may have a slightly yellow 
tinge and they will be much darker red than in health. The surface 
of the body is hot and dry, or, if sweating occurs at all, it will be early 
in the attack and very slight. The appetite is lost; the animal is 
dull and listless with hanging head. The bowels are quite loose and 
their discharge offensive in about one half of the cases, in all of the 
severe ones. The urine is scanty and high colored. In the severe 
cases the animal will die in a complete state of collapse in from 
twenty-four to seventy-two hours. 

Treatment. — In a fully developed case of this disorder any 
treatment will be unsatisfactory. The surroundings of the animal 
are of great importance. There must be, as nearly as possible, 
absolute cleanliness of the wound and of the skin and hair near it. 
Good air, sunshine, moderate and even temperature (about 65° F.) 
of the room in which he is kept. The food, if he will eat, should be 
strong and good: in the case of horses, cattle, and sheep, good oats;in 
dogs, milk, eggs, strong beef broth, or finely chopped raw beef, in 
very small doses, once in three hours, if it will be taken so often. 
Whatever food is refused should be removed at once and not re¬ 
placed until the next feeding time. 

The local medical treatment brings up the entire question of 
antiseptics, in which class there are many agents now in use, any 
one of which will perhaps be as useful as another. Carbolic acid, 
one dram to one-half pint of water, except in dogs; lysol, which may 


ANTHRAX. 


1237 


be used in dogs, as well as in the other animals, fifty drops to one- 
half pint of water, will be found to be all right. Whatever is used, 
let^ the cleansing operation be very thorough, remembering that the 
object sought is to make the wound as nearly absolutely clean 
and antiseptic as possible .and, until the wound remains clean, the 
dressing should be done at least twice, or in some cases, where the 
discharge is considerable, three times a day. If, after a fair amount 
of cleanliness has been attained, the wound looks pale or ''indolent,'' 
it may have, with advantage, a thin sprinkling of finely powdered 
iodoform, put on just after the cleansing process has been finished. 

The constitutional treatment is but to repeat, largely, the direc¬ 
tions given for pyaemia, with this difference, however, the bowels 
should be freely acted upon, throughout the attack, by epsom salts. 
Then, in dogs, brandy; in horses, cattle or sheep, whiskey or rum, in 
good doses. This is to be substantiated by such tonics as quinine or 
salicylic acid, given in the proper doses for each animal. The sulphite 
of soda should be used as recommended for pyaemia, in good full 
doses, given three or four times daily. 

Anthrax. 

This is a general blood disorder of purely contagious origin having 
a wide distribution and affecting all animals, but most observed in 
cattle, sheep, and horses, and in dogs that have eaten the flesh of 
animals dead from it. It appears at all seasons of the year, but more 
extensively during, and just after, hot weather. It generally attacks 
a number of animals at about the same time, as on a certain farm, 
within a given district; occasionally a single animal may become sick 
with it, this especially among horses and dogs. Its contagious quality 
seems to be modified by climate, as its greatest ravages occur in hot, 
more or less marshy, districts. It appears in two forms, first as a 
general blood disorder without external local manifestations, second 
with external and easily noticeable carbuncles of larger or smaller 
extent. As a remarkably good instance of the behavior, uncom¬ 
promising nature, and great fatality attending this disease when 
introduced to a northerly climate, the following notes on an actual 
outbreak will well repay perusal. "Prior to any outbreak of disease 
among the horses, several sheep had died upon the farm, which, 
according to the history given, had shown symptoms indicating 
blood poisoning. The animals were said to have refused their food, 
to have become suddenly prostrated, and to have been unable to walk 
with a steady gait. Their heads and necks had rapidly swollen, their 
breathing had become difficult, and they had died within a few hours. 
The carcasses of these sheep were taken to a near-by pasture when 
they were skinned and opened. Large quantities of a jelly-like 
material (exudation) were found around the throat and upper part 
of the neck, as well as in the cavities of the chest and abdomen. 


1238 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


After being skinned the carcasses were hung upon some trees in an 
adjoining orchard, to be used as food for dogs, from time to time. 
The dogs, being at large, tore off the flesh and carried it to different 
parts of the premises, especially those near to the barns. Originally 
there were eleven horses, of various breedaand ages, which were prin¬ 
cipally used to work the farm. The stables in which these were 
kept, although low studded, were clean; well ventilated above the 
average; and drained by surface gutters, which carried the fluid pro¬ 
ducts into a stagnant pool in the barnyard. The grain was sound, 
the hay well got, sweet, and entirely free from the effects of “heat¬ 
ing.” The pastures were .examined and found to contain no plants 
of a poisonous character; the herbage was good. The animals were 
turned at night into a field lying next to the one in which the sheep 
had been skinned and opened. 

The water supply was found to be derived from three sources; 
first and principally, from the stagnant pool mentioned as receiving 
the drainage from the stables; second, from the house pump; and 
third, from a brook running by the side of the field in which the sheep 
had been cut up. The pool water was stagnant, black in color, and 
offensive, having in it a large quantity of organic matters, both 
animal and vegetable. The waters of the stream and pump were 
clear, tasteless, free from odor, and there was no apparent source of 
pollution for either of them. 

Among the horses the disorder first showed itself on August 23d, 
when a four-year-old filly, pastured in a field lying next to “the sheep 
field,” became suddenly ill and died in about twenty-four hours. 
The body of this animal was taken to the barnyard, skinned and 
opened, at a spot about ten yards from the pool. From the place 
where this body was opened there is a steep fall to the pool. The 
bowels of this animal were buried about fifty yards from the pool, 
but on a much higher level; the carcass was removed from the prem¬ 
ises. 

On the 3d October following a five-year-old horse became suddenly 
ill and died in about three hours. The body was disposed of as in 
the first instance. From this date other horses continued to die at 
intervals of a few days up to the first of November, by which time 
seven had died. The last five of these were skinned and buried in 
the “sheep field.” 

Two pigs, a dog, and a cat which had eaten of the raw flesh, died 
suddenly without having shown any symptoms of ill-health. Some 
portion of the carcass of the horse which died on the 3d October 
was removed to a neighboring village and boiled for hog food. Two 
of these thus fed died, and the man who had cut up the meat and 
boiled it died on October 23d from anthrax, without local symptoms, 
although there was a slight wound on the knuckle of his right thumb, 
with some little swelling just about it. There was no swelling of his 
arm. 


ANTHRAX. 


1239 


Causes. The disease depends upon the actual presence of a 
certain microscopic germ, or seed, to which the name of bacillus 
anthracis has been given. This seed may be brought to a given 
locality in a great many different ways, as in wet or dry hides, taken 
from sick animals, or, perhaps, particularly in the bodies of live 
animals, upon which it has not yet made a marked impression, but 
in which, after a longer or shorter time, depending upon the amount 
of infection received or the natural resisting power of the given 
animal, it will develop, and so create a new focus of contagion. The 
climate and soil conditions of the part of the country into which such 
an animal is taken will have a very considerable influence upon the 
spread of the disorder there. If it is hot and marshy anthrax will 
easily spread beyond ordinary means of control; indeed there are 
several places of this kind in the world, in which the germ is never 
absent from the grazing lands, and rarely from among the animals, 
unless they have been made immune by a “protective inoculation,’’ 
as sheep have been in certain parts of France. If the contaminated 
animal comes to a cooler climate and gets into a pasture which is 
rather moist, with a clayey bottom, the disorder is to be got rid of, 
but at the expense only of considerable time and much working over 
of the land. If, again, it is introduced, as in the body of a horse 
or cow, to a cool locality where there is a good gravelly sub-soil, 
the very commonest measures will prevent its spread. Indeed, 
unless such single case is handled both before and after death, with 
great carelessness, the outbreak will generally, if the disorder is 
recognized early, be confined to the animal bringing it. 

Symptoms. — These are so variable, even at different times, in 
the same species of animal, that a variety of names more or less 
descriptive in character, have been given to it, and this fact makes a 
relation of the symptoms, unless they are placed under each name, 
almost impossible to give plainly. 

The length of the period after exposure to the contagion varies 
considerably and is materially affected by the natural resistive 
powers of the an'mal, the nature of his surroundings and the amount 
of “poisoning” which he has received. It may be from a few hours 
to quite a number of days. 

Anthrax Proper. — The very acute form, often called the apo¬ 
plectic, is rarely seen. The animal, without having shown symptoms 
of having any trouble, will suddenly be seized with violent muscu¬ 
lar tremors, general or partial sweatings, tossing of the head, difficult 
and paroxysmal breathing, a staggering gait as he walks, or he is not 
able to walk at all, he falls, and after a short period of unconscious¬ 
ness, with more or less convulsive struggling, he dies 

In a case which is less rapid in its course, lasting for perhaps 
three or four days, the animal becomes drowsy and stupid with much 
prostration of strength; he begins to be uneasy, paws, changes his 


1240 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


position, looks back at his flanks, in fact acts as if suffering from a 
mild continuous or intermittent colic. In walking the hind extremities 
sway from side to side, and he constantly stumbles. The skin is 
hard and dry and will be found to almost rattle in parts (crepitate) 
if the fingers are passed over it. 

There are general or partial tremblings as well as alternating cold 
and hot sweats, more particularly noticeable about the base of the 
ears, over the chest, behind the elbows, and at the flanks. In some 
nervous animals the early stupor is replaced by violent excitement 
or irritability. The respiration, at the outset, is sometimes not much 
altered, at others it is hurried, or, if the brain be particularly affected 
and he is drowsy, it may be protracted and labored. The pulse, 
increased in frequency, is feeble and small, this becoming more and 
more marked as the disorder advances; the heart’s action finally 
becoming tumultuous. The temperature is much elevated and, as a 
rule, continues so until just before death, when there is generally 
a marked decline. The earlier symptoms may remain stationary, or 
nearly so, for about twenty-four hours; the pulse then becomes 
weaker, the respiration more hurried, irregular (catching), and diffi¬ 
cult. The nostrils are dilated and the visible membranes will have 
a bluish, livid appearance (cyanotic), or in certain cases be of a dirty 
yellow color marked with larger or smaller dark blood spots. There 
is a straw-colored fluid discharge from the nostrils which may or 
may not be mingled with a little dark blood. The mouth is full of 
a pasty, frothy material having a peculiar bad-smelling odor. 

Not infrequently the termination of an attack of this form begins 
with a sudden apparent attack of colic, or with delirium or semi-con¬ 
sciousness, when, if the animal is at liberty, he wanders about and 
presses his head against some firm body, as a wall or fence. The colic 
is accompanied by tremors, or spasms, and there may be an irritable 
condition of the bowels, with which, rarely, the discharges may be 
mixed with blood. 

Or the earlier symptoms may be succeeded by unconsciousness, 
with dilated pupils, a haggard expression of the face, and increased 
difficulty in breathing. When either of these last two conditions 
arises the animal rarely survives long, all control of muscular move¬ 
ments is gradually lost, he falls suddenly to the ground, where, after 
struggling convulsively for a short time, he dies. 

Anthrax, with local complications, called by some anthracoid dis¬ 
ease, is presented in several separately named forms, as: 

Tongue Anthrax (Gloss Anthrax). — This usually begins with 
an attack of general feverish disturbance, after a little time of which 
the animal, though occasionally disposed to eat, is unable to do so, and 
this is generally the first attractive sign of indisposition. Examina¬ 
tion for the cause of this inability to eat shows that the tongue 


EXPRESSIONS PECULIAR TO CATTLE. 


1241 


is swollen, tense, and firm, with, very early in the aisorder, several 
larger or smaller blisters along its upper surface and sides, and 
the mouth is filled with ropy saliva. The glands under the tongue 
are swollen and seem to be filled (infiltrated) with a straw-colored 
fluid. The blisters grow very rapidly in size and become dark 
red in color; the swelling of the tongue increases until that organ 
protrudes from the mouth, is livid in color, and indented or torn 
by the teeth. The ropy saliva now becomes of a rusty hue, because 
blood from the torn tongue or the broken blisters is mixed with 
it. The ability to swallow even fluids is gone; and the constitutional 
symptoms become more severe. The ruptured blisters show an un¬ 
healthy, angry looking surface, particularly around their edges, where 
they may have a rotten (gangrenous) look; they soon become coated 
with a soft yellowish substance, which is removed from time to time, 
and with each removal the size and unhealthy appearance of the sores 
is increased. 

From pain, thirst, impeded breathing, and general discomfort, 
the animal becomes restless, looking anxiously about him for aid and 
relief, and if a full tub or pail of water is placed within reach he will 
plunge his head into it, up to the eyes; water served in this way 
should always be kept where he can get at it, as, although he cannot 
drink, it will give him great comfort. 

Throat Anthrax, Anthracoid Angina, may appear by itself or 
follow, in complication, with the disorder of the tongue just de¬ 
scribed. After a period of constitutional disturbance, which may or 
may not have been noticed, the throat begins to swell; this progresses 
with great rapidity and soon produces great distress in breathing, 
because the structures around the upper opening of the windpipe 
(larynx) are seriously implicated in the general swelling of the throat, 
which may extend down the course of the windpipe to the chest. 
Accompanying this there is usually a blood-tinged discharge from the 
nostrils. When the swelling of the throat is extensive the disorder 
runs an exceedingly rapid course, the animal dying from suffocation 
in a few hours, in spite of anything that can be done. 

Expressions Peculiar to Cattle. 

Blackleg, Quarter Ill. — Here, in addition to loss of appetite 
and shivering, lameness of one or more of the limbs appears, rendering 
movement difficult and painful. Respiration is increased to thirty- 
six or forty in the minute; the pulse to one hundred or more; body 
surface sometimes hot, at others cold. The lame leg commences to 
swell and this quickly spreads to adjacent parts. If the hand is 
passed over this swelling there is a feeling as if air were present under 
the skin (it crepitates). The animal soon lies down and dies in from 
twelve to thirty-six hours, with or without convulsions. 


1242 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


Carbuticular Fever. — In other cases, after the same early 
symptoms of fever, swellings, perhaps about the size of an apple, 
appear on the back, loins, head, or neck. These are painful at first, 
but soon begin to spread into surrounding parts until they become 
quite large, crepitate, and show no further pain. The animal dies 
much as in blackleg. 

Intestinal Form. — After the fever, a diarrhoea, often accom¬ 
panied by colic, begins to show itself. The bowel discharges are 
mixed with blood; the external swellings are either absent or confined 
to the posterior back. Death occurs in from twelve to thirty-six 
hours after the diarrhoea is fully established. 

In addition to the symptoms already described there will be an 
anxious expression of the face, frequent moaning, and, in older animals, 
bellowing, disquietude, shown by frequently getting up and down,* 
and when down by lying with the head turned back upon the shoulder 
and the feet held close under the body. 

Expressions Peculiar to Sheep. 

Sheep, particularly the higher bred ones, are more liable to be 
attacked by the apoplectic form. It has been and still is very de¬ 
structive to these animals in certain parts of the world, including 
some parts of the United States. 

Apoplectic Anthrax. — There are no signs of approaching trouble. 
The animal lively and, so far as can be judged, in perfect health, 
falls down, perhaps while still grazing, and dies, within a few mo¬ 
ments, in convulsions. Or it lies paralyzed, with hurried and labored 
breathing, eyes prominent, and a bloody discharge dropping from 
the nose and mouth. Death follows in a few hours, in the midst 
of distressing convulsions. 

5ome Cases are not so Rapid. — The sheep is dull, refuses 
food, carries the head low and the back humped up,’’ gets up and 
down frequently; if the flock is moving it drops behind, goes slowly 
and gently, perhaps staggers. These symptoms progress, tremblings 
set in, the animal can no longer stand, becomes more or less blind, 
blood is present in all of the discharges, characteristic swellings may 
appear upon almost any part of the body, and the animal dies in 
convulsions. 

These symptoms, especially in hot weather, succeed each other 
so rapidly that the animal may die in one, two, three, or four hours. 
On the other hand, the disorder may be so much more mild in type 
that the fatal ending may be put off for a much longer time. 

Carbuncular Fever. — External tumors are rarely seen in sheep, 
and then only about the head and udders; but a wide-spread inflam¬ 
mation, like erysipelas, is more often seen. After the usual early 


EXPRESSIONS PECULIAR TO SHEEt*. 


124S 


fever, which may or may not have been noticed, some of the strongest 
looking animals in the flock begin to limp or show more or less 
stiffness in walking, behind. Careful examination will show a dark 
red swelling inside the thigh, which crepitates upon pressure; soon 
extends to the belly and chest, but rarely reaches the neck. This 
swelling soon becomes cold, the outer skin peals off, and a bloody 
fluid oozes from the exposed surface; fever becomes intense, the 
abdomen is full of gas, and a bloody foam may flow from the mouth. 
Death occurs in from three or four to twenty-four or thirty-six hours. 

In Dogs. 

The spontaneous development of anthrax does not occur. When 
this animal is attacked it is because he has either eaten the flesh, or 
in some way become inoculated from the carcass of an animal dead 
from the ^disorder. 

A dog may die of the apoplectic form. Or if not so quickly there 
will be a swelling of the throat, a small round swelling appears on 
some part of the head, usually about the lips; which in a few hours 
is so much increased as to occupy the entire region in which it is 
situated. The great swelling of the head closes the eyes, extends 
down the neck, along the windpipe, thus disturbing the breathing 
process. The whole swollen surface now becomes a red violet color, 
the inside of the mouth shows the same color, and from it there is a 
considerable ropy discharge and the appetite is lost. Prostration is 
present from the first; the animal will not come to the call; persists 
in lying in a cold, damp place rather than upon a good bed. The 
duration of the disease is not longer than five days, whether he lives 
or dies; he may die within twenty-four hours of the first appearance 
of the swelling. 

Man. 

It may be interesting to state here that the disorder in man is 
known as malignant pustule; and that he, like the dog, can contract 
it only by inoculation. It has been known as wool sorters’ disease, 
because so many of that occupation, in handling wool from the dead 
sheep, have contaminated their fingers and then have scratched some 
part of themselves, usually the neck, with their finger nails. In some 
places, where the men go barelegged, their limbs have been inoculated 
from the bites of flies, which had, presumably, been feeding upon the 
dead carcasses. 

Mortality. — The disorder leads to a very large percentage of 
death. In the apoplectic form all die, without exception. In the 
acute cases of fever the dead of those animals which become affected 
reaches to 75 or 80 per cent; and in the less severe to 50 per cent. 
In a general outbreak, as among large bunches of cattle and sheep, 


1244 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


the earlier cases are usually the most fatal, while after the less sus¬ 
ceptible animals are attacked the rate of mortality often decreases. 

Treatment. — This divides itself into two parts, that which 
tends to limit the extent of the outbreak; by far the most valuable; 
and that which attempts curative measures in the animals already 
attacked. 

First. When the animals are at grass, and the disease has already 
made its appearance in a case or two, or when, from any cause, its 
coming is feared, the soil demands the first attention. If it is damp 
or clayey, or at all swampy, in part, the animals should at once be 
moved to a higher location where the soil is dry and gravelly, because 
there the germ is less likely to be preserved and increased. In a 
recorded case forty animals out of two hundred had died within ten 
days; yet, after removal to a near-by dry pasture, and the use of 
antiseptics with the food and water, the attack abruptly ceased and 
forty-eight out of fifty that were sick at the time of removal, recovered. 
Damp soils, in regions where the disease prevails, are rendered much 
less dangerous, after a time, by thorough draining, if that be possible 
to their situation. In such localities the animals should be put onto 
as high land as possible, as the hot weather term approaches, or, if 
this cannot be done, and they can be housed during the night and 
until the dew is off, the danger will be considerably lessened. Yet 
in all these localities the germ will, at times, obtain access to the 
animals either through the herbage or the drinking water. A point 
of very great importance is to make safe disposition of the products 
and carcasses of the sick and dead animals. These should be burned, 
if possible, or, failing this, deeply buried and thickly covered with 
quicklime, and the ground so used must be fenced off and so remain 
for several years. Of course sick animals will at once be separated 
from well ones and great care used to prevent contamination, either 
through food, water, utensils of any sort, or the persons in attendance. 

As a further means of prevention a method of inoculation has 
been in use, more particularly in France, for some considerable time, 
and with more or less success. This, in large herds, is very expen¬ 
sive, somewhat uncertain in its results, and should only be under¬ 
taken under the immediate supervision of a very expert veterinarian. 

Medical Treatment of the Sick. — Danger. It must be remem¬ 
bered that in attending these sick animals great care must be taken, 
by the one doing it, against becoming inoculated, through the broken 
skin, as upon one’s hand or other uncovered part of the body, from 
the blood or any other secretion or excretion coming from the sick 
animal. The writer was once so inoculated through the ropy saliva 
coming from a horse’s mouth. He recovered, after a considerable 
time, although his attending physician said that he had no business to 
do so. It may be instructive to say that his treatment was by large 
internal doses of iodide of potassium, together with heavy burning 


EXPRESSIONS PECULIAR TO SHEEP. 


1245 


(cauterization) of the original wound on the finger, and afterward of 
the secondary tumor which appeared upon the arm seven or eight 
inches above the wrist. The horse died within less than twenty-four 
hours of the time of his first seizure, from anthracoid sore throat. 

In the apoplectic form nothing can be done.. In those cases 
which do not stride on to the fatal termination so quickly an attempt 
at cure will, once in a while, save the animal. 

Local Treatment. — The large swellings under the skin should be 
bathed four or five times a day, for ten minutes at a time, with hot 
water, and dressed, just after, each time, with a mixture of ten per 
cent carbolic acid, one ounce, and sweet oil, four to six ounces, depend¬ 
ing upon the thickness of the skin. When the swellings crepitate 
further treatment of them will be useless; but the parts just beyond 
may be stimulated by a mixture of sweet oil, water of ammonia (not 
the strong ammonia), and turpentine, equal parts. This should be 
used by rubbing it lightly onto the parts twice a day until it begins to 
blister or the parts become crepitant. 

In sore throat the same local measures are to be undertaken. If, 
notwithstanding this, suffocation threatens, no attempt should be 
made to relieve it by opening the windpipe below the throat 
(tracheotomy), as it will, at best, prolong the life no more than a few 
minutes. 

If constipation, without colicky pains, sore throat, or large tongue 
be present, relief may come from the administration of a large dose 
of oil, as in horses and cattle of fairly good size, raw linseed oil, three 
pints, with a heaping tablespoonful of saleratus. In sheep the same, 
except the size of the dose should be limited to the largest one recom¬ 
mended for this animal. In dogs, castor oil and sweet oil, one-half 
ounce each for medium sized animals. 

In Swollen Tongue, the blisters had best be opened with a sharp 
knife (be sure not to wound the hand, which had best be covered with 
a heavy leather glove, which should afterward be burned) and the cuts 
should then be immediately dressed with a strong solution of carbolic 
acid, as three drams of the acid to thirteen ounces of water. This 
should not be used on dogs, the cuts in which may be well rubbed with 
a stick of caustic (nitrate of silver). If the tip of the tongue becomes 
dead (gangrenous) it may be cut off with a sharp knife; the cutting 
should be done in the dead part as close as possible to that which 
is still alive. 

Internal Treatment.— Very good results have been obtained 
by carbolic acid, in horses and cattle, as, carbolic acid one-half dram, 
aromatic spirits of ammonia two drams, water one pint: all to be given 
at a dose and repeated each four hours. For sheep the same, but in 
properly lessened doses. (See dose table in appendix.) 

In dogs the acid should not be used; in its place give iodide of 
potassium in water in proper doses for the size of the animal three or 


1246 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


four times during the twenty-four hours, for as long as it seems to be 
required, or until the stomach becomes too much irritated, as will be 
shown by vomiting, in this animal. Indeed this agent may be used 
in any of the animals in its proper full doses. 

In blackleg in cattle, and the similar condition of shee'p, as well as in 
anthracoid disease in horses, the borate rf soda has given good results. 
It should be dissolved in water and given in full doses (see table) three 
times daily. It may also be given to dogs. While this is being given 
all other internal remedies should be discontinued. The solution 
should be drenched in the usual way. It may also be given to animals 
which have been exposed, but which have not yet shown signs of the 
disorder, in about one fifth the dose given to sick animals, at the same 
intervals and in the same way. Some animals with good appetite 
will eat it if the solution is sprinkled upon a small amount of grain 
food or meal. This, as a preventive, may be continued for eighteen 
or twenty days. Bleeding is contra-indicated in any case. 

Rabies — Hydrophobia. 

Madness, of all diseases the germs of which may be introduced 
into the bodies of all warm-blooded animals, including man, is per¬ 
haps the most distressing; not only because of its almost universal 
fatality, others are that, but because of the horrible suffering, both 
of mind and body, that it gives rise to. Some persons affect to believe 
that no such disorder exists; this opinion is against the truth and not 
intelligent. Others have thought that it is not a purely germ dis¬ 
ease, but can arise, without the seed having been planted, in dogs 
wolves, foxes, cats, and skunks. This is as bad a misbelief as the 
first, but far less dangerous. It is absolutely certain that rabies can¬ 
not be set up in the body of any animal, under any possible combina¬ 
tion of circumstances, unless its germ or seed has first been implanted 
by inoculation into the body of that animal. It is also true that all 
bites from animals that are undoubtedly mad do not set up rabies in 
the bitten animal. There is, or appears to be, a certain percentage of 
natural exemption in this as in other similar disorders, in which the 
systems of various bitten persons and animals do not seem to be good 
soil for the propagation of the seed, at the time when the inocula¬ 
tion occurs and the germ does not sprout. Then again it makes con¬ 
siderable difference what kind of animal has been bitten; if he is 
covered with long, close hair or, in the case of man, the bite is through 
the clothing, there is much less danger, because the teeth of the attack¬ 
ing animal are wiped and so made more or less free from the saliva, 
which contains the germ, just before the wound is made; then animals 
having blunt teeth, as horses, are far less liable to break the skin in 
biting than are those with sharp ones, and the longer and heavier the 
teeth of the biting animal, the greater danger there is that the germ 
will be conveyed. 


RABIES — HYDROPHOBIA. 


1247 


Rabies is commonly thought of as belonging to and arising in 
dogs; this is not true; the fact being that dogs running about as they 
do, meeting others and having a little fight with them, as is their nature, 
live under circumstances which are ideal for its maintenance and 
spread. As a matter of fact a mad cat is by far the more dangerous 
animal of the two, because, at the time she attacks, she does so with 
both teeth and claws, filling the air at the same time with the poisonous 
saliva by ''spitting” with greatly increased fury and with a consider¬ 
able increase in the quantity of saliva at her disposal. 

Causes. — These have been sufficiently described in a general 
way. It may be said in addition that nothing more is known as to 
where the first germ came from than as to where the first seed of 
corn came from. The dog-days have nothing to do with its spread 
or existence; in fact carefully kept records, in various countries, show 
that it as often appears in cold as in warm weather; the disease is 
not known in many tropical countries, whereas we know that it is 
most prevalent in the temperate zones. It was formerly thought 
that the malady arose spontaneously through restraint put upon the 
sexual desires of the animal. This cause was carefully and syste¬ 
matically investigated and found to be without any foundation in 
fact. Other theories of less importance have from time to time 
been advanced and exploded. That extension by inoculation is 
the only cause is well shown by action undertaken by the government 
of the city of Berlin, in Germany, a number of years since, when it 
was ordered that all dogs going at large should be muzzled. For the 
nine years preceding the execution of this order, two hundred and 
seventy-eight cases of rabies were verified there; while for the eight 
years immediately after its enforcement only nine such cases were 
found, and all of these within the first three years after the institution 
of the muzzling order. The germ of rabies is a fixed one and is 
discharged from the sick body in the saliva; it is most certainly 
introduced into the bodies of animals by the bite of a rabid creature; 
and if the wound thus inflicted be upon an exposed part, as the face 
or hands, in man, or conditions approaching that in animals, it is 
much more commonly followed by the development of the malady. 

As to this, good reliable statistics, in human cases, show that of 
face bites 90 per cent resulted in death, in the hand 73 per cent, on 
the arm 28 per cent, on the legs 29 per cent. In body bites, which are 
usually delivered by large animals, wherein the clothing gets much 
torn and the bites are several in number, the death rate is 63 per cent. 
No authentic c^ses have been reported in which rabies has followed 
the eating of meat or the drinking of milk from a rabid animal, 
although many cases are reported wherein both animals and men 
have partaken of such viands. Notwithstanding this the practice had 
much better be avoided. 

Symptoms. — Rabies has been described as divided into three 


1248 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


stages and as appearing in two forms, the furious and the dumb. 
The change from one stage to another is not by any means sudden. 
The malady never commences with fury or with a sudden fit. 

In the Horse, rabies is usually first indicated by restlessness, bit¬ 
ing at the seat of the injury, if within reach of the teeth, as if it 
itched, changing position frequently, starting suddenly as if frightened. 
The ears are moved as if the animal heard strange sounds, and it 
appears as if it saw objects in the air, when there are none. Sexual 
desire is generally heightened in mares and stallions; urination is 
frequently attempted, in many cases. As the malady progresses 
there are quiverings of the skin followed by more or less decided 
convulsions; there is loss of appetite and difficulty in swallowing 
appears. During the convulsions or paroxysms, in proportion to 
their severity, the animal kicks violently, and bites so furiously at 
any object within reach that sometimes its teeth or even jaw-bones 
are broken. It will at times also bite its own body. Breathing 
becomes hurried; the voice, when heard at all, is hoarse and unnat¬ 
ural in sound. Salivation is very slightly increased. The duration 
of the paroxysms is variable, and during the intervals between them 
the animal regains his faculties more or less. Each succeeding attack 
of fury is more intense, and the period of quiet between them becomes 
shorter and shorter; the general strength declines rapidly until toward 
the end all power of movement of the hind extremities is lost and the 
horse remains lying down. Death usually takes place in the midst 
of a paroxysm from the second to the sixth day. 

In Cattle the symptoms are similar to those in the horse, except¬ 
ing that sometimes their beginning is much less well marked. De¬ 
praved or lost appetite, great restlessness, increased excitability, 
muscular tremblings, saliva flowing constantly from the mouth in 
considerable quantities, sexual excitement, especially in bulls, diffi¬ 
culty in swallowing, evident uneasiness at the bitten part, and seeing 
imaginary objects, complete the first stage. Next the periods of 
fury begin: the eyes are staring, bloodshot, and the pupils are dilated; 
the mouth is hot and foamy, the voice dull and hoarse, the animal 
bellows frequently, champs its jaws, paws the grouna with its front 
feet, falls down and rolls about, or tries to break away from its fasten¬ 
ing. Rabid cattle strike with their horns at any object within reach, 
with such force as often to break them off and cover the forehead 
with masses of blood. They will bite, but do not commonly attack 
with the teeth. The manure, at first expelled at long intervals and 
in small quantity, later on becomes liquid and passes involuntarily; 
there may even be extrusion of the rectum. As the third stage 
begins the animal shows considerable emaciation, weakness is 
extreme, the hind legs will not sustain, and the animal goes down, 
to remain so. Death follows a state of profound insensibility (coma) 
in from two to six days. 


FURIOUS RABIES. 


1249 


In Sheep there is at first diminution of appetite and chewing of 
the cud stops, the skin begins to itch, there is increase of sexual 
desire, the voice is changed, the eyes stare, and the nasal secretion 
increases in quantity. This is closely followed by the second stage 
in which the paroxysms begin and continue at intervals; the animals 
make unusual jumps, paw with their front feet, grind the teeth, and 
butt at any animal or object within reach. It is not unusual for 
them to show a disposition to bite people and animals; and the 
disease has been transmuted by them, in this way. The third stage 
is reached; there is considerable emaciation, debility, with following 
paralysis. The animal lies or falls down, there is a profuse discharge 
from the mouth and nose. Death takes place during a paroxysm in 
from the fifth to eighth day. 

Furious Rabies. 

In the Dog. — It will be noticed, at first, that the animal becomes 
dull, gloomy, and quiet, he tries to hide in some out-of-the-way place, 
as in a dark corner or under some piece of furniture, but even so he 
is restless, uneasy, and fidgety; no sooner does he lie down than he 
suddenly jumps up again, walks about, again lies down and perhaps 
assumes a sleeping attitude; after a few minutes he is up and walk¬ 
ing about again, and so on until he finally goes to the most obscure 
place that he can find, and huddles himself into a heap with the head 
beneath the chest and front paws. Any such uneasiness as this in 
a dog should lead to his being carefully secured, by a good chain or 
otherwise, in some safe place, and watched carefully. Not infre¬ 
quently there are short intervals in which he appears more lively 
than usual, and displays an unusual amount of affection, during which 
an animal under suspicion should on no account be allowed to lap the 
hands or face with his tongue. If at liberty he shows a disposition to 
pick up all sorts of foreign bodies, as straw, bits of wood or coal, stones, 
etc., and to swallow such of them as he can. At this early stage 
sexual excitement may be increased. As yet there is no disposition 
to bite, he will obey the master’s voice, but not so quickly or cheerfully 
as usual, and he still has a gloomy expression of face. 

Second Stage. — These symptoms gradually become intensified 
and the animal goes about sniffling in the corners and at the doors, as 
if seeking for something; he moves strangely as if haunted by fancies. 
When not excited by any external occurrence, he will remain still as if 
watching something, or following with his eye some moving object on 
the wall or in the air; then he will suddenly jump up and snap at 
vacancy as if endeavoring to. catch a fly. At other times he throws 
himself furiously against the wall as if he heard strangers on the 
other side. Up to this time he eats voraciously. Soon, however, the 
uncontrollable desire to bite begins to show itself, and at this time, if 


1250 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


he can possibly get away, he will travel long distances from home, bit¬ 
ing any man or animal that he goes near so long as his strength lasts. 
From the commencement of this evidence of a desire to bite, whether 
he has been secured, or is at large, the more highly nervous symptoms 
begin to appear; the animal will not eat or drink; this is not that he 
dreads eitW water or food, but rather that a feeling of constriction 
in the throat, which prevents attempt; indeed it is not at all infrequent 
to see them make an effort, with their paws, as if to remove some 
object that had fastened itself in the back teeth or the throat. The 
voice becomes peculiarly changed in sound. The sight of another 
dog or a sudden loud noise will often induce the first real paroxysm of 
fury, which is to be followed by others, at intervals, until by their 
repetition, and perhaps the labor of traveling and the approach of the 
paralysis of the third stage, he will lie down entirely worn out. 

During the paroxysms the respirations are hurried, the pulse is quick 
and hard, the temperature is increased, and the animal seizes with 
the teeth whatever is within reach and bites and pulls at it in a most 
violent manner, so much so as oftentimes to wound the mouth or 
break out the front teeth. These attacks of fury are increased by 
sudden noises or excitement of any kind, while, if the animal be kept 
in a dark, quiet place, the paroxysms may be very slight. If large 
quantities of saliva flow from the mouth it is because he cannot swallow 
the amount of that fluid that naturally flows into the mouth. Mad 
dogs but rarely show the frothy foaming mouth so commonly sup¬ 
posed to be a constant symptom. The paroxysms continue until 
finally his strength is gone, paralysis begins, and he hes down to enter 
upon the 

Third or Last Stage. — The hind legs lose the power to support 
the weight, the lower jaw becomes more or less drooping, emaciation 
is great, the paroxysms diminish in intensity, the coat is dull, the eyes 
lose their lustre, become clouded and are sunken in their sockets. 
The breathing becomes labored and the paralysis general, the dog 
lies in a state of stupor, full insensibility follows, with or without con¬ 
vulsions, and the animal dies within two to four days of the beginning 
of the second stage. 

Dumb Madness. — In this, which is almost a purely paralytic 
form of the disorder, after having a few of the first symptoms of the 
first stage, the voice is lost, the lower jaw drops, paralyzed; the animal 
can neither eat nor drink, although if given the opportunity he will try 
to do both. The desire to drink is so great that the whole head up to 
the ears will be thrust into a pail of water in a vain endeavor to relieve 
the intense pain due to the always open mouth and inability to swallow. 
The tongue may be fairly natural in substance, or swollen; it is covered 
by a brownish material, and a stringy, gelatinous looking saliva is 
present in a moderate quantity in the mouth and throat. Anything 
like the tendency to follow imaginary objects, run away, desire to bite, 


FURIOUS RABIES. 


1251 


and the frenzied paroxysm does not appear and the’ dog is generally 
quite passive; there may be some swelling about the throat and the 
tongue is pushed out of the mouth. The other symptoms, as rapid 
exhaustion, loss of flesh, paralysis of the hind limbs and finally of the 
whole body, as well as the progress of the whole course of the disorder, 
is as rapid in this as in the furious form. While it is true that in 
dumb rabies the animal evidences very little if any desire to bite, and 
that he cannot do so if he would, because of his inability to use 
the lower jaw, it is well worth while to remember that the saliva 
is just as dangerous in the one case as the other. Death occurs gen¬ 
erally about the fourth day from the visible commencement of the 
attack. 

Treatment. — After a dog has clearly shown that he is undoubt¬ 
edly rabid he should at once be killed, unless he has just previously 
bitten some person or other animal: in which case he must be securely 
kept alive until it is found whether or not there has been any mistake 
about it; for among people a nervous disorder (false hydrophobia), 
which is purely imaginary but nevertheless sometimes fatal, follows 
the bite of a dog which was not only well at the time of the biting, but 
which lived in health for a long time afterward. If a dog is really mad 
he will die from the disorder in a few days, and the fact, if the dog is 
allowed to live to the end, will be known and measures can be taken 
to prevent its development in the bitten person or animal. If, on 
the other hand, the dog lives for more than four or five days it is cer¬ 
tain that the bitten person is in no danger of having contracted the 
disease from his bite. The nervous dread will thus be allayed and 
the person’s life saved. 

If an outbreak of rabies happens in a neighborhood all dogs 
there, that are allowed to go at large, should be muzzled, and the muz¬ 
zling should be continued at least thirty days after the last known case 
has been taken care of, for the period of incubation is not always a 
short one. This, however, is a matter which can be taken care of by 
the proper State or town officers only. 

If a dog or other animal, which is known or thought to be rabid, 
has bitten other animals or men, the bitten one should at once be 
subjected to measures which will lessen the likelihood of inoculation. 
These measures are sucking the wound, squeezing out the blood and 
perhaps the virus from the wound while it is covered with water or 
held under a ^Hap”; twisting a piece of rope or other strong, suitable 
material around a part between the wound and the heart, as closely 
to the wound as possible; cutting out the bitten parts with a sharp, 
clean knife, or, best of all, burning out the wound thoroughly, with a 
red-hot iron or a stick of lunar caustic. If the burning or cutting 
out the part is done before any of the virus gets into the circulation 
there will be no further danger; but it must follow within a few 
minutes of the infliction of the bite^ or it will be too late. 


1252 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


No Curative Medicines, to be used after the disease has shown 
itself, are known, nor should any attempt be made to administer 
anything of the kind to sick animals; the risk is entirely too great. 

Between the time of the bite, and the development of the disease 
there is always a period of incubation of longer or shorter duration. 
If, during this period, before any of the symptoms are shown, a bitten 
person can be put into the hands of a good Pasteur institute and 
there subjected to a series of proper protective inoculations, it is 
almost certain that no hydrophobia will result from the bite. The 
lives of valuable dogs may be saved in the same way. There are 
such institutes in New York City and in Chicago. 

Glanders and Farcy. 

This is another of the diseases which depends upon the introduc¬ 
tion of a special germ into the blood of a susceptible animal. Horses, 
mules, asses, and men are the most susceptible to its influence; other 
animals in their order of susceptibility are cats, dogs, goats, rabbits, 
and sheep. Cattle are entirely exempt. 

It has been well described by various authors since the year 
330 A.D.; but it was not until 1664 that any suggestion was made of 
its being contagious. This suggestion was not well accepted and 
gave rise to a very considerable controversy which was continued 
until in 1882, when it was forever set aside by the undoubted discovery 
of the germ giving rise to it. 

Its geographical distribution is very wide, but its greatest ravages 
occur in the temperate zones, while it does not flourish in very hot 
or very cold climates. 

Nature. — Glanders and farcy are one and the same disease; 
contagion from one form may produce the other form, or both forms 
may exist together in the same animal at the same time. The term 
glanders is used when the expression of the disorder takes place in 
the nose and lungs; farcy, when its poisonous effects are on the more 
external parts of the body, appearing to be just under the skin. 

Causes. — At the present day the one accepted cause is contagion, 
but as the germ has been absolutely proved to be able to survive 
outside the hving body, infection may come from other objects than 
a sick animal; it will therefore, not infrequently show itself in animals 
which it seems impossible to believe have come into contact with the 
germ. Still, so well established is the fact, that all such incidents 
must be looked upon as having the usual origin, however impossible 
it may be for us to trace it. But while the presence of the germ is 
the essential cause of glanders there must be, as in other similar 
disorders, an individual receptive condition; the condition of the 
animal must be such that the germ will grow after it has gained access 
to the body. This natural immunity is fairly large, as, for instance, 


GLANDERS AND FARCY. 


1253 


out of 138 horses equally exposed by cohabitation with glandered 
horses, no more than 21 became infected; about 15 per cent. Direct 
experimental inoculation with the poisonous material, the most 
certain of all ways of introducing the germ, has produced the disease 
in but 32 per cent of the inoculated animals. 

The causes which predispose the system to the growth of glanders 
poison, the germ having been received, are impure and re-breathed 
air, seen especially among horses and mules which are taking long 
sea voyages, especially if the weather is so bad that hatches have to 
be kept closed for a considerable part of the time; in badly ventilated 
mines and stables, especially cellar-stables in which there is no sun- 
hght. Damp, cold, and drafty stables greatly favor the spread of the 
disease, as do new brick or stone stables, until the mortar becomes 
perfectly dry. 

Debility from continued ill-health, low feeding, or overwork, lessens 
the power to resist the effects of specific poisons, because in such in¬ 
stances there is always an excess of waste material in the blood which 
furnishes an abundance of food for the germ to live and grow upon. 
So notorious is this fact that in the old days, when overthrifty animals 
were kept at work much more freely than they are now, this disease 
was looked upon as being the natural winding up of pretty much all 
of the debilitating diseases in the horse. Modern practice shows that, 
if the germ is excluded, debilitated horses do not die of glanders 
unless they have had it from the first. 

The channel of infection varies in different cases. In direct 
experimental inoculation the morbid process develops first at the 
point of operation and spreads from there to the nearest lymphatic 
glands, which with their veins are closely distributed over the entire 
body and in, practically, all of its tissues. It has also been communi¬ 
cated, experimentally, by mixing the nasal discharges from a diseased 
animal with both the food and water given to another, as well as by 
passing it directly, enclosed in a perfectly tight capsule, into the 
stomach of the non-diseased experimental animal. It is possible 
that the germs are carried in the air for short distances. 

The ordinary methods of infection, then, may be said to be the 
eating or drinking of contaminated food and water; to some little 
extent by breathing contaminated air; or rather unusually by rubbing 
the nose upon, or licking with the tongue, any object upon which a 
diseased animal may have deposited the virus, as the edge of a public 
drinking trough, on a pail, hitching post, or in the mangers whereat 
a number and constantly changing variety of horses are fed, as 
in stables attached to hotels throughout the country, or in the 
'^baiting” stables of the large towns and cities. It must also be 
remembered that the germ will live on inanimate objects outside the 
bodies of animals, and that in this way harnesses blankets, tools, or 
anything which has been used upon or been in contact with a glan¬ 
dered animal, is capable of contaminating a healthy one. 


1254 VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 

While the germs are most plentifully concentrated in the discharges 
from the nostrils and farcy sores, and practically all of the poison 
giving rise to new cases is distributed from them, no part of the body 
can be considered free from the poison. Glanders has been experi¬ 
mentally communicated by blood, tears, saliva, sweat, urine, and 
milk. 

Symptoms. — Glanders and farcy are each capable of assuming 
an acute and a chronic form. With us chronic glanders is much 
more commonly met with than the acute; while in farcy the opposite 
of this is the rule. 

Acute Glanders.— The symptoms are both general and local; 
the appetite is capricious or entirely lost; there is depression and rapid 
emaciation; the hair becomes dry and unhealthy looking; the animal 
shivers at intervals; the internal temperature ranges generally from 
one hundred and four to one hundred and seven, possibly a little higher, 
at which high point it will remain with very slight changes for some 
days, if the animal lives so long. In cases where the temperature 
does not reach to but little more than one hundred and four, the varia¬ 
tions will be greater from time to time. 

The heart-beats are strong and jerking. The pulse is frequent, 
quick, and small. The membranes of the eyelids are dark red in 
color. The membrane covering the partition between the nostrils is 
intensely red, and may look swollen; sometimes there is a little bleed¬ 
ing from it. The breathing is hurried and irregular and may be as 
fast as forty or even fifty in the minute, and is, not infrequently, accom¬ 
panied by a soft snoring sound; there may also be, less frequently, 
great distress for breath. 

In from two to four days, unless the animal dies from intensity 
of the fever before then, the fever diminishes somewhat and the local 
symptoms show themselves. Small yellow-headed pimples appear 
upon the covering of the partition between the nostrils, on one or both 
sides; they may be scattered or lie so close together as to appear like 
larger or smaller patches, of a yellowish gray color, slightly raised 
above the general surface. In one or two days these pimples (nodules) 
break and open sores appear in their places; the bottoms of these 
sores show fairly large patches of “proud flesh,” having a reddish 
violet color, that bleed upon the slightest touch. These sores (chancres, 
they are called) are numerous, spread rapidly, run together and form 
large sores having the same characteristics and showing no tendency 
to heal. 

With the appearance of the sores there comes a discharge from 
one or both nostrils, which, at first, is usually a yellow, sticky fluid, 
soon, however, becoming thicker, purulent looking, more or less streaked 
with blood or of a deep rusty color, and increased in quantity; nose¬ 
bleed may occur at intervals. 

Accompanying the development of the sores, on one or both sides, 


GLANDERS AND FARCY. 


1255 


depending upon this condition in the nostrils, a swelhng appears 
under the lower jaws and close to the inner side of the bones, which, 
at first, are rather soft, movable, and quite tender upon pressure. In 
a few days the borders of these enlargements become more distinct, 
harder, less movable, not quite so tender, and assume, after a little 
further time, the appearance described for the chronic form, as do 
the other symptoms, if the animal survives the acute attack. 

Acute glanders is not infrequently accompanied, preceded, or 
followed by a complication of farcy, when lymphatic vessels in vari¬ 
ous more external parts of the body become inflamed, corded, and 
have, open sores upon them. In cases which do not pass into the 
chronic form, the nostular openings, the walls of the nasal passages 
and the upper extremity of the windpipe, in the throat, may become 
more and more swollen until breathing becomes difficult in the extreme, 
and suffocation puts an end to the life. 

Other complications may occur, as intense inflammation of one or 
more joints; the fever, which may at first have subsided somewhat, 
upon the appearance of the eruption in the nostrils returns, when 
feebleness and prostration will become extreme. Pneumonia may 
be set up, which, with glanderous deposits that may have formed 
in the lungs, renders respiration more difficult and prostration more 
extreme. New sores may constantly form in the nostrils, the dis¬ 
charge from the nose constantly increase, the lungs become more or 
less filled with pus, and a profuse diarrhoea sets in to hurry death to 
the rescue. 

The fatal termination may occur in from two to fifteen days; and 
may be due to the intensity of the first fever, exhaustion, suffocation, 
or the lung disease, or a combination of the second and last. 

Chronic Glanders may continue for months or even years and 
the horse exhibit so little ill-health as to be kept at full work during 
the time. The symptoms may be local and general. Local sym- 
toms are a nasal discharge, sores upon the partition between the 
nostrils and enlargements under the jaws, which are more or less firmly 
attached to the inner side of the lower jaw-bones. 

Unless the case is one which began with the acute disorder, the 
first attractive signs will usually be those of an ordinary, chronic 
catarrh of the nasal passages, the discharge coming from one or both 
nostrils, most frequently from one only. At the very first the dis¬ 
charged material is rather clear, somewhat thicker than water and very 
sticky, but afterwards it becomes purulent, glutinous, and adhere to 
the skin around the nostular openings, forming there soft, greasy feel¬ 
ing crusts of a more or less deep brown color, which adhere somewhat 
unpleasantly to the fingers, when touched. There is a time just before 
the brown or rusty color appears when the discharge may show a rather 
greenish tint which has been largely accepted as being the character¬ 
istic color of the glanderous discharge. This is an error, for in several 


1256 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


other disorders which are accompanied by a purulent discharge from 
the nose, notably, when the roots of double teeth are diseased, this 
same colored pus is not infrequently seen. 

A case beginning as chronic may finally become acute, an early 
indication of which is that the nasal discharges become streaked 
with blood in small quantities. As a rule the discharge is without 
smell. 

Sores upon the membrane covering the partition between the 
nostrils are not commonly to be seen unless the nostrils have been 
first dilated with the fingers of the examiner. In a supposed case of 
glanders this examination must always be made, but before doing it 
great care must be taken to see that the skin upon the fingers and 
hands and face is absolutely tight, that there are no possible opportu¬ 
nities for inoculation either directly, or indirectly by the horse 
^‘blowing his nose’’ during the search. The sores are usually few in 
number, in one nostril only. Their favorite situations are on the par¬ 
tition between the nostrils, well up in the visible part of the cavity. 
At times they may be found upon both sides and to a considerable 
extent. Early in the case, or when a new sore is forming, one or 
more small yellowish or whitish pimples will be seen on the mem¬ 
brane. They are from the size of a mustard seed to that of a small 
pea, and perfectly defined. In two or three days the pimples disap¬ 
pear and in their places there is a small concave depression on the 
surface of the membrane. These are the beginning of the sores, and 
the first thing that, in this respect, will show absolute glanders, 
for harmless pimples are sometimes seen upon this same part. At 
this period the sore has a sharply defined border, is roughened at the 
bottom, is of a dull gray color streaked with blood-colored fines; or, 
if the attack approaches the acute form, these sores become bright 
red or violet in color. The sores, once formed, begin and continue 
to discharge a considerable quantity of pus, which, not infrequently, 
forms a yellow, slightly attached soft scab over it. The process 
continues, the sores enlarge with, as a rule, no tendency to heal; 
occasionally, however, their edges begin to contract, its depth is 
filled up by proud flesh” which finally becomes covered with a hard 
scab, the whole process ending in the formation of a roundish or star¬ 
shaped scar, the white color of which shows clearly on the red of the 
membrane surrounding it. The appearance of such a scar should 
not be looked upon as indicating that the animal has recovered, for 
while its presence shows that a check of some sort has occurred in 
the progress of the malady, and an effort, on the part of nature, to 
repair this effect of the disorder, it does not, in any way, indicate 
full recovery; on the contrary it has been shown over and over again 
that the systems of these animals retain, in one way or another, the 
virulent properties of glanders, from which all the ill effects of an acute 
attack may be conveyed to another. 


GLANDERS AND FARCY. 


1257 


Enlarged Glands under and between the lower jaws are insep¬ 
arable from the sores in the nostrils, although these last may be so 
high up in those cavities as to make it impossible for the examiner to 
see them. The swellings may appear upon either one or both sides, 
and be smaller or larger than an English walnut. At its first appear¬ 
ance it may be a httle soft and painful upon pressure, but it soon 
becomes hard, immovable, and perhaps fixed tightly to the skin 
covering it and to the jaw-bone. 

General Symptoms are not usually well marked; debility, un¬ 
thriftiness, uneven or diminished appetite, dulness, with slight fever, 
may be observed at first; but, even so, as soon as the local symptoms 
are well developed, whatever there may have been in the way of 
general disturbance not unusually subsides and the animal, except 
for the local signs, seems in good health. Sooner or later, however, 
it may be weeks or even many months, this stage of the disorder 
gives way and, perhaps because of the great amount of the poison 
which has been gradually accumulating in the system and almost 
imperceptibly weakening the vital forces of the animal until he has 
become better soil for the propagation of the germ, the full effects 
of which have been so long resisted, the acute form suddenly appears 
and the animal may die from it within a few days; or farcy, in one 
or other of its forms, may show itself. 

Although the nasal discharges, the peculiar sores inside the nostrils, 
and the characteristic swellings under the jaws, may be looked upon, 
when existing together, as a sure indication of the presence of glanders, 
it is by no means rare to meet with cases in which one, two, or even 
all of these signs are absent. 

Dry Glanders, as such cases are called, is by far the most dan¬ 
gerous form the disorder can assume, so far as the spread of the 
malady is concerned, as they may otherwise offer nothing, even to 
the rather close observer, that will lead to the suspicion of its exist¬ 
ence in them, until after a very long time; yet they readily infect 
healthy horsek and it is just these cases which maintain and propagate 
the disease in stables, in those instances in which outbreaks occur 
from time to time, often at long intervals, without any assignable 
cause. A post-mortem examination of the lungs, liver, spleen, bron¬ 
chial or abdominal (mesenteric) glands, one or all of them, will show, 
in these instances, the presence of small, hard, round, objects, vary¬ 
ing in size from a double B shot to a small pea, more or less 
plentifully distributed throughout their substances; and it is in these 
nodes that the seeds of the disorder reside. 

The thermometer offers the only known means through which one 
of these cases may be selected out from a stable full of horses; 
and its use, for this purpose, must be so precise and long con¬ 
tinued as often to make the examination either without any sure 
result or quite expensive. StiM the author has often employed it, 


1258 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


and always with good result, when the necessary conditions have 
been fulfilled. 

To apply this test the temperature of every horse that lives in the 
stable must be taken at the same hour each morning and carefully 
recorded. The animals may then go to their usual work for the day. 
The temperatures are again to be taken at the same hour every evening, 
preferably between five and six o’clock and not until every animal 
has been in his stall for at least two hours. The feeding must be done 
at the same hour every day and the food must be of the same materials. 

Any animal that shows an even normal temperature, both morning 
and night, for five days, may be looked upon as not having any form 
of glanders, and need not be examined further. If any animal shows 
an abnormal temperature, if only of one degree, constantly, either at 
the night or morning examinations, he becomes suspicious, should be 
taken from work and placed by himself for further similar examination. 
If he remains suspicious a veterinarian should be called and put into 
full possession of the circumstances; he will probably resort to what 
is known as the mallein test. The greater expense of the whole 
procedure comes through taking all of the horses away from a part 
of the day’s work; still, if a case of glanders is found, this will be fully 
repaid as time goes on. 

Acute Farcy. — The earlier symptoms are those of a more or less 
severe fever, accompanied by shivering fits, an unhealthy looking 
coat, considerable thirst and loss of appetite, with a temperature of 
from 103 to 105 or 106, rarely as high as 108. The pulse and breathing 
movements are faster in good proportion to the amount of fever 
present, nothing more. 

After a short time of this, perhaps a day or a little less or a little 
more, the early local symptoms appear. These are generally, but 
not always, confined to the limbs; there is a wide-spread general 
swelling of the skin, extending to the parts immediately beneath; 
the local surface is hot, painful, and, if a leg is implicated, great lame¬ 
ness. This condition may not be persistent from its first appearance, 
it may come and go to a certain extent for a while, but with each new 
onset all of the local symptoms will be markedly increased. 

After a little, following the swellings, the hard lumps, called farcy 
buds, begin to show themselves, together with hard ^‘cords’’ running 
from them. The oncoming of these ^‘buds” and cords” may be 
sudden, that is, the swollen and painful condition may have existed 
for a day or two without having shown exactly when the buds were 
to appear, when, rather unexpectedly, they are pushed beyond the 
general surface and attract the attention. In size they vary from 
that of a pea to that of a cherry; their edges are not sharply shown, 
and they are located either in the skin, the tissues immediately un¬ 
derlying it, or, rarely, to some extent, in the muscle itself. 

In a few days the buds will begin to soften at the center of their 


GLANDERS AND FARCY* 


1259 


tops, the skin gives way and open sores are formed which are known 
as farcy ulcers.” They are deep, angry looking, have ragged edges, 
and are disposed to increase in size by the constant giving way of 
their margins; they discharge a grayish white, creamy-like thick 
hquid, somewhat tinged with blood, and which, to a small extent, 
sticks around the* edges of the sores, forming often a brownish colored 
crust. If the sores are near enough to each other they may run 
together, thus forming a large, foul-looking, many-pitted ulcer, of an 
irregular shape, and a surface that bleeds easily. 

The “Cords’* are full, hard, and painful to the touch; in a little 
while after they appear their surfaces become swollen at various 
points; these swelUngs soften, after a time, open, and discharge a 
yellowish pus-hke fluid. They may, as in the case of the 'Tarcy 
ulcers,” join each other after a time, thus making a very unhealthy 
looking sore, rather long in proportion to its width, the inside of 
which is filled with a sticky, blood-stained, pus-like fluid. 

During this whole process there is a fever of a remittent type, 
repeated shivering fits and patchy sweatings; great and rapid loss of 
flesh with prostration of strength, which soon becomes extreme and 
the animal dies exhausted. Acute glanders often accompanies and 
helps to terminate this form of the malady. 

Chronic Farcy. — The symptoms here are almost entirely local, 
there being very little, if any, fever shown. Or if. as rarely hap¬ 
pens, there is slight fever, it will be of a well-marked remittent 
type, more so than in the acute form. 

The local symptoms will be those of the acute form very much 
lessened in force, speed of development, and general behavior. The 
location of the ^^buds” is, that, generally, where the skin is thinnest, 
as the inferior part of the chest, inside the forearms, along the belly, 
over the flanks; and inside the thighs. The ^^buds” are, as a rule, 
in the skin; the larger ones may extend to the deeper tissues. Then- 
course of development is variable; they may be widely separated 
and appear about the same time, or the first crop may be joined in 
a few days by others, which will probably be smaller in size. Their 
edges are sharply defined; hard at the bottom, and, as the period of 
opening is reached, they become more and more pointed in shape at 
the top. When the '^ulcers” are formed they discharge a thin, pale, 
yellowish pus and have but httle, if any, tendency to heal. The 
cords” may not be present at all or, if they are, it is more likely 
that they will be shown after the ulcer” has been formed. The 
whole operation is a sluggish one, and in certain rather rare cases the 
ulcers” have been known to heal and the horse to return to appar¬ 
ently good health; still, an animal of this kind is not a safe one to put 
among others that are healthy. 

Treatment naturally divides itself into the preventive and the 
curative. Prevention will consist in, so far as possible, keeping all 


1260 


VETEKINARY DEPARTMENT. 


diseased animals, or anything that has been used in connection with 
them, from coming into direct or, to a certain extent, indirect contact 
with others, as already indicated. All diseased or suspicious animals 
should at once be taken away from the stable in which an outbreak 
has occurred, and so kept until all suspicion has been set at rest. 
The premises should then be disinfected in the following manner: 
the mangers as well as the walls from floor to ceihng, and the floors 
themselves, in the infected stall, and perhaps for two others on each 
side of -it, should be well scraped, next thoroughly washed by having 
water, at as nearly the boihng point as possible, freely and thoroughly 
dashed over them. The premises should then be allowed to become 
thoroughly dry. After this is done some chemical means of disinfec¬ 
tion had best be used, although this is not so important as in some 
other infections, as the germ of glanders is easily killed by heat and 
dryness. Fumigation with formaldehyde gas is undoubtedly the 
best of all measures of this kind where it can be accomplished properly; 
or chlorine gas generated from black oxide of manganese and 
hydrochloric acid, or in any other way, of which there are several, 
is an efficient disinfectant for the purposes under consideration. It 
need hardly be said that during this operation all doors, windows, 
cracks, or openings of any kind, must be carefully stopped up; and 
everything that is alive taken out of the building and kept out for 
at least two hours after the last of the gas used has been generated. 
The whole process should take at least six hours. It is not prac¬ 
ticable in ordinary stables or in barns that are open to the roof. 

It will be as well, perhaps, in these instances, after the cleansing 
operation first advised has been thoroughly done, to give the stalls, 
walls, floors, and partitions two or three good coats of strong white¬ 
wash which contains six to eight ounces of crude carbolic acid to each 
gallon of the whitewash. All stable utensils, harness, clothing, etc., 
had best be destroyed, boiled in water, or put into a closed room 
which can be kept at a temperature of about one hundred degrees of 
dry heat for from five to seven hours. 

Much might be said here in relation to the better means to be used 
in stamping out the disorder entirely, as several similar diseases 
among animals have been, in this country; but when that effort is 
made, the work should be under the supervision of the general gov¬ 
ernment. It is at present impracticable, for one great reason at any 
rate: all of the cases cannot be recognized by any possible means that 
have as yet been discovered, but the writer has been able to stamp 
it out and keep it out from among something over nine thousand 
horses belonging to the same corporation, contained in some forty odd 
different stables, in several of which glanders had been present for a 
long time and had previously killed a large number of animals. 

Curative Treatment. — In some of the states and territories 
any person who knows of a case of glanders is obliged, under penalty, 


TUBERCULOSIS — CONSUMPTION. 


1261 


to report its existence to the local authorities, who then, gen¬ 
erally, take summary possession pf the animal and kill it out of. 
hand, in which cases they disinfect the premises. If, however, 
medical treatment is desired, and it had best always be used in cases 
that are no more than suspicious, there is nothing better than the 
old '‘farrier’s ball”; this consists of powdered sulphate of copper and 
powdered gentian root, equal quantities, three ounces, powdered 
Spanish flies, one dram; the whole to be thoroughly mixed together 
while dry; it is then to be mixed and rubbed together with a sufficient 
quantity of molasses to make a mass of about the consistency of rather 
hard putty; this mass is then to be divided into twelve equal portions 
and each portion rolled in a sheet of very thin brown paper until it is 
formed into a “ball,” which will be round, about two inches in length 
and three quarters of an inch in diameter. One of these “balls” is 
to be given night and morning, just after the horse has eaten, for as 
long as may be required. As there is quite a little risk of inocula¬ 
tion in giving the ball, unless one is proficient in the practise of placing 
it at the extreme back of the tongue, it will be better to shake the 
powder, properly divided into twelve parts, up with a teacupful of 
molasses and water and to drench in the usual way from a bottle. A 
heavy dogskin glove had best be used in either case. Some animals 
will eat the powder, if it is well mixed with a quart or so of dampened 
grain feed. 

In addition to this it will be wise to give one ounce of the sul¬ 
phite of soda, mixed with a cupful of water, two or three times a day. 

Many an animal has apparently recovered from chronic farcy, and 
it is reported upon good authority that a few cases of acute glanders 
have seemed to get well under this treatment. Still it must be remem¬ 
bered that such “recovered” animals are, perhaps, not unlikely to 
suddenly become centers of a new outbreak; and that attendance 
upon them, unless all precautions are very carefully attended to, is a 
dangerous matter, as a man will easily become inoculated through 
broken skin, and that glanders in him always proves fatal. 

Tuberculosis — Consumption. 

This is an infective disease and for its occurrence depends entirely 
upon the introduction of a germ (bacillus tuberculosis) into the sys¬ 
tem of an animal which contains good soil for its propagation and 
spread. The germ was first absolutely discovered in 1882. 

The malady is of very wide distribution and of ancient history. 
It affects, most commonly in the order given, cattle, horses, dogs, and 
sheep, of the animals now under consideration; but it is, undoubtedly, 
the cause of death among men and cattle to a larger extent than any 
one other disease. 

In Cattle, tuberculosis has been known and fairly well described, 
at various intervals and under various titles, from the time of the 


1262 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


promulgation of the Mosaic laws to the present day; and during all 
of this long period, notwithstanding all of the measures that have been 
undertaken to prevent its extension and to cure those affected with it, 
both cattle and men, it has claimed and still claims its thousands and 
thousands of victims each year. 

Causes. — The germ is most commonly transmitted by the living 
together of the affected and the healthy. It has repeatedly been 
shown, if a consumptive animal is put among a herd of healthy cattle, 
that the disorder will begin to show itself among them all, to a greater 
or smaller extent, after a shorter or longer time. 

It is very probable that the greater part of the new infection takes 
place through the air; not that the germ, as such, is exhaled into the air 
by the sick and inhaled by its neighbor, but that in coughing, or running 
from the nose, the diseased animal has deposited in the barn or about 
the premises a certain amount of fluid material containing the seed, 
and that after the fluid has become perfectly dry, the germ, which is 
very, very small and capable of living, under nearly all usual conditions 
for a long time, rises into the air with the other dust and is inhaled 
into the air passages and lungs by others. Other methods of infection 
are by cattle hcking each other, the lodgment of the infected dust 
upon the hay, which is afterward ^^fed out’’; in which instances the 
first noticeable signs will be in the throat or some part of the digestive 
organs. Milk from a sick cow will produce the disease in calves or 
pigs to which it may be fed. 

The proper soil for its germination is induced by constant stabling 
of the animals, especially in such buildings as are badly ventilated and 
drained; feeding innutritions and watery food; overproduction of 
milk or young; and in breeding. While it is an undoubted fact that 
a tendency to the malady is inherited from the parents, because of 
their constitutional lack of stamina being transmitted to the young, 
it should be distinctly understood that the conveyance of the disorder 
itself, by these means, is extremely improbable. When instances 
happen in which it seems as if this must be the cause, it is far more 
likely that the young animal has been allowed to suckle from a dis¬ 
eased mother, or else it has been allowed to remain in a contaminated 
building. 

Symptoms. — While not always so, it is generally true that tuber¬ 
culosis is of slow development and runs a chronic course. The symp¬ 
toms vary somewhat, depending upon its location in the body. 

In the Lungs there is at first a weak, short cough, which, however, 
as the disease there makes a considerable progress, becomes deeper, 
more difficult, and paroxysmal. It is more likely to be shown early 
in the morning, after drinking, or whenever the animal ^^gets up”; 
enforced exercise is apt to bring on a paroxysm. Breathing is more or 
less hurried and finally becomes distressing. The pulse is generally 
undisturbed at first; it afterwards becomes more rapid and small, 


TUBERCULOSIS — CONSUMPTION. 1263 

either in proportion to the amount of fever present or to the increas¬ 
ing debility. Its examination has no particular value. 

The Temperature is at first not very markedly disturbed; there 
may be a rise of one degree noticeable at the latter part of the after¬ 
noon. Later it rises to one hundred and three or one hundred and 
four, and may be, rarely, as high as one hundred and six or one hundred 
and seven; but even at this stage it is apt to go up and down; the 
highest readings of the themometer will generally be got quite early 
in the evening. 

Nutrition is sometimes seriously interfered with; at others, the 
animals keep in good flesh, have healthy-looking coats and bright 
eyes, even though the lungs are extensively diseased. 

In cases where the high temperatures are long maintained the 
animal gradually loses flesh, the hair becomes dry, and the skin hard 
and tight over the ribs; the appetite gradually lessens; the digestion 
is upset; the secretion of milk, which may have been remarkably 
good up to this time, falls off considerably, the eyes lose their luster, 
are sunken in their sockets, and bunches may or may not appear 
upon various parts of the body, as on the neck or in the throat, more 
commonly. 

Abdominal Tuberculosis proceeds much in the same way as that 
of the lungs, excepting there is no cough; and that cows are more 
apt to come in heat frequently, are less likely to conceive, and abort 
more frequently. 

Tuberculosis of the Udder is not uncommon and it should be 
fully understood that milk from such animals should not be given 
to any others to drink and should not be used for cheese or butter¬ 
making, because it is surely full of the germs, whatever may be thought 
of the milk, for these purposes, which is drawn from consumptive 
cows in which the udder itself is not diseased. There is at first a 
widespread, rather Arm, but painless swelling of a portion, or more 
rarely the whole, of the udder. After a little these swellings become 
harder and harder, the milk grows more watery, until finally the 
diseased portions become ^^as hard as a rock.” 

General Tuberculosis very frequently happens. In it the symp¬ 
toms partake of a mixture of all of those described, in a variety of 
combinations, together with, sometimes, lameness, swelling of joints, 
and enlargement of the ends of some of the bones. 

The fact of the matter is that it is often extremely difficult, by 
any physical examination that anybody can make, to determine 
whether an animal is tuberculous or not, unless indeed by using 
the tubercuhn test, which, in proper hands, is almost absolute. 
There are hundreds upon hundreds of animals that, after a most 
careful and skilful physical examination, will seem to be in ^Hhe 
pink , of perfection,” that, upon examination after death, from some 


1264 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


accident or for beef, will be found to have been tuberculous to a 
degree that will cause the greatest surprise. 

Treatment. — This again divides itself into the preventive and 
the medical. 

Preventive treatment is so large a matter, so far as the entire 
extinction of the malady is concerned, that it can only be undertaken 
by the general government, and the proper time for this is not 
yet.” 

So far as individual herds are concerned, all animals that are 
known to be diseased should at once be removed from the others, 
the bad cases killed, and the bodies properly disposed of. The 
remaining ones must be kept in the open air as much as possible; 
if they can be turned into hill pastures for the summer and kept in 
a field with adequate shelter through the winter, the arrangement 
will be the best possible and certain of them may recover. The 
question here is, will the ends warrant the loss and trouble of the 
undertaking? It will perhaps be better to make them into beef as 
soon as possible and accept some present loss rather than a possible 
total one at some time in the future. 

The absolute disinfection of premises is a matter of considerable 
difficulty and expense, especially when animals are kept in large, 
open barns, more or less full of fodder. The formaldehyde gas will 
have to be used in addition to the other means Qf disinfection already 
described. Some cattle owners w^ho have undertaken to ‘‘clean up 
their herds” have found it less expensive and troublesome to build 
new “cow sheds” and put into them only such animals as are found, 
by application of the tuberculin test, to be free from the malady, 
and to introduce no new animals, except those of their own raising, 
until after they have passed that test. 

Medical Treatment. — Among all the drugs in the list there 
are none that will “cure” consumption. If, however, it is desired, 
for any especial reason to undertake such measures, there is nothing 
better than cod liver oil and iodide of potassium, given two or three 
times a day in fairly full doses. It is undoubtedly true that life 
may be considerably prolonged, in this way, in many instances. If 
the digestion becomes upset by these measures the doses are to be 
lessened. The food should be very nutritious. 

The tuberculin test consists in injecting a certain amount of 
Koch’s tuberculin serum beneath the skin when, after a proper 
length of time, the disorder, if present in the animal, even in the 
smallest degree, wdll be declared with a certainty which is most 
remarkable; in proper hands and under favorable conditions, easily 
obtainable, its declaration is practically absolute. As the test is 
really a chemical one, it should be done with all the precision and 
delicacy that such tests usually demand, in order that sure results 
may be reached. 


TUBEECULOSIS — CONSUMPTION. 


1265 


In the Horse tuberculosis does not appear very frequently, 
although it certainly does so at times; nor is it certain whether the 
germs giving rise to it in them come from cattle or men. It may 
gain access through either the breathing tract or the stomach. The 
feeding of tuberculous milk from cows has produced it in foals. 

That horses do not usually furnish a good soil for propagation is 
shown by the fact that it is extremely difficult to make a successful 
experimental inoculation in them, with poisonous material taken 
either from cattle or men. 

Symptoms are not distinctive. When the lungs are infected the 
symptoms will probably be those of a more or less chronic bronchitis: 
cough, emaciation, which is rapid at times, increasing debility, loss 
of appetite, difficulty in breathing, and frequent urination. 

The temperature is uneven but does not rise to as high a point 
as in cattle. The pulse furnishes no particularly valuable signs, 
simply keeping pace, in the usual way, of fever and increasing debility. 

When the digestive apparatus is affected, the symptoms will be 
those of cattle in the similar situation. At first constipation and 
diarrhoea will alternate, afterwards an uncontrollable diarrhoea 
appears which rapidly so debilitates the animal that he dies from 
physical exhaustion. 

Treatment should be directed to allaying the symptoms of the 
various disorders of the lungs or digestion, as they may appear, 
under rules given for the various disorders in another part of this 
volume. If consumption is actually present the animal cannot live, 
although death may not take place for from six to twelve months, 
or even longer. 

In Sheep the malady is rarely seen; it exists, perhaps, in about 
fifteen hundredths of one per cent. Infection is from living with 
diseased cattle and from drinking milk from them. The symptoms 
are those of cattle, but particularly great loss of flesh, white visible 
membranes, and cough. 

In Dogs consumption is not infrequently seen, but still it does not 
exist among them to anywhere near the extent in which it is present 
in cattle and men. 

The germ is introduced either through the nostrils, as when an 
animal lives in the house or room of a consumptive man and inhales 
the dust, or through the stomach, in those instances wherein the dog 
is allowed to lick up the sputum coming from a diseased person, or to 
eat food that has been chewed by them. 

Symptoms vary greatly, depending upon the location and extent 
of the disorder. The symptoms usually shown are those of some 
chronic affection of the breathing apparatus with a persistent cough. 
If the animal is to die from it he loses flesh rapidly, coughs harder, 
breathes with more difficulty, loses strength, as first shown by the 


1266 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


uncertain movement of the hind legs in walking, there is irregular 
fever, and, finally, an exhaustive diarrhoea. 

Treatment.— In the early stages, in fact before it can readily 
be ascertained that consumption is really present, the dog should be 
treated, for the symptoms presented, under the general rules — good 
nourishing food and not too much of it, cod liver oil, and a pill of 
citrate of iron and quinine; one grain of each for small dogs and 
two grains of each for large ones; a pill to be given three times a day. 
Good attention must be paid to the digestion; if too much constipated, 
increase the dose of the oil, or give an ordinary tablet of cascara, 
one half for small animals, each evening, for as long as is required. 
Diarrhoea will scarcely be present so long as the iron pills are used, 
until the case has progressed so far as to be hopeless. A long stand¬ 
ing case cannot be cured; and in any recognized case, because of some 
danger of communication to man, it will be much safer to destroy 
the animal than to treat him. 

The tuberculin test sometimes gives good results, but is rather 
apt, in dogs, if the disease be present, to give rise to symptoms that 
end fatally. 

Lockjaw — Tetanus 

This is another infective disease, the presence of which depends 
upon the introduction of a certain germ (discovered in 1884) into the 
blood of a living animal. The germ lives freely outside the body in 
the soil, particularly those that are rich in animal manures, perhaps 
especially that of horses. Its geographical distribution is practically 
unlimited, although it is much more prevalent in hot than in cold 
climates. 

Any of the animals may have it, but it is most frequently developed 
in them in the following order: horses and mules, sheep, cattle, and 
dogs. 

Causes. — The germ is most frequently carried into the body by 
wounds, penetrating through into the blood, made by objects having 
infected soils attached to them; or when, after a clean wound has been 
received, it becomes contaminated by a direct application of dirt to 
it, as from street dust, or a soiled handkerchief, piece of dusty bagging, 
old dusty cobwebs, dirty hands and finger nails, etc. It is not prob¬ 
able that it is conveyed through the stomach. * 

The germs having been received into the wound remain there and 
the body becomes affected through a poison developed by them at 
that spot; this is a remarkable variation from the usual course pursued 
in diseases of this class. 

General Symptoms. — After the wound has been made, and in 
a period lasting from six hours to six weeks, generally within a few 
days, muscular spasm begins to be shown, more particularly in the 
neck and head, spreading from them to the trunk and legs. The nose 


LOCKJAW — TETANUS 


1267 


is at first protruded upon an outstretched stiffened neck, the eyes are 
drawn back into the sockets, which throws the haw up over them, 
the back and legs are more or less stiff, and the whole picture presented 
is one peculiar to the disorder, and when once seen will not be for¬ 
gotten. 

Because of the spasms of the head muscles the power to chew 
food is very much interfered with or lost entirely; if the muscles of 
the throat become involved, swallowing becomes more or less impos¬ 
sible. The back may be curved up or down, it is most generally 
down; and the belly becomes tucked up and the animal constipated; the 
legs, almost or quite incapable of bending or being bent, are stretched 
out both behind and forward and appear like four bracing stakes. 
If the muscles of the ribs become implicated, breathing is shallow 
and frequent. The pulse, although the artery feels hard under the 
finger, is not particularly disturbed in number, even though the 
breathing movements are as many as forty-eighty to the minute. 
The temperature at first is but little, if any, elevated; if it does rise, 
the elevation does not remain above the normal for any length of 
time together, unless the animal is growing worse. Sweating is at 
times profuse. 

The spasms of the muscles, though never entirely absent, occur 
with greater intensity, at irregular periods, and their frequency is in¬ 
creased by great light, any sudden or continued noise, as well as by the 
approach of strangers, or if he falls down, as he is not unlikely to do 
at any time, if his legs become very stiff. During the paroxysms 
all of the symptoms are considerably increased in severity, and if the 
repetition of them becomes frequent or they remain at long periods at 
a time the animal will die. 

As the disease grows worse and a fatal termination is to be the 
result, all symptoms increase in intensity; the breathing is very rapid 
and may be from eighty to one hundred in the minute; the pulse hard 
and from seventy to ninety in the minute, in horses; the temperature 
becomes elevated to one hundred and six or one hundred and seven; 
and much higher just before and, for a little while, just after death, 
so high, possibly, as one hundred and twelve. The brain generally 
remains clear almost to the end, and because of this and the great 
suffering, such an animal, if not mercifully destroyed, is a pitiable 
object. 

In Cattle the particular differences to be noticed are the frequent 
drawing back of the lips; the back is arched; the hurried breathing 
does not appear so early in the attack, gases form in the paunch so as 
to greatly distend the belly, in a few days, and the spasms are not so 
frequent or severe as in the horse. 

In Sheep, the legs, beginning with the hind ones, are stiffly 
stretched out, the animal does not move, the tail is stiff and carried 
straight out. After a little time the animal falls down and lies with 


1268 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


the legs stiffly straightened out, with the neck drawn backward; 
which increases the difficulty of breathing. 

In Dogs general tetanus is rare, so much so that it was formerly 
supposed this animal was not affected at all by the disorder. Still, later 
experience has shown they do have it, at times. The affected dog 
will show a stiff, elevated head and neck, the ears stiff, anxious expres¬ 
sion of the face, a puckering into folds of the skin of the forehead; the 
legs are stretched out and stilty, and the voice is lost because of the 
stiffness of the muscles of the jaw and throat. 

The Mortality is very great: in horses from seventy-five to 
eighty-five per cent; in cattle from seventy to eighty; in sheep about 
one hundred, or nearly all of them; in dogs it is much smaller. The 
periods at which the fatal termination is reached are variable, A 
quickly developed case never recovers. Horses live about a week, 
although the period may be anywhere from one day to two or three 
weeks. Recovery in about three weeks. 

In Cattle the course is not so rapid and the disease runs its 
course in about three weeks. A fatal end may come anywhere from 
two days onward, a]ter full establishment of the symptoms. Recovery 
is from two to three weeks. 

In Sheep death usually takes place in about one week, although 
it may happen in two or three days. 

In Dogs the rapidity of the course will be about as in sheep; the 
end is not so universally fatal. Recovery may take place in from 
twelve to fourteen days. 

Treatment. —The wound should at once and for all be cleansed 
as thoroughly as possible under the given circumstances, by remov¬ 
ing all foreign substances that can be found; syringing out thoroughly 
and repeatedly with a solution of one part of corrosive sublimate to 
one thousand parts of water; and cutting away or burning out the 
tissues that may have become contaminated, as far as possible, with a 
sharp knife, a red-hot iron, or, perhaps better than either, a few drops 
of pure carbolic acid, or, in dogs, pure nitrate of silver instead of the 
acid. This cannot be done always, either because of the stiffness of 
the animal or that the attempt to do so will cause strong and persistent 
spasms, in which cases this part of the treatment must not be under¬ 
taken. The animal should then be placed where the light is dim, 
the air good, as far removed from noise as possible, and seen only by 
his nurse, who should always be the same individual, an acquaintance 
if possible. For it is through careful, quiet nursing only, that recovery 
may be hoped for. Horses had better be put into slings at once so 
that they may be saved from falling if the legs become stiff. 

The food should be very nourishing and made quite soft by 
the addition of boiling water, and allowed to get cold before being 


POX — VARIOLA. 


1260 


offered to the animal. Ground oats, corn-meal, the last bulked with 
a little wheat bran, if necessary; no hay or anything that must be 
chewed much before it can be swallowed, excepting a very little 
freshly cut grass, if it can be obtained. All food not eaten should be 
removed before it gets soured. For dogs, strong beef broth, milk, and 
raw eggs. The food should be given often, each two or three hours, 
and in small quantities at a time. Fresh water in large quantities 
should always be kept within easy reach of the animal. No attempt 
to relieve constipation should be undertaken unless considerable 
annoyance is caused b}^ its presence. Manure may be removed from 
the larger animals with the hand and arm; injections of strong, warm, 
soapy water may be given the smaller ones, but either operation is 
apt to excite them considerably. 

Medication, if used to any considerable extent, will do more harm 
than good, because its administration adds so much to the general 
excitement. The writer has had very good success with cases, in 
which he has used the sulphate of atropia, a product of the belladonna 
plant. Three grains of this agent, for a good-sized adult horse, is 
folded in a piece of very thin tissue paper one inch square and slowly 
and carefully pushed into the mouth through the space between the 
front and back teeth, and allowed to remain there. It may be given 
two or possibly three times a day, at equal intervals. The dose of 
this very poisonous drug must be varied for the different animals and 
for young ones. (See dose table at end.) Further medication is not 
recommended. 

In a stall or box in which a case of this disorder has been kept, 
and after the animal has been removed from it, the floor and walls 
should be thoroughly cleaned from all dust and manure, by dry scrap¬ 
ing and brushing. 

There is a serum (anti-toxin) the use of which will prevent the 
development of lockjaw in instances wherein the germs have gained 
access in the usual way. But in order that it may be surely effective 
it must be administered before any symptoms of the malady are 
shown; it probably possesses no curative powers when the disease has 
developed. 

Pox —Variola. 

Variola affects horses, cattle, sheep, and dogs. It is of ancient 
history and widely extended occurrence. Sheep-pox and small-pox 
(of man) are rather dissimilar to the others and were probably brought 
to us from the extreme East. 

Causes. — It is a contagious infective fever accompanied by a 
rash which ultimately produces larger or smaller pustules that, in the 
end, form scabs and drop or are rubbed off. The contagion is both 
direct from a sick animal or through the air in infected premises. It 
is contained in the pustules, the scabs, blood, secretions, excretions. 


1270 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


expired air, and the scurf from the skin. The contagious principle 
remains active for a considerable time and, in sheep particularly, 
may be carried comparatively long distances. One attack is all 
that the same animal may be expected to have. 

General Symptoms. — The disorder will begin to show itself 
in about one week after it has been “taken,” when there will be a 
marked feverish attack, accompanied by some signs of nasal catarrh 
and general redness of the skin. Suddenly, upon this red surface, little 
red spots will begin to be shown which soon look like pimples; these, 
growing harder, get to be about the size of a millet seed or a little 
smaller, and are surrounded by a red ring. After a few days the tops 
of the little pimples lose the hardness and bright red color and take 
on the appearance of small blisters of a bluish white color. This 
eruptive stage takes from six to eight days and, with the filled blisters, 
the pocks are fully matured. Following this, the blisters turn into 
pustules; this operation takes place within two or three days, at the 
end of which the fever, which disappeared in a marked degree with 
the beginning of the eruption, now reappears. The pustules dry up 
little by little into, first, yellowish crusts, afterward becoming dark 
brown scales, which fall off leaving behind white, glossy, or brownish 
red scars. This last process lasts from three to five days. 

Horse-pox is not as commonly seen as formerly, and when 
it makes its appearance does so in certain districts, not in single 
cases. It may be transmitted to sheep, cows, and men. 

Symptoms. — There is at first a rise of temperature and loss of 
appetite. This is soon followed by a swollen, hot skin at the back 
of the pastern bones, under the fetlock, that may, in certain instances, 
extend upward to some little extent. This same appearance of the 
skin may also be rarely noticed on other parts of the body, especially 
in the neighborhood of the nose and lips, sometimes extending into 
the mouth and nostrils. With the swelling of the skin at the pasterns 
the animal becomes quite lame and if made to move hfts his feet 
high off the ground. After a little the blisters appear and the disorder 
progresses as described. The whole process will occupy some three 
or four weeks when all will, generally, be right again. 

Cow-pox. — The contagious principle is not so easily and widely 
spread as that of sheep, and is mainly carried by the hands of the 
milkers going from diseased animals to the healthy ones. There is 
also some reason for believing that a person, recently vaccinated 
against small-pox, may convey the disorder to cows by milking them. 
Cow-pox can be transmitted to sheep, horses, and men. 

Symptoms. — Fever is absent or only slightly marked, there may 
be some slight disturbance of the general health, best shown by the 
decrease in the amount of milk given, and the milk may be thinner. 
It is possible that the slight decrease in the milk is because of the 


POX — VARIOLA. 


1271 


pain caused by handling the sore teats, in milking. The pimples 
niay be larger but are less in number and vary somewhat in color in 
different skins. The whole process lasts about three weeks in a 
given animal, but its progress through a herd is slow, as all of the cows, 
with very few exceptions, will sooner or later be attacked. Bulls, 
oxen, and young cattle are less frequently affected. 

Sheep-pox is of more importance than that of any other animal. 
The infectious principles are conveyed in the air as well as being 
fixed; its vitality is so great that a building into which it has been 
introduced will remain infected for five or six months. It may be 
conveyed, by an animal that has had it, for six weeks after apparent 
recovery. The germs are also conveyed by infective sheep, by dogs, 
wool, skins, manure, fodder, the clothes of people, railroad cars, etc. 

Symptoms. — Within from four to seven days after exposure 
there is shivering, fever, depression, shown by a hanging head, con¬ 
siderable weakness, and loss of cud and appetite. The temperature 
rises to one hundred and four or one hundred and five, perhaps a 
little higher; pulse and breathing are more frequent than normal, in 
proportion to the fever present. In a day or two the red spots, etc., 
appear upon the skin where the wool is not thick, especially upon 
the head, near the eyes, nose, and mouth, or on the inner surface of 
the legs, chest, and belly; rarely, it may become more widely spread. 

On the fifth day after the eruption the pimples become whiter 
and show the red ring; if they lie closely, as on the head and about 
the eyes, the neighboring skin becomes very much swollen. The 
temperature now falls and within a few days the pimples increase in 
size and contain fluid. On the sixth or seventh day after the erup¬ 
tion the pocks are ^^ripe,^’ from which time onward the pimples 
become pustules; the temperature again rises, the symptoms of acute 
catarrh of the breathing apparatus and the eyelids appear, with a 
more or less abundant fluid discharge from both the nose and mouth, 
and there is difficulty in both swallowing and breathing; diarrhoea 
may appear. The head becomes swollen, the skin has a bad smell, 
the pustules wither and dry up, the brown scales appear, finally leaving 
the white or red scars. The disorder continues in an ordinary case 
for about three weeks. Unfortunately there are many variations of 
the usual type, in this animal, some of which, not infrequently, cause 
a large death rate, which is not at all usual in the other animals.- 
Several of the pocks may run together and form a large, unhealthy 
sore and the sheep die of blood poison. Lung or throat difficulties 
(croup) may appear and death be caused by suffocation, or if the 
animals live they are left greatly exhausted, in an unhealthy condition 
and perhaps lame or blind. 

If the disorder is introduced into a herd, only two or three per cent 
escape infection; the mortality is from ten to twenty per cent under or¬ 
dinary circumstances, and fifty or more per cent under unfavorable ones. 


1272 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


Dogs seldom have pox, although it is possible for them to do so. 
When it occurs the course is light, regular, and is followed by recovery 
in from two to three weeks. 

Treatment. — As the disorder runs a regular self-limited coifrse 
there is not much to be accomplished by curative measures. The 
skin can be kept clean and a little cooler by washing the diseased 
portions with saleratus (bicarbonate of soda) water; one tablespoon¬ 
ful of the saleratus to each one quart of water used; or with a solution 
of borax in water, as strong as it can be made, using the crystals of 
borax, not the powdered agent. In large flocks individual applica¬ 
tions or administrations of any kind become practically impossible. 
In the few cases wherein throat, lung, or other complications arise, 
it may be possible to treat the disease which has been set up, under 
the general rule; as, for instance, the confluent variety, sometimes 
appearing among sheep, may receive the treatment laid down for 
septicaemia, etc. The food should be sound, clean, and nourish¬ 
ing; the premises as well cleansed and disinfected as possible, and 
there is no better method for this purpose than that recommended 
in glanders, excepting that the carbolic acid must be used in the 
strength of six ounces of the pure acid to each gallon of the white¬ 
wash. It may be applied, one coat at a time, at intervals of a week 
or ten days, until after the last case has recovered; and in a sheep-barn 
for a longer period, as already indicated, unless the formaldehyde 
gas can be used, which is extremely doubtful in this class of build¬ 
ings. Protective inoculation is possible. 

Lump Jaw —Actinomycosis. 

Under the first of these titles a disease of the jaw-bones of cattle 
has long been recognized as occurring more or less frequently. 

Causes. — The disorder is due to germs which grow upon various 
plants, some of which, as barley, rye, and some kinds of grasses, 
are used in their dried state as fodder, and either lodge and remain 
in the mouth or are passed on into the digestive organs; or the germs, 
developed in the usual way, may get mingled with dust, inhaled, and 
produce their peculiar growth in the lungs. It may also appear in 
the teats of cows, or gain entrance through a wound upon the surface 
of the body. It is not contagious, as from the animal, but, contrary 
to the usually accepted opinion, it affects not only cattle, hut also 
horses, sheep, and men. General symptoms are not present unless the 
growth has taken place in some vital organ, in a sufficient degree to 
interfere with its full and proper action. Then, the symptoms will 
be referable to those affecting that organ, and the cause, if really 
actinomycosis, can no more than be guessed at. Local symptoms 
are a larger or smaller lump with a fairly smooth surface, which may 




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EXPLANATION OF (colored) ILLUSTRATION OF COW. 


1. Brain. 

2. Small brain. 

3. Spinal column and ribs. 

4. Nostrils. 

5. Jaw. 

6. Tongue. 

7. Trachea of windpipe. 

8. Gullet running to stomach between the lungs. 

9. Heart. 

10. Lungs showing bronchial tubes. 

11. Liver. 

12. Stomach. 

13. Large intestines. 

14. Small intestines. 

15. Mesentery. 

16. Bladder. 

17. Left kidney. 

18. Rectum. 

19. Vagina. 



A 


LUMP JAW. 


1273 


be either harder or softer; as very hard when a bone, as the jaw-bones 
of cattle are affected, or softer when other tissues become implicated. 

In Cattle the lumps usually appear in the upper or lower jaw¬ 
bones, where they may grow to a large size and imphcate both the soft 
and bony tissues. At other times and frequently, the tongue becomes 
diseased, when it takes the form of a hard inflammation of that organ; 
this was formerly called wooden-tongue. It begins as a collection 
of round brown spots which are elevated above the surface; the cheeks 
may be similarly affected. In the throat the lumps are much softer, 
have a smooth surface, and vary in size from a pea to a large egg. 
In which case there is more or less difficulty in both breathing and 
swallowing. Deeper than this (they have, rarely, been found in the 
hver, and frequently in the lungs) their presence is only to be ‘‘guessed 
at,” as has been said. 

When in the sldn and tissues immediately underlying it, the lumps 
usually feel firm and elastic; in size they may be as small as a small 
nut or larger than a man’s fist; they may be the color of beef; covered 
with a brown crust; or with a pus-like material. 

In Horses the disorder has been found to be present in the 
bones, tongue, windpipe, the glands under the jaws, which swell, as 
described in glanders, for which they have been mistaken, and on the 
end of the cord, after castration. 

In 5heep the lungs as well as some of the muscles are rarely 
affected. 

Treatment.—Formerly, unless the growth was located near the 
surface and could be easily reached and cut out, the case was 
given up as hopeless. And while an operation may be done now, if 
desired, it has been found that the internal administration of the 
iodide of potassium is an absolutely specific remedy. Each cow should 
be given daily, for fourteen days, one-half ounce of this salt dissolved 
in one-half pint of water. The dose may be reduced by one or two 
sixths when recovery begins to show itself, which should be within 
the fourteen days or perhaps less. In particularly obstinate cases a 
dose of four ounces a day may be given for a short time. The daily 
dose should be divided into two parts, one given in the morning, the 
other in the evening. 

There is a great value in the use of this drug, the administration 
of which is generally harmless, in helping to find out whether the 
trouble in the internal organs is really the suspected one or not. 

Strangles — Horse Ail. 

This is an acute disorder, the occurrence of which depends upon 
the presence of a germ which is found in the discharges from the nose 
of an ailing animal. It will probably live for a short time and under 


1274 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


favorable conditions, outside the body, and be spread in the form^ of 
dust. When the poison is experimentally inoculated into the inside 
of the nostrils, strangles is produced; when into the skin it forms a 
local abscess. 

Causes. — It chiefly affects young animals or any horse whose 
vital forces have been weakened by cold, catarrh of the upper air 
passages, bad climatic conditions, especially the sudden changes of 
the weather taking place in the spring or, to some extent, in the fall; 
overfeeding without sufficient exercise, continued over-exertion, long 
journeys on sea or land, general irregular stable management, and, 
perhaps more common than all, the bringing of horses from the 
country into large city stables, in which the germs are seldom absent, 
and where the animals are collected together, in large numbers within 
a small air space. 

The germs are usually absorbed through the breathing tract; 
they may also gain access by way of the digestive organs. The poison 
enters the blood and raises the temperature of the animal before the 
local symptoms appear. One attack protects from a second one 
for at least two years, generally through life. Strangles are not 
unlikely to show various complications. 

Symptoms. — In an ordinary case the appetite will be lessened 
or lost, the legs, especially the hind ones, may swell a little and the 
animal will be listless and dull. If the temperature is taken at this 
time it will be found to be one hundred and three to one hundred and 
five, although the pulse and breathing have not yet become disturbed. 
Following this, after a few days a discharge will take place from the 
nose, which, at first clear and sticky, soon becomes of a grayish or 
yellowish green color and more or less like pus; its quantity is much 
more profuse in young than in old animals. At the time when the 
pus-hke discharge begins, a swelling will be found under and between 
the lower jaws. This enlargement, which is that of one of the glands, 
feels hot and is tender to the touch, and while small at first it may 
increase rapidly and to such an extent as to fill up the entire space 
between the jaws. 

While, in rather rare instances, the enlargement gradually dis¬ 
appears and the parts return to their usual appearance; as a rule, 
however, soft places begin to show on its surface and it terminates 
in an abscess which, upon bursting or being opened, discharges a 
great quantity of pus, leaving a cavity pr pocket which ultimately 
heals and all of the parts return to their usual condition. 

The first rise in temperature, as described, is soon followed by a 
drop of from one to three degrees, and the lessened heat remains until 
pus begins to form in the swelling, when it again shows an increase 
which is maintained until the abscess has discharged, when, in favor¬ 
able cases, it will fall within a short time to the normal point. 

The pulse will show no material change until the abscess begins 


STRANGLES — HORSE AIL. 


1275 


to form, when it may become as frequent as fifty or sixty beats in 
the minute. A higher pulse rate is not met with unless the strength 
of the animal has previously been weakened in some way, or when 
complications arise in the course of the disorder. 

The breathing will not be materially changed unless some of the 
discharge gets into the throat, when there will be a cough at vary¬ 
ing intervals; or when the bunch, because of its location or size, 
presses against the upper end of the windpipe. 

The animal will not eat well until the abscess has discharged its 
contents and lost its soreness; this is because of the pain caused by 
movements of the jaws. During the period of recovery there is often 
a considerably increased flow of urine, which should cause no uneasi¬ 
ness and needs no treatment. The average death rate is small, not 
over three per cent, and under proper treatment should not begin to 
reach even to that. 

As has been said, strangles not infrequently becomes complicated, 
and it is these that are most to be dreaded. 

First and most common. The poisonous effect becomes extended 
to the region around the upper end of the gullet and causes there an 
inflammation, the symptoms of which are difficulty in swallowing, 
heavy drooling from the mouth, and a very moist, suppressed cough. 
This is soon followed by a swelling of the glands which lie under the 
ears and just behind the upward curves of the lower jaw-bones, in 
the neck. These swellings, tender upon pressure, frequently become 
very large and give rise to extensive swelling of the skin and upper 
neck. Pus quickly forms in these enlargements, the surface of the 
swelling softens, at one or more places, opens and discharges freely; 
this is the most favorable termination. 

In other instances, the great pressure of the swelling upon the soft 
structures within the throat causes them to give way, at one point or 
another, when the pus discharges inwardly and is very apt to fall into 
the lungs; and gives rise to pneumonia, gangrenous lungs, and a fatal 
termination. 

Second. The inffammation set up by the poisonous material in 
the back part of the nose may extend to the upper end of the wind¬ 
pipe, producing a distressing whistling cough and very difficult breath¬ 
ing Such a case, after recovery, may leave the horse a permanent 
“roarer” or “whistler.” 

Third. An inflammation of the skin of the head and face may 
take place, with the formation of a large number of small, shallow 
abscesses. In this way the lips may become so swollen as to be as 
hard as a board, and the nostrils so closed as to make breathing diffi¬ 
cult. 

Fourth. Strangles may be complicated with pyaemia. (See article 
on pyaemia.) It then is called bastard strangles. The pyaemia is gen¬ 
erally of the more chronic form, the animal grows thinner and thinner 
and becomes much “tucked up” in the belly. Abscesses continue 


1276 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


to form inside and, more rarely, upon the outside surface of the 
body. 

Fifth. The malady may assume a chronic form; the nasal dis¬ 
charges continue, much flesh is lost, and symptoms of chronic indiges¬ 
tion follow. 

Death, when it takes place, as it is apt to do to a considerable 
extent in some of the complicated cases, is usually caused by general 
blood-poisoning. It may happen from suffocation, rarely. 

Treatment.— The animal should at once be placed, as far as 
possible, into a clean, exceedingly well ventilated stable, but free 
from drafts of air; and given good sound nourishing food; hay, freshly 
cut grass, and at least six quarts of the best oats per day; if he 
will eat nine quarts, with relish, so much the better, as the disorder 
is very debihtating and strength is kept up more naturally and fully 
in this way than by any other and more artificial means. 

Internal medication is not particularly useful, as the fever will 
disappear of itself as soon as the abscess is opened, and nothing will 
be gained by trying to “cut it short.” The animal will be a little 
more comfortable, however, if he is allowed to drink water in which 
powdered saltpeter has been dissolved. The saltpeter may be used 
up to one ounce a day, and eight or ten swallows of the water given 
every thirty to sixty minutes. 

The greatest endeavor of treatment should be directed to bringing 
the swelling forward to the formation of the abscess. Usually there 
is nothing better for this than the careful and persistent application 
of hot poultices to the parts; the poultice may be made of flaxseed 
meal, or, just as well and at much less cost, “ oil meal,” which is obtain¬ 
able from any grain dealer. This should be mixed with boiling water 
and made as soft as it can be to stay in place; it may then be spread 
upon any strong cotton cloth, and when cool enough put over the 
swelhng and held in place by a home-made hood, which will come 
nearly down to the nose and be tied closely under the jaws; if holes are 
cut, at where the ears come, the poultice will not shift so easily. A 
new hot poultice should be put on three times daily, remembering that 
the sooner the abscess can be brought to a “head” the quicker the 
case will get well and the less danger there will be of any complication. 
If the swelling is slow in coming to the desired point, it may gen¬ 
erally be hastened by rubbing onto it a very little plain blistering 
ointment; as, powdered Spanish fly one dram, to lard one-half ounce, 
mixed thoroughly together and used once as directed. As soon as 
the abscess softens at any point it should be carefully opened with a 
clean, sharp-pointed knife, little by little, until the pus begins to flow, 
when the wound may be carefully made a little larger. After it has 
been opened and thoroughly emptied by gentle pressure, it may be 
washed with warm water and the poultice again put on twice a day 
for one, two, or three days, until the pus is all discharged, when it 


PINK EYE 


INFLUENZA. 


1277 


may be taken off and the parts washed clean once daily with a mix¬ 
ture of one part of lysol to fifty parts of cold water; or a solution of 
carbolic acid of the same strength may be used instead of the lysol. 
In cleansing the part it will be best to use a sufficiently large piece 
of absorbent cotton, which can be immediately burned when it is 
finished with, a new piece being taken each time. 

Complications must receive the treatment given to similar troubles, 
as they appear. The extended abscess, under the ears and back of 
the jaws, should be taken care of as described above. 

' Strangles in Dogs is said to have been noticed. The symptoms 
will consist of a discharge from the nose, a swelling of the lips and head, 
due to the formation of small abscesses, which may lead to pysemia. 

Treatment will consist in bathing the swollen parts with quite 
warm water for ten or fifteen minutes at a time, three or four times 
a day, to hurry the softening process as much as possible, opening the 
abscesses as soon as they are ready and keeping the parts clean with 
the lysol solution. The food should be good, given in small quantities 
three times a day intsead of once, and consist largely of milk and 
finely chopped raw, lean, beef with some stale bread crumbled into 
the milk and fed when the bread has softened. In addition a pill 
of citrate of iron and quinine, two grains each for large dogs, half the 
size for small ones, should be given two or three times a day. If 
constipation is persistently present, give a medium sized dog, at one 
dose, one-half ounce each of castor and sweet oil, varying the quantity 
up or down in proportion to the size of the animal and the degree of 
constipation present. 

There is no connection between strangles in horses and the so- 
named disease of dogs. 

Pink Eye—Influenza, Epizootic, Etc. 

Affects horses, men, and perhaps cattle. It has been known to 
exist and is described from as far back as the fourteenth century, 
during which time, even up to the present, it has been and is called 
by a great many different names. In fact it seems as if more than 
one malady had been looked upon as being that now under consider¬ 
ation. Some of these have been sifted out and are now placed where 
they belong, until, at the present time, influenza may be described as 
being an infectious disease which is subject to several important 
complications. 

Causes are simply those of a highly infectious principle, or germ, 
the exact nature of which has not yet been fully discovered; it is 
passed along from horse to horse or from locality to locality in an 
evenly progressive way until, within a very short time, large numbers 
will at times become its victims. At other times it will not affect 
more than one or two horses in a stable, although, at the same time, 


1278 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


a large number of the stables in a given town will, each of them, 
contain a few of the cases. It may be rife in a given locality, while 
in another, not more than a few miles distant, there will not be a 
case. At other rare intervals of time it will extend over a whole 
country, as was well shown in the United States in 1872 to 1873. 

The poisonous principle seems to be easily carried in the air, 
which has become mixed with that breathed out by a diseased or 
convalescent animal, for a shorter or longer distance at various times, 
and under conditions not understood. Sometimes the poisonous 
quality survives but a short time in such air; at others it not only 
seems to survive for a longer period but to be capable of being widely 
extended, as has been shown. The same peculiarity concerning the life 
of the germs within the living bodies of animals seems to exist at times. 

The germ from contaminated air is inhaled, becomes absorbed, 
and a new case is created. While one attack is usually all that comes 
to one animal, a second has been known to occur. Mules and donkeys 
are equally ^affected with horses; and there exists a not entirely un¬ 
founded impression that horse distemper has been conveyed to dogs 
and men. 

Symptoms. — In from four to seven days after the horse has 
taken” the malady there will be, at first, loss of appetite, nervous 
depression, as shown by a drooping head and slow, unwilling move¬ 
ments. The internal temperature is high, perhaps, from one hundred 
and three to one hundred and five; the frequency of the pulse is not 
increased in proportion to the temperature, it may show as many as 
fifty beats to the minute; the breathing is comparatively slow; and the 
lining of the eyelids have a yellowish tinge. After this initial stage, 
which is of varying lengths, from a few hours to a day or a little more, 
the already high temperature is suddenly increased and may reach one 
hundred and seven or one hundred and eight degrees, at which high 
point it remains, with slight variations, for from three to six days 
when, rather suddenly, it drops to the normal point. At the time of 
the second rise in temperature the pulse increases in frequency to from 
sixty to seventy or even, in desperate cases, to eighty or one hundred 
beats in the minute; it generally continues frequent for some little 
time after the temperature has fallen. With all of this there will be 
a discharge from the nose, thin at first, thicker and mixed with pus 
later on, a little swelling of the glands under the jaw, and slightly 
hastened breathing with a little cough. There is generally a con¬ 
siderable loss of flesh. 

Second. In some instances the nervous depression becomes ex¬ 
treme, when the fever is at its height; the animal not only holds his 
head down, but, added to this, he appears as if half asleep and is 
stupid; tremblings are seen on the body and legs; the hind legs move 
unevenly, he knuckles” at the fetlock joints; and in a few cases, 
paralysis of the hind legs may take place. 


PINK EYE — INFLUENZA. 


1279 


Third. At times a considerable digestive trouble will be shown, 
which is probably caused by the considerable effect which the poison 
has upon the nervous system; the mouth is dry, the tongue '‘coated/’ 
and the horse yawns frequently. Swallowing is not easy if the mouth 
is very dry; constipation is present and what manure is passed is 
in small, dark-colored balls, which are covered with more or less 
slime (mucus). Later on colicky pains and diarrhoea may be shown, 
which is often accompanied by severe straining. 

Fourth. The disorder not infrequently takes the form of complica¬ 
tion which has become widely known as "pink-eye,” called by some 
the rheumatic form of influenza, wherein the eyelids swell so much 
as oftentimes to entirely close or even turn them inside out to some 
little extent; there is more or less discharge, and if the lids are opened 
sufficiently, as with the fingers, the outer covering of the eye itself 
will be seen to be more or less fully covered with a white film. At 
other times, if the outei^ covering be sufficiently clear, it may be seen 
that a yellowish substance, coming apparently from around the 
pupil, has been deposited at the lower margin of the eye, just inside 
its outer covering. These appearances of the eye need not cause 
alarm, because they generally disappear as the general symptoms 
improve. These "eyes” are usually accompanied by more or less 
swelling of various joints, especially, perhaps, the hocks, although any 
joint may show it; the swellings are painful and the animal is very 
lame; this also generally disappears as the general health improves. 

Fifth. Large dropsical-like swellings, without much, if any, pain, 
frequently appear in the legs, along the belly, and include the sheath, 
or udder. These should cause no anxiety as they will disappear as 
the case recovers. 

The average duration of an attack is about fourteen days; some 
may recover as early as the sixth day, while others will run on for 
three weeks. The mortality is small. It should he especially remem¬ 
bered that other and graver complications may arise if the horse is 
continued at work during the early stages of a light case of influenza; 
these are: pneumonia; a weak heart; severe brain trouble; and inflam¬ 
mation of the bowels. 

A good rule to follow is to take a horse away from all work as soon 
as he stops eating, and not to put him at work again until it is known 
what the trouble is. 

Treatment. — As uncomplicated influenza runs a direct, mild, 
and self-limited course, good nursing with healthy surroundings, good 
ventilation, good drainage, the careful selection of good sound food, 
given in prescribed quantities, under the requirements of the indi¬ 
vidual animal, are of chief importance; and the better all this is done 
the less danger there will be of troublesome and dangerous complica¬ 
tions. So far as medication goes there is no better mixture, for gen¬ 
eral use, than this: Sweet spirits of niter, seven ounces; fluid extract 


1280 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


of belladonna, one ounce; dilute sulphuric acid, forty drops; sulphate 
of quinine, two scruples. Mix all in a bottle and shake until all of the 
quinine is dissolved. The dose will be two ounces of the mixture given 
in tumblerful of cold water morning and night; an extra dose may 
be given at noon, when there is much depression; the bottle should 
be shaken each time it is used. 

Complications must be treated under their rules, as they arise. 
Whiskey or digitalis for weak hearts; digestive troubles, with saleratus 
and common salt; inflammation of the eyelids with arg}Tol, twenty- 
four grains mixed with water, one ounce. A few drops of this mixture 
should be put into each eye three times daily, using an ordinary 
^Mropper,” which may be had at any drug store. The persistent 
high temperature may be lowered by giving acetanilid, or some other 
similar febrifuge. The stable had best receive a good disinfecting 
when the trouble is over and before new animals are put into it. 

Cattle occasionally develop influenza. In them it generally 
takes the form of pink-eye’’ although the trouble with the joints is 
generally more widespread and painful; the temperature rises to 
one hundred and four or one hundred and six; the depression and 
other general symptoms are those described for the horse. The dura- 
tion is from two to four days only, and the attack usually ends in 
recovery. 

Treatment will be as for horses. 

It is not now considered that influenza of men and animals are 
identical, although many recorded instances seem to indicate that it 
has been conveyed backward and forward among them in certain 
individual instances. It is certainly true in by very far the greater 
number of instances that there has been no intercommunication 
whatever. 

Formerly, a great number of cases of pneumonia were thought 
to arise in complication with certain outbreaks of influenza, and the 
cases were described as being of such origin and admixture. Recently 
this condition of affairs is apparently becoming to be considered as a 
separate malady and, by some, it is now described as: 

Contagious Pleuro Pneumonia of the Horse. 

For all practical purposes it may as well still be looked upon as 
a pneumonia occurring in the course of an attack of influenza; and 
treated under the rules given for lobular pneumonia. It is true, how¬ 
ever, that greater care should be used to prevent its spread to other 
horses, not only those that are well, but those already sick with an 
ordinary influenza, by quickly and strictly separating such an animal 
from among others; and furthermore it will not be well for a man to 
shut himself up too closely with a case of this kind, or to remain, 
for hours together, ^‘sitting up” with him at night in a small stable. 


DISTEMPER IN DOGS. 


1281 


This caution is given in view of happenings within personal knowl¬ 
edge of the writer. There is no danger whatever excepting under 
the above-named circumstances. 

Distemper in Dogs. 

This always has been and still is, regarded as a very dangerous 
malady. It has an ancient and varied history, but is still without 
any specific treatment and attended by a large fatality. 

Causes. — It is a contagious, infective disease, the germ of which 
has not, as yet, been fully identified. The poison is fixed, extends 
through the air, and is carried by all sorts of material that has 
been in contact with the sick. It is easily communicated, not only 
by direct cohabitation, but through the air of buildings, even when 
the sick animal is kept at some distance away from the well ones, and 
great pains taken to prevent the two from being handled by the same 
person. About two thirds of the cases occur in animals under twelve 
months old. Although the susceptibility seems to decrease con¬ 
siderably after, then dogs of any age, beginning with puppies two 
weeks old, may have it. While one attack generally frees the animal 
from future ones throughout his life, the rule is not without its fair 
share of exceptions. 

As in all contagious maladies there must be a good soil for the 
growth of the germ before it can produce its results, and while some 
dogs seem to be always free from its effects, others that are moderately 
so may be made susceptible by being reduced by improper care, as 
exposure to cold and wet, too frequent bathing, over feeding, too 
little exercise, improper food, living in a dark or badly ventilated 
place, as a cellar, in fact by anything that will tend to lessen his vital¬ 
ity. The breed seems to have nothing to do with the susceptibility, 
excepting that in the way of in-breeding and with puppies that are 
from parents who are without sufficient out-door exercise, the vitality 
is always lowered in the progeny. 

Symptoms. — Although the disorder may appear accompanied by 
such a variety of symptoms, because the peculiar poison affects, at 
times, so many different organs, as the breathing tract, lungs, bowels, 
brain, spinal cord, eyes, and skin, there will be noticed, at the very 
beginning, if the animal is at all closely observed, a few symptoms 
that are in common, at first, to all cases; as dulness, slow, rather 
lifeless movements, small or fickle appetite, which may be accom¬ 
panied by vomiting, trembling or shivering without apparent cause, 
unhealthy looking coat, and a tendency to tire easily. If, under these 
circumstances, the temperature is taken and found to be above one 
hundred and three, the case should be looked upon as being ^‘sus¬ 
picious.’’ 

After this, for a short but variable time, the temperature will 


1282 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


drop somewhat for a while, and it is a feature of distemper that the 
animal will seem so well for a day or two, as to give the impression 
that he is entirely or nearly well. 

The first well marked symptoms are, generally, a discharge from 
the nose and eyes, which, to begin with, may be clear and sticky, but 
which soon becomes thick and pus-like, and of a rather dirty gray color; 
the eyelids are slightly inflamed, and the skin around the margins 
of the nostrils is dry and cracked looking. These discharges may 
become very profuse, change color a little, that from the nose offensive 
in smell; that from the eyes so irritating in character as to produce a 
condition that, unless great care is taken in keeping it clean, will pro¬ 
duce an ulcer of the outer coat of the eye that may lead to the com¬ 
plete destruction of that organ. It is extremely likely that, within 
a few days of the marked onset, a diarrhoea will be shown in which, 
almost at once, or later, the color will become dark green, the odor 
extremely offensive, and the discharges frequent in number. In an 
attack of this kind, which may last for three or four weeks, the appe¬ 
tite may remain fairly good or be lost entirely, and vomiting may 
or may not be present; the breathing may or may not be markedly 
increased in number, this depends upon how deeply the lining mem¬ 
brane of the breathing tract becomes implicated; there may be no 
cough or one of more or less importance, with gagging. During all 
of the time the temperature will be high, but is not evenly maintained; 
it may at times run up to one hundred and seven and at others go as 
low as one hundred and three; there are days when the animal will 
seem bright and nearly well, while perhaps on the next day he will 
seem to be as sick as ever. 

Treatment. — All cases of distemper must have the best nursing 
possible and, to arrive at the best results, be kept in a bright, sunny 
room, well ventilated, which is maintained at an even temperature of 
about sixty-five, day and night. At the beginning it will be far safer 
and better to put on a chest protector.” This may be made of 
one thickness of outing” flannel, cut so as to cover the breast and 
sides, as far back as the ribs extend; two holes may be cut at the 
right place, through which the front legs are to be put; the whole 
protector” is then to be lined with an even layer of cotton wool, 
put onto the body, the edges being carried up over the back, pulled 
so that it will fit closely, and then sewn strongly together in front of 
the chest and along the back. The universal use of this protector,” 
in all cases of distemper, even if there seems to be no especial need of 
it at the early time when it is applied, will defend the body surface 
from temporary and unavoidable draught of air and so very much 
lessen liability to lung complications and encourage recovery. The 
food should be of a good, nourishing, easily digestible kind, and, if the 
appetite is good, be fed in prescribed quantities three times daily; as, 
for a medium sized dog, a tumblerful of milk, containing a table- 


DISTEMPER IN DOGS. 


1283 


spoonful of lime water, with a teacupful of oatmeal, or crumbled 
stale wheat bread, or well boiled rice, in the morning; at noon a 
moderate sized tablespoonful of fresh, finely chopped raw beef, free 
from all fat, may be given; while the supper will be a tumblerful of 
strong beef broth, with bread or rice. If there is no appetite the 
diet must be approximated to the above so far as possible. The 
milk and lime-water had better be fed in one-ounce doses each two 
hours, alternated with the same quantity of strong beef broth. Two 
teaspoonfuls of the chopped raw beef may be given, and will gener¬ 
ally be eaten, instead of one of the doses of the broth. Raw egg may 
be fed in doses of one ounce at a time; certain dogs will like this and, 
if so, it does them good; in other animals the egg will be thrown up 
and, if insisted upon, cause violent vomiting. If egg is given and the 
first dose is not retained, do not try it again for several days at least. 
If the above prescribed quantities produce vomiting in any case, 
they must be made smaller in quantity, but given at the same intervals 
of time. If then vomiting persists, everything but the milk and lime 
water, which may be warmed a little, had best be stopped. If the 
vomiting is then persistent a teaspoonful of iced lemon juice will 
often ^‘settle” the stomach. Allow but little water at a time, three 
or four swallows; it may be given half way between the meals; and if 
the animal is vomiting give him a little very cold ice-water at a time. 

Keep the nose and eyes as clean as possible by washing them 
carefully as often as necessary with a solution of lysol, fifty drops, 
to eight ounces of water, or, if this is not obtainable, with blood-warm 
water with a little milk in it; the oustide and end of the nose will be 
more comfortable if a small quantity of vaseline is rubbed over 
them occasionally. After cleansing out the eyes put in a drop or 
two of a solution of argysol, twenty-four grains to one ounce of 
water, each time; it will help very considerably in preventing the 
formation of the dreaded ulcer. 

From the beginning use the following powder: Calomel, four 
grains. Sub-nitrate of bismuth, seventy-two grains. Phenacetine, 
forty-eight grains. Mix, rub well together, and divide into twenty- 
four powders. Give one of the powders each two hours, for as long, 
not exceeding two days, as seems necessary; after that they may be 
given each three or four hours; or no oftener than seems necessary. 
This will help to control the bowels, lessen the fever, and settle the 
stomach. 

The further complications are: 

1. Ulcers of the outer covering of the eye which penetrate and 
attack some of the inner structures. 

Treatment. — Call a veterinarian or an occulist. 

2. Pneumonia. — The onset of this may be recognized by a 
considerable increase of the internal temperature, increased and 


1284 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


labored breathing, with more or less puffing of the cheeks and a dull, 
weak cough. 

The Treatment will be that given for bronchial pneumonia. 

3. Nervous Complications. — In animals that have been pre¬ 
viously severely weakened, distemper occasionally begins with great 
dulness and depression, which gradually progresses into more or 
less complete unconsciousness. When these symptoms depend upon 
the distemper poison, the temperature will be raised, as described, 
in the earher part of the attack at any rate. 

Treatment will be to thoroughly move the bowels as quickly as 
possible. Give two compound cathartic pills, as used for men and 
to be had of any druggist; if diarrhoea be already present do not use 
but one of the pills. 

3a. In this form, it rarely happens that a strong dog, not before 
having shown noticeable symptoms of distemper, will exhibit great 
nervous excitement, as restlessness, yelping, and even attacks of 
fury, which after a little time will be succeeded by the symptoms of 
depression and unconsciousness described above. In these instances 
there is, at first, a considerable presence of blood in the brain, which 
is sooner or later followed by continued pressure with more or less 
insensibility. 

Treatment. —If seen in the first stages, cool the head by the 
constant application to it of ice-water, if it be possible to do so. 
In the second stages use the compound cathartic^ pills, as advised. 
It is oftentimes very difficult to move the bowels of these animals, 
and if, within twelve or fifteen hours after the pills have been given, 
the desired result is not obtained, use hot, strong, soapy water injec¬ 
tions of one-half pint of the fluid, each two hours, so long as necessary. 

3h. After distemper has been running its more ordinary course 
for a longer or shorter time, twitchings of the muscles at various 
parts of the body may begin to be shown. Commonly, the parts 
thus first affected are either the muscles of the forehead and around 
the eyes, or those of the legs, generally the hind ones. When the 
twitching affects the described muscles of the head, the sign is a bad 
one, the case either dying within a few days, or gradually passing 
into one of more or less general paralysis. When the convulsive 
twitchings attack the legs, one or more, the brain is not so directly 
implicated and the case may even recover, rarely, although more 
commonly, while the dog may not die, the twitching continues 
throughout life, in spite of all that is done to cure it. 

3c. In other instances, while the animal has seemed to be doing 
well, he is suddenly seized with a fit; he barks, yelps, perhaps champs 
his jaws and froths a little at the mouth, draws his head and neck 
backward and to one side, falls, becomes unconscious, is seized with 


DISTEMPER IN DOGS. 


1285 


spasms of the muscles of the greater part of the body, and, as showing 
the coming tendency toward paralysis, the manure and urine are 
sometimes passed involuntarily. In from one-half to one minute 
consciousness may begin to return, the dog gets onto his feet, but 
shows great weakness, or the seizure may pass directly into a long- 
continued unconsciousness. If the animal lives so long, paralysis is 
likely to follow; it may be confined to a certain group of muscles, 
especially those of the hind limbs or, at times, the whole body becomes 
paralyzed. Recovery from this condition has, rarely, been known to 
take place, but as a rule, unless the dog dies from extreme weakness, 
he lingers along with no permanent improvement of the paralysis 
until he has to be chloroformed as an incurable case. 

Treatment of the last two described complications is very apt 
to be unsatisfactory. When the twitching commences use full doses 
of the bromide of potassium (see table); if whining and yelping are 
persisted in give tincture of opium in ten-drop doses, in a teaspoonful 
of sweet oil, each two, three, or four hours, but use no more than is 
absolutely necessary to overcome the symptom which the drug is 
given to relieve. Paralysis should be treated by such stimulants as 
coffee, brandy, strong beef tea with wine; with a diet of finely 
chopped raw beef in moderate quantities at a time, three times daily, 
if it is eaten with good or even fair appetite and comfortably well 
digested. 

Fourth. — It rarely happens that, after the first symptoms are 
shown, the effects of the whole poison seem to take place upon the 
skin on the inner surface of the thighs and on the abdomen. This 
breaking out” is first shown by the appearance of minute red spots 
which, after about twenty-four hours, develop into small nodules 
surrounded by a bright red ring. These nodules change gradually 
into small blisters and pustules which vary in size up to that of a pea, 
which either open and leave a sore which discharges for a time, or 
else dry up leaving a yellowish brown scab. Healing takes place, 
after about eight days, leaving a collection of bright pale red spots 
which continue for some little time. 

At other times the eruption may be spread over the entire body, 
in which cases it resembles an attack of dry eczema; with this there 
is a bad smelling odor from the body and there will be a considerable 
temporary loss of hair. 

This has been called the abortive form of distemper and is the 
least fatal of any. There is but very little itching, and the tempera¬ 
ture drops to the normal point when the eruption appears. 

Treatment is very simple; moist sore places may be dressed with 
any good drying powder, as one part of the oxide of zinc to ten parts 
of finely sifted wheat flour; or, if obtainable, the compound alum 
powder of the drug stores. If a very little glycerine is put upon the 


1286 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


scabs it will hasten their natural removal. The food should be that 
already recommended. 

Texan Cattle Fever. 

This disorder, which was formerly very troublesome and fatal, 
at certain times in the year, to Northern cattle, which had mingled 
with those coming from our Southern States, or were put into cars, 
stock yards, or pastures recently occupied by them, has now become 
almost a thing of the past, owing to the well-directed efforts of the 
Department of Agriculture, at Washington, to prevent such mingling. 

It is communicated to Northern cattle by a tick which, living upon 
the Southern animal, is, by cohabitation or otherwise, transferred 
to the Northerner, through the skin of which he inoculates the peculiar 
poison. 

Cattle born and raised in the South are not affected by the poison 
which, although apparently constantly present in their blood, does 
not seem to exert, as a rule, any markedly bad effect upon them. 

Formerly, all of the cattle taken from the North into the “tick 
belt’^ died, with very few exceptions. It has now been found that 
such animals can be taken South and remain unaffected, if certain 
very simple measures are taken and the Northern animals are not 
allowed to mingle with the natives. 

If an animal is to be taken South, it receives a thorough coat of 
any good greasy “slush,” as for instance that used by railroads, over 
the entire body; upon arrival at its destination it is driven into a well- 
fenced pasture, where no natives are kept and which is free from low 
bushes or trees with low branches. If she is to be put into a barn or 
cowshed, the building must be new or one that has not previously 
l)een occupied by Southern cattle; it need not necessarily be more 
than a simple shed, but should be set up on low posts. The first coat¬ 
ing of slush may be allowed to wear off when, if the above directions 
are fully carried out, it only will be necessary in future to slush them 
up to the knees and hocks occasionally, which will be sufficient to 
prevent the ticks being able to gain any lodgment on the animal. 
Cattle treated in this way do not become immune, and, therefore, 
must not be allowed to mix with the native animals at any time. 

Rinderpest—Foot and flouth Disease. Contagious 
Pleuro Pneumonia of Cattle. 

These disorders, while belonging to the class of maladies now 
being discussed, need receive no special descriptions, as those of them 
that have at any previous time been present in the United States have 
been thoroughly stamped out, and measures are maintained; under 
the supervision of the general government, which will make their 
re-invasion of this country extremely improbable. 


BLEEDING — HEMOKRHAGE. 


1287 


Bleeding — Hemorrhage. 

Hemorrhage is said to take place when, from disease or accident, 
the blood escapes from the vessels in which it is naturally contained, 
and the fluid lost contains all of the component parts of the blood. 

When bleeding occurs from a wound its treatment is entirely within 
the province of surgery and must be directed toward stopping its flow 
as soon as possible. The usual methods pursued are tight bandaging of 
the parts, if the wound is where this can be done. The bandages 
should be made of firm cotton cloth, varying in width from one inch in 
small dogs to three inches for horses or cattle, and of varying lengths; 
for all cases in horses or cattle they should not be less than six feet 
long, and in some instances much longer; they should be compara¬ 
tively long in all cases because, through their use, an attempt is being 
made to stop the flow of blood by applying pressure to the open vessels, 
and the longer the bandage, within reason, the greater is the possible 
pressure. If the bandage is made too tight and the parts between 
it and the heart become much swollen, or the parts between the point 
of pressure and away from the heart become swollen or cold, the band¬ 
age must be loosened just enough to correct these conditions, but no 
more. If, after applying the bandage, all goes on well, it will be better 
not to disturb it for twenty-four or thirty-six hours, when it may care¬ 
fully be removed without danger of setting up the bleeding again. 
The wound should then be carefully cleaned with one or other of the 
lysol, carbolic acid, or corrosive subhmate solutions already recom¬ 
mended; and re-covered with a clean, shorter bandage, once or twice 
daily, until healed over. 

If the wound is in a part that cannot be bandaged the hole can be 
plugged with cotton or oakum which has been saturated with the 
tincture of the chloride of iron, and must be held in place by stitching 
the skin over it, or in any other way that may be possible under the 
existing circumstances, for as long as from twenty-four to thirty-six 
hours, when the plug should be removed and the wound dressed as 
directed. 

Of course there are many instances of shallow or slight wounds 
from which, if the animal is kept still, the blood will cease to flow of 
its own accord after a little time; or may be helped to do so by the use 
of a few stitches taken in the skin. If the wound is a large one, even 
if the bleeding has been stopped, a veterinarian had better be called 
in, if possible. 

Spontaneous Bleeding, as it is called, is that in which internal 
hemorrhages take place; and these occur variously, as from the nose 
or mouth, when they are generally not of great importance; or into 
the stomach, when the blood escapes through the mouth; the lungs, 
when the show is made through the nostrils and is accompanied by 


1288 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


more or less coughing; from the rectum, as in the case of bleeding 
piles; from some part of the urinary apparatus, when it escapes through 
the natural passages of the urine; and from the uterus or vagina. Be¬ 
sides these, bleeding may take place into the bowels, the cavities of 
the chest or abdomen, or into a solid gland, as the liver or spleen: all 
of which happenings will require the services of the skilled veterinarian 
or physician; as will an outpour of blood into the brain of animals 
(apoplexy), the symptoms of which are sudden loss of consciousness 
with more or less paralysis. As this last condition arises, if not in 
connection with a blow upon the head, because of some unappre¬ 
ciated organic disease of the walls of the blood-vessels of the brain, its 
permanent cure is not to be hoped for. 

The symptoms of important hemorrhages, whether the blood is 
lost externally or internally, are: paleness of the visible membranes, 
as in the mouth, coolness or coldness of the extremities, as the legs or 
ears; and increased frequency of the pulse with a low internal tem¬ 
perature of the body. 

General Inflammation —Fever. 

Every part of the bodies of all animals may be considered as liable 
to inflammation; and many deaths are caused by its effects upon 
various vital organs or upon the bodily system as a whole. Therefore 
a knowledge of its general behavior, causes, relations and effects, may 
be regarded as furnishing valuable aid to the better understanding 
of many attacks of sickness to which animals are subject. 

Although certain inflammations are destructive, others, on the 
contrary, aid in saving the life, and returning diseased parts of the 
body to health. By its aid many of the blood poisons are gradually 
expelled from the system; wounds are healed; and broken bones 
become firmly knitted together. Again, a portion of the skin and 
structures immediately beneath it as in the case of an abscess, in¬ 
flames, degenerates and dies, yet, by the continuance of the inflam¬ 
matory process, the dead parts are cast off and the reproduction of 
healthy tissue takes place. Therefore it is seen that the process is 
sometimes destructive, at others constructive. 

Causes. — It not unfrequently happens, in the animals, that the 
symptoms of inflammation seem to us to begin suddenly, unexpectedly, 
without any previous warning, that has been noticed, and from un¬ 
known and oftentimes unascertainable causes. In other instances it 
will be found to have been produced by some mechanical or chemical 
irritant; by the action of cold, wet, extreme heat, or by some animal 
or vegetable poison, the germ of which has been received into or gen¬ 
erated within, the system of the animal. 

Inflammation is said to be acMte when it runs its course rapidly, 
and is attended with severe constitutional disturbance; sub-acute when 


GENERAL INFLAMMATION 


1289 


the symptoms although all of them are present, are less well marked 
and rapid; and chronic when they exist for a considerable time, but 
in a much less well marked form. Its presence in any organ or tissue 
so far deranges the action of the parts as to produce partial or abso¬ 
lute stoppage of their normal function. 

Symptoms. — For a long time it has, in a general way, been con¬ 
sidered that the external marks of an inflammatory process consist 
in the exhibition of pain, swelling, heat and redness, and, in a general 
way this may be considered as representing what takes place when 
internal parts of the body are similarly affected. As soon as the in¬ 
flammatory action reaches a certain degree of intenseness, which, it 
should be remembered, it does not do, in some slight local instances, 
the nervous and circulating systems become affected; in which cases 
the general disturbance that follows is described as being sympathetic 
fever; or constitutional disturbance. This fever is shown by depres¬ 
sion, slight chills, cool or cold extremities, rise of the internal tem¬ 
perature, increased frequency of the pulse, thirst, and loss of appetite. 
Sometimes the slight chills amount to absolute, continued, shiverings 
and it is generally thought to be true that the onset of a fever due to 
internal causes is more likely to show hard shivering than that which 
is caused by external injury. The intensity of the inflammation will 
depend upon the nature of the part affected, the extent to which it is 
affected, and the, so called, constitution of the ailing animal. 

General fever may not go so far as to become located, before re¬ 
covery takes place, in which instances the animal is said to have had 
a fever; it not being possible to give it a distinctive name because it 
had gained no perceptible lodgment at any one part of the body, 
before its affects passed off. 

Treatment. — In the treatment of all fevers there are certain 
general underlying principles that should always be followed, with 
such modifications as may seem necessary in the individual cases, as 
they arise from time to time. 

To begin with, the cause of the fever, should, if possible, be found 
and removed. Attempts may then be made to return the parts to 
their original condition, as is quite possible in many instances; or, 
this failing, to get the next best possible result obtainable, under the 
circumstances. Formerly, these ends were rather indiscriminately 
sought by under-feeding, bleeding, purging and blistering. But more 
recently the conviction has properly grown that an attack of fever 
or inflammation is not to be put out like a fire, by taking away or 
withholding fuel, but rather, that no return to health can be achieved 
excepting through nature’s own power to heal; that she has her own 
ways of curing the various ills, which she will be the better able to 
accomplish if the patient can be put into healthy surroundings and 
kept as strong as possible, so that the vital forces, through the exer¬ 
tion of which the cure comes, will be the better able to keep up the 


1290 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


work. Under these circumstances it becomes the duty of the prac¬ 
titioner to understand the processes of nature's dealing, and to give 
material help, by the use of such medicines and measures as will aid 
the particular process in a perfectly natural way. 

Place the animal where he will have good air, without draught, and 
an even temperature of from 50° to 60° F.; the diet should be varied 
as much as possible, fed in rather small quantities at a time, but at 
somewhat nearer intervals; all food that is not eaten within a reason¬ 
ably short time should at once be taken away so that the animal will 
not have it constantly before him, as this oftentimes tends to make 
a poor appetite poorer. Cold water is to be freely allowed, but so 
long as the fever-thirst is present it should be given at intervals of 
from fifteen to thirty minutes, not more than five or six swallows at 
a time. If the fever and thirst are marked, one ounce of powdered 
nitrate of potash may be given, each day, dissolved in the drinking 
water, and taken at intervals as directed for the water. If the bowels 
do not move freely an apparient may be given as one pint of raw lin¬ 
seed oil with a heaping tablespoonful of saleratus, all mixed together 
and given at one dose to horses and cattle; six ounces and a teaspoon¬ 
ful of saleratus to sheep; and one-half ounce each of castor and sweet 
oil mixed together for a medium-sized dog. 

If the pulse becomes soft, or at all small, milk and raw egg, if the 
animal will eat it, as he often will, will often give great aid; while, 
directly there are indications of general weakness, or exhaustion 
alcoholic stimulants should be given, as for horses and cattle two 
ounces each two, three or four hours as seems called for, in one pint 
of cold water or milk; sheep one-half ounce, given in the same way; 
dogs will do better with sherry wine, from a teaspoonful to a table¬ 
spoonful, in a little water; or, if the prostration is extreme, one-quarter 
to one teaspoonful of French brandy, in four times as much milk, at 
the same intervals. 

If, in horses, cattle, or sheep, the increased amount of urine passed 
shows an endeavor to set things right by working the kidneys; sweet 
spirits of niter with or without a small dose of wine of colchicium 
mixed with it and given three times a day for two or three days, will 
often give good help. (See dose table.) Sweet spirits of niter may also 
be given to dogs with good results, but the colchicium had better not 
be used, unless under the direction of a veterinarian. 

When much sweating or diarrhoea occurs, it shows that an effort 
is being made to get rid of certain waste materials in a natural way, 
therefore care must be taken not to check them suddenly or unneces¬ 
sarily. 

When inflammations are treated upon this general plan the char¬ 
acter of the measures will seem somewhat tame, but there is the 
satisfaction of knowing that while, without doubt, we can guide to a 
successful termination certain disorders, that, without intelligent 
aid, would have terminated fatally, and, in doing so, have been able 


CATARRHAL FEVER. 


1291 


to add considerably to the comfort of the ailing animal, any rude 
attempt at cure will merely increase the danger. The risk of all 
inflammations being in proportion to the weakness of the animal, it 
is surely not wise to undertake measures that will produce debility. 

Diseases of the Breathing Apparatus — 
Catarrhal Fever. 

This consists of an acute or sub-acute inflammation of the mem¬ 
brane lining the nostrils, and upper air passages; it may become com¬ 
plicated with sore throat or bronchitis. 

Causes. — It does not always arise from ^Haking cold,” as is often 
supposed, but also from a too sudden change of air, from exposure 
to wet, bad ventilation, damp buildings, as in new brick structures 
before the walls have become dry; and is commonly seen among 
horses that are brought from country to city stables, or in animals 
that may have inhaled considerable dust. 

General Symptoms. — There is more or less fever, thirst, loss 
of appetite, frequent quick pulse, slight elevation of temperature, 
with, perhaps, a little increase in breathing; and a discharge from 
the nose. In the horse, in addition to these, there will be sneezing, 
blowing from the nose, redness and, at first, dryness of the membrane 
lining the nostrils, which, however, is soon followed by a discharge 
from them of a thin colorless and more or less irritating secretion, 
which soon becomes thicker, cloudy, pus-like and profuse. At the 
end of some two days the feverish symptoms begin to subside and, 
if the discharge is comparatively free from pus, return to health takes 
place within ten to fourteen days. Or else, by extension downward 
of the inflammation of the nasal membrane, there may be sore throat, 
bronchitis, or even lobular pneumonia. 

In cattle catarrh is of comparatively rare occurrence, and its S 5 mip- 
toms in them will be confined to those of a general nature. 

In sheep the fever is more apt to be of an acute type, with com¬ 
paratively rapid breathing, sneezing, coughing and shaking of the 
head. The nose is extended, and there is a greater tendency toward 
sore throat, bronchitis, or pneumonia. The discharge from the 
nostrils is more yellow and heavier; and the disorder is apt to run a 
longer course, perhaps continuing for several weeks. 

In dogs catarrh is far from infrequent; and may easily be mistaken 
for distemper, at first. In addition to the general symptoms there 
is a nasal discharge, which is either colorless or thick and grayish, 
considerable sneezing, with wheezing and bubbling as he breathes. 

Treatment. — In horses, cattle, and dogs follow that given'for 
simple inflammation, keeping the nose, and eyes if necessary, as well 
cleaned as possible, with the lysol solution. (See prescriptions.) 


1292 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


In sheep, besides the usual treatment, it will generally be better 
to give a stimulant or tonic as: one teaspoonful of sweet spirits of 
niter, in a tablespoonful of cold water, three times daily. Or the 
following tonic: Tincture of iron, two drams, tincture of ginger-root 
and tincture of gentian root, one-half ounce each, water, one pint; 
mix and give two tablespoonfuls three times daily; or, if more con¬ 
venient, all three doses may be given together, at night. 

In chronic nasal discharges the services of a veterinarian should 
be obtained, as the condition may be due to so many different causes; 
as diseased teeth, bones of the head, structures in the throat, etc.; 
the treatment of which must be surgical. 

Sore Throat. 

Causes. — Inflammation of the structures composing and sur¬ 
rounding the upper extremity of the windpipe (larynx), occurs quite 
commonly in all the animals as a result of precisely the same condi¬ 
tions, already described as being those of catarrhal fever. 

General Symptoms. — There will be loss of appetite, great thirst, 
attended, if the inflammation is extended to the top of the gullet 
(pharynx), as often happens, with difficulty in swallowing either 
liquids or solids. The head is held more or less stiffly, with the nose 
extended, and there is tenderness upon pressure over the larynx; 
first a hard, dry, spasmodic cough; reddened membranes; and more 
or less fever as shown by a frequent pulse, quickened breathing and 
increased temperature. As the disease goes on the animal does not 
cough so often, the cough is more moist, and there is a considerable 
quantity of ropy, sticky discharge, mixed with saliva, in the back 
part of the mouth, with or without a slight discharge from the nostrils. 
Or, more rarely, following these symptoms, such a rapid and extensive 
effusion takes place into the substance of and about the larynx as to 
seriously and rapidly threaten the life of the animal from suffocation. 
The breathing becomes suddenly much more difficult, the inspirations 
particularly prolonged and attended with a peculiar harsh or whistling 
sound, followed by a short expiration. The nose is very much ex¬ 
tended, the eyeballs somewhat bulged outward, with tears running 
freely from the eyes. The expression of the face becomes anxious, 
the nostrils, dilated as much as possible, show a red membrane, and 
there is a frequent hoarse, rasping cough. The extremities are cold, 
the bodies of horses are covered by patchy sweatings. The pulse is 
much increased in number and feels wiry to the touch, the temperature 
rises to from 103 to 106. If this condition continues for more than 
a short time stupor is shown, followed if relief is not given, shortly, 
by death from suffocation. 

The disorder is more frequently seen in horses and dogs than in 
cattle and sheep, still it affects them all, at times, and the symptoms 
do not vary materially between one and the other. 


SORE THROAT. 


1293 


In, by far, the great number of cases, after a few days of consider¬ 
able annoyance, chiefly from coughing and difficulty in breathing, 
the animal will gradually regain his former condition. 

Treatment. — All directions for the general care of fevered 
animals having been carried out, the desirabihty of giving medicines 
excepting those that will be taken with the food or water, becomes a 
question of moment. If there is very much soreness or, especially, 
if the power of swallowing is interfered with, there is no doubt that 
trying to force anything in the way of a drench or pill down the throat 
is liable to produce a condition bordering upon strangulation, and 
so the attempt will be better not made. In instances when the 
irritation of the throat is not extreme medicines may be given, with 
advantage, in the form of an ^‘electuary,” that is made into the con¬ 
sistency of soft gum, and then pressed into the outer side of one of 
the back teeth, from whence it will gradually dissolve and be swal¬ 
lowed, as: solid extract of belladonna and powdered camphor of each 
one ounce; rub these well together and add a sufficient quantity of 
honey to make the desired consistency. The mass is then to be di¬ 
vided into eight equal parts, of which one may be used each morning 
and night, in the way above described. Another very useful pre¬ 
scription is to place one teaspoonful of the fluid extract of belladonna 
upon the tongue, pretty well back in the mouth, three times a day: 
this small amount will not be large enough to be ^^spit out’’ by the 
animal, or to cause coughing, and the soothing effect of the belladonna 
will, at times, be very beneficial. This may be given to horses or 
cattle in the above doses. 

In sheep the extreme tenderness of the throat is not so likely to 
occur, and for them the following prescription has been recommended: 
chlorate of potash, one-half ounce; tincture of iron, six drams; water 
eight ounces; all to be mixed and well shaken, until the potash is dis¬ 
solved. Dose of the mixture for an adult sheep one tablespoonful; for 
lambs, one-half, and for yearlings one teaspoonful, three times a day. 

Outside applications are always safe and generally very helpful. 
Inhalations of steam are to be freely used, always being careful not 
to confine the nose too closely, and not to commence the application 
so suddenly as to increase the cough. If pressure can be made over 
the larynx without increasing the distress in breathing, hot appli¬ 
cations, as poultices of oil-meal, or perhaps better, under the circum¬ 
stances, common cotton waste, wrung out of hot water, should be 
applied over the throat and held in place either by a long bandage 
or a hood made for the purpose, as has been already described; these 
hot applications should be changed often enough to keep the parts 
soothed and warm. When the inflammation has somewhat sub¬ 
sided, or sooner, if the poultices cannot be kept in place; or at once, 
if there is any loss of power to swallow, a smart but not excessive 
blister should be rubbed onto the skin overlying the larynx; and ex- 


1294 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


tending upward, on each side, gradually coming to a point at within 
two or three inches of the base of the ears. The poultices may be used 
on all of the animals, excepting sheep, and the blister on both horses 
and cattle, when required. The bhster should be made of one ounce 
of powdered Spanish fly, to four ounces of lard; well mixed together 
and allowed to harden a little after mixing, when it may be rubbed 
on, as directed. Rub lightly when a slight blistering action is re¬ 
quired, and harder, with more of the ointment, if a considerable action 
seems necessary. In all animals, in sheep particularly, a good stimu¬ 
lating liniment may be used instead of the blister, as soap liniment, 
five ounces; water of ammonia, turpentine and oil of origanum, two 
drams of each; all to be mixed and well shaken up together. A httle 
of the liniment may be rubbed onto the parts once daily, until an 
irritation and thickening of the skin begins to be shown; when its 
further use should be discontinued. When suffocation is threatened, 
the windpipe must be opened below the throat, and a breathing-tube 
inserted. This operation will require the services of a surgeon, but 
if it can be done quickly enough the life will be saved. 

Roaring. 

This term is used to describe a peculiar noise made by some horses 
during action. 

Causes. — It may be caused by a previous attack of sore throat, 
or a great many other things the descriptions of which are not given, 
as their existence can only be determined by a veterinarian. 

Treatment. — If recovery cannot be obtained by the application 
of a sharp fly blister, applied as directed for sore throat, with three 
or four weeks of absolute rest, following it, there only remains a re¬ 
mote possibility that it may be cured by surgical operation. 

Bronchitis. 

This affects all of the animals, and consists in an inflammation of 
the lining membrane of the breathing tubes, and sometimes of the 
air sacks of the lungs as well; and, taken all in all, is one of the most 
common diseases of the lungs. It may be acute or chronic; one or 
both lungs may be affected throughout, or it may be confined to a 
portion of one or both. 

Causes are divided into predisposing and exciting. The pre- 
disposing causes are debility from any pre-existing disease, but par¬ 
ticularly influenza, catarrhal fever, etc. The exciting causes are 
exposure to cold and damp, exhaustion as from overwork or insuffi¬ 
cient food, inhalations of smoke or other noxious vapors, the accidental 
introduction of foreign bodies, as medicines and other fluids or sohds, 


BRONCHITIS. 


1295 


into the windpipe; and as a result of breathing impure air coming 
from unsanitary surroundings. 

Acute Bronchitis a dangerous disorder, partly owing to the fact 
that, by it, a sufficient amount of air to properly clear the blood is 
not admitted into the lungs; and, in some measure, to the fact that 
the inflammation is not unapt to be spread to the very small tubes, 
and from them to the lining of the air sacks themselves, so producing 
a low and dangerous form of pneumonia. 

Symptoms. — An attack often commences with the general symp¬ 
toms of a shght inflammation. Following or accompanying these, 
catarrhal indications will be presented in addition to which there is 
a frequent harsh, loud cough which becomes softer and more moist 
as the disorder advances, and fluid commences to be discharged into 
the tubes; the animal becomes more depressed or even, perhaps, semi¬ 
conscious, if too much air has been shut off from the lungs; the pulse 
is increased in number to, in horses and cattle, seventy or eighty beats 
in the minute; in sheep and dogs, one hundred to one hundred and 
twenty; the respirations are much hurried, being sometimes equal 
to, and rarely exceeding, the number of the pulse beats; as a rule, the 
quicker the breathing the more trouble there is in the smaller tubes 
and the greater the danger. The temperature will be raised to from 
one hundred and two to. one hundred and four, rarely to one hundred 
and six; the visible membranes are either deep red or, in cases where 
the lungs are getting too little air, they will show a bluish-red (livid) 
color. The bowels are rather constipated and their discharges are 
commonly covered with slime (mucus). The urine is high-colored and 
scanty. 

The two points of danger are first, where the tubes going to consid¬ 
erable portions of the lung become so blocked with the discharges that 
no air can pass them, the lung beyond becomes useless; this condi¬ 
tion is shown by much faster breathing without any corresponding 
rise in the temperature. The second element of peril occurs if the 
very small tubes get so intensely inflamed as to become filled with pus; 
this is accompanied by greatly increased frequency in breathing, in¬ 
creased, frequent, and distressing cough, with great rapidity of the 
pulse. These two conditions are more apt to be shown by young 
animals: horses under four years, cattle under three, sheep and dogs 
under one; that is, in lambs and puppies. 

In favorable cases recovery begins between the fourth and eighth 
days, and shortly either entirely subsides, or, in old animals, passes 
into the chronic form. 

In unfavorable cases the strength becomes greatly reduced, signs 
of congestion of the lungs and partial suffocation are shown, and 
death soon follows. 

Treatment should be that recommended for general fever, with 
the addition of a dry woolen covering to the chest, which in horses 


1296 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


and cattle may be easily made by folding an ordinary square horse 
blanket so that it will be three thick, placing the middle of it under 
the chest, bringing the ends up over the middle of the back, fastening 
them there firmly with large safety pins, or otherwise, and throwing 
one more blanket over the animal in the usual way. Sheep do not 
need the covering over the chest, unless they have been recently 
clipped. Dogs should have the jacket already described. The legs 
of horses should also be covered with ordinary flannel bandages, 
which should be removed once a day, the legs rubbed a little, and the 
bandages immediately replaced. 

If the cough is hard or the breathing very rapid, inhalations of 
steam, as advised for sore throat, had best be used. If the constipa¬ 
tion is considerable, the bowels had better be moved by warm soapy 
water injections; if these are not sufficient, a moderate dose of raw 
linseed oil, as one pint for horses and cattle, six ounces for sheep, 
and one half ounce each of castor and sweet oil for dogs, may be given; 
although it is not usually desirable to give a cathartic or eveji an 
aperient in these cases, it seems necessary to do so in a very few in¬ 
stances. The cases in which the breathing becomes especially quick¬ 
ened had best have the camphorated oil of the drug shops, or the 
stimulating liniment already recommended, well rubbed onto the 
skin over the ribs. In instances wherein depression is great and 
the pulse weak, the mixture of sweet spirits of niter and quinine 
had best be given, each two hours, until a fair amount of strength, as 
shown by the improved character of the pulse, has been regained. 
In dogs a teaspoonful or two of French brandy in sufficient water 
may take the place of the niter, as directed for the larger animals. 

When cough remains troublesome after the fever is over, fluid 
extract of belladonna in doses of a teaspoonful may be given on the 
tongue, three times daily, for horses and cattle. For dogs the follow¬ 
ing mixture will be better: Syrup of squills and syrup of cherries, of 
each two ounces; compound spirits of ether, one dram; all to be mixed 
and well shaken together. Of this, one teaspoonful may be given 
three times daily, or, if the cough is very troublesome, a fourth tea¬ 
spoonful can be given at night. If, after recovery from the fever, 
there is much debility, a rather common occurrence, such tonics as 
iron, quinine, nux-vomica, and gentian should be given. (See pre¬ 
scriptions.) 

Chronic Bronchitis. 

Causes. — This disorder is met with either as following the acute 
disorder or as an independent condition, more especially in older 
animals. 

Symptoms. — The disorder is characterized by a persistent, hard, 
loud cough, but without any evidences of fever. The breathing is 
always somewhat quickened, and, if the animal is put to work, or 


CHRONIC BRONCHITIS. 


1297 


even made to take light exercise, as by driving cattle and sheep for 
any considerable distances, or taking out a dog for exercise, or sub¬ 
jecting any of the animals to causes of excitement, it becomes more 
or less considerably disturbed and the cough is increased in frequency. 
In many long-continued instances there is a gradual loss of flesh, 
diminished appetite, and general debility. When chronic bronchitis 
appears as an independent affection, it is gradual in its onset, and 
of a very persistent nature when established. 

Treatment. — The diet should be liberal and nutritious, but 
the feeding should so be arranged that the stomach is not at any 
time stuffed full, as with great quantities of hay or grass. Rest is 
not always necessary, although severe exertion should never be al¬ 
lowed, as it not uncommonly happens that an attack of the acute 
disorder follows a very slight cause. The best results of medical 
treatment are obtained through the rather prolonged administration 
of such tonics as nux-vomica, iron, quinine, and arsenic; and for dogs 
cod liver oil and the Bland’s pills (See dose table.) 

Heaves or Broken Wind. 

This is nothing more or less than a symptom occurring in the 
course of various diseased conditions, as chronic bronchitis, asthma, 
and a broken-down condition of the walls of the air cells of the lungs, 
called ^‘emphysema.” The first of these has been described; the 
next is: 

Asthma. 

This is essentially a nervous disorder. The peculiarities in breath¬ 
ing by which it is accompanied are given rise to by a spasmodic 
contraction of the little circular muscular fibers of the bronchial 
tubes, which is brought about by an over-stimulation of some part 
of the nervous system; generally, but not always, that which is 
in connection with the stomach. It affects horses and dogs, more 
particularly. 

Causes. — Many authorities say that an hereditary taint is a 
factor in the production of asthma; but it must be remembered that, 
while in a very few cases this may be a known predisposing cause, 
as it imdoubtedly is among humans, that in by far the greater number 
of animals no influences of this kind can be discovered, because the 
personal peculiarities of the ancestry of animals is not generally 
known to their owners. All that can safely be said in this direction 
is, that the form of chest which is present in by far the greater number 
of the cases among animals, is one that is unusually round and shallow 
for the class of animal to which the patient belongs. 

A celebrated author while speaking of asthma in horses has writ¬ 
ten, ^‘1 have no hesitation in asserting that the disorder is generally 


1298 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


due to improper food, more particularly to bad, musty, or coarse hay, 
... to a superabundant allowance of hay of any kind, with a deficient 
supply of grain. 

To this may be added the habit of working horses too soon after 
feeding or watering them. 

Apin, there are horses with slow digestions, having an acid, pasty- 
smelling breath, more or less hidebound, with an ill-conditioned skin, 
and other evidences of indigestion, that certainly have a strong pre¬ 
disposition to asthma, upon a very slight application of the causes 
spoken of. The writer has known horses having the described form 
of chest to contract the disorder while at poor pasture, without grain, 
in a dry summer, which have become perfectly well again after a time 
of careful feeding and proper attention to the evidently bad condi¬ 
tion of the digestive organs. 

Symptoms. — Asthma is characterized by a sudden attack of 
spasmodic breathing, which, as in all cases of heaves, consists of a 
fairly well-performed inspiratory effort followed by a double ex¬ 
piratory movement, in which the belly is first pressed upward, a 
stop is made, and the effort finished by a slow and more or less diffi¬ 
cult contraction of the ribs. At an early period in an attack of 
asthma, the expiration is at first of a “jerky” character, rather than 
a full exhibition of the “double breathing”*^above described; if, how¬ 
ever, the attack continues, the effort made in breathing partakes of 
the same general character as that of the other two conditions named. 
In asthma the wheezing sound heard at the nostrils is more distinct 
than in the others, there is more exhaustion after exercise, with 
less cough, which is less suppressed and weak as in emphysema, and 
not so moist as that of chronic bronchitis. Oftentimes there is 
a sudden and unaccountable onset of the difficult breathing; again, 
the truly spasmodic nature will be shown by its coming on when the 
mind of the horse only, is excited by something unusual going on in 
the neighborhood of his stall, his body in the meantime being at rest. 
Unaccountable appearances, disappearances, and reappearances of 
the peculiar breathing are also marked features. If the spasm be 
severe the pulse will be small and frequent, and, if long continued, 
the surface of the body, which may have been cool at first, becomes 
sweaty in patches, owing to the exertion of breathing. An attack 
may last for a few days, or extend over several weeks or months, 
and then disappear or pass imperceptibly into emphysema, for which 
there is no cure. 

Treatment. — The diet should receive immediate attention, and 
must be such as is of a nourishing, and so far as possible, laxative 
nature, without bulk; or the desired laxative condition may be 
brought about, and perhaps, better be by having doses of carron-oil 
mixed with the grain feed twice daily. Carron-oil is made by mixing 
together equal quantities of raw linseed oil and lime water in a bottle, 


ASTHMA. 


1299 


and shaking the mixture until it changes color and becomes so far 
emulsified that it will not separate; the dose is from four to eight 
ounces, which should be increased or diminished as occasion requires, 
the object being to always keep the bowels in a fairly active condition. 
The drugs from which a selection should be made are: bromide of 
potash, iodide of potash, belladonna, and lobelia (see dose table), 
sometimes one and sometimes another will be found to give the best 
results in the various cases. 

In dogs the treatment will be about the same, excepting that 
sweet oil, or, better, cascara should be used to bring about the desired 
condition of the bowels. 

Emphysema. 

This may affect one lung or both, or only a part of each. 

Causes.— It consists in the giving way of the walls between a 
lesser or greater number of the air sacks, as a result of which, more 
or less of the lung becomes filled with ^‘bladders of air’’ of various 
sizes, to such an extent as to prevent the normal amount of the 
inbreathed air from being expelled, as it should be, before the next 
fresh air is to be taken into the lungs. This unexpelled air, having 
already given up its oxygen to the blood, is of no further use and 
must in some way be gotten rid of, so far as possible, in order that 
sufficient new air to freshen the blood may have room to enter. Thus 
it is that the animal makes such a great effort to expel all the old air 
and in doing so uses all the possible muscles that he can to help; this 
full use of the “extraordinary muscles of expiration,” as they are 
called, reqvures the double expiratory effort already described. 

Treatment.— The disorder is incurable because of the presence 
of the organic charges in the lungs; the ruptured walls of the air 
sacks cannot be mended. As work or exercise demands a greater 
amount of fresh air for the lungs, with increased exertion to get rid of 
that which has become useless, an animal having the trouble should 
not be subjected to exercise, and horses or oxen having it to any 
great extent should not be worked, and cannot be to any profitable 
extent. 

Congestion of the Lungs. 

This term is used to describe a condition in which the lungs be¬ 
come suddenly and fully stuffed with blood. It is most commonly 
seen in horses, but may occur in the other animals. 

Causes. — It is generally met with in badly conditioned, soft, and 
fleshy animals that have been put to unaccustomed, hard, continuous 
work, or to great sudden exertion. It may also occur from exhaus¬ 
tion, bad air and drainage in stables. 

Symptoms are in most instances of a very severe type, and espe- 


1300 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


cially characterized by great difficulty in breathing. The horse or 
ox stands with his limbs outstretched, and gasps for breath; all the 
available muscles of respiration are called into play; the nostrils 
open and close in quick succession; the flanks heave with a correspond¬ 
ing rapidity; the body surface is covered by cold sweats; the extremi¬ 
ties are icy cold; the visible membranes are deep red, showing plainly 
the venous condition of the blood, as well as the slowness with which 
it flows through the vessels. The pulse at the jaw is very frequent, 
and may reach, in the horse and ox, one hundred to one hundred and 
forty beats a minute; it is feeble, indistinct, and becomes almost, if 
not entirely imperceptible, in severe cases, although the artery is 
large and seems full; and there is a tremor of the whole body. The 
action of the heart, which is irregular and tumultuous from the first, 
becomes still more embarrassed; the lungs still more engorged; and 
the breathing more disturbed, until at length death results because 
there is not sufficient arterial blood in circulation. 

In more favorable instances, however, the blood begins to slowly 
leave the lungs, and the heart to regain power until the circulation 
of blood through the lungs is again fully established, and the animal 
soon regains his normal condition. 

In some cases a little very dark colored blood drops or runs in a 
small, slow stream from one or both nostrils; this comes from the 
rupture of some small vessel in the overburdened lung; its presence, 
of itself, need cause no special alarm. Good hopes of recovery may 
be entertained so long as the pulse can be fairly well felt and counted. 
As relapse is apt to take place within a short time, the animal 
should on no account be exercised or even taken out of his stall for 
three or four days after he seems well. It not infrequently happens 
that what seems to be a slight attack of this disorder results in a case 
of pneumonia. 

Treatment. — In all cases and at the very first, it must be so 
arranged that the animal can have a good supply of good fresh air, 
without draft. If he must be kept in an ordinary stall, he should 
be turned around so that his head will be kept in the open passage; 
and he should be tied in that position. If he is in a box stall he should 
be tied so that it will be impossible for him to get his head into a 
corner or against the wall and so have a chance of breathing less pure 
air. The body surface should be well rubbed with straw or coarse 
cloths and kept warm by blankets. The legs are to be rubbed with 
stimulating liniments and closely bandaged with woolen flannel; and 
if they do not grow warmer, after a little time the rubbing and band¬ 
aging should be repeated. 

The writer once had the pleasure of seeing a very valuable trotting 
mare recover from a desperate attack of this kind, in which the 
warming-up treatment consisted in placing all four feet, at one time, 
into four strong stable buckets which were three-quarters full of hot 


CONGESTION OF THE LUNGS. 


1301 


water with a good quantity of ground mustard in it; under the middle 
of the body, between the fore and hind legs, was placed a large soaking 
tub half full of almost boiling water. She was then covered with 
three good sized sweating” blankets, which were large enough to 
reach to the floor, and over all of this was thrown a good sized water¬ 
proof covering. The water in both the pails and tub was changed 
often enough to keep up the desired heat. Of course for soaking the 
feet and legs the water must not be hotter than a man can bear to 
hold his hands in, as long as he likes, without pain; for if it is warmer 
than this, the legs will be scalded and the hair permanently lost. 

Internally diffusible stimulants should be used; as whisky or 
brandy in moderate doses, which should be repeated every one or 
two hours for as long as may be necessary, the condition of the pulse 
and distress in breathing, being the guides. In place of the alcohol, 
and in bad cases, the stimulant ball had better be used, if any one is 
about who is able to give it properly; it must not be allowed to break 
in the mouth. The ball consists of two drams each of powdered 
carbonate of ammonia and gentian root, with five grains of red 
pepper; all to be mixed and made into a ball by the addition of 
enough molasses to give it the consistency of an ordinary pill; this 
mass can then be tightly rolled in thin tissue paper and given as 
directed. It should be repeated every one, two, or three hours, as 
necessary; in bad cases the second ball should be given in one hour 
after the first one has been taken. If, after a reasonable trial of this 
treatment, the circulation does not start up, bleeding may be resorted 
to, and from three to four quarts of blood may be taken from the 
jugular vein. The bleeding is not to be repeated; nor is it advisable 
to apply any stimulating liniment or other irritant to the walls of 
the chest, as they cannot possibly do any good, but on the contrary 
may do harm by so irritating the animal as to increase the number 
of respirations and the distress in breathing. 

During the convalescence, and to avoid a second attack or a 
subsequent pneumonia, the animal should be placed in a quiet place 
where he can have good air, comfortably clothed, and receive’a nutri¬ 
tious diet. Water to drink may be allowed as fully as desired from 
the first onset of the trouble; indeed the more he will drink the better 
it will be for him. 

Lung Fever or Pneumonia. 

It should be understood in the first place that the lungs of animals 
naturally exist in several large complete divisions of the lung on each 
side, and that these divisions are called lohes. And further, that 
each of these lohes is made up by the collection together of a varying 
number of lobules, which are, however, not complete divisions of the 
lobe but exist under the general covering of the lobe to which they 
belong. 


1302 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


Several varieties of this inflammation are described but, for 
present purposes, only two of them need be mentioned. 

First: Ordinary lung fever, called also acute or lobar pneumonia, 
and: 

Second: Catarrhal, bronchial, or lobular pneumonia. 

All of the animals are subject to this disorder. 

Acute pneumonia is now thought to be a general disease, of 
which a temporary consolidation of more or less of the substance 
of one or more of the lobes is the prominent local indication. 

Causes. — The usual ^xciting causes are sudden chills, exposure 
to cold and wet, especially after severe exertion or fatigue, and 
confinement in draughty stables. The disorder is especially prevalent 
during spring and autumn, because of the sudden changes in tem¬ 
perature which commonly take place during those seasons. Other 
causes are: inhalation of irritating gases, as fumes of ammonia, etc., 
the smoke from burning straw, hay, wood or other materials; as well 
as the presence of foreign bodies in the lungs, as medicines turned 
down the windpipe, and also from wounds of the chest walls, which 
penetrate into the cavity containing the lungs; or from a wound in¬ 
flicted by the sharp end of a broken rib. 

More often one lung only is affected although both may become 
so, when the case is said to be one of double pneumonia. 

Symptoms. — In the horse, pneumonia of this type always begins 
with an attack of severe shivering soon followed by a hot stage, the 
internal temperature reaching to from one hundred and three to one 
hundred and six, while the body surface and the extremities are cool 
or cold to the touch. The pulse is frequent but very variably so, 
it may be no more than sixty beats in the minute, while at other 
times it may be as much as one hundred beats in the same interval 
of time. In character it is at first strong and hard, afterwards be¬ 
coming soft and weak. Breathing is, at first, hastened no more than 
in proper proportion to the number of the pulse; afterward, as the 
lungs, *or a portion of them, begin to solidify, the movements are 
more frequent, reaching, perhaps, to as many as sixty in the minute; 
the nostrils are dilated and the air coming from them feels warmer 
than usual; there may or may not be a slight cough; and a httle rusty- 
colored discharge from the nose; the membranes are red with, 
possibly, a slightly yellowish tinge. The animal usually stands 
throughout the attack; he will, however, occasionally lie down for 
a short time, in which case he will lie upon the diseased side. The 
appetite is seldom entirely lost. The symptoms afforded by hstening 
with the ear pressed closely to the side, or by thumping lightly with 
the fingers, over the same parts, so valuable to one who thoroughly 
understands the normal and abnormal sounds and what the varia¬ 
tions that he finds mean, are far too intricate for description here. 

The disease reaches its height toward the fifth or sixth day. 


LUNG FEVER OR PNEUMONIA. 


1303 


In Cattle the symptoms will not vary much from those of the 
horse, excepting that this animal persists in lying down, with the 
breast bone pressed against the floor. 

In Sheep the differences are that the shivering fit is of much 
shorter duration; the animal stands with the elbow turned outward 
from the sides, and there is a persistent cough, more apparent distress 
in breathing, and there is a decided discharge from the nostrils. The 
appetite is more frequently entirely lost. 

In the Dog the differences are: a greater distress for breath; the 
animal sits up on his haunches with the nose extended and the mouth 
open. If he lies down at all he will try to arrange matters so that 
his head will be lifted up and supported in the position described. 
The heart is apt to show early weakness and therefore should always 
be carefully and frequently examined. The temperature will be from 
one hundred and three to one hundred and six. 

Treatment. — Is a matter concerning which there is a great 
variety of opinion and practise, but all agree that there is the greatest 
need of a good supply of fresh air, without draught. For this reason 
the animal should be placed, as nearly as possible, under the same 
conditions, in this respect, as those recommended in congestion of 
the lungs. The maintenance of an even temperature is very desir¬ 
able, at about sixty-five degrees if possible; at any rate the animal 
must not be placed where the temperature will fall below fifty-five 
degrees at night. The chest should be covered with a folded blanket, 
as already described, both in horses and cattle; and the flannel jacket 
should be put upon dogs, and all three of these animals may have 
the camphorated oil well rubbed over the chest walls under this 
covering, once daily during the attack; further than this, the body 
should be kept comfortably covered and the legs bandaged ^ith 
woolen flannel. As much cool water should be allowed as is desired, 
but during the earlier stages when thirst is especially great, the 
water should be given in a few swallows at a time, each fifteen or 
twenty minutes; after the thirst is somewhat lessened a moderate 
supply of water may be left within reach of the animal. The appetite 
should be carefully nursed and a nutritious diet given as has been 
described. Whatever the animal will eat, including milk and raw 
eggs, may be given him freely at any stage of the malady. As lo 
medical treatment there will be, at first, nothing better than that 
recommended for general fever, with, in cases where the pulse is 
especially full and frequent at the beginning of the attack, the tincture 
of aconite root, in doses of from ten to twenty-five drops, mixed 
with four tablespoonfuls of cold water, should be given each two 
hours for from six to eight times, as required, to horses and cattle. 
Remember that it is being given to lessen the tension and frequency 
of the pulse and that as soon as this object has been gained the dose 
is to be reduced or stopped entirely, as seems indicated. This nurs- 


1304 


VETEKINAEY DEPARTMENT. 


ing, with the administration of the nitrate of potash and the aconite, 
if it is needed, will generally be all that is required by a straight case 
of acute pneumonia. If, however, after the fever has. subsided, much 
debility is shown, stimulants should be given: sweet spirits of niter, 
whiskey or brandy, in doses of from two to six ounces, with a proper 
quantity of cold water, each two, three, or four hours, as seems 
necessary, judging the strength as indicated by the pulse. If, after 
two or three doses of the stimulant have been given, its effect seems 
to be good, it may be continued as required; if, on the qther hand, 
the breathing becomes, even in the slightest degree, more distressed, 
the stimulants must be immediately discontinued and the case allowed 
to go on, under the general treatment, with good nursing. The 
sides should never be blistered, even with mustard, nor should bleeding 
be allowed. After full convalescence is established, a good tonic 
may or may not be required; if one is used, it should contain iron as 
part of its composition. (See prescriptions.) Cattle should have 
about the same treatment with, if necessary, a fairly good dose of 
epsom salts, one pound; ground ginger, tablespoonful; molasses, tea¬ 
cupful; all to be mixed with three pints of warm water, and given at 
one dose when the salts have dissolved and the mixture cool enough. 

In Sheep the tendency is strongly to a low type of the disorder- 
Therefore, if they do not improve under the ordinary rules of treat, 
ment, they should at once be put upon that recommended for catar¬ 
rhal pneumonia. 

In Dogs there is frequently a tendency toward debility and 
failure of the heart’s action. It will not, therefore, be best to give 
them aconite except at the very commencement of a case wherein 
the temperature is high and the heart is working very hard. It 
should even then be used with caution and stopped as soon as its 
effects commence to be shown by a slightly lowered temperature and 
less forceful heart; the dose should always be a moderate one and 
given in not less than a tablespoonful of cold water. As already 
indicated, the heart should be carefully watched throughout the 
attack, and if at any time its action seems to tend toward weakness 
or irregularity of force in the beats, it must be stimulated by brandy 
or the administration of digitalis. (See prescription). 

Catarrhal, Bronchial, or Lobular Pneumonia. 

Is always of a low type, generally secondary to some other debili¬ 
tating disorder, and always having a strong tendency to cause de¬ 
generation of the parts of the lungs affected, which are, as has been 
said, larger or smaller scattered groups of the lobules. 

Causes. — Lobular pneumonia is always secondary to obstruction 
in the bronchial tubes, especially of the very small ones. It may be 
excited either by the gradual extension of inflammatory processes 


CATARRHAL, BRONCHIAL, OR LOBULAR PNEUMONIA. 1305 

from the tubes to the air cells, or by the entrance of inflammatory 
products from the tubes into the cells. Any bronchitis may pre¬ 
dispose to it, but it generally follows in such animals as are debilitated 
from any cause, and is always the form shown when pneumonia 
follows any of the infective diseases. It may also follow wounds 
which penetrate the chest walls. 

Symptoms. — These are, at first, always more or less obscured 
by those of the malady which it accompanies, or by which it has been 
preceded. It rarely runs a regular course, that is, terminating 
after a definite period either in death or recovery, for it may be 
protracted for weeks. 

After bronchitis or any debilitating fever has existed for a variable 
period and pneumonia sets in, the breathing becomes more or less 
hastened and labored; the temperature rises gradually to from one 
hundred and four to one hundred and five; there is very rarely any 
shivering fit. After twenty-four hours the pulse becomes small, 
compressible, and feeble. The trouble is somewhat indicated by the 
fact that, when the symptoms already described are present, the 
fever usually shows well marked ups and downs, at irregular inter¬ 
vals. The intensity of the symptoms depend upon the amount of 
lung involved. When recovery occurs, the change toward health is 
very slow; the pulse rate, temperature, and difficulty in breathing 
diminish almost imperceptibly and the convalescence is long. When 
the disease is to end fatally, the temperature rises, the visible mem¬ 
branes are of a bluish deep red color, and the breathing movements 
hurried and irregular. 

Treatment. — The general rule laid down for the nursing and 
care of the acute disorder will apply here; but it is to be remembered 
that as this is a secondary malady, the very fact of its presence 
indicates that the animal is in an enfeebled condition and, therefore, 
that the administration of all depressing agents, such as nitrate of 
potash, aconite, etc., must be avoided. The chest walls and the body 
should be carefully covered, as directed, and the legs bandaged. 
Inhalations of steam made from water, into which a moderate amount 
of common vinegar has been put, will be very useful if the case is 
one following bronchitis. The sides should not have any irritant 
applied to them, not even a stimulating liniment. Stimulants, as 
sweet spirits of niter, Irish whiskey or brandy, with quinine, should 
be given from the first, three or four times daily, and persisted in. 
Quinine given in large doses through the rise of the fever and reduced 
somewhat during the return to health, is a most serviceable drug in 
these cases. The quantity and number of doses to be given each 
day must be governed by the individual case; it may be added to 
until the pulse is increased in force and the respiration a little less 
frequent. When this point has been reached, the dose may be held 


1306 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


where it is, or reduced little by little, as the pulse, etc., show that it 
is time to do so. 

This treatment will be best for all animals, excepting that the 
full-fleeced sheep will need no extra covering over the sides. (See 
dose table.) 

Pleurisy. 

Inflammation of the membrane completely lining the inner walls 
of the cavity of the chest and thence extended to form the outer 
covering of each lobe of both lungs. It may be primary or secondary. 
It affects all of the animals. 

Causes. — First, exposure to cold, damp, and sudden changes 
in the temperature of the air, especially in animals that have been 
previously run down by overwork or exposed to bad sanitary con¬ 
ditions. 

Second, the extension to the pleura, of any inflammatory action 
which may have been set up in a contacting part. In this way the 
malady is frequently associated with lung fever, especially in instances 
where the pneumonia has resulted from any of the infective disorders. 

Third, any wound that has penetrated the chest wall; into the 
tissue itself, or made by a broken rib. 

Fourth, it may be set up in connection with such constitutional 
disorders as rheumatism or pyaemia. 

Symptoms. — In the horse. Acute pleurisy begins either with 
a slight chill or a hard shivering fit and loss of appetite. The animal 
is restless, and shows signs of pain that may be mistaken for those 
of colic; breathing is hurried, difficult, sometimes a little gasping; 
performed by the muscles of the belly, as much as possible, carefully, 
and is frequently accompanied by a grunt when the animal is moved, 
especially if he is turned around, as in a box stall; pressure of the 
muscles between the ribs, by the ends of the fingers, causes much 
pain and grunting. 

The pulse is increased in number, to from sixty to one hundred 
beats, is hard and often has a wiriness that is caused by nervous 
irritation, which is directly due to the pain. The temperature rises 
to from one hundred and three to one hundred and four, the mouth 
feels hot and dry, but the air coming from the nostrils does not feel 
so hot as in lung fever. A short and evidently painful cough is often 
present. A return to health may begin to be made within two or 
three days, or even a little sooner; or the inflammation may be fol¬ 
lowed by a considerable outpour of fluid into the cavity of the chest 
(hydrothorax), which will be shortly described. 

In Cattle the differences are that the elbows will be turned out 
from the ribs, the flanks are hollow, the cud is lost; not infrequently 
signs of rheumatism are shown, when the heat and swelling caused 
by it will change from one joint to another at frequent intervals. 



















EXPLANATION OF (colored) ILLUSTRATION OF (EWE) 

SHEEP. 

1. Lower jaw-bone. 

2. Tongue. 

3. Upper jaw-bone. 

4. Cavity of the nostrils. 

5. Bones of the nose. 

6. Bones of the cranium. 

7. Brain (cerebrum and cerebellum). 

8. Spinal cord, upper portion. 

9. Back of mouth and back opening of the nostrils (pharynx). 

10. Windpipe and bronchial tube. 

11-11. Gullet (oesophagus). 

12. Jugular vein. 

13. Carotid artery. 

14. Muscles of the neck. 

15. Large ligament of the neck, helping to hold up head. 

16. The first rib. 

17- 17. Parts of the backbone. 

18- 18. Muscles of the back. 

19- 19. Vena azygos. 

20. Heart. 

21. Anterior vena cava. 

22. Posterior vena cava. 

23. Posterior aorta. 

24-24. Left lung. 

25. Membrane covering heart (pericardium). 

26. Midriff; diaphragm. Divides cavity of chest from that of 

belly. 

27. Kidney. 

28. Ureter; tube leading from kidney to bladder. 

29. Urinary bladder. 

30. Pelvic bones; edgebones. 

31. Vagina. 

32. Rectum. 

33. Bowels. 

34-34-34. Walls of uterus. 

35. Young lamb in uterus. 

36. Udder. 

37. Teat. 

38. Muscles of back. 

39. Muscles of inner forearm. 

40. Knee, with skin removed. 

41. Back tendons. 

42. Shin bone. 

43. Inner muscles of leg. 

44. Inner muscles of shank. 

45. Hock. 

46. Pastern. 

47. Hoofs. 




4 

I 





I 


PLEURISY. 


1307 


In Sheep there are no marked differences in symptoms, and if the 
animal is to get well the return to health begins in from two to three 
days. If, however, convalescence does not begin at about this time^ 
the disorder is very likely to terminate fatally, after a period of from 
a week to ten days, from dropsy of the chest. 

In Dogs the general symptoms will cover all that is shown. This 
animal is not particularly subject to this disorder. 

Treatment. — The animal should be placed and covered as 
directed in pneumonia, and receive, during the severe symptoms of 
fever, aconite and nitrate of potash, in the same way. In addition to 
which small doses of tincture of opium or morphine, should be given 
if the pain is considerable and long continued; it is not best to give 
any preparation of opium, unless it is absolutely required, because 
of the tendency of that drug to create constipation; but where the 
pain is severe it must be stopped, and if that cannot be done by 
the use of blankets wrung dry out of very hot water and applied to the 
chest, as already directed for the dry covering, the opium must be 
used (see dose table); and with it a small dose of raw linseed oil may 
be given to horses, cattle, and sheep, and sweet oil to dogs, as, one 
quarter of the full doses of the oils with each dose of tincture of opium. 
Remember that the opium is given to relieve the pain and a sufficient 
amount of it, within reason, must be used to accomplish the object, 
but the doses should not be given at anything less than a two-hour 
interval. 

If after the symptoms of severe fever have passed away, the animal 
seems to make no further progress toward recovery, the breathing 
and pulse still somewhat difficult and raised; the sides had better have 
a good rubbing with stimulating liniment and be immediately covered 
with a dry blanket; and begin to receive medium doses of sweet 
spirits of niter or whiskey, three or four times daily as required; the 
mixture of the niter, quinine, and belladonna (see prescriptions) will 
probably give good results. 

Dropsy of the Chest. Hydrothorax. 

There is always during health a small quantity of fluid secreted 
into the cavity of the chest, by the pleural membranes, which keeps 
the surfaces properly moistened and saves friction between the chest 
walls and the lungs during the breathing motions. Any inflammation 
of these membranes, as in pleurisy, dries up this natural secretion, 
more or less, during the very first of the attack. Soon, however, the 
membranes, excited by the inflammation, pour out a much greater 
quantity of this lubricating fluid than is required; and the surplus 
quantity, of course, falls into the bottom of the cavity and accumu¬ 
lates there. A considerable amount of this accumulation may take 
place without doing material harm, and, as the pleurisy is recovered 


1308 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


from, the fluid ceases to be further oversecreted and the quantity 
which has already been collected is gradually absorbed by natural 
processes. 

In certain instances, however, the secretion is, little by little, or 
more frequently somewhat suddenly, poured out in such great quan¬ 
tities that the lungs, pressed by it, or floated on top of it, no longer 
have room in which to expand sufficiently to take in the required 
amount of air, and dropsy of the chest is shown to be present. 

Symptoms. — With the effusion of the fluid the more active febrile 
symptoms and pains abate, the temperature may fall a little and the 
pulse be less wiry. 

If the fluid now accumulates in very large amount, the pulse 
becomes much more frequent, is of smaller volume, and may be 
irregular both in strength and evenness of the beat; the breathing 
becomes rhore labored or even very difficult; the flanks heave; there 
is flapping of the nostrils; the head is protruded; and so great some¬ 
times is the effort to breathe that even the tail moves up and down 
with each effort. Dropsical swelling appears beneath the skin upon 
various parts of the body and legs, but, more particularly, just be¬ 
tween the forelegs, below the breast, from whence it extends back¬ 
ward, more or less. 

Treatment.— The administration of very large doses of iodide 
of potash for horses and cattle, no less than three drams at a dose, 
repeated three times a day, and given in drinking water, is highly 
recommended by some. The writer has had good results by setting 
up severe purgation by the use of raw linseed oil, one quart, to which 
has been added three large tablespoonfuls of saleratus; all given at 
one dose, and repeated, in from one half to three quarters of the first 
dose, if the object sought for has not been reached within twenty-four 
hours from the time the first dose was given. Tapping of the chest 
wall and drawing off the fluid is often resorted to. If this is to be 
effectual it must be done by a veterinarian and before the difficulty 
in breathing has become very.great. 

Soreness of the Muscles between the Ribs — 
Pleurodynia. 

This disorder is spoken of in this place because the general ap¬ 
pearances of an animal suffering from it so closely resemble those of 
pleurisy, as to make it possible to easily mistake one for the other. 
It affects horses. 

Causes. — These are often spoken of as being of a rheumatic 
nature; it sometimes appears without any apparent cause, at other 
times it follows when horses that are quite warm from driving have 
been allowed to stand without being covered. 


DISEASES OF THE HEART. 


1309 


Symptoms. — Will be those, exaqtly, of a case of sore pleurisy but 
accompanied with rather more groaning when 1/he animal is moved 
or when the muscles between the ribs are pressed by the ends of the 
fingers. One disease may be separated from the other by the fact that 
in this one there will be little, if any, rise of temperature, and the 
character and number of the pulse will be less interfered with. 

Treatment. — Rub the sides well, once daily, with stimulating 
liniment and cover them with a dry, folded blanket, the ends of which 
have been brought up over the back, as already explained. Give 
one tablespoonful of saleratus, three times daily, in water. The 
animal should begin to show improvement within three days, or less, 
and be well within a week or ten days. 

Diseases of the Heart and Blood Vessels. 

While this class of disorders are, perhaps, of rare occurrence in 
animals, as compared with men, they are nevertheless so frequently 
met with in practise as to merit some mention here; although the 
methods of detecting them, with any degree of sureness, are so tech¬ 
nical that it is impossible to describe them intelligently within the 
limits of a book of this character. 

Disorders of the Organs of Digestion — Diseases 
of the Tongue. 

This organ is exposed to many sources of disease and injury and, 
as it is abundantly supplied with large blood vessels, it follows that 
wounds of it are commonly productive of much bleeding; and also, 
because of the large distribution of nerves, slight injuries of it are 
especially painful. 

Inflammation of the Tongue, Glossitis: Causes. — This dis¬ 
order is rarely met with in horses, except as the result of mechanical 
injuries, including the use of irritating medicines, or of certain infec¬ 
tive disorders, as described. 

In Cattle it is by no means rare and among them is due to the 
eating of rough, coarse food or that mixed with foreign bodies, as 
slivers of wood, wire, thorns, etc., or in complication with specific 
fevers. 

In Sheep it may be presented under the same condition as in 
cattle. 

Dogs are very liable to it from taking sharp substances into the 
mouth, as broken bones, irritating agents of various kinds; self-in¬ 
flicted bites, received during a fit; or from the stings of insects. The 
whole or a part only of the organ may be inflamed. 


1310 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


Symptoms. — In addition to the general signs of fever there will 
be a profuse flow of Saliva from the mouth, which is itself very hot. 
After a little the tongue becomes enlarged, reddened, and in some 
cases, protruded from the mouth, and hard. If the organ is much 
swollen, especially the back part of it, in the throat, breathing is inter¬ 
fered with, the animal cannot chew, and swallowing may be difficult 
or impossible. 

Generally in the course of two or three days the symptoms will 
subside, and after a little time the organ will resume its function. In 
less favorable cases abscesses may form, or death (mortification) of 
the whole or a portion of the tongue follow; or the organ may be left 
somewhat harder and smaller than natural. 

At first, before the power of swallowing is interfered with, a good 
dose of cathartic medicine had best be given; the aloes pill (see pre¬ 
scription) for horses; epsom salts for cattle and sheep; and castor oil 
for dogs. After this the mouth must be frequently syringed out with 
borax dissolved in cold water, as much borax as the water will dissolve. 
Cold water with a teaspoonful of nitrate of potash to the pailful of 
water should always be kept within reach of the animal, that he may 
be able to cool his mouth by plunging his nose and face into it. If 
some of the graver syiiiptoms follow, medical aid had better be sought. 

Sores (ulcers) of the Tongue occur in all the animals inde¬ 
pendently or in complication with other maladies, as certain disorders 
of the stomach, etc.; also as a result of wounds made by sharp teeth, 
ropes, bits, and various sharp foreign bodies. They interfere materi¬ 
ally with condition because from pain in moving the parts, animals, 
especially horses, cattle, and sheep, will not eat so much as they 
should; and oftentimes in horses, the presence of these little sores 
on either the tongue or cheek will cause the animal to drive un¬ 
pleasantly on the bit. 

Treatment.— If the sores are due to sharpness of either the 
inside or outside edges of the back teeth, as in horses, the uneven 
edges should be removed by filing them off with an instrument made 
for the purpose and easily obtainable. After the cause has been 
removed, the mouth should be thoroughly syringed out, twice daily, 
with a saturated solution of borax and water, and every other day 
the sores should be lightly touched, over their whole surface, with a 
stick of nitrate of silver. They will heal within a week or ten days. 

Parrot flouth. — In this condition in horses the upper front 
teeth grow to project to a greater or lesser extent over the under 
ones, because of an unusual shortness of the lower jaw. 

Treatment. — Such animals, if the projection of the upper teeth 
is considerable, should not be turned out to pasture because they 
are not able to crop the grass in sufficient quantities to keep them 
jn proper condition. If the lower teeth are so far back, or so long as 


DISEASES OF THE TONGUE. 


1311 


to wound the soft parts lying just behind the upper ones, when the 
animal shuts his mouth, they should be filed down often enough to 
prevent it; the upper teeth should also be cut back whenever they 
become too long. This operation is best done by putting a gag into 
the mouth, pressing the animal backward into a stall, and filing off 
the projecting teeth with the coarse side of a sharp horse-shoer’s 
rasp. The ‘^gag’’ should consist of a round piece of wood one and 
one-half inches in diameter and about six inches long, having a strap, 
with a buckle, which is long enough to go up and over the head 
just back of the ears, with which it will be held in place; it should 
be put into the mouth as a bit is and fastened. 

Lam pas. — This term is used to describe a swollen condition of 
the soft parts lying just behind the upper extremities of the front 
teeth in horses. 

Treatment. — Carefully, freely scratch the swollen parts with 
the point of a sharp knife, being sure not to cut in deeply enough to 
open an artery which lies there; and then rub common salt well into 
the cuts made. It used to be thought necessary to burn the swollen 
part out; such an operation should not be allowed, because it is very 
painful and entirely unnecessary. 

Foreign Bodies in the Mouth should always be sought for 
when, without known reasons, an animal persists in not eating, drools 
constantly from the mouth, quids his hay, and loses flesh. The 
accident occurs among all the animals, and the offending object may 
be found wedged between the teeth, as in dogs, or lodged in some of 
the soft structures; or the teeth may be very sharp and cutting the 
tongue or cheeks. 

If an Animal Persists in Drooling from the mouth, and no cause 
for it can be found, the effects of two moderate doses a day of fluid 
extract of belladonna should be tried for three or four days. (See 
dose table.) 

Pharyngitis. 

This term is applied when there exists an inflammation of the 
upper end of the gullet at the back of the mouth. The malady has 
already been spoken of in connection with inflammation of the 
larynx; but it also occurs as an independent disorder. 

Causes. — Besides those already spoken of as being due to specific 
fevers and disorders of the upper air passages, it may be due to cold, 
exposure, dampness, direct irritation, or by irritation due to a dis¬ 
ordered digestion. 

Symptoms.— Swallowing is difficult, is sometimes accompanied 
by coughing, during which the chewed food is forced back into the 
mouth and through it outward, while the fluids are thrown out through 
the nostrils. There is no fever or interference with breathing, unless 
there is also some inflammation of the larynx. 


1312 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


Treatment. — In many cases the condition remedies itself, if 
the animal is allowed a few days of rest. If the condition continues 
without alteration for three days, the parts had better be blistered 
as recommended for sore throat. If fever is present, the entire treat¬ 
ment should be that of laryngitis. 

Paralysis of the Muscles of Swallowing, 

There is in horses a disorder of the central nervous system, the 
most pronounced symptom of which is a total inability to swallow 
either fluids or solids. 

Symptoms. — The discharge of chewed food, mixed with saliva, 
through the nostrils, and when an attempt is made to drink water 
that fluid will be discharged in the same way, although the animal 
will appear to be drinking with great relish. The membranes of the 
eyelids are pale and a little yellowish; the pulse is slow and rather 
soft; the temperature is at first normal, after a little time ninety-nine, 
or perhaps a little lower. The face has an anxious expression; the 
horse stands rather persistently and quietly, although he does lie 
down at times; he loses flesh rapidly, and, if allowed to live so long, 
dies of starvation. 

Treatment. — As a precaution, the throats of all animals show¬ 
ing these symptoms should be strongly blistered, as directed for sore 
throat; although if the paralysis is really present the condition is 
incurable. Against his expressed desire, but at the urgent request 
of the owner, the writer at one time kept a case of this sort alive 
for nine weeks, during all of which time the horse did not swallow a 
particle of food or water. The animal was put into slings and fed 
by injections of a great variety of fluid foods and stimulants, which 
were well taken. Electricity was applied to the paralyzed muscles 
twice daily, and strychnine was given up to the full limit of safety; 
notwithstanding all of which the horse was, except for the loss of 
considerable flesh and strength, in precisely the same condition as 
when treatment was begun; the owner was satisfied that the case was 
incurable and the animal was chloroformed. 


Choking 

This accident, rather frequently observed in horses, less so in 
dogs and sheep, unless the latter are being fed upon roots, is one 
of very common occurrence in cattle; and in all is attended with 
considerable danger to life. In connection with supposed chok¬ 
ing in dogs there is one fact that should always be remembered; 
persons are apt to believe that these animals are choked when they 
are not; if a dog coughs, or indicates any peculiar symptoms about 


CHOKING. 


1313 


the head and neck, he is oftentimes thought to have a bone in his 
throat; and inasmuch as rubbing the sides of the throat with the 
paws, gasping, etc., all of them symptoms of choke, are also seen in 
connection with rabies, care should be taken, in examining these 
dogs, that the rather natural but probably fatal mistake is not made. 

Causes. — These are either dependent upon the animal itself or 
on the nature and form of the food. Under the first of these may 
be mentioned any reflex or direct nervous influence which may cause 
a spasmodic contraction of the muscles of the gullet upon the object 
swallowed (this chiefly happens in animals that have been rather 
recently relieved of a previous choke); previous narrowing of the part, 
as by the tight strap put around the necks of crib-biting horses; any¬ 
thing which prevents the proper flow of saliva into the mouth; and 
anything which prevents the food from being properly chewed and 
mixed with the saliva. Of the second class of causes: those cases 
in which the object swallowed is sharp-pointed, too large, or too dry. 
Among these may be included fish-bones, which are very trouble¬ 
some in puppies; large, irregular-shaped, or sharp-ended bones. In 
cattle and sheep the most dangerous articles of food are cut roots, 
potatoes, and apples. Pieces of corn cob, when the grain is fed 
whole on the ear, in horses. Dry chaff, bran, meal, and even oats 
are not unapt to accumulate in the gullets of horses and form a most 
dangerous cause of the accident, instances not being at all rare when 
the gullet, which runs down the left side of the neck, has been stuffed 
full for nearly its whole length. 

Symptoms may be general, as shown by all the animals; differential, 
as indicating the part of the gullet in which the obstruction has taken 
place; and special, as belonging to the condition exhibited by the 
different animals. 

General Symptoms.— Liquids, because they cannot pass by 
the obstruction into the stomach, are thrown out at once; there is 
coughing and more or less violent gagging, uneasiness, difficulty in 
breathing, champing of the jaws, and flow of saliva from the mouth. 

Differential Symptoms. — When the cause is lodged in the 
throat, there is great distress, coughing, slavering, symptoms of suf¬ 
focation, and, in dogs particularly, ineffectual attempts at vomit¬ 
ing. If the obstruction is in that part of the gullet which runs down 
the neck, a swelling will be seen on the left side, at the given point. 
General symptoms are more or less intense, and the animal, with 
anxious face, lowered head, tremors, and partial sweats over the body, 
shows considerable exhaustion within a short time. 

If the offending substance be lodged in the part of the gullet which 
passes through the cavity of the chest on its way to the stomach, the 
fact of the presence of this dangerous form of the accident is shown 
by the absence of the more urgent indications of suffocation: the 


1314 


YETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


temporary distention of the gullet, as it passes upward along the 
neck, whenever water is swallowed; urgent attempts at vomiting so 
long as the gullet remains so filled; with a rather rapid progress toward 
exhaustion. 

When impaction occurs from dry feed, bran, oats, etc., the head 
will be depressed, the eyes bloodshot, mucus and saliva will be dis¬ 
charged from the mouth and nose, and there is an evident swelling 
along the left side of the neck. 

Special Symptoms in Horses. — The animal suddenly stops 
feeding, begins to swallow hard and frequently. If he is not success¬ 
ful in thus getting rid of the trouble, a sort of spasm follows, in which 
the neck becomes more or less curved, with the chin drawn back 
towards the counter, and, in rare instances, after a considerable con¬ 
tinuation of the spasm, the animal shrieks; and the general symptoms 
are present. 

In Cattle. — The animal stands with head extended, a profuse 
flow of saliva from the mouth, cough, and champing of the jaws, 
together with frequent gulping efforts. The eyes are bulged and 
bloodshot; he passes both manure and urine frequently. Very soon 
after the obstruction has taken place the paunch begins to be filled 
with the repressed gases of digestion and unless the obstruction to 
its upflow is soon removed, or a puncture is made through the flank, 
to let the gases out, the animal will die of suffocation. The general 
symptoms are present. 

In Sheep. — The animal stops feeding, the breathing is more or 
less difficult, the paunch swells, and the case proceeds as described in 
cattle. 

In the Dog. — Of the general symptoms, violent attempts at 
vomiting and a persistent cough are the most conspicuous special 
signs. 

Treatment. — Various methods of relief are pursued, depending 
upon the position and character of the obstruction. These are: First, 
by the hand, and may be used successfully whenever the obstruction 
is at the back of the mouth or in the top of the gullet. The jaws are 
to be safely held apart by the insertion of a proper instrument (mouth 
speculum), if it is possible to obtain one; if not, around iron ring of 
sufficient strength and size, a stirrup, or even a plow point may be used, 
but these last are of danger to the operator’s arm, which may be 
easily broken if the instrument is allowed to slip out of the animal’s 
mouth at the wrong moment. An assistant should attend to keeping 
the mouth open, while the operator attempts to grasp the object 
with his fingers and withdraw it; a whole apple is the most difficult 
to get hold of, but still its removal can be effected after patient 
effort. 


CRIB-BITING AND WIND-SUCKING, 


1315 


In Sheep this method is more difficult than in horses and cattle 
because of the narrowness of the mouth. In dogs it is fairly easy 
provided the animal is held still by a sufficient number of assistants; 
the operator is to use his fingers in this animal, which can be done 
because the mouth opens wide and the parts are quite readily 
reached. Instruments, as long forceps, can be used in sheep and 
dogs, if proper ones are obtainable. 

If the object cannot quite be reached in this way, an assistant 
should grasp the outside of the throat below the obstruction and 
attempt to push it upwards until it can be grasped by the operator. 

If a solid object is lodged below the reach of the arm, an attempt 
to push it along into the stomach should be carefully made. The 
proper instrument for this purpose is a strong, fairly elastic tube 
having a '‘cup” end, of sufficient size and strength, called a pro¬ 
bang. When this is not obtainable the butt end of an elastic 
horsewhip may be tried for all of the animals excepting the dog, 
but great care must be taken not to wound or push it through the 
walls of the gullet, for, if this is done, the animal will die. Before 
this attempt is made a small quantity of raw linseed oil should be 
turned into the throat, that the parts may be properly lubricated. 

In horses choked with bran, oats, etc., if the obstruction is not. 
too extensive, very much for good may be accomplished by repeatedly 
turning cold water down the throat and working over the upper end 
of the obstruction from the outside, with the fingers, giving the 
animal good opportunity to cough up such portions as have been so 
loosened, from time to time. No attempt should be made to push 
such an accumulation on into the stomach. If the services of a 
veterinarian can possibly be obtained, they should immediately be 
sought in all of these instances. 

Crib=biting and Wind=sucking in Horses. 

Causes. — A crib-biter can generally be detected by the worn-off 
appearance of the outer edges of the front teeth of the upper or lower 
jaw, or both, which is caused by the unusual wear due to the more 
or less constant grasping of the edges of the manger, or other hard 
substances, with these parts of the teeth. 

Symptoms. — In the act of "cribbing” the horse grasps an object 
with the teeth, fixes his head, curves his neck, and some say eructates 
gases, while others say he swallows air. The last seems more probable 
because, if allowed to go on, the belly of the horse gradually becomes 
distended, and he has an attack of wind colic; while if a strap is put 
around the throat and buckled sufficiently tight to prevent him from 
swallowing, no such distention takes place. The horse may carry 
this bad habit to such an extent as to injure his digestion so consider¬ 
ably as to make him unable, by loss of general strength, to do the 


1316 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


full work of an animal of his class, besides which he must either wear 
a strap or constantly be subject to an attack of wind colic that may 
cause his death; such an animal is unsound. In cases where the act 
is simply confined to “biting,’’ and in which no air is swallowed, the 
act is simply a vice, not an unsoundness, but it renders him of much 
less money value than he w^ould otherwise have been. 

Treatment. — The only thing to be done is to do away with the 
manger or any other hard object which the horse bites, or by con¬ 
stantly keeping him muzzled, except when he is eating, drinking, or 
at work. Wind-suckers must constantly wear a cribbing strap, 
unless it is found that the habit is prevented by the first named 
measures. Some wind-suckers get so that they will swallow air 
without first grasping an object with the teeth. It is said that the 
habit is often contracted by example, especially in young horses. 
It is not a disease, simply a nervous habit. 

Disorders of the Stomach. 

Vomiting. — This is the simple means by which animals dis¬ 
charge through the mouth or nostrils that which the stomach refuses 
to digest, or is likely to be injured by. All animals and all indi¬ 
viduals are not equally as easily made to vomit as others; the horse 
performs the act with difficulty, and it was formerly thought that 
“no horse could vomit and live,” because, in those that did, a 
post mortem examination discovered a ruptured stomach. But this 
is not true. Cattle and sheep seldom vomit. 

In the Dog the act is commonly and so frequently accomplished 
while the animal is otherwise in apparent health, as well as when he 
is suffering from some disorder, that it almost seems as if he could 
“throw up” whenever he chose to do so. 

The Symptoms are so well known as to need no description in 
this place. It should, however, be remembered that vomiting be¬ 
comes a frequent and troublesome disorder in dogs when shown in 
connection with certain maladies. 

Treatment. — In these cases in dogs it often becomes a matter 
of considerable importance to stop the vomiting if possible. This 
may often be accomplished by the use of ice water in very small 
quantities, as a teaspoonful in very obstinate cases, every half hour; 
or by the addition to this of a few drops of French brandy with each 
dose of water. Teaspoonful doses of pure lemon juice, well iced, 
will often succeed where other remedies have failed. From five to 
ten drops of tincture of opium given in the iced water often allays 
the irritation; but the opium should not be repeated oftener than 
each two hours, for three times, nor should any more of it be given 
at a time, after the first dose, than is absolutely required. Or the 


ACUTE INDIGESTION. 


1317 


following prescription may be tried: Tincture of opium, ten drops; 
chloroform, twenty drops; cold water, two tablespoonfuls. This is to 
be well mixed and all given at one dose, to a dog as large as a setter 
or collie; it will be found more useful in instances where the cause 
lies back of the stomach. The practise of giving dogs quantities of 
drugs, to make them throw up, so commonly practised by some, 
cannot be too greatly condemned. 

Acute Indigestion. 

Wind Colic, Flatulence, or distention of the stomach and bowels 
with the gases of indigestion, may be caused by alterations in the 
quality of the juices of the stomach and intestines, and to various 
obstructions in the bowels; both of which will so hinder the progress 
of digestion as to induce fermentations of the food and the giving off 
of the gases. 

Causes. — Certain foods, as Indian meal; which is of especially 
difficult and slow digestion, fed in full rations to horses, cattle, and 
sheep that are not accustomed to eating them; cooked food to horses 
and cattle; musty hay or oats; half-wilted grass; or any food, including 
fresh grass, to which the animal is unaccustomed, or that which is 
given in such quantities at a time as to over-distend the walls of the 
stomach. In cattle and sheep the condition is most commonly pro¬ 
duced by damp grasses, turnip and beet tops, green fodder corn, and 
green clover. 

Dogs, because they vomit so easily, are not particularly troubled 
in this way. 

Symptoms in the Horse are generally sudden in their onset: 
there is a fulness of the belly; the animal is restless and shows symp¬ 
toms of colicky pains; he lies down, gets up, paws with his front feet. 
If the stomach is distended, he will gulp wind and discharge saliva 
from the mouth occasionally; the superficial muscles tremble, and 
the animal sweats in patches. These are the earlier and less severe 
manifestations. In severe cases the pain is very acute; the horse 
throws himself about wildly and frequently looks at his flanks; the 
pulse and breathing are hastened and in some cases attempts at 
vomiting are made, which are rarely fully successful; if the food is 
thrown up it is discharged through the nostrils. If the belly is greatly 
distended and hard, breathing becomes so difficult as to threaten 
suffocation. At other times, when the belly is but slightly dis¬ 
tended,’’ there will be very little or no manifestation of pain, but 
the horse remains dull, half conscious, breathes heavily, is made to 
move with difficulty, and attempts to press his head against the wall. 

In Cattle. — The disorder is frequently called hove, dew-blown, 
tympanitis, drum-belly, etc. 


1318 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


Symptoms. — While he is eating, or shortly after, a swelling of 
the paunch appears about the left flank. This increases in size more 
or less rapidly, the animal lifts his head, pants and appears dull; wind 
is sometimes gulped up in the early stages, and he ceases to chew the 
cud.” In proportion to the rapidity with which the gases accumu¬ 
late, the breathing becomes more labored; the animal moans; stands 
with an arched and stiff back; the tongue is protruded; eyes blood¬ 
shot and bulged; saliva dribbles from the mouth; the nostrils are 
rigidly expanded; and the belly, extended to the greatest extent pos¬ 
sible, is ‘^as hard as a board.” Unless soon relieved the animal stag¬ 
gers, falls, and dies from suffocation. Death may occur in a few 
minutes or he may live for a number of hours, all depending upon 
the amount of tympanitis present. 

Or, the malady may be present in a chronic form, when the symp¬ 
toms are not nearly as intense as in an acute attack; in which in¬ 
stances there is a functional derangement of the digestive organs, 
which causes an attack of hove whenever green food is given. 

In Sheep. — The symptoms will be the same as in cattle. 

Treatment. — In horses: give at once a large dose of saleratus 
in one pint of cold water. If pain is marked, give two or three ounces 
of tincture of opium, with one-half ounce of water of camphor in a 
cupful of warm water; and repeat each two or three hours, as neces¬ 
sary, until the pain and fulness of the belty are lessened; after the 
first dose, no more than two ounces of the tincture of opium should 
be given at a time. If the distention is very great and not quickly 
relieved by the medicine, the gas must be allowed to pass away through 
an opening into the bowels; this, to be at all safe, must be done by 
one who knows the anatomy of the parts. 

As soon as the great distress has been relieved, the horse should 
have a dose of cathartic medicine; this may be one and one-half pints 
of raw linseed oil; or a pill of aloes (see prescriptions), to which one- 
half to one dram of calomel has been added. 

In Cattle. — If the distention is great, the paunch should at 
once be tapped and the gases allowed to escape. If this cannot be 
done, a good purgative should be given as soon as possible. This 
may be, for a good sized cow, one and one-half pounds of Epsom 
salts, half a teacupful of molasses, and a tablespoonful of ground 
ginger; the salts to be dissolved in three pints of warm water; all to 
be mixed and given at one dose. 

In Sheep. — The treatment will be the same as for cattle; the 
dose of the Epsom salts being six ounces, with tablespoonful of mo¬ 
lasses and teaspoonful of ground ginger, with one pint of water. 

Dogs. — As the flatulence is never as urgent as in the other ani¬ 
mals, one or two compound cathartic pills, or a good dose of castor 
oil will be sufficient. The animal should not be allowed anything 


ACUTE INDIGESTION. 


1319 


to eat but milk, with lime water, in moderate quantities, given three 
times a day, for three or four days after he recovers from the attack; 
and his exercise should be quite limited. 

In all animals the action of the physic may be hurried and eased 
by the judicious administration of injections of strong soapsuds given 
at a temperature which feels quite warm, but not hot, to the hand. 

Spasmodic Colic in Horses.— This is another from of acute indi¬ 
gestion and arises from much the same set of causes as those given 
for the flatulent form just described. The Symptoms will be the 
same, excepting that there is no swelling of the belly, or sleepy stage, 
as described for the wind colic. This form of colic, if unassociated 
with organic troubles of the bowels, should never end fatally; that it 
is often supposed to do so is because the symptoms shown are pre¬ 
cisely those of inflammation of the bowels in its earlier stages, and 
the attack has not been properly separated at the beginning. In 
pure colic the internal temperature is not raised; in inflammation 
of the bowels, from any cause, it is always raised and other symp¬ 
toms of fever are always present. 

The Treatment of spasmodic colic will be to stop the pain by 
the use of tincture of opium, as already advised; and, as recovery 
begins to be shown, raw linseed oil should be given in doses of from 
one to one and one-half pints, to which a tablespoonful of saleratus 
has been added. Injections of warm soapsuds will often aid the 
recovery and may be commenced as soon as the first dose of opium 
has been given, and continued each two hours. 

In Cattle and Sheep two further forms of acute indigestion are 
met with, as. Impaction of the paunch or rumen. When an animal 
has swallowed a large quantity of moist food, grass, clover, fodder 
corn, etc., or some kinds of grain, the paunch may be filled to reple¬ 
tion and become quite distended from a process of fermentation 
setting up within the mass. 

The symptoms are very similar to those of t5^mpanitis just de¬ 
scribed, but they are not nearly as urgent and, if the distended 
paunch is firmly pressed upon, as by the closed fist, an impression 
will be left, for a little, as if the paunch was filled with dough. The 
appetite and ^Hhe cud’’ are lost, and the pulse is small and frequent. 

Treatment. — Give at once a strong cathartic, as, in cattle, the 
dose of epsom salts already recommended, to which may be added 
from five to fifteen drops of croton oil; in Sheep, epsom salts as before 
advised, together with one drop of the oil. In addition to this, some 
stimulant may be required by some of the cases, and in varying 
quantities, as indicated by the particular animal. The agents to be 
used here will be either whiskey or the aromatic spirits of ammonia. 
(See dose table). The injection of warm soapsuds, as mentioned, 
will be especially valuable in these cases, as the first prime object 


1320 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


is to unload the bowels as soon as possible. Certain cases will be 
met with in which it will not be possible to accomplish this object 
by means of medicine, in which instances the veterinary surgeon will 
be able to open into the paunch, through the flank, and remove a 
good part of the contents of the overfilled stomach. 

Fardel=bound, Impaction of the Third Stomach, or “ Grass- 
ball,” Vertigo, etc., are names which with some others are given 
to a form of acute indigestion met with among cattle and sheep. 

The symptoms in cattle vary considerably at the beginning of 
the trouble. It will be noticed that he goes about with rather a 
drooping head; that while the appetite remains fairly good he goes 
picking about and shows a little uneasiness occasionally; the bowels 
may be constipated or the opposite condition of them may exist. 
This goes on for from twelve to twenty-four hours, when suddenly the 
victim shows a wild look, with prominent, bloodshot eyes; the tongue 
is protruded and he breathes quickly; and the appetite is now entirely 
lost. After a little, marked delirium is shown; if the animal is tied 
by the head he will fall forward, drop onto his side, and he with rigid, 
quivering legs, until the convulsive attack subsides. Cattle that are 
loose in*a field rush frantically forward and indicate some loss of 
sight or total bhndness, by stumbling over small obstacles or running 
their heads against trees or other objects. Sometimes the animals 
will tear up the earth with their horns, stamping and roaring in a 
most violent manner. There is no apparent desire to attack persons 
or other animals. According to its severity an attack lasts from an 
hour or two to several days, death being the usual result unless 
treatment is perseveringly and carefully kept up. In sheep the line 
of symptoms are about the same. 

Treatment. — At the commencement give one full dose of raw 
linseed oil and saleratus; at the same time begin to give moderate doses 
of either the tincture of aconite root each two hours in two ounces 
of cold water, or the fluid extract of belladonna, clear, on the tongue, 
three times daily. Do not continue the aconite for more than one 
day or the belladonna for more than three days. After this, if any¬ 
thing more is needed, give to cattle from eight to twelve ounces of 
epsom salts with fifteen grains of quinine in three pints of water, not 
oftener than once in each twenty-four hours. This should not be 
continued after the bowels begin to move, or if they do not move 
quite satisfactorily, lessen the dose of salts, keeping up the full dose 
)f quinine. For sheep give the same treatment but reduce the 
Amounts of the medicines used to those proper for the animal. (See 
table of doses.) 

Chronic Indigestion. 

This frequently met with disorder occurs in all the animals, and 
in them presents itself under such a variety of circumstances as to 


CHRONIC INDIGESTION 


1321 


make it difficult to lay down anything like an absolute description 
of its causes and symptoms, which, therefore, must be treated in a 
general way. 

Causes. — These are chiefly errors in diet, though they are not 
always easily found and recognized. The food may be too stimulat¬ 
ing, too dry, not nutritious enough, not sufficiently well chewed, and 
this may be due to bad or sharp teeth or a habit of ^‘bolting” the 
food, as shown by many horses and dogs; the feeding times may be 
irregular; the food may be given in too large quantities at a time; and, 
in horses, drinking heartily just before going to work. Impaired 
nervous power oftentimes prevents the full and necessary movements 
of the stomach during the earlier digestion, or of the bowels later on. 
If a horse, ox, or dog is fed a full meal when he first comes in tired 
from work, he is apt to become a victim of chronic indigestion. 

Symptoms are variable. The appetite may or may not be im¬ 
paired, capricious, or even perverted, at which times horses, cattle, 
and dogs will eat a variety of unusual substances. At other times, 
although the animal eats enough, or more than that, of good food, 
he continues to lose flesh, sweats easily upon slight exertion, the coat 
looks unhealthy, and the skin becomes dry and hard (hidebound). 
The bowels discharges oftentimes, seem to be in perfect condition as 
to quantity, consistency, and color; there may be constipation, or 
a moderate diarrhoea may be shown, especially during exercise; or 
these two last conditions may alternate without apparent cause. In 
many instances urine of a light color is passed in large quantities; 
occasionally the secretion will be very noticeably scant and of a dark 
yellow color, and when passed it may cause some uneasiness to be 
shown by the horse or dog, as if from a burning sensation. Thirst 
may be considerable or not; a horse will perhaps show a slightly coated 
tongue and have a sour, pasty-smelling mouth; dogs, a heavily coated 
tongue and a disagreeable breath, and all animals may have little 
sores, like “canker,” about the mouth or on the under side of the 
tongue. Small worms may be shown; if so, they will pass away as 
the digestion improves, without special treatment. Attacks of colic 
of more or less importance will be shown occasionally, especially 
among animals that have voracious appetites and are allowed to eat 
freely. All animals are dull and listless while at work or exercise; 
or they may seem active one day and dull the next. 

Treatment. — All animals had better receive, at first, the usual 
dose of oil, whether the bowels are loose or not; but in those that 
already have diarrhoeal symptoms, all exercise should be stopped 
for two or three days after the oil has been given; this must be followed 
by continual administration of some good tonic, for horses, cattle, 
and sheep. (See prescriptions.) For dogs the citrate of iron and 
quinine pills, with a powder of bismuth and soda, five grains of 


1322 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


each, three times daily, given dry on the tongue. All animals should 
be carefully and regularly fed; in horses, cattle, and sheep no Indian 
meal or linseed cake should be allowed, until they have fully recov¬ 
ered. In dogs there is no better feed than milk with either wheat 
or graham stale bread or boiled rice well soaked in it, fed in rather 
small quantities three times a day; if the case is a bad one, with 
occasional vomiting and diarrhoea, a tablespoonful of lime water had 
best be mixed with each tumblerful of the milk. 

Foreign Bodies in the Paunch of Cattle. 

Not uncommonly these animals swallow such sharp-pointed objects 
as nails, hairpins, knitting-needles, small pieces of iron, and other 
similar articles. These bodies, when they have been swallowed, may 
gradually be pushed outward toward one side or the other and appear 
at almost any point and cause an abscess on the surface under the 
skin. If such an abscess is opened, the foreign body will be disclosed 
and can generally be removed without difficulty or danger. 

At other times, and frequently, the sharp-pointed object is urged 
forward by the natural movements of the parts, through the midriff, 
until it pierces the heart and causes the death of the animal. 

The Symptoms of this condition of affairs will be more or less 
abdominal pain, nausea, tympany, anemia, dropsical swellings about 
the dewlap; all accompanied by a fickle appetite and an obstinate 
diarrhea. 

Treatment. — Nothing can be done to save the life and, there¬ 
fore, as soon as it is determined that this cause is in operation, the 
sooner the animal is made into beef the better it will be. 

Inflammation of the Stomach in Horses, Cattle, 
Sheep, and Dogs. 

This condition may be acute or chronic 

Acute Disorder. — It is thought by many authorities that this 
condition cannot exist excepting as a result of poisoning; and there 
is no doubt that such substances as arsenic, mercury, antimony, 
copper, wood ashes, and sometimes lead salts, are, as a rule, respon¬ 
sible for its appearance. Still, to some little extent among horses, 
cattle, and sheep, and to a greater extent among dogs, the disorder is 
seen and recognized when no question of poisoning can be entertained. 

Causes. — Mineral poisons, or the presence in the stomach of some 
foreign or indigestible substance. 

Symptoms. — Evidences of great pain, nausea, and, in the dog 
always, in the horse occasionally, vomiting. The horse looks around 


INFLAMMATION OF THE STOMACH. 


1323 


to the left flank, crouches, and cannot stand quiet or erect. The 
pulse is quick and, though strong at first, soon becomes feeble, irregu¬ 
lar, and indistinct at the jaw; the extremities grow cold, partial sweats 
break out over the body; evidences of stupor appear, to be followed 
by unconsciousness, unless relief is given, and the animal dies either 
paralytic or in convulsions, the pain having been most intense through¬ 
out. In one case seen by the writer the spasms of pain were so 
severe as to pull the chin, at intervals, very nearly to the counter, and 
each severer spasm was accompanied by a loud shriek, but there was 
no vomiting. In two other cases, also seen by the writer, full vomit¬ 
ing took place. All three of these cases recovered. 

In Cattle and 5heep. There is a highly disturbed condition 
of the nervous system, evidenced either by delirium, as shown in 
fardel-bound, insensibility, repeated convulsive fits, or paralysis of 
the hind extremities, with at first a more or less profuse diarrhoea, 
which, however, stops as soon as the nervous symptoms are well set 
up. 

In dogs the evidences of great pain, frequent and severe vomiting 
are after a time followed by convulsions, paralysis, and insensibility. 

The Treatment of acute gastritis will in a great measure be that 
for any inflammation of the bowels. The first thing will be to stop 
the pain as quickly as possible; for this opium offers the best hope. 
Horses may receive tincture of opium in doses of from two to four 
ounces, with twenty-five drops of tincture of aconite root in a cupful 
of warm water, each two hours, for as long as necessary; this dose may 
be increased or diminished as required; the horse above referred to 
as “shrieking’’ received eight ounces of tincture of opium at the first 
dose and after that two of four ounces each and one of two ounces. 
This is a very large quantity, but the animal needed it. 

In Cattle and Sheep aconite and belladonna had best be sub¬ 
stituted for the opium (see dose table), and a good dose, as one quart, 
of raw linseed oil can be given with advantage in many cases; if re¬ 
quired it may be repeated in from eighteen to twenty hours. In 
sheep the dose of the oil will be from six to eight ounces. In dogs the 
constant vomiting becomes a very troublesome complication and must 
be managed under the rules already given, as, in the special nature 
of each case, seems to produce the best results. Always begin with 
moderate doses of tincture of opium, as ten drops for medium-sized 
animals, in a half teaspoonful of iced water, and repeat every two 
hours, if it is not rejected by the stomach; if it is thrown up, the 
stomach must be quieted by some of the other methods, and the 
opium tried again. An injection of morphine under the skin, given 
by one who understands the operation, will often be found exceed¬ 
ingly useful. 

When any of the corrosive poisons are known to be the cause, whites 
of eggs, milk, linseed jelly, or even linseed oil should be given at once 


1324 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


and repeatedly, to protect the walls of the stomach; after which, if 
the exact poison is known, its proper antidote is, of course, to be given. 
This should be done by a medical practitioner in each case. (See 
table of antidotes.) 

Chronic Inflammation of the stomach may be met with as the 
sequel of an acute attack, but is much more apt to follow dietetic 
errors. It is exceedingly common among dogs, especially among 
those that cannot be kept from steahng from the refuse food deposits 
of the neighbors. 

Symptoms. — In horses, cattle, and sheep are those of chronic 
indigestion, already described. In dogs, although there is a good 
appetite, the food is rejected by the stomach; there is considerable 
thirst and the animal places itself in a peculiar position by standing 
on his hind legs while both his front paws are stretched out to their 
full extent forward, thus bringing the chest nearly to the ground; and 
in this position he will stand for long periods of time together. 

Treatment. — In horses, cattle, and sheep will be that already 
recommended for chronic indigestion. In dogs, tie the animal up and 
give iced water in small quantities at a time, and nothing else, for 
twenty-four hours. He may then begin to have small quantities at 
a time of milk and lime water, in the proportion of a tablespoonful 
of the lime water to each tumblerful of milk, three times a day; in 
addition to which one teaspoonful of finely chopped, lean, raw beef 
may be given once a day; this food can gradually be added to, by 
increasing the raw beef, as it is found that the animal stops the vomit¬ 
ing. From the commencement, and until the stomach becomes 
perfectly quiet, give one of the following powders, dry on the tongue, 
three times a day; subnitrate of bismuth and bicarbonate of soda, 
of each one dram, which should be well mixed together and divided 
into twelve powders. 

Diseases of the Intestines. 

Constipation, or torpid action of the bowels, occurs in all of the 
animals. 

Causes. — The condition may depend upon intestinal obstruc¬ 
tion, diminished muscular movements of the bowels (peristaltic action), 
or deficient intestinal secretions. Retention of undigested and waste 
materials in the bowels will lead, after a varying interval, to conges¬ 
tion or inflammation of the bowels. 

Symptoms. — There will generally be a full and distended belly, 
although this is not constant; the motions are few, irregular, difficult, 
and attended with more or less straining. If the condition continues, 
the appetite becomes impaired, the strength lessened, and the pulse 
feeble and irregular; if the temperature rises to any marked degree, 


DISEASES OF THE INTESTINES. 


1325 


it is because congestion and inflammation of the bowels are commenc¬ 
ing to take place. In some instances a yellow jelly-like mucous se¬ 
cretion is discharged, either alone or mixed with or covering the 
manure. 

Treatment. — In many slight attacks a change to food of a 
more laxative nature will be all that is required, as, to horses, grass, 
carrots, potatoes not to exceed one quart at a time, bran ^‘mash ” 
made with warm water and with the addition of a tablespoonful of 
salt; to cattle and sheep, grass, beets, turnips, and bran mash; to dogs, 
milk with lime water, beef broth, oatmeal, vegetables with a little 
gravy over them, but absolutely no meat. 

In the more pronounced instances, good doses of oil with salera- 
tus should be given at once, and the food changed as indicated. 
The oil may be repeated once, if necessary, at the proper intervals, 
but no more than two doses should be given in any instance, and if 
this does not have the desired effect, the food should be considerably 
lessened in quantity until the bowels have been well unloaded. If 
colicky pains are shown at intervals to any troublesome extent, 
tincture of opium, in doses just large enough to stop the pain, mixed 
with a little oil, should be given to horses and dogs’, aconite and 
belladonna to cattle and sheep. In all of the animals an occasional 
injection of warm soap-suds will give good results in helping on 
the action of the oil and in clearing out the rectum. It is sometimes 
found at the first examination of the ailing animal that the rectum 
is packed full of hard manure; this condition should always be 
removed, as with the hand in the larger animals, the finger or other 
convenient small instrument, as a teaspoon-handle, in the smaller ones. 

The-constipation being relieved, all of the animals should receive 
a course of some good vegetable tonic. (See prescriptions.) If, after 
this, constipation recurs to any marked extent, the animal should 
continue to receive the laxative foods as already suggested, and the 
tonic powders should be continued. 

In old dogs that have a chronic trouble of this kind, five drops, 
more or less, of the fluid cascara may be given every night, or less 
often as required, in a teaspoonful of cold water. It is not good 
treatment to press the cathartic medicine too hard, for it will not 
accomplish the object if the two doses recommended are not sufficient; 
and, if given beyond the two doses, it may be the cause of an early 
inflammation. The writer has repeatedly seen horses go from seven 
to nine days without a motion of the bowels whatever, and then come 
out all right under the treatment advised. 

Diarrhoea, is the general term applied to an unnatural fluidity 
and an increased amount of discharge from the bowels. It is met 
with as a functional disturbance of various nature, or as a symptom 
in the course of general or specific disease, as has been shown. 

Causes. — The proximate causes of the great fluid discharges are 


1326 


VETEEINARY DEPARTMENT. 


excessive secretion from the membrane lining the bowels, which, in 
itself, gives rise to great increase of their natural activity. These 
conditions are, in their turn, due to direct irritation of the lining 
membrane from without, as, for instance, by food, foul water, worms, 
etc.; or, indirectly, to influences generated within the animal itself, 
as from various specific fevers; nervous conditions, as over exercise 
in some individuals, fear in some others, or any unusual nervous 
excitement. Perhaps of all the causes of diarrhoea the most frequent • 
are injurious food and irregular feeding; sudden changes in the diet, 
especially from a dry to a moist or laxative one; drinking large quan¬ 
tities of water, when heated either by long exposure to the sun or 
after exertion; and feeding immediately after severe work or exposure 
to cold and damp. Fat horses that are used to no more than gentle 
exercise, as well as horses which have a highly nervous temperament, 
are especially liable to diarrhoea while being driven on the road, and 
this last form being due, as it is, to the constitutional make-up of the 
animal, is next to impossible to remedy; they can be stopped for the 
time by having a powder of gentian root and sulphate of iron (see 
prescriptions), mixed in their feed, but as soon as the powder is dis¬ 
continued the diarrhoea generally commences again. 

Symptoms. — The bowel discharges are semifluid, and may be 
with or without offensive odor. If the discharges are long continued, 
the animal loses flesh and the appetite becomes fickle. In some 
instances there is great prostration; colicky pains, or gripes, are not 
uncommon, and the breathing is hastened; unless these symptoms, 
together with vomiting in dogs or great prostration in any of the 
animals, are present the pulse is not usually hastened. 

Treatment. — The exact cause should be carefully looked for 
and removed if possible. The animal should be tied up and kept so 
for as long as the discharges continue; and about one half of the usual 
dose of oil had'better be given. Further than this, in most instances, 
medicines are not required unless the discharges are excessive, or the 
pain and general disturbance great. No cold water should be allowed, 
but, inasmuch as the excessive discharges of fluid generally give rise 
to a considerable thirst, a mixture of wheat flour and water should 
be given in reasonable quantities, a few swallows at a time and fre¬ 
quently. The body should be warmly covered, and, above all, de¬ 
fended from drafts of air. The diet should be that which is easily 
digested and quite limited in amount. If these simple measures are 
not sufficient an attempt should be made to check the discharges by 
the administration of very small doses of tincture of opium mixed 
with brandy or whiskey and water, not oftener than once in each two 
hours, always giving as little as it is found will gradually stop the 
discharges, which must not be checked too suddenly, as, by so doing 
much mischief may be caused. If pain is excessive, in addition to 
giving tincture of opium the belly may be rubbed with a good stimu- 


DISEASES OF THE INTESTINES. 


1327 


lating liniment, and the parts covered, as already directed, with a 
dry blanket or a flannel jacket. The use of astringent remedies, so 
commonly recommended, had better not be used, except perhaps in 
cattle and sheep. 

Diarrhoea, the Scours, or White Skit in foals, calves, and Iambs, 
differs from the diarrhoea of adult animals sufficiently to merit special 
consideration. This form of the disease, which is not so common in 
foals as among calves and lambs, may be looked upon as being a 
specific intestinal catarrh, and a very serious affection. 

Causes. — It owes its origin to changes in the quality of the milk 
upon which it feeds; as well as to defective sanitary arrangements 
by which it may be surrounded. 

Symptoms. — The malady usually appears during the first two 
or three weeks of life in the foal and lamb; but in calves it is frequently 
first shown at a somewhat later period, in which instances it is due 
to an attempt to change the food by adding a proportion of skim 
milk, and when the temperature and sweetness of the milk, as well as 
cleanliness of the various pails, etc., have not been properly attended 
to. The manure is at first of a greenish white color, and there is little 
or no pain expressed. Later on, or perhaps from the first in the more 
serious cases, the discharges are exceedingly sour, full of bubbles of 
gas, which indicate fermentation of the food ; and there is considerable 
colicky pain. If the disorder goes on the little animal ceases to eat, 
loses flesh rapidly, sinks, and dies. 

Treatment. — At the very first all errors in diet should be cor¬ 
rected. The food, which may well consist in part of skimmed milk, 
must be sweet, given at a temperature of about one hundred and one 
degrees, in small quantities at a time and at least four times a day 
at first; and all utensils used must be well scalded, sweet, and clean. 

For medicines, give at first one small dose of either sweet or 
linseed oil, which will be useful in helping to remove the offending 
substances which are in the bowels; and for a little time add lime 
water to all of the milk allowed, the proportion of which will be one 
tablespoonful to each pint of milk. When pain and straining are 
prominent features, opium, chloroform, and camphor may be given 
as required, in a little slightly warmed water; or, if in addition to the 
pain the animal is weak, give the opium in a little brandy or whiskey. 
(See dose table.) If necessary, the belly may be rubbed with stim¬ 
ulating liniment and covered with dry flannel. 

Inflammatioii of the Bowels. — This affection, always to be 
dreaded, varies considerably in its manner of declaring itself and in 
the intensity of the attack; it may be so severe as to destroy life 
within a few hours of its first appearance in horses and dogs. Cattle 
and sheep are not particularly subject to the disorder. The bowels 
are ''^ery seldom affected throughout their entire extent, by some it 


1328 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


is said to attack the larger intestines more frequently than the smaller 
ones; this is more likely to be the case in horses than in dogs. The 
malady is more commonly seen in adults than in the young. 

Causes. — As has been said the degree of the attack may vary 
widely; an animal, seemingly in perfect health, may be suddenly 
seized and die in a few hours. Of this variety the causes are not 
always apparent, but overexertion, long exposure to cold and wet, 
drinking cold water when heated, or washing the body of a heated 
animal with cold water, have been known to give rise to it. 

The more usual form is of slower development, although the ex¬ 
tent to which the process may finally reach is, in many instances, 
very considerable. This form is caused by local impactions of the 
bowels, constipation, twists, intussusception, worms, and various 
poisons, as already pointed out. In addition to this, the disorder 
may follow certain specific fevers, which have been specified. 

Symptoms. — Excepting in the very sudden attacks soon followed 
by death, as explained, the animal will show a general constitutional 
disturbance, as indicated by hurried breathing, dulness, loss of appe¬ 
tite, with or without a marked shivering fit. Abdominal pain begins 
to be shown which, unlike that of colic, is continuous, rarely inter¬ 
mitting in the least, and evidently more painful. The pulse, at first 
quick, hard, and wiry, becomes later on more frequent, of less vol¬ 
ume, more feeble, and finally imperceptible; in number it varies 
from seventy or eighty to one hundred and twenty, or even more, to 
the minute. The internal temperature generally runs to from one 
hundred and three to one hundred and four, although it may not 
exceed one hundred and two, or it may reach to one hundred and 
seven. As the pain increases, the horse stamps, strikes at his belly, 
and when he lies down he does so with greater care than in colic, for 
any increased pressure upon the belly now causes an increase of the 
pain, while in colic it often gives temporary relief. The animal looks 
toward his flanks, sweats copiously, and groans from excessive pain. 
At other times he stands almost motionless, so great is the pain caused 
by any movement of the body, his face plainly expressing the suffering 
he is undergoing. The surface of the body is covered, in patches, by 
a cold sweat; the pupils of the eyes are dilated, and delirium or stupor 
may follow. Or, he may become more restless than ever, wander 
about aimlessly, throw himself down recklessly, and roll violently, 
with apparent disregard of all obstacles. 

At other times he will balance himself for a short interval, with 
teeth clenched, pulse imperceptible, legs and ears icy cold; when 
after a little he suddenly falls and dies exhausted, after a more or less 
severe struggle. 

In other attacks an apparent improvement takes place before 
death: the horse stands at rest for a while, yet, though the breathing 
becomes more quiet, the symptoms of pain much less, and the animal 


Diseases of the intestines. 


1329 


will even eat a little, the face maintains its haggard, dejected appear¬ 
ance; cold patchy sweats cover the body; the pulse is nearly or quite 
imperceptible; and, after a little, he dies exhausted, with gangrene 
of the bowels. 

In still other instances the animal persistently stands as already 
described, the body trembles continuously, the lips fall apart, the 
eyes become dull, the mouth cold and clammy, the breath smells 
badly, until at length, completely exhausted, he drops dead. 

The Dog is very uneasy, cries continuously, gets up and down; 
if a cold floor or a pool of shallow water is within his reach, he will lie 
there flat on his belly, with all of the legs sprawled out. The face 
expresses great pain and anxiety; the pulse, temperature, and breath¬ 
ing are of the same character as described for the horse. Death 
usually takes place in from twelve to twenty-four hours. 

Treatment. — It is very important that no cathartic medicine 
be given, because the bowels when inflamed are completely paralyzed, 
as are other tissues; and all attempts to move them will simply add 
to the intensity of the inflammatory process by crowding down ma¬ 
terial upon the diseased portion, which it cannot pass, but where it 
must remain and act as a further source of irritation. 

If any hope of recovery is to be entertained, the case must be put 
under treatment during the very first of the attack; and the measures 
undertaken for the cure must be thoroughly and carefully persisted 
in until all danger is over; if active treatment is stopped too soon, 
relapse is apt to take place. The measures to be undertaken are to 
try and stop the pain by the use of tincture of opium, given in a little 
iced water, each two hours, in such doses as are indicated by the in¬ 
dividual attack. In the first stages, while the pulse is frequent and 
comparatively full, the tincture of aconite root in doses of twenty- 
five drops, in two ounces of cold water, given each two hours, will be 
of the greatest service in helping to lessen the congestion and so the 
extent of the inflammation; the aconite must be discontinued as soon 
as the pulse begins to show weakness by becoming small and wiry. 
The belly should be covered closely with the ^Hhree-folded’’ blanket 
wrung out of very hot water, and that covered with a dry blanket, 
all held in place by two surcingles; the hot blanket should be repeated 
frequently at first; afterward, as the pain grows less, often enough 
to keep the parts warm; great care must be taken to wring the hot 
water blankets so dry, before they are applied, that water will not 
drop from them. The legs must be bandaged with flannel, and stimu¬ 
lating liniment may be used on them, if it seems to be required by 
their persistent coldness. Although no cathartics should be used, 
the bowels had better be occasionally solicited to action by the use 
of hot soap-suds injections. If the animal is inclined to drink he may 
be allowed iced water freely, a few swallows at a time each ten or 
fifteen minutes, with the best results. The greatest quietude pos- 


1330 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


sible should be maintained throughout the attack; and on no account 
should the animal be taken out and made to walk, as is too often 
done. After recovery, soft sloppy food, as oatmeal gruel, hay tea, 
milk, and raw eggs, should be given in small quantities at a time, 
for three or four days, or until all danger of relapse is passed; and 
even then the return to the usual food should be made gradually 
and carefully. 

Diseases of the Urinary Organs. 

Ailments of these organs, meaning the ureters, kidneys, and blad¬ 
der, which in mankind, for reasons easily appreciated, are so various 
and important are in the animals few in numbers, of rare occurrence; 
and their detection when present is so difficult, needing, as it does, 
the use of chemical tests and the microscope; and the remedy is so 
apt to be of the nature of surgery, that the services of a veterinarian 
should be obtained whenever their presence is suspected. The same 
may be said to be true of diseases of the organs of generation, even 
in a greater degree. 

Diseases of the Nervous System. 

Inasmuch as the structure of the brain in animals is far less com¬ 
plex than it is in man, and as it forms a much smaller proportiohate 
share of the weight of the body, nervous diseases are of far less fre¬ 
quent occurrence in them. 

Inflammation of the Brain. 

Causes. — Blows upon the head, which injure the bones of the 
cranium, or rarely diseases of these bones; exhaustion and exposure, 
especially to a hot sun; as a result of certain fevers; from the entrance 
into the system of such specific germs as those of rabies, etc.; as well 
as in connection with certam forms of indigestion. 

Symptoms. — When the covering of the brain is the first to be 
imphcated, the attack is noted for the suddenness and violence with 
which the disorder asserts itself. The general indications are fever, 
with a sharp, hard and irregular pulse; a high temperature; irregular 
breathing; and constipation. 

There seems to be much pain in the head, it is held stiffly or even 
pressed into a corner or against a wall; the pupil of the eye is con¬ 
tracted; there is a look of sullenness; there may be convulsive muscu¬ 
lar twitchings, actual delirium, or strong convulsions if the malady 
is extensive. Sudden noises will increase any of these symptoms. 
If this first stage is survived, there will be within from a few hours 
to two days a new line of symptoms, which indicate that the disorder 
has progressed sufficiently to complicate the deeper brain tissues. 


INFLAMMATION OF THE BRAIN. 


1331 


The fever subsides, the temperature is lower, the pulse less frequent, 
the breathing becomes heavy, the excitability or delirium is gradually 
lessened; special sensation, as from the prick of a pin, becomes dulled. 
The animal will, if standing, remain hstlessly in one position, the head 
lowered, the eyes glassy, with their pupils dilated. Control over 
voluntary movements becomes more and more disturbed until he 
falls; convulsions, followed by insensibility, with snoring, breathing, 
are then shown; the eyes are open and paralyzed; the body is covered 
by cold sweats; all of the natural openings are relaxed; and death 
soon follows. 

Treatment. — The usual jull doses of cathartics for the different 
animals should at once be given. (See prescriptions.) Cold water or 
ice should be constantly applied to the head, so far as it is possible. 
If this is not possible, sop the poll of the head frequently with a 
good cooling lotion, as: liquor of the acetate of ammonia, one ounce; 
alcohol, two ounces; water, five ounces. Or, instead, this one: chloride 
of ammonia, one half ounce; alcohol, one ounce; dilute acetic acid, 
one and one half ounces; with water enough to make an eight ounce 
mixture. For the purpose of further lessening the diseased action, 
there is probably nothing better than iodide of potash, which may be 
given in large doses every four hours, if possible. Should convales¬ 
cence happily follow treatment, great care must be taken to keep the 
animal where it is quiet, and give him easily digested food for a time, 
or relapse is likely to occur. 

Other disorders of the brain, as chronic thickening of its cover¬ 
ings, softening, hardness, tumors, etc., will be discovered only by the 
expert veterinarian, and they, as well as apoplexy of the brain, are 
of such a hopeless nature and occur so rarely that their description 
here seems to be unnecessary. 

Concussion of the Brain without Fracture of 
the Skull. 

Although the skulls of animals, horses, cattle and particularly 
sheep, are fairly well guarded from the effects of accidental blows 
upon the parts of them covering the brain, still it not unfrequently 
happens that blows are received of sufficient force to cause insensi¬ 
bility of longer or shorter duration and importance. 

Causes. — The condition is apt to occur in horses that rear and 
fall backward, striking the head upon the floor or other hard substance; 
that run away and end up by striking the head against a brick wall 
or plate-glass window; or to any animal that receives a blow upon 
the parts, as from a club or otherwise, which is of sufficient force to 
cause stupor, more or less insensibility, and loss of muscular power, 
from which he may rally quickly or not for many hours; or from which 
he may die almost at once or at the end of some days of insensibility. 

Symptoms will vary in accordance with the degree of concussion. 


1332 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


When the shock has been but a slight one the animal soon recovers 
from the unconsciousness, showing nothing more than a slight stupor 
with some unevenness of muscular action in walking, all of which 
pass off after a rest of two or three days, at most. Wlien the blow 
received has been more severe, the insensibihty continues longer; 
the animal lies as if in a deep sleep; the eyes are paralyzed; the body 
surface cold; the muscles soft and relaxed; the pulse fluttering or 
feeble; and the breathing weak and sometimes almost imperceptible. 
From this condition the animal gradually recovers in favorable in¬ 
stance; or slowly smks and dies without having regained consciousness. 

Treatment. — At first quiet. If after a few hours some degree 
of consciousness has returned and reaction seems to be strong, the 
head of the animal should be raised and placed comfortably on bundles 
of straw or other convenient article, and finely pounded ice in a blad¬ 
der or rubber bag put onto the parts, which may be all that is re¬ 
quired. Generally speaking, however, the depressing effect upon 
the system is so great that stimulants, such as brandy or the aromatic 
spirits of ammonia, properly diluted in cold water, should be cautiously 
given. At the same time, so long as the body surface remains cold, 
the animal should be rubbed, blanketed, bandaged, and made as 
warm and comfortable as possible. Further treatment will consist in 
keeping the bowel discharges in rather a loose condition by a proper 
regulation of the food, if possible; if not, by the use of small doses of 
oil or epsom salts. 

Sunstroke follows exposure to hot sun rays in an overheated 
atmosphere, in some individuals; and affects horses, cattle, and dogs. 

Causes. — Horses are generally attacked during work; cattle and 
dogs when they are confined, as in a small yard where no shade is 
obtainable, for a length of time. 

Symptoms. — It may be noticed that the horse does not sweat as 
he should; it will be noticed that he seems dull, becomes unsteady, 
and then falls, lying more or less fully insensible. The other animals 
lie and pant until they gradually become more or less unconscious. 
The skin is hot; the breathing difficult; the heart’s action irregular; 
and, just before death, the breathing gets gasping. 

Treatment will consist in removing the animal to a cool, shady 
place, or in erecting a temporary shade over him where he lies; cold 
water sponging of the head; the judicious administration of stimu¬ 
lants, as brandy or ammonia, as soon as the animal is able to swallow, 
with, as soon as he can drink, iced water in small quantities at a time, 
but at frequent intervals. 

Blind Staggers; Vertigo; Cerebral Congestion. 

This is one of the most frequently seen disturbances of the brain 
in horses, as every one knows. 


BLIND STAGGERS. 


1333 


Causes. — Temporary congestions of the brain are seen in horses 
of all makes, shapes, and sizes, and are generally dependent upon 
some condition of indigestion, together with exercise too soon after 
eating. “Fits’’ in dogs are often of this nature and due to the same 
causes. Their occurrence may also be due to a plethoric condition of 
body; to certain disorders of the heart, either functional or organic; 
or to any cause through which the proper circulation of the blood is 
so interfered with as to allow too much of that fluid to reach the 
brain, or to be retained in that structure, as by a badly fitting 
“breastplate” or collar. 

Symptoms. — These are invariably sudden in their appearance. 
If upon the road, the horse slackens his pace or suddenly stops; there 
is a shaking of the head as if some object had entered the ear, or the 
head is “tossed” up and down. The blood-vessels of the neck and 
head look full; the eyes stare; the nostrils are held wide open; the 
breathing is rapid, with perhaps some little noise; the muscles of the 
face and neck show a slight, rapid, twitching movement; the body 
is covered by a moderate sweat; and the front legs are braced apart, 
as if for support. Occasionally, the attack proceeds no further, when 
after a few moments the animal proceeds on his journey in a listless 
way at first, afterward with his usual interest. 

When, however, the case is one of greater severity, the muscular 
twitchings become more extensive; excitement is greater, until action 
reaches to beyond the control of the animal; he plunges forward, 
bolts, or rears and falls to the ground. The paroxysm rarely lasts 
for more than a few minutes. 

Treatment. — The first indication will be to remove the cause, 
if it is due to pressure from the collar or breastplate. All further 
necessary treatment in any case will be to dash cold water onto the 
head, until all excitement is passed away; or, if this cannot be done, 
hold the animal as still as possible until the fit passes off, which will 
be, as a rule, but a very few minutes. The common practise of “ bleed¬ 
ing” these horses in the mouth is entirely without effect, for the 
amount of blood that is thus allowed to escape is so small as to have 
no effect whatever upon the animal. Besides which, the operation 
is not without danger to the horse, because, if the cut is made at all 
deeply, at the part usually selected, the third “bar” behind the upper 
teeth, a rather large artery will be opened, which, because of the hard 
nature of the tissues in which it is situated, is exceedingly difficult 
to close. 

Diseases of the Spinal Cord. 

The spinal cord, in connection with the brain, is the organ of sen¬ 
sation and voluntary motion to the trunk and extremities in all ani¬ 
mals. If the cord or its coverings are injured in such a way as to 
cause the slightest pressure upon them, there will be more or less 


1334 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


interference with the motions of the animal behind the affected por¬ 
tion. When the pressure is slight the animal can walk, but does so 
in a more or less uncontrolled manner. If the pressure or injury is 
extreme, there is complete paralysis of the parts behind it. 

Acute Inflammation of the Cord and its 
Coverings. 

Causes. — The cord and its membranes are subject to inflamma¬ 
tions, which may be due to a fall, to heavy blows upon the back, as 
well as to certain fevers which affect the parts. 

Symptoms. — If the cord itself is much implicated in the process, 
preliminary symptoms are entirely absent, paralysis being the first 
thing that is noticed. On the other hand, if the covering membranes 
are first affected, there will be spasmodic contractions of the large 
muscles behind the seat of injury. The animal will seem as if sud¬ 
denly seized with a cramp” of the hind legs; the feet are lifted 
rapidly and in a jerking way from, and are in the same way placed 
again upon, the ground; and while these movements evidently cause 
pain the animal does not seem to be able to stop them at will, 
although at this early stage there may be short periods of rest and 
freedom from them. As time goes on the spasms become more fre¬ 
quent; the animal sweats freely, and is restless; this may continue for 
some hours, rarely exceeding twelve; finally, the animal becomes 
paralyzed behind and falls to the ground. 

Treatment should be conducted upon the general principles 
already advised in inflammatory disorders, excepting that here a 
large dose of physic should always be given at once, and a folded 
blanket, carefully wrung out of very hot water, should be put over 
the back, covered with a folded dry blanket, and all held in place by 
two surcingles and changed often enough to keep the parts warm. 

Chronic Inflammation of the Spinal Cord. 

Shivering. — The broken, sprained, or jinked back, ”as recognized 
by some horse owners. 

In addition to the active forms of inflammatory disease of these 
parts, as just described, which run their course rapidly and terminate 
in death or, more rarely, in a gradual decline of symptoms, there are, 
in the horse, conditions in which there exist certain irregularities of 
action, with a gradually increasing failure of motion, which, after a 
long time, end in more or less complete paralysis of the hind extrem¬ 
ities. 

Causes. — These are not generally knqwn; it is extremely prob¬ 
able that the animal has received, at some time or other, a slight appli- 


( 


ST. VITUS^ DANCE IN DOGS. 


1335 


cation of the causes of the acute form; that he has slipped in backing 
heavy loads, in a way that has caused some little over action of the 
backbone; or that there may be a bony growth upon one of the bones 
of the back, which, gradually increasing, causes, slowly, more and 
more pressure upon the coverings of the cord. 

Symptoms are generally first noticed as the animal is being 
backed out of his stall, when, at first, there will be some apparent 
reluctance in lifting the hind feet; then, in some cases, when the foot 
is hfted and moved backward in the air, there is a shivering” of it, 
as if an attempt were being made to shake off some offending sub¬ 
stance; or there may be a violent ''string halt” action of one or both 
hind legs. After a varying time the animal shows less disposition to 
lie down than formerly; or when down there is greater difficulty in 
getting up, until finally it comes that the horse must be helped before 
he can gain his hind feet, after which he generally seems to prefer 
to stand day and night. Together with these symptoms, and coming 
on very slowly, a marked deficiency of muscular power is shown, he 
almost refuses to back, or does so with difficulty; his hinder parts roll 
from side to side more or less weakly, as he moves forward; next he 
shows badly in turning; he begins to ^‘knuckle” at the fetlocks, to 
interfere, and finally becomes more or less paralyzed, and has to be 
destroyed. 

Treatment will consist in an endeavor to stimulate the parts to 
regain their healthy action; and this is to be accomplished, if at all, 
by the use of strychnine (see prescriptions) and repeated blistering 
of the back, or, perhaps, by firing and blistering along each side of 
the backbone. In bhstering the back care must be taken not to use 
too much of the cantharidine ointment, or to rub it in too hard, or 
else it will permanently destroy the hair. Horses with this trouble 
should be kept in slings while in the stable, to prevent them from 
being ^^cast” in the stall and further injured. 


St. Vitus’ Dance (Chorea) in Dogs. 

Causes. — The most frequent cause of this uncontrollable twich- 
ing of various muscles, or groups of muscles, is undoubtedly an after 
effect of the “distemper” poison. It may also arise in young dogs as 
a result of the irritation caused by intestinal worms; or by teething, 
in some cases. 

Symptoms. — Chorea generally begins, and especially so if follow¬ 
ing an attack of distemper, with occasional spasms of the temporal 
muscles; or it may show itself in other muscles of the face, or even 
those of the eyes; or there may be a constant jerking of the head and 
lower jaw; of the fore legs; or, in fact, of any of the muscles; and, after 
the symptom is well set up, the twitchings of the affected muscles will 


1336 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


have a marked regularity of action. These movements do not cease 
while the animal is lying down, but they frequently do while he is 
asleep. 

The stomach and bowels are usually deranged; the appetite 
is fickle and irregular; constipation is troublesome; diarrhoea is 
rarely present. In some cases the dog will return to perfect health, 
except for the continued twichings, and remain so for years, but if the 
chorea attacks whi e the animal is in a deb htated condition, and 
especially if it immediately follows an attack of distemper, either 
because the restlessness causes increasing and distressing debility, or 
else because of the further action of the distemper poison upon the 
nervous system, the chorea is gradually followed by attacks of con¬ 
vulsions, more or less insensibility, paralysis and death. 

Treatment. — The only plan of medical treatment to be recom¬ 
mended will consist in regulating the bowels, subduing irtritation as 
much as possible, and strengthening the system. For these purposes 
the employment of stimulating cathartics, if they are necessary, as 
they usually are, such as calomel and jalap, or, more conveniently, 
the compound cathartic pills, of the drug shops, in sufficient numbers 
to produce the required action, as from one pill in small dogs to two 
or three in the larger ones, had better be used once, or if necessery 
twice, at the beginning. After that a five-grain tablet of cascara 
compound, or ten drops of the fluid cascara, in a little water may be 
given each night, or less after or in a smaller dose, as required. For 
subduing the irritation and quieting the animal give bromide of potash, 
in doses of from five to ten grains, two or three or four times a day, as 
demanded by the case. There is no better tonic in these cases than 
the pill of citrate of iron and quinine, one grain of each to a pill for 
small animals, two grains for larger ones, given three times a day. 
The tonic should not be given until after the more severe symptoms 
of irritation have been overcome. 

The diet must be nutritious, chopped raw beef, milk, and eggs 
forming a good share of the food, which should be given in small 
quantities at a time, three times a day. If the symptoms come from 
the presence of intestinal worms, treatment for the removal of them 
should take the place of the carthartic. If from dentition the local 
irritating condition so caused should be properly attended to. 

At the commencement of severe cases a warm bath for fifteen or 
twenty minutes every other day will often afford great relief; of 
course care must be taken to prevent the animal from getting chilled 
afterward. 

Big Leg In Horses (Lymphangitis). 

In this disorder of the lymph vessels, one or both of the hind legs 
will be found in the morning to have suddenly become considerably 
swollen over night. 


BIG LEG IN HORSES. 


1337 


Causes. — Irritation of lymphatic glands, that are in connection 
mth some of the dipstive organs, with extension of the trouble to 
the lymphatic vessels of the affected limb. It is a frequently seen 
disorder, niore especially in animals that are overfed during short 
periods of idleness. 


Symptoms. — If noticed early enough it will be seen that the 
horse has a shivering fit. As this subsides the animal becomes rest¬ 
less,, fever follows and lameness begins to be shown in one or other 
of the hind legs. These various stages are quickly gone through 
with; the pulse is increased from seventy to, rarely, one hundred 
beats in the minute, and is hard and cord like. The breathing is 
hurried; in the severer cases it may number as many as from forty to 
fifty and be accompanied by a slight blowing noise. The temperature 
will be from one hundred and two to one hundred and four; the appe¬ 
tite is lost; there is great thirst; and the bowels are constipated. The 
swelhng, which will first be noticed on the inner side of the leg along 
the course of the large vein, when pressure, if made as by the finger, 
mil cause considerable pain, gradually extends to embrace the whole 
lirnb. The pain, heat, and tenderness in the part increases until the 
height of the fever is reached, and then remains stationary for a day 
or two, when it begins to slowly subside and continues so to do until 
it again reaches its natural size. 

IJnless care is taken to prevent it, the attacks are repeated at 
intervals until finally the animal is left with a chronic big leg. 

Treatment. — The remedies are few, but they must be promptly 
and persistently employed. The whole limb is to be thoroughly and 
frequently bathed throughout its whole length with warm water. 
Considerable rehef may be afforded by rubbing a little fluid extract 
of belladonna onto the skin over the course of the large vein on the 
inner side of the leg, between the times of bathing it, especially letting 
it remain on during the night. The bowels are to be thoroughly 
cleared out with a good dose of raw hnseed oil and saleratus (bi¬ 
carbonate of soda). Tincture of aconite root in doses of from twenty 
to twenty-five drops each, in two ounces of cold water, had better 
be given every two hours, for six times, during the oncoming of the 
fev§r. After the oil has operated, one ounce of saltpeter, given in the 
drinking water through each day, will aid in reducing the size of the leg. 

Walking exercise is generally recommended, after the fever has 
passed, to help reduce the size of the limb; and while it is true that 
size can be temporarily lessened in this way, it is just as true that, by 
it, the ultimate period of recovery will be delayed; dry hand rubbing 
will give better results. The condition of chronic big leg is beyond 
cure generally; an attempt may be made by rubbing the leg once a 
day with a liniment made of equal parts of the soap liniment of the 
drug stores, and tincture of iodine. The iodide of potash in fairly good 
doses may be given internally, dissolved in water, three times a day. 


1338 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


Diseases of the Skin. 

Of these there are so many different varieties, each one of which 
has such a number of subdivisions, that no more than a few of those 
most commonly met with can be described in this place. It may, 
however, be said that the greater number of skin diseases are second¬ 
ary affections; and in attempting to cure them the treatment must 
be directed both to the removal of the internal cause, which is gen¬ 
erally digestive in its nature, and the healing of the skin itself by 
local apphcations. 

Nettle Rash (Urticaria) is characterized, in the horse, by the 
sudden appearance upon various parts of the skin of prominent, 
elastic patches of a roundish or oblong shape, varying in size, at their 
bases, from that of a nickel to, rarely, that of a half dollar. 

Causes. —• It is due to some disorder of the digestion, which may 
or may not be attended with some of the usual more noticeable signs 
of such disorder, as fever, diarrhoea or colic, all of which, however, 
if present, disappear as the eruption comes out. 

Symptoms. — Whether some little digestive disturbance has been 
noticed or not, the eruption appears suddenly, beginning generally 
upon the neck and from there extending to cover nearly the entire 
body, at times; or it may be shown on one part of the skin, suddenly 
fade from there and appear on another part. The rash is sometimes 
accompanied by slight itching. 

Treatment. — Give a mild purgative, as oil and soda, w^hich 
had better be followed by the administration of a powder made of 
equal parts of cream of tartar and sulphur; the dose will be two tea¬ 
spoonfuls, morning and night, mixed with the grain food; this should 
be continued for about one week. The horse may be used again as 
soon as the effects of the oil have passed off. 

False Ringworm (Creeping Teeter; Herpes circinatus) is a more 
contagious affection consisting of one or more clusters of httle 
bhsters upon slightly inflamed patches of skin, which are often so 
shaped as to closely resemble true ringworm, which is a contagious 
disorder of the skin. 

Causes are digestive. 

Symptoms. — There is an eruption of httle bhsters upon inflamed 
patches of skin, which assume a circular form, the circles varying in 
size and sometimes including an area of healthy skin. The circles 
increase in size by their circumferences. 

True Ringworm can be distinguished from the false by making a 
careful examination of the hair of the affected parts, which, in the con¬ 
tagious disorder, will be found to have about them a complete whitish 


DISEASES OF THE SKIN. 


1339 


sheath, to break unevenly, to be ragged at their ends and have the 
appearance of having been eaten through; their broken stumps are 
much altered, bent, twisted, and lighter in color than the healthy 
hair. 

Treatment of creeping tetter will be to regulate the diet under 
rules already mentioned. If there be much itching a dose of cathartic 
inedicine had better be given; otherwise, one ounce of saltpeter, 
divided into three equal parts, one of which is to be given in the drink¬ 
ing water or on the food, three times daily, and continued for a week 
or ten days, as required, will generally be all that is necessary in the 
way of medicine. The irritation of the skin may be relieved and 
cured by the application of zinc ointment, or the ointment of the sub¬ 
acetate of lead, both of them as ordinarily prepared by the druggist. 
A simple dusting of the parts with powdered starch will oftentimes 
be all that is required in the way of local treatment. 

Treatment of Contagious Ringworm. — Put the animal in a 
place where he will not come into contact with any others; be careful 
that nothing that touches or has been used upon the diseased animal 
comes in any way in contact with a healthy one. Feed lightly; give 
no exercise; and rub all of the diseased spots, once a day, with a mix¬ 
ture of one part of soap hniment to an equal part of the tincture of 
iodine. If, after a few days of this treatment, the skin does not seem 
to be improving, increase the strength of the solution by adding one- 
half part more of the iodine to the original mixture; if it is found that 
this increased amount of iodine is beginning to blister the parts, use 
it once every other day, only. If the disorder is not cured in this 
way within a week or ten days, a veterinarian had better be called in 
to see the case. 

Eczema (often mistakenly called mange, red mange, etc.) is the 
most commonly seen skin disease in dogs; it also affects horses, 
cattle, and sheep, especially lambs. It is not contagious, but is very 
apt to recur. 

Causes. — It is invariably due to dietetic errors, from over feed¬ 
ing, or from insufficient exercise, while eating food that is too^ heating 
in its nature; too much meat, indian meal, or dog biscuit, in dogs; 
indian and oil meal, in horses and cattle, or clover or buckwheat, in 
sheep or lambs that are being prepared for market. 

Symptoms. — In the earher stages there is an eruption of small 
blisters on var'ous parts of the skin, closely crowded together and 
often running into each other, so as to form, on being broken, super¬ 
ficial moist excoriations, which in a short time afterward are dried 
into scabs and crusts. The heat of the skin, together with the irri¬ 
tation caused by the scabs, produces considerable itching, and the 
scratching and biting of the parts by dogs, and the rubbing of them 
against walls or similar objects, by the other animals, soon produce 


1340 


VETERINAKY DEPARTMENT. 


excoriated patches of larger or smaller sizes upon the surface of the 
s kin , from which oozes a yellowish fluid in small quantities, or even a 
small quantity of blood. These, when they occur, add considerably 
to the pain and itching; the animals scratch and rub more persistently 
and, unless the disorder is cured, the skin begins to thicken, the hair 
to fall off to a considerable extent, and the animal either grows rapidly 
thin and dies, after a time, from exhaustion, or else the malady takes 
upon itself a chronic form, which will be a long time in getting well, 
although it is curable. There are a considerable number of sub- 
varieties of eczema, but their differences do not need to be pointed 
out here. 

Treatment. — The diet should at once be changed and regu¬ 
lated in accordance with the general rule: bread and milk with lime 
water for dogs; grass or roots with sound hay and a moderate feeding 
of oats and bran, with salt, to the others. In very mild cases these 
changes alone will often be all that is needed, especially if the animal 
is kept from scratching, biting, or rubbing the skin by, in dogs, muffling 
the hind feet and taping the mouth. More often the cases are obstinate 
and, for a time, will seem to resist any application that may be made 
to them. There is, perhaps, no disorder of the skin which has had a 
larger variety of drugs applied to its remedy than this one; this only 
goes to show the very untractable nature of the malady, at times; 
it does not necessitate the recommendation of a long list of remedies. 
The one remedy which can be relied upon to bring about a cure more 
often than any other one is the sulphur lotion. (See prescriptions.) 
This, if made as directed, will have a strength of one part of the sulphur 
to eight parts of water, and may be used in this strength on all animals 
that do not have large bleeding surfaces, as described, in connection 
with the trouble. On them, as well as on lap-dogs and lambs, when 
the skin is very delicate, the lotion should be reduced by adding two 
ounces of water to each four ounces of the lotion; if this is found, after 
being used for a day or two, not to cause too much irritation, its 
strength may be gradually increased until the original strength of 
the lotion is reached. The lotion should be well rubbed onto all of 
the diseased parts once daily, and the animal held still for ten or fifteen 
minutes or until the application has partially dried. If the disorder 
is freely spread over the body, the dog had better be clipped, or else 
the skin will not be sufficiently well reached. In instances when the 
eczema is confined to scattered, small, hairless, patches, wherein the 
itching is considerable, a solution or ointment of Icthyol may often 
be used, once daily, with markedly good results. (See prescriptions.) 
If the case is one that is beyond the power of cure by one or the other 
of these remedies, a veterinarian had better be called. 

Scratches in the Horse. — This is a well-known and trouble¬ 
some disorder occurring on the skin, just below the fetlock and behind 
the pastern bone. 


BURNS AND SCALDS. 


1341 


Causes. The exciting cause is exposure of the parts to melting 
snow, mud, and water. While all horses are subject to it, there are 
some that never have it and a few others that are never without it. 
It is very much more apt to affect horses that show poor condition, 
due to bad digestion, than those that are in good health. 

Symptoms. — The skin of the part first becomes very slightly 
swollen, hot to the touch, and in white-haired horses it will be seen to 
be quite red in color. After a very short time, if the animal is con¬ 
tinued at work, small horizontal cracks appear and rapidly deepen, 
discharging at first a yellowish fluid which afterward becomes 
mixed with blood, and the legs begin to swell. The edges of the cracks 
widen and scabs appear upon them, which have a strong tendency 
to form a horn-hke material and become a source of considerable irri¬ 
tation. The animal starts off lame, but after a little goes sound, until 
he is allowed to stand for a while, when he again goes lame for a little. 

Treatment. — If noticed before the cracks have become at all 
large or deep, the animal should at once be taken from work, put into 
his stall, and have the parts poulticed with hnseed, or oil meal, and 
warm water, for twelve hours; after which the zinc and lead lotion 
(see prescriptions) should be freely sopped onto the scratches and 
the horse allowed to remain idle until well. In the more advanced 
cases the treatment should be the same, excepting that the poulticing 
should be continued longer, and all of the scabs must be removed 
from the edges of the cracks every day, before the lotion is put on, 
until they cease to form; when zinc ointment may be used in place of 
the lotion. All cleaning of the parts, as from the poultice or other 
material, should be done with dry cloths; no water, or soap and 
water, should be used at any time. If the horse must be used, he 
should be poulticed over night, the sores carefully cleaned in the 
morning, and the zinc ointment should be well rubbed into the parts 
before he starts out. This will help matters considerably, but a cure 
will, probably, not be made until after he has been allowed to rest. 


Burns and Scalds. 

These happenings vary much as regards their local and consti¬ 
tutional effects, according to the degree and duration of the heat 
applied, the extent of the surface involved, the seat of the mischief, 
and the vital power of the animal at the time of injury, because 
great depression follows immediately after extensive injuries of the 
kind. They are conveniently divided into four classes: 

First. The burn which produces simple inflammation of the 
skin may be caused by the momentary application^of hot water or 
steam, by exposure to the rays of a strong fire, or by momentary light 
contact with a hot object or a very small flame. 


1342 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


Symptoms. — Unless the extent of surface injured be large, the 
constitutional disturbance is slight. The skin in white-haired animals 
is seen to be red; in all of them there is more or less removal of the 
hair, slight swelling, and severe pain, which lasts for some hours. In 
a few days the outer skin peels off and the hair gradually returns as 
if it had not been removed. 

Treatment. — When anything is required, some heavy oil, as 
linseed, should be applied to the burned surface and that covered, 
if possible, with a sufficient layer of oiled cotton wool, which may be 
held in place by a light bandage. If the cotton cannot be held in 
place, wheat flour may be freely sprinkled over the newly oiled sur¬ 
face. 

Second. Inflammation of the skin, with the production of blisters 
filled with serum, will be caused by a more severe burn. 

Symptoms. — The skin is tense, hot, and swollen, soon becoming 
more or less covered with water blisters” of varying sizes; and the 
pain is considerable. If the blisters get broken or their tops rubbed 
off, the surface underneath becomes exceedingly tender. In the 
more favorable cases the outer skin is slowly removed, and the part 
returned to health, no scar remains, and the hair grows again. In 
other instances, pus and sores will be formed on the injured surface of 
the true skin, when some of the hair will be permanently lost and a 
scar will remain. The constitutional symptoms are often severe 
and the depression considerable. 

Treatment. — If the constitutional symptoms are markedly 
shown, it will be because the pain is great. This should be controlled, 
as far as possible, by the administration of moderate doses of the 
tincture of opium; while, if the depression is considerable, a little 
whiskey or brandy may be given. For the local application nothing 
will be better than the raw linseed oil, already recommended, or, if 
the blisters are broken, carron oil, which is a mixture of linseed oil 
and lime-water, in equal parts, had better be used. The use of wheat 
flour is not desirable because, if it becomes mixed with the contents 
of the blisters, a dirty, irritating paste is formed, which is difficult 
to remove, for a proper dressing of the sore surfaces. When the blisters 
are large and well filled with fluid they should be opened, great care 
being taken not to remove their coverings in the process. If pus 
is formed, the parts must be thoroughly cleansed once or twice a day 
with the solution of lysol. 

Burns of greater severity than those already described had better 
be put under the care of a veterinarian as soon as possible, for they 
are likely to become quite complicated in their necessary treatment, 
both constitutional and local. 


























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CANKER OP THE EAR IN DOGS. 


1343 


Burns from Acids and Strong Alkalies sometimes occur as the 
result of accident. The treatment of them should be as for any 
burn of equal importance, excepting, if ac.d has caused the harm, 
the part should be freely bathed with an alkaline solution, as, 
saleratus one heaping tablespoonful to each quart of water. Or if 
the burn is from a strong alkali, as hme, the parts should be bathed 
with some weak acid solution, as a cupful of vinegar to each quart 
of water. These baths are to be given only once, and they will be 
productive of no good whatever unless they can be used almost im¬ 
mediately after the accident has taken place. 


Canker of the Ear in Dogs. 

Causes. — The entrance of foreign bodies into the ears, bites frorx 
other dogs, but much more frequently than either of these, the same 
set of causes that operate in bringing on an attack of eczema. 

Symptoms. — The early approach of canker is indicated by fre¬ 
quent shaking of the head, or holding it to one side, or careful scratch¬ 
ing of one or both ears, accompanied by a low, painful sounding whine. 
If now an examination of the inner side of the ear be made, the skin 
will be found red, especially down among the folds, and that some of 
these are swollen. If these earlier symptoms are neglected the pain 
will increase, the redness become more intense, the folds more swollen, 
and deposits of red or black thick matter will be found to have taken 
place in the various hollows between the folds, more especially the 
deeper ones and at the bottom of the canal. Should it happen that 
up to this time the ear had not had treatment, little sores will begin 
to appear upon various parts of the skin, again, more particularly 
the deeper ones. 

Treatment.— The ear should be carefully and thoroughly ex¬ 
amined and any collections of foreign matter removed. This should 
be carefully done by using a small piece of wood, like a toothpick, 
which has a little absorbent cotton wrapped around one end; the 
cotton must be changed each time that it becomes soiled. The ear 
having thus been cleaned thoroitghly, the use, twice a day, of a little 
of a solution of the sulphate of zinc, ten grains to one ounce of water, 
will generally be all that is required. The ear should be cleansed 
once daily for as long as is necessary. 


External Canker or Rodent Ulceration of the Ear. 

Causes. —The disorder attacks dogs having pendulous ears, as 
pointers, setters, etc., and of these, more commonly those, that from 
the habit of shaking the head considerably, from any cause, or those 
whose instincts take them through underbrush and among briars 


1344 


VETERINAKY DEPARTMENT. 


where the parts may receive some small scratches, which may be 
followed by the ulcer. 

Symptoms. — There appears at first, at the pendulent tip of 
the ear, a small wound, abrasion, or bruise that is thought to be of no 
consequence. After a httle time, however, the animal commences 
to shake his head, flapping his ears violently; the ear swells about the 
little wound, which, if closely examined, will be found covered with 
a thin, dry, brown scale, having minute cracks upon it and being hot 
and somewhat painful upon pressure. After a little the scab will be 
removed, disclosing an indolent, ulcerated looking surface covered 
with a small quantity of a greenish, unhealthy looking pus. This 
ulcer will extend itself more or less rapidly as the dog shakes the 
head, until the ear is eaten through at the tip, the sore extends by its 
margins and shows no tendency to heal. 

Treatment. — Nothing will be of avail until the dog can be 
made to stop the violent flapping of the ears, and this cannot be accom¬ 
plished without the use of the so-called ^‘canker cap.” This cap 
may be made of close net or a piece of cotton cloth, which should be 
six or eight inches in width and sufficiently long to reach round the 
head and meet under the jaws. Along each side of it must be a 
running piece of tape and a shorter piece sewed at the center of each 
of the ends. By means of these the cap may be drawn tightly over 
the head, above the eyes, and likewise round the neck, behind the 
ears, so as to confine them perfectly. The cap being ready for use, the 
ulcer is to be thoroughly cleansed with the lysol solution, and all small 
pieces of the scale removed as soon as possible. The whole surface 
is then to be covered with a small quantity of powdered iodoform, 
the ears placed one above the other on the top of the head, and the 
cap adjusted. The cap must be kept on for some time after the other 
treatment is no longer necessary, or else the ulcer will return. 

Rickets 

is a constitutional disease characterized by the softening and bend¬ 
ing of some of the bones of the body and extremities, superadded 
to many of those conditions that result from indigestion. There is 
general debility, softness of muscles, and a sluggish state of the ner¬ 
vous system. The malady is essentially one of early life and is seen 
in foals and calves, but particularly in puppies of all breeds, large 
and small. 

Causes. — Anything which induces imperfect digestion of food 
and impaired general nutrition. Hence it is seen in calves which 
are not allowed to suckle their mothers; in foals when the dams are 
taken to work during the day and the foals allowed to suckle only 
morning and night or, at most, three times a day; conditions which 
always create a tendency to eat to over fulness of the stomach, as a 


RICKETS. 


1345 


result of which the milk passes through them in an ill-digested, curdy 
condition, and the young animal is partially starved, both by the 
imperfect assimilation of the food and by the weakening of the diges¬ 
tive powers, which is gradually brought about. In addition to this 
improper method of feeding, the constant breathing of impure air, 
living in damp, dark, or cold places, will induce rickets, and here prob¬ 
ably will be found the reason for so many more puppies being affected 
with rickets after a winter rearing, than among those that have been 
raised in the summer and sunshine, all other conditions being equal. 

Symptoms. — It will first be noticed that the young animal shows 
an undesirable fulness of the stomach, just after feeding, which is 
soon followed by diarrhoea, more quickly recognized in calves and 
foals than in puppies; general debility and loss of flesh, with slight 
but comparatively painless' swelling about the joints of the limbs, 
especially the wrists in puppies. The change from apparent health 
to disease is, as a rule, so gradual that the animal is not considered 
to be sick enough for special treatment until, after the lapse of some 
little time, the bent condition of the bones of the legs is suddenly 
realized to exist to some considerable degree. 

In foals and calves the bones from the knees to the ankle are first 
to give way, the curvatures being outward; thus the knees are thrown 
outward and the toes drawn inward. At the same time the extrem¬ 
ities of the bones at the joints become enlarged, hot and painful, 
causing so much lameness that the animal merely touches the toes of 
the affected limbs to the ground. When the bones of the hind extrem¬ 
ities are bent, the toes are turned outward, the hocks inward, the 
points of them almost touching each other; and the cannon bones bent 
at their middle, inward and backward. 

In puppies the bones which bend soonest are those of the arm, at 
the lower third, giving the animal a dwarf-like appearance; he stands 
with his front legs wide apart and walks with a pecuhar strut, 
throwing the weight of his body from one leg to the other as he 
walks, the breast-bone, in some cases, almost touching the ground. 
The elbows and wrists are disproportionately large and somewhat 
hot and painful upon pressure. In all the animals, after a time, the 
breathing is quickened, the pulse becomes frequent and feeble, the 
appetite capricious, and the diarrhoea offensive in smell. Recovery 
takes place slowly at first, rapidly afterward. The earliest signs of 
improvement are a better condition of the excretions; the appetite 
improves; the flesh is firmer; growth, which has been at a standstill, 
proceeds rapidly; healthy bone material is actively deposited at the 
parts where the curvature has been the greatest; the bones become 
healthy; and there is left of the disorder only more or less deformity, 
by curvature, which will remain throughout the life of the animal. 

Treatment. — Rickets is always preventable if its causes are not 
allowed to exist. When present, the first attention must be to regu- 


1346 


VETERINAKY DEPARTMENT. 


late the digestion, under the general rules already given, and by allow¬ 
ing small quantities of the proper food, for young animals, at frequent 
intervals. The medicines to be given are iron, quinine, cod-hver oil, 
and bone meal, in the quantities required by the various animals, 
and the differing sizes and ages of the puppies. (See dose table.) The 
pill of citrate of iron and quinine may conveniently be given to dogs. 
The bone meal used should be that which is carefully prepared, 
ground very fine, and obtainable from the druggist only. If the 
dose of cod-liver oil used is too large, it will cause purgation and must 
be made smaller; if constipation is troublesome the dose of the oil 
can be increased. 

Splints of very thin wood in the larger animals, or pasteboard in 
puppies, are often used with considerable advantage, during the 
beginning of treatment, if properly applied and so arranged that 
they do not chafe the skin. They should, of course, be put on the 
inner side of the curvature. 

Splint 

is the name given to a small bony growth generally situated upon 
the inner side of the front cannon bones of horses; while it may 
occur anywhere between the knee and the fetlock, it is usually seen 
about midway between these two joints. 

Causes. — Anything which may cause inflammation of the cover¬ 
ing of the bone, as a blow from the other foot, in travehng; in animals 
under five years of age, from concussion in trotting or galloping 
rapidly upon a hard road, etc. 

Symptoms. — The bony enlargement is both easily seen and felt 
upon some portion of the parts described. Unless the splint is in 
close connection with the knee, or being newly formed, or recently 
struck, as by the other forward foot, there will be no lameness. Splint 
lameness is peculiar in that the horse, with it, will trot exceedingly 
lame, and walk nearly, if not quite, sound, the two exhibitions of 
lameness being out of all proportion to each other; besides which the 
further he goes the lamer he gets. Both of these symptoms may be 
shown before the enlargement appears, but if the coming splint be its 
cause, close examination will show heat and tenderness upon pressure, 
at the seat of the coming enlargement. Unless lameness is present, or 
the growth is in close connection with the knee joint, sphnt is not a 
cause of imsoundness. 

Treatment.— When the growth is first coming, or whenever, 
from interfering, etc., it is hot and tender, rest the horse and apply 
cold water bandages frequently, until all of the heat and soreness have 
passed away. Afterward an attempt may be made to '^harden it 
down’’ by the use of a blistering ointment made of red iodide of 
mercury, two drams, well mixed with one ounce of lard. A very little 


DISEASED CONDITIONS OF JOINTS. 


1347 


of this ointment is to be rubbed lightly over the splint, once a day, 
until the parts become sore, when further application of it should be 
stopped and the part allowed to dry; when the crust that will be 
formed is perfectly dry, a very little sweet oil or lard should be put 
upon it two or three times a week until it comes off. The whole 
process will take about three weeks. The hair should be clipped off 
before the ointment is used. 

Diseased Conditions of Joints 

It will not be possible to intelligently describe the disorders coming 
under this head, unless there is a fairly clear idea of the structure of 
jo nts. A joint is a union, by means of ligaments, oi two or more 
bones the opposing surfaces of which, so shaped as to be perfectly 
fitted into one another, are covered by cartilage and enclosed within 
a capsular ligament, forming a closed cavity which is lined throughout 
by a delicate membrane that, from its function, which is the secretion 
of the joint-oil or synovia, is called the synovial membrane. Any one 
of these four tissues may be injured and become inflamed, but their 
liability to inflammation is in direct proportion to the amount of 
blood that they naturally contain, and that is in the following order: 
synovial membrane, bone, ligament, and cartilage. 

The Causes which operate to produce diseases of the joints are 
very various; they may be local, as from blows, strains, and wounds; 
constitutional, when certain conditions which modify the vital processes 
in various other tissues of the body, but which are especially prone to 
locate in the joints, are met with, as in rheumatism, tuberculosis, etc.; 
or there may be a modification of one by the other, as, when a pre¬ 
disposition to disease of the joints is hereditary, a slight injury will 
induce a certain grave disorder which, in an animal without such 
taint, would be of no great consequence. 

Bog Spavin is a soft, fluctuating swelling situated upon the inside 
front of the hock joint. 

Causes. — A chronic synovitis, which has been due to overwork 
of the limb or to some slight injury of it, as strain, twist, etc., as a 
result of which a large amount of synovial fluid has been poured out 
into the cavity of the capsular ligament, so creating a dropsy of the 
joint, which has little, if any, tendency to become absorbed and 
disappear. 

Symptoms. — There may be, at first, a slight lameness which, 
when present, is due to the cause of the synovitis; this soon passes 
away, with rest, and there is left no more than the swelling described. 
This swelling usually remains of about the same size as at first shown, 
throughout life; occasionally it may be induced to disappear per¬ 
manently, by treatment; at other times it rarely happens that it 


1348 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


continues to grow until it reaches an immense size, in spite of all 
treatment, but this is usually in horses of lowered general vitality. 
When bog spavin is present, without lameness, it is a blemish, not an 
unsoundness, because, of itself, it is not a cause of lameness and, when 
of moderate size, does not interfere with the animahs work. 

Treatment, as has already been intimated, is not often followed 
by the permanent disappearance of the enlargement. When it is 
first shown it may be painted with pure tincture of iodine once a 
day until it becomes sore; or blistered with the ointment of red iodide 
of mercury, two drams to the ounce of lard, applied as recommended 
for sphnt. The animal must not be allowed exercise during this 
treatment, under which the swelling is often removed; but it will 
nearly always return as soon as the horse is again put to work. 

Thoroughpin. — This name is given to a dropsical swelling, 
similar to that of bog spavin, with which it is often associated, situ¬ 
ated just above the point of the hock, under the large tendon which 
comes down the back of the leg and passes over the point of the 
hock. 

Causes. — It comes as the result of a low form of inflammation 
of a synovial membrane there situated, the natural sercetion 
of which is for the purpose of lubricating the gliding of the tendon 
in its sheath, at the part. The inflammation results from over¬ 
work of the tendon. It rarely causes lameness, excepting that 
which may be due to some little strain of the tendon, which, when 
present, passes off after a few days’ rest, leaving a dropsical swelling 
which extends from side to side of the leg and is of larger or smaller 
size. A thoroughpin is not an unsoundness, unless the animal is 
going lame from it; which will be, if at all, when it first makes its 
appearance, and then the lameness is due to injury of the tendon. 

Treatment will be the same as for bog spavin; with the same out¬ 
look as to permanent loss of the enlargement. 

Capped Hock is a serous swelling of larger or smaller size situated 
directly upon the point of the hock, under the skin, which is very 
thick at the part. It is seen in cattle as well as horses. 

Causes. — It is the result of a blow, or more or less constant 
pressure upon the part. Horses that kick the sides of the stall are 
very apt to have it, as well as those that meet with accidents as a 
result of which the parts are injured. In cattle particularly, and 
rarely in horses, from lying upon a hard floor in such a position as to 
press the points of the hock upon it. 

Symptoms. — There is a larger or smaller swelling, which, when it 
first comes, evidently contains fluid, is hot, and tender to the touch; 
there may or may not be lameness, depending entirely upon the 
importance of the injury that has caused the enlargement. 


DISEASED CONDITIONS OF JOINTS. 


1349 


Treatment. Prevent any repetition of the cause by padding 
the sides of the stalls, if necessary. If the injury be recent and the 
part hot, slip an old overall leg up over the leg of the animal, tying 
it lightly around the limb just below and above the joint, thus leaving 
a sort of pocket around the joint. Fill this pocket with old sponge, 
cotton waste, or similar material, and keep it constantly wet with ice 
water until all heat and tenderness have passed off. If any enlarge- 
rnent remains, bhster with the ointment of red iodide of mercury, as 
directed for^ splint, or, if preferred, paint the part daily with pure 
tincture of iodine until it becomes sore, then after a few days paint 
again, as long as necessary. The process of removing the enlargement, 
if it becomes at all chronic, is a slow one and not always entirely 
successful. The horse can be used during treatment, but great care 
must be taken to prevent any addition to the cause. It is not an 
unsoundness. 

Curb. — By this term is meant a hard swelling which appears at a 
point some three or four inches below the point of the hock, directly 
upon the back of the leg. 

Cause. — It is a strain of a ligament (calcaneo-cuboid) which 
serves to bind the lower extremity of ^^os calcis” to other small 
bones of the hock joint. The cause of the strain is anything which 
tends to pull the point of the hock too strongly forward; as rearing, 
pulling heavy loads up hill, slipping, as in backing, with the hind legs 
well under the body, jumping over high objects, etc. 

Symptoms. — Upon examining the hind leg in profile it will be 
seen that, at the point named, there is an outward bulging varying 
in size from a hard, small nodule to a large, diffuse swelling, which 
may possibly, if the strain be a very recent one, be somewhat puffy, 
hot, and tender to the touch. If lameness be present, which depends 
rather upon the age of the curb than its size, it is characterized by 
difficulty in straightening the leg backward. 

Treatment. — Rest the horse, put on a shoe having no toe 
calk, and with heel calks about one and one-quarter inches long, 
measuring from the foot surface of the shoe. When the injury is 
recent, or the swelling at all puffy and hot, it should be cooled as 
recommended for capped hock. After the inflammation has been 
thus removed the parts may be either blistered with the red iodide of 
mercury, as in splint, or fired; which operation will necessitate the 
services of a veterinarian. In some of the less important cases, or if 
the horse can be spared from work for some time, the blister will 
give good results. In very severe curb deep hne firing is the only 
measure to be thoroughly relied upon. When put to work these 
recovered horses should be shod with fairly high heel calks, without 
any toe, for some little time. 

If the injury to the hock be entirely comprehended in the curb, 


1350 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


there is no doubt that the animal may be restored to soundness, so 
far as lameness goes, although the enlargement will, in all hkelihood, 
remain. Older horses, those in which the bones have become thor¬ 
oughly hardened, permanently recover much more quickly than do 
those under five years of age; among which there is a strong tendency 
to recurrence of the lameness, upon work, until the bones have age 
enough to harden them, that is, until they are seven years old. An 
old, hard curb, if the horse is not going lame, is a bad blemish, but not 
an unsoundness. 

Bone Spavin is a disease of the small bones of the hock, through 
which a growth of new bony material, of larger or smaller size, after 
the nature of a sphnt, is deposited on the face of the joint, on its 
inner side, a little more than half-way down between the hinge of 
the joint and the head of the cannon bone, which last may also be 
involved. The term refers to the enlargement only. When a horse 
is lame in this joint, and no bony enlargement is discoverable, he is 
said to be suffering from hock-joint lameness. Some horses show a 
bony enlargement at this point in one or both legs, and no lameness 
exists. Such animals are said to have coarse hocks, and while one 
is always expecting that such an animal will commence to go lame at 
almost any time, many of them go through a life of work without ever 
showing lameness or limited action there. 

Causes are predisposing and exciting. A predisposition to spavin 
may be hereditary or due to some peculiarity in the conformation of 
the leg, or joint, as in a ^^sickle-hocked’’ horse, etc.; there is no doubt 
as to the hereditary tendency 

The exciting causes are anything that may set up an inflammation 
of the synovial membrane, as strains or local injuries; or which may 
give rise to disease of the bones or its covering, the periosteum, as 
concussion, that is, too much fast work at either galloping or running, 
or anything that overworks the joint. 

Symptoms. — There is a hard enlargement upon the seat of spavin, 
which may be so large as to be easily seen from quite a little distance, 
when standing directly behind the horse, or so small as to need the 
most careful examination by an expert for its detection. The lame¬ 
ness is always shown when the unexercised horse begins to trot, and 
is somewhat peculiar in that it generally passes entirely away after 
the animal has been driven a distance varying from a few rods to a 
mile or two. In some instances the lameness is not lost, or it may 
even be increased, by exercise; this is when the cartilages of the 
small bones, the action of which is simply to glide upon one another, 
have become diseased, allowing their sore surfaces to rub together. 
The method of using the limb is peculiar in that the spavined horse 
invariably starts off and goes upon his toe, so long as the lameness 
lasts; and if the shoe of one of these animals is examined it will be 


DISEASED CONDITIONS OF JOINTS. 


1351 


seen that its toe is nearly worn out, while its heels have been but 
little worn, if the shoe has been upon the foot for some time and the 
horse has been regularly worked. Another peculiarity of the lame¬ 
ness is that when the leg is lifted from the ground the hock moves 
v/ith a little spasmodic jerk that remotely suggests a string-halt 
action. In some cases the pain caused by work is so great that the 
animal loses flesh rapidly and doesn’t eat well. 

Treatment. The only reliable method of cure is by deep point 
firing and absolute rest for from eight to twelve weeks. Occasionally 
a severe blistering, with the Spanish fly ointment, or some liquid 
blister, many of which are sold under the name of “spavin -cure,” 
have been known to bring about the desired result; but they are not 
to be relied upon. There are one or two good operations that are 
practised by veterinaries, the description of which will not be neces¬ 
sary in this place. 

Young animals recover much more often than older ones; but 
in a large practice the percentages of recovery amount to about 
three quarters of all the cases jired, taking them as they come, favor¬ 
able and unfavorable, together. 

All spavined horses, while at work, should have the toes well cut 
back, the shoe fairly long in the heel, with the heel calks as long as 
can safely be used. 

Ringbone, often called Clingfast, is another one of the dis¬ 
orders, as a result of which deposits of new bone are made round 
about the diseased parts, which are one or the other of the pastern 
bones, on either the front or hind legs, more commonly, perhaps, on 
the hind. The term is properly applied to any such enlargement, 
whether it forms a “ring around the bone” or consists simply in a 
small prominence upon one part of the bone only. If the enlargement 
is above the middle of os suffraginis (see skeleton) it is described as a 
false ringbone and is of the nature of “splint”; this is not an unsound¬ 
ness, if the animal trots free from lameness. In true ringbone the 
bony deposits involve joints of large movement, because of which 
the disorder is generally incurable. 

Causes. — These are predisposing and exciting. Among the pre¬ 
disposing causes are hereditary taint, long sloping pasterns, and 
rheumatism. That breeding from ringboned parents has long been 
looked upon as a fruitful source of ringbone in the young there is no 
possible doubt. The exciting causes may be said to consist in any 
acts or efforts of speed or strength that will produce an over-concussion 
to the pastern bones; strains of the parts, injuries as from blows, 
pricks with a fork-tine, or wounds of any sort that can give rise to 
inflammation 6f the bones or synovial membranes. 

Symptoms. — Lameness occasionally precedes any recognizable 
deposits of new bone material; and the lameness is peculiar in that, 


1352 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


if in a fore limb, the horse puts his heel to the ground first; if in a hind 
one the toe is the first to touch the ground. Later the pastern, just 
above the coronet, will be seen to be larger than its fellow, with or 
without heat or tenderness to the touch; and if the animal is trotted 
he will show more or less lameness, evidently referable to the region 
of the foot. Not unfrequently a horse is seen with a hard enlargement 
upon the seat of ringbone, that will show no lameness. Notwith¬ 
standing that the writer has known several of these instances in 
which the animals have continued to go sound for a long time, his 
practice has always been to reject as unsound any horse having a 
bony enlargement upon the seat of ringbone and, on the whole, the 
practise has been proved to be good. 

Treatment. — Many operations, some of them, as stripping the 
sole, of a most cruel and useless nature, have been from time to time 
practised for the cure of ringbone, without success. The fact is that 
the disorder is generally incurable; occasionally, repeated bhsterings 
with the red iodide of mercury, in young animals, or repeated deep 
point firing, with Spanish fly blisters, in the older ones, with long rest, 
will be followed by loss of the lameness and ability to work sound. 
So, taken all in all, it will probably be as well to keep at work a horse 
that is no more than moderately lame from ringbone; his chances of 
recovery are certainly none the less. In shoeing such horses for work, 
those that put the heel to the ground first should have a thin, wide- 
heeled bar shoe put upon the foot; those that go upon the toes should 
have high heel calks and no toe calk upon the shoes. 

Diseases of the Foot. 

Disease of the Navicular Joint, Coffin Joint Lameness, Grog¬ 
giness, Chest Founder, etc., are names given to a disorder of the 
navicular joint, which is made up between the navicular bone 
and the tendon which picks up the heel of the foot; the cartilages 
and synovial membranes being situated at points where this bone is 
against the pedal bone, but much more extensively on the surface of 
it, over which the tendon slides, where there is an unusually large 
joint oil apparatus. It is the most commonly see'n disease of the 
fore feet in horses that are used for driving or running purposes, 
and one of the most incurable of them, when firmly seated. 

Causes. — The trouble always commences as an inflammation of 
the synovial membrane between the bone and the tendon; if this is 
unrelieved, and it is the only stage of the disorder which it is possible 
to cure, the later effects of synovitis follow in more or less rapid 
succession; the bone is roughened at its edges, the cartilage is more or 
less destroyed, the center of the bone begins to decay, and the whole 
bone may finally be broken across through its short middle line. If 
the roughness of the edges, above spoken of, becomes sufficiently 


DISEASES OP IHE FOOT. 


1353 


developed, the tendon, in glidmg over it, is roughened and an inflam¬ 
mation IS set up which finally results in an adhesion of the tendon to 
the bone. 

The disorder is rarely or never met with in horses having large, 
round feet with low heels, but attacks those of the opposite formation, 
that is, with high heels and a good length from toe to heel. It is 
common knowledge that the low-heeled foot carries with it a large 
frog and never easily becomes hard; just as well known is the fact that 
the frog in the high-heeled foot tends to grow small, the sole to fill up 
with a quantity of hard, dry horn, and the walls at the heels so dry 
and hard that they actually contract upon themselves until the foot 
looks, and is, much more narrow than it should be across the heels and 
quarters. It will easily be understood, then, that an animal with 
feet as hard as a stone, in which the horn has lost all of its elasticity, 
both in the wall and sole, and in which the frog has become more or 
less shriveled and hard, if trotted upon a hard road, will receive much 
more concussion to the foot than if that member were in its normal 
elastic condition. And when it is realized how delicate and suscep¬ 
tible to injury synovial membranes are, there should be no doubt 
that the one cause of navicular disease, aside from absolute wounds 
to the parts, as from nail prick, is concussion; received under the 
conditions pointed out and communicated to the synovial membrane. 
There is no doubt whatever that colts bred from parents, especially 
mares, having this trouble, are strongly predisposed to contract it 
upon shght application of the general cause. 

Symptoms. — Lameness may be the first thing to attract atten¬ 
tion, although, at times, an earlier sign will be a more or less constant 
'^pointing” of the foot while standing in the stall or elsewhere, the 
horse, however, doing his work sound.” Lameness may make its 
appearance suddenly, in which instances it is often intense from the 
first; as, a horse may leave the stable, for work, in his usual state of 
soundness but, while out, drop suddenly lame. At the moment it is 
thought that he has trodden upon, or picked up, a stone; upon exami¬ 
nation, however, no stone* is found, nor is there any apparent cause 
of lameness in either the foot or the leg; after a little further time he 
is found to be suffering from this lameness. 

More generally, however, the lameness is gradual in its develop¬ 
ment, insidious and stealthy even. At first the owner imagines that 
his horse is going lame; while driving him he ^'wonders” if he is not 
now and then taking a lame step, or whether it is his fancy that he 
does so; the leg and foot are examined, nothing is found to be wrong, 
and no more is thought of the matter, especially as, upon the next 
shght drive, the animal shows no lameness whatever. Soon, a longer 
or more speedy drive is taken, the suspected lameness returns and 
asssumes more of the form of reality and does not pass off so quickly. 
If, even now, the animal has a few days’ rest the lanaeness is not 


1354 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


unlikely to be lost a second time or, at all events, it is so slight that 
little or no heed is taken of the ^‘favoring’’ that remains. In this 
way days or weeks are allowed to pass before the obstinate charac¬ 
ter of the trouble is realized. 

The foot may or may not feel hot to the touch; the hoof will be 
hard, and if sharply tapped with a hammer, on the sole, under the 
joint, some evidences of pain may be discovered. Further than this, 
the examination must be in skilled hands; it consists of exclusion of 
other causes of lameness, by further examination of the foot; the 
injection of cocaine to numb the foot, and a trot at the halter to see 
whether or not the lameness still remains. 

After an animal has become chronically lame in both feet, from 
this trouble, the legs, in trotting, are pushed straight out without very 
much bending of the knee or action of the muscles in the region of the 
shoulders and arms, so that the feet may come to the ground as lightly 
as possible and save pain. A horse in this condition scarcely ever 
^‘nods,” as from lameness, but with the action described, and the 
soreness about equal in both feet, he goes along pretty well for a 
longer or shorter time, sometimes for years. It is this limited action 
of the muscles of the shoulders and arms that has given rise to the 
terms chest founder and sweeny of the shoulder, occasionally heard; 
the fact being that because of the lessened use of the muscles an 
atrophy or shrinking in size of them takes place, which makes the 
breast look as if it were sunken in; and the shoulders thin, flat, and 
drawn. 

Treatment. — There is no hope of full recovery unless the case 
is put under treatment for synovitis when the trouble is first shown. 
The shoes are to be removed, the sole of the foot, including the bars, 
pared out, until the remaining horn is quite flexible under pressure 
from the thumbs, the heels well opened; and the animal allowed to 
stand, with both feet in a tub of ice water, up to the fetlock joints. 
After this soaking’’ has been continued, during the daytime, for 
five or six days, the coronets are to be thoroughly blistered with 
Spanish fly and the horse allowed absolute rest in a stall or box for 
fully six weeks. The horse will go sound after the soaking, but if he 
is allowed to go to work without taking the long rest prescribed, the 
synovitis will return. 

There is but one surgical operation that should be allowed upon the 
feet of these horses, and that is the one that is commonly known as 
nerving,” in which a section of the sensory nerve supplying the foot 
is cut out; two cuts for each foot are required. This operation may 
well be likened, in its results, to that of ''killing the nerve” in a tooth, 
commonly practised by dentists; the disease is not cured, but remains 
in the foot and progresses, but with, perhaps, less rapidity. There is 
no loss of action, because the nerve that is destroyed is one purely 
of sensation; the nerves governing the action of the muscles, which 


DISEASES OF THE FOOT. 


1355 


are all situated above the knee, are in no wise interfered with. The 
writer has known many instances in which comparatively worthless 
horses have been made, in this way, to go perfectly sound for years. 
On the other hand it occasionally happens that a form of degeneration 
follows the operation, in which cases the hoof is sloughed off and the 
ammal has to be killed; there is no pain accompanying this loss of 
the hoof because the foot has already been made ^^numb” by the 
removal of the nerve. The operation shbuld not be attempted until 
the foot and leg, up to the knee, have been made thoroughly cool by 
the application of a cold-water bath to the feet and cold, wet bandages 
to the legs, for two or three days immediately preceding it. 

Side Bone. — This term is used to indicate the presence of a 
hard, bony bunch, situated at the extreme heel of the foot, just above 
the hoof, at the point where it begins to make the turn toward the 
frog. 

Causes. — The bunches appear because the cartilaginous wings 
of the pedal bone, which come up to give elasticity to this part of the 
foot, have been attacked by an inflammation which has changed 
them into bone. They are generally, but not always, found in low- 
heeled feet; and the cause of the inflammation is usually due to con¬ 
cussion coming through heavy, high heel-calks; they may also be the 
result of blows or wounds to the part. 

Symptoms. — Lameness may or may not be present; the bunch is 
easily felt, and can oftentimes be seen, when the horse stands with 
the feet firmly placed on the ground. If the foot is hfted and the 
side bone taken between the Anger and thumb it will be found to be 
entirely rigid and of larger or smaller size. There may be but one 
on a foot, more commonly there are two; all the feet may be affected, 
but it is much more frequently met with in the front ones. When 
lame, the horse puts his toe to the ground first, which gives him a 
short and stilty action. 

There has been considerable discussion as to whether or not 
horses having side-bone, and going sound, were sound. It may well 
be determined that they are all unsound, but horses that are to be 
used at a walking pace only, will often keep free from lameness and 
do good serviceable work. 

Treatment. — Rest; ice water swabs around the coronets for 
three or four days, to be followed by a good Spanish fly blister, and 
the rest continued for three or four weeks. The feet are to be shod 
with a wide webbed bar shoe which is no thicker at the heels than at 
the toe. If calks are needed they may be welded onto the sides and 
toe, leaving the heels under the seat of the trouble, uncalked. In 
horses to be used for driving or any fast work, there is no way in 
which the lameness can be permanently removed. 


1356 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


Saiid=Crack or Toe=Crack. — This term is used to describe a 
split in the horn of the hoof of the hind feet, in by far the greater 
number of instances; it is very seldom seen in the front ones. 

Causes. — The usual victim of sand-crack is the heavy work 
horse, although it is not confined to them. Animals with short, up¬ 
right pasterns, with clubby, prominent hoofs, are considered to be 
predisposed to the accident; which is caused by the persistent use of 
heavy toe calks upon the shoes. 

Symptoms. — There is a crack of the hoof directly at the middle 
of the toe; it may extend from the hair to the shoe, or only for a short 
distance from the shoe upward. It generally, when extending for the 
entire length, penetrates the whole thickness of the horn; the shorter 
cracks are not as likely to do so. When extending through the horn 
to the soft structures under it, the constant opening and closing of 
the crack, as the horse throws his weight upon the foot and then 
lifts it from the ground, occasionally pinches them at a point just 
below the coronet, causing a sore which sometimes discharges blood 
and pus in very small quantities, and always produces great lameness, 
the seat of which can easily be found by pressing the coronet at the 
top of the crack. Such an animal, in walking, will first put the heel 
to the ground.. 

Treatment. — If there is no lameness and it is desired to get rid 
of the crack, the shoes should be replaced by those having side calks 
instead of a toe calk; next a cut must be made, with a sharp drawing 
knife, parallel to and just below the coronet, extending for about 
three quarters of an inch on each side of the crack; from each end of 
this cut another is to be made in a line downward, which will meet 
the crack at about one and one-half inches below the coronet, thus 
cutting a triangle in the horn. All of the hoof between these cuts is 
to be carefully removed down to the soft tissues below it, leaving all 
of the edges and corners square and good. 

If lameness with more or less festering of the soft parts is present, 
the same operation is to be made through the hoof and the sore 
poulticed for a day or two with flaxseed or oil meal; when all discharges 
have ceased, a small piece of oakum, saturated with oil of cade, 
should be put on and held in place by a bandage, until new solid horn 
begins to form on the surface at the bottom of the part cut away; 
this dressing is to be done once a day. The horse should be allowed 
to stand in the stall until the new surface horn is seen to be well 
started down from the coronet, when he may be shod, as directed, 
and put to rather slow work, at first. 

Quarter-Crack. — In this the condition of affairs is much the 
same as in sand-crack, excepting for its situation upon the hoof, 
which is somewhat back of midway between the toe and the heel, at 
what ie called the ''quarter” of the foot. 


DISEASES OF THE FOOT. 


1357 


Causes. — There is no doubt that this crack occurs more fre¬ 
quently in hoofs which are disposed to easily become dry, hard, and 
brittle, especially those having thin, shelly walls; and in which the 
horn-secreting structures are in a more or less state of chronic inflam¬ 
mation, with a tendency to contraction at the heels. The crack may 
also follow a slight wound of the coronet. Shoes that are set so that 
they do not press evenly upon the wall of the hoofs from the quarters 
to the heels, that, as the blacksmiths say, have a spring” at the heel, 
give rise to the crack in brittle, weak hoofs. 

Symptoms.— The crack generally appears suddenly, although, from 
its situation, which is generally upon the inside quarter, it may not 
be noticed for some time, unless it happens to give rise to lameness. 
It generally first takes place through the horn at the coronet, and 
from there extends, more or less quickly, in a slanting direction for¬ 
ward, down to the shoe. The crack may, and not unusually does, 
extend through the thickness of the horn, and produces soreness of 
the sensitive tissues beneath it, with the same results as already 
described in toe-crack. 

Treatment. — In some slight cases the longitudinal cut made 
across the upper end of the crack will be all that is required. The 
other cases must be treated as already described, at length, for toe- 
crack. 

False Quarter. — The horny outer wall or crust or enamel of 
the hoof, being secreted from the coronary substance, it naturally 
follows that when a part of this substance is destroyed, as by direct 
injury, the part of the wall below this destroyed portion is no longer 
supplied with horn from above; a deficiency which causes a permanent 
chasm or fissure, of larger or smaller size, in the wall, to which this 
name has been given. 

Causes. — Anything which happens to absolutely destroy the 
integrity of the coronary substance, as a wound inflicted by the heel 
calk of the opposite shoe; the toe of one of the hind shoes; falls 
when there is considerable struggling while down, as when a horse is 
cast in his stall, etc. 

Symptoms. — It may occur at any part of the coronet, but is 
more commonly found at the inside quarter or a little behind that, 
toward the heel. It differs materially from quarter-crack in appear¬ 
ance. There is the wound or scar with loss of substance at the top; 
the fissure is much wider at its base, and contains a very soft horn 
at its bottom, which is secreted by the soft tissues lying immediately 
beneath. 

Treatment. — There is no cure. If lameness is present a three- 
quarter shoe must be applied to the foot and worn constantly; a bar 
shoe will not answer the purpose in severe cases, To shoe properly, 


1358 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


/ 

a full shoe with a moderately wide web, and of good substance from 
the ground to the hoof surfaces, should be made and fitted; after this 
is done the heel of the shoe is to be cut off at a point which will leave 
the entire part of the hoof, under the fissure,‘and from there to the 
heel, entirely unshod. There need be no fear of bad results to the 
unshod portion of the hoof; the writer has known a heavy steam fire- 
engine horse, treated in this way, to do his galloping work on stone 
pavements for years with entire satisfaction, while without it he was 
so lame as to be useless, in his pecuhar work. False-quarter is an 
unsoundness. 

\ 

Corn. — This term is undoubtedly borrowed from human practice, 
and is unfortunate in that it may cause a mistaken idea as to the real 
nature of the disorder. There is no connection whatever in the 
nature of the two. In horses, corn is simply a bruise of the sensitive 
sole of the foot, at the extreme angle of the heel, generally on the 
inner side, rarely upon the outer, of a front foot, as a result of which 
some httle blood oozes into the pores of the horn, staining them red 
at the point; or, the bruise being long continued or very severe, pus 
may form in the part, in which case it is called a suppurating corn. 

Causes. — Corns are found in all kinds of feet, but perhaps the 
large round ones, with low heels and thin walls, are more especially 
subject to them. The trouble arises from pressure by the shoe upon 
the sole, at its extreme end at the heel. It is not always, necessarily, 
due to bad shoeing. The wall, at the part, may be broken or worn 
so that it is not sufficiently strong to hold the shoe away from the 
sole, as it should do. The old horn may not have been removed 
from the sole at the point, and when this happens the sole is sure to 
get pressure from the shoe; or the shoe may be so badly made and 
put on as to cause great pressure upon the heels. Contracted heels 
will sometimes cause a considerable and sufficient pressure upon the 
soft structure within to bruise them badly and produce “corn.” 

Symptoms will vary, depending upon the condition of the corn. 
Lameness is commonly the first thing that leads to the discovery 
of the injury; this may come on slowly and increase little by little; 
or suddenly and be of considerable intensity. In shght corn the 
horse starts out sound and, after a httle, goes lamer and lamer; or 
he may begin lame and grow better as he travels; or he may be 
so lame that he “goes on three legs,” as in the case of a suppurating 
corn. There is nothing distinctive about the lameness excepting that 
in many instances, while the horse is at a walk, it can be seen that he 
treads upon the outside heel first. 

When the shoe is removed, and the sole at the heel has been pared 
away a little, the red stain will be seen; this may amount to a broad 
patch or only to a small spot; it may be of a brown or even of an 
almost black color, when it is old; the rule being that the brighter 
red it is the more recent has been the bruise. Rarely there may be 


DISEASES OF THE FOOT. 


1359 


no more than a yellow spot; this is because the bruise has been severe 
enough to cause an outpour of serum, without having ruptured a 
blood-vessel, and is more frequently seen in ^‘contracted’’ feet. It 
may happen that the horse, although showing lameness, has been 
kept at work and the bruising considerably added to, until he rather 
suddenly becomes so^ lame that he can hardly put his foot to the 
ground. When this is the case, upon removing the shoe it will be 
found that the slightest tap from a hammer, or pressure with the 
pincers, upon the part, will show very great pain; and further exami¬ 
nation, by cutting through the horn, will be followed by a small 
evacuation of pus, which is generally of blackish color and has a bad 
smell; this condition is called a suppurating corn. If a suppurating 
corn is not discovered or properly treated, after a time of considerable 
lameness a little soft swelling will appear in the skin just above the 
coronet, which, being opened, will discharge more or less matter; and 
it will afterward be found that this opening runs down to the seat of 
corn. This is the so-called “gravel” in the foot; gravel cannot enter 
through the horny sole; work upward and come out above the coronet. 

Treatment. — The corn must be carefully pared out to whatever 
extent is necessary. If there is much lameness the horse will have to 
be rested for a while, during which the foot should be poulticed with 
bran and water until the soreness has disappeared; the poultices 
should be kept wet and changed twice daily. After this a shoe can 
be put upon the foot, the only necessity being that the web is wide 
enough to cover over the seat of corn, and that it is “concaved,” on 
its foot surface, enough to prevent any further possibility of the 
undesirable pressure. Suppurating corns may be treated in the same 
way, using oil meal, instead of bran, for the poultice. In the cases 
which have opened through, the services of a veterinarian had better 
be obtained. 

Thrush is the result of an inflammation of the outer or secreting 
surface of the sensitive frog, which lies immediately below the horny 
frog. 

Causes. — The maintained application of moisture to the horny 
frog, in any form, as from standing too long in damp manure, mud, 
poultices, etc., or it perhaps arises from “contracted” feet; or those 
in which navicular disease exists; or when the horny frog becomes 
hard, dry, and shriveled. 

Symptoms. — There is an inflammation of the sensitive frog, as a 
result of which a more or less dark colored, bad smelling, thick, tarry 
fluid is discharged from about the horny frog, at first, generally, from 
its cleft, or possibly at its sides, deep down next to the sole, toward 
the heels. Unless the thrush is properly attended to it gradually 
extends so that it may even effect the whole of the sensitive frog; 
as a result of which the entire horny frog may become separated from 


1360 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


the sensitive structure immediately beneath; lameness may or may 
not be present in the shght cases, it always accompanies the severe 
ones, and is evidently referable to the foot. It occasionally happens, 
in summer particularly, that the result of the inflammation will be 
shown in the form of a little, rather pale, “proud flesh’' in the cleft 
and about the bulbs of the frog; the part having become nearly, if 
not quite, bare of horn, and when first discovered there is often found 
to be a goodly supply of maggots in possession. 

Treatment. — Cut away all horn from the diseased surface of 
the sensitive frog, and apply to it dry calomel once or twice a day 
until cured. In some instances the treatment will leave the parts 
very hard and the horse going lame. This condition will be quickly 
relieved by a poultice left on over night. 

Seedy Toe. — The term is used to describe a condition of the 
foot in which there has been a separation of the wall of the hoof from 
the sensitive and secreting surfaces immediately beneath it, at the toe. 

Causes. — Generally, a large, heavy toe clip, together with a 
large toe calk upon the shoe. It may also be the result of any cause 
which will set up an inflammation in the soft structures of the part. 

Symptoms. — The front feet are generally, but not always, the 
ones to be affected. It is first found that the horn of the sole at the 
extreme toe is so soft and powdery that it easily crumbles away from 
slight scraping, as with the back of the thumb nail. If this horn is 
removed a cavity of more or less extent will be found lying under 
the wall of the toe, and this part, in cases of long standing, will be 
seen to have sunken in and extended forward at a less angle than that 
of the healthy toe. Lameness is not usually present until this “ sinking 
in” of the wall has become well established. 

Treatment. —First, carefully ascertain the extent of the condition 
with a probe of some sort. Second, cut away all undermined horn 
and clean all diseased surfaces. If so much of the wall has to be 
removed as to weaken the hoof to any considerable extent, let the 
blacksmith place and clinch a horseshoe nail in the wall just above 
the top of the cut, as he would to keep a quarter-crack from opening 
and closing. This should prevent any upward splitting of the wall. 
Dress the parts, once daily, with the oil of cade until all seems clean 
and good. After this operation has been done in horses going lame 
from the trouble, the coronet had better be blistered lightly with 
Spanish fly to hasten the growth of the wall downward. The shoe 
to be used afterward, until the wall has completely grown down, 
should be a wide-webbed flat bar, without calks, if possible; or other¬ 
wise, small calks welded upon the sides and heels of the shoe.. It 
will generally be best to have a tar and oakum dressing, with a full 
leather, put on under the shoe, 


diseases of the foot. 


1361 

• term used to describe a condition in which there 

exists either a swelling or sore upon the coronet which, upon being 
found to contain one or more small “pipes’’ (sinuses) 
which lead down under the coronary band and lateral cartilages into 
the structure of the foot itself. 

Causes. Pricks in shoeing, suppurating corns, tread wounds of 
the coronet, badly treated bruises upon the coronet, or any other 
circumstance which may set up a suppurating process within the 
hoof and coronary substance. 

^ Symptoms. The lameness may or may not be considerable; the 
animal is frequently unable to touch the foot to the ground; the 
bunch or sore is present, as described. 

Treatment. — There is absolutely nothing that will cure this 
condition excepting a skilled surgical operation. It will therefore be 
entirely useless to spend money and time in an endeavor to bring 
about a cure by the use of outside applications. If the horse is able 
to work without too much pain, it will be better to keep him at it, 
moderately, when the operation cannot be done. In some of these 
instances the parts work sound after a considerable period. 

Founder—Laminitis. — The horny hoof is joined and held fast 
to the soft, sensitive structures beneath, by a great number of small 
leaf-hke objects, running the full length of the wall, at the various 
parts of the hoof, from the coronet downward. These objects are 
called lamince, and there are two sets of them, the horny or insensitive, 
found lining the wall of the hoof throughout, and the live or sensitive, 
composed of soft tissues which completely cover the entire surface 
with which the wall comes into contact. The sensitive laminse are 
richly supphed with blood and are very active in their function, which 
is to secrete new horn in sufficiently large quantities to keep the 
horny laminse and the greater part of the thickness of the wall, in good 
order. The hoof is strongly held in place by the close interleafing of 
the two sets of laminse. The healthy condition of the inner and 
softer horn, of the entire wall, depends upon the healthy condition of 
the sensitive laminse. When these become inflamed, as they fre¬ 
quently do in horses and to some extent in oxen and sheep, the disease 
is called laminitis or founder. When this inflammation sets up the 
same processes are followed as when that attacks any other soft tissue 
which is richly supplied with blood, namely, the vessels become 
congested, and an outpour of serum takes place, through their walls, 
into surrounding parts, which, if soft, thus become swollen. But it 
happens that in this instance the surrounding parts, the hoof, is so 
strong and unyielding that no swelling can take place. The result of 
this is that the animal suffers great pain, in the first place, and, unless 
the inflammatory process is cut short, the tendency to swell is so great 
that the sole and pedal bone of the foot, toward the toe particularly, 


1362 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


is pressed down until the sole becomes a bulging convex surface, 
through which the toe of os pedis (see skeleton) is sometimes forced; 
at the same time the secreting power of the sensitive laminse is lost 
to a greater or less extent, and the condition becomes chronic, with 
permanent alteration of structure. 

Causes. — From drinking too much cold water or standing too 
long in a draft of cold air, when overheated; overfeeding with oats 
or meal; overwork, especially upon hard roads; long sea voyages, 
especially when the ship rolls heavily; enforced standing upon one 
foot while its mate is unable to bear any of the weight, as, when one 
of the feet or legs has been seriously injured the other foot, hind or 
fore as the case may be, suddenly becomes foundered from overwork 
of it, in standing continuously, and taking the whole weight of that 
extremity of the body. 

Symptoms. — When the fore-feet are diseased, as the animal 
stands in his stall the hind legs are placed well forward, in order to 
take the weight from the front feet as much as possible, and he sways 
backward so that the weight that is on the front feet will be held, as 
fully as may be, upon the heels. If an attempt is made to back the 
horse out of the stall, he resists it and the movement is made with 
great difficulty. When the hind feet alone are attacked the animal 
stands with all four feet together, upon the heels of the hind ones, 
while he lifts spasmodically one after the other. 

When all four feet are in trouble the standing position is nearer to 
that which is shown when disorder is in the front feet alone, but more 
pain and uneasiness is expressed. The pulse is full, strong, and fre¬ 
quent, showing sixty, seventy, or eighty beats a minute. The 
breathing, if he is standing, is much hastened, accompanied by a 
blowing noise, and the nostrils are distended. The temperature is 
raised to from one hundred and three to one hundred and five; patchy 
sweats cover the body; the expression is anxious and he may or may 
not eat while standing. The feet feel hot, the arteries in the leg, just 
above, throb, and if the foot is tapped, as with a hammer, a sharp 
indication of pain is expressed. In the severer cases the animal 
stands groaning and sweating, the picture of pain; when an attempt 
is made to move him he steps spasmodically two or three times and 
then lies down. After getting down and remaining so for a time, the 
greater expressions of pain gradually pass away. 

Treatment. — It is very much to be desired that no time be lost 
before treatment is commenced and while the condition is in its 
congestive stage, from which the animal will generally make a com¬ 
plete recovery; while, if the inflammatory stage has been reached, the 
case will probably never fully recover, but will become chronic, with 
the malformation already described. 

It is always best to get the horse out of the stall; give him a good 
deep straw bed, and induce him to lie down, which can generally be 


SHOEING. 


1363 


done by holding up one of the front feet; when down he should be 
turned from side to side occasionally. The shoes should be removed, 
if possible, and the diseased feet put immediately into large poultices, 
coming well up over the coronet, made with bran and ice broken 
into small lumps, to which a little salt may be added in the bad 
cases; these poultices must be kept in place and renewed as often as 
the ice melts, night and day, for from twenty-four to forty-eight hours 
or until the pain is considerably relieved, when bran and cold water 
will be sufficient and may be continued for a few days longer. Tincture 
of aconite root should be given at once, in doses of twenty-five drops 
in two ounces of cold water, and continued until six doses have been 
given, or until the pulse becomes less full and frequent. Thirst will 
be present; the drinking water should be given in a few swallows at a 
time as often as each twenty minutes at first; each pailful of water 
should have one-quarter ounce of saltpeter dissolved in it, until one 
ounce has been taken during each twenty-four hours. The food had 
better consist only of hay and wet bran, until the fever is entirely 
gone. The animal will eat while lying down, if he will not do so 
while standing. As soon as he is able to stand, without especial pain, 
the animal should be walked for a short distance, at first, which dis- 
tan(!e should be increased httle by little as the condition improves. 
The first shoes should be those having a wide web and ^^bars,” without 
any calks whatever. Do not on any account allow the animal to be 
bled at the toes. 

If the chronic condition follows, the horse may be made useful by 
proper shoeing. The shoes, in these instances, are to be the wide 
webbed bars, but a much wider and heavier shoe must be made and 
fully concaved, on its foot surface, from the outer edge of the web 
inward; so that when nailed onto the foot the sore place will not only 
be covered by the iron, but leave quite a little space between the 
shoe and the horn of the sole above; this will not only protect the 
sore place from pressure, but will defend it from being hurt by stones, 
etc., upon the road. Such a shoe may have two calks welded on at 
each side of the toe and at each heel, four calks in all upon each shoe. 

Shoeing. 

There is no subject in the whole list of measures that may be 
taken to prevent disease which merits a more constant and careful 
attention than that of the preparation of the horse’s foot for the 
shoe; the right form of that piece of iron for the individual foot; and 
its proper application to the part. The term “taken to prevent,” 
just used, means something, for it is quite within the facts to say that 
the larger proportion of the lameness, existing in horses that have to 
work for a living upon the roads and streets, is, directly or indirectly, 
due to the fact that they must wear these metal fenders upon their 
feet in order to be able to do the work which man demands of them. 


1364 


YETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


And it is quite as true to say that the evil arising from this necessity 
may be very much lessened by the application of a quick intelligence 
and drilled thought to the best forms of shoes to use for certain sound, 
as well as for certain unsound feet, imder the various circumstances 
in which the animals are to be worked. Of course it would be absurd 
to say that such shoes as the draft horse must wear should never 
be put onto the feet of an animal that is about to run a steeplechase; 
that is something that everybody realizes; but there are many grades, 
between this extreme instance of wrong shoeing and proper shoeing, 
that are not so glaringly wrong as to prevent them from being com¬ 
monly continued in daily practice, the results of which are scarcely 
less disastrous, if they are not more so, than they would be in the 
above mentioned extreme instance. 

In the first place the great differences existing in the form, quick¬ 
ness, and method of growth in the various sound feet must be appre¬ 
ciated and accepted, and that, therefore, no one form of shoe, or 
method of application of it, as to preparation of the hoof, etc., can be 
devised that will answer equally well or even be at all adequate for 
all horses. And just herein he the reasons for the. widely separated 
opinions foimd existing among so many horsemen regarding the 
value to be placed upon the so-called various ^‘systems” of horse¬ 
shoeing; one who has had experience with the narrow, high-heeled 
feet, and has applied to them some certain brand of machine-made 
shoes having narrow webs, has had great, and he thinks remarkable, 
success. He recommends its use to another, who first tries it, as may 
happen, upon an animal which has a foot that is wider than it is long; 
he has with it remarkable unsuccess; the consequence is that the 
first man praises, the second condemns, the shoe and the method, 
whereas it really merits one as httle as the other; the fact being that 
thin, narrow-webbed shoes are good for some and bad for other feet; 
the result has been 'purely the outcome of unrecognized natural 
existing circumstances — luck; this should never be a factor to be 
trusted to in horseshoeing. 

Feet that are naturally weak in certain places, from their confor¬ 
mation, should be shod so that the weakness may be strengthened all 
possible; those that are naturally strong and overgrown at certain 
other places should be checked in their growth by proper paring, and 
covered lightly with iron at the point. 

There is no one rule or shoe that will be properly applied to all 
sound feet; the tendency to overgrowth, in some, must be checked 
by a proper use of the drawing knife; the weakness of growth, in others, 
must be constantly stimulated and saved by all means known to the 
horseshoer. On no account should the drawing knife be used upon 
them. 

Shoes having a wide web at the toe, with a narrow one at the 
quarters and heel, may be used in the strong, high-heeled feet, where 
it is desirable to give the frog a large share of work. Other feet, 


PARASITIC DISEASES. 


1365 


those having strong toes, but low, weak heels, the walls of the parts 
coming very slantingly downward and forward, from the coronets, 
the frogs being large and spongy, must have a shoe that is both wide 
m the web and longer and wider than the feet are at the heels. Be¬ 
tween these two extremes the shoe should be so fashioned as to meet 
the individual requirement. ^ 

Bar shoes should never be used except upon some unsound feet 
or m the presence of lameness due to some other causes^ and then 
with some caution, as they are capable of producing considerable 
injury. 

All horses’ feet will be the better for being kept constantly shod 
with a tar and oakum dressing and a leather, both summer and 
winter. 

Calks are necessary evils and should not be used unless positively 
necessary to give the draft animal a good hold upon the ground; to 
hft the soles of the feet up from the ground, when the roads are 
full of small stones; or to keep horses from sUpping. 

Parasitic Diseases. 

All of the animals may be more or less infested by vermin, some 
of which hve upon the skin while others infest the stomach and 
intestines. These are respectively known as external and internal 
parasites. 

External Parasites. 

Fleas found on Horses, Cattle, and Dogs. 

. Lice found on Horses, Cattle, Sheep, and Dogs. 

Ticks found on Horses, Cattle, Sheep, and Dogs. 

Grubs found on Horses and Cattle. 

Mange found on Horses and Dogs. 

Scab in Sheep. 

The Fly. Maggots in Sheep. 

Fleas. — This pest is so well known that it will need no descrip¬ 
tion as to general appearance; there are several varieties of them, all 
of which have much the same characteristics. 

Dog, cat, and man fleas, when very abundant, will attack horses 
and cattle, causing much itching and small swelhngs of the skin; they 
may be discovered by careful examination. 

Treatment. — In horses and cattle: Sponge the whole skin with 
a mixture of one part of pure carbolic acid to fifty parts of water. 

In dogs, the Persian insect powder should be thoroughly rubbed 
into the hair, and allowed to remain upon the animal for from twenty 
minutes to half an hour, during which time he must be kept from 
lapping himself. This is to be immediately followed by a good 
thorough bath of soap and warm water. 


1366 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


Lice, as found upon animals, are of two varieties. One is 
furnished with an apparatus for piercing the skin and sucking the 
blood, upon which he hves; the other has strong jaws and simply 
bites the skin, feeding upon its insensitive outer covering and 
the hair. Both of these are found upon horses, cattle, and dogs; 
the last alone, upon sheep. In size lice are from about one six¬ 
teenth to one eighth of an inch long, roundish and flattish in shape 
and of a dirty white color. It is not possible to distinguish the 
various extremities excepting by the use of a moderately strong 
magnifying glass, nor is it necessary to do so for the purpose of getting 
rid of them. 

Symptoms.— In horses and cattle, loss of flesh and hair, together 
with the itching condition shown, should lead to a suspicion of their 
presence, which a close examination will confirm, if hce are present. 

In Sheep, the wool becomes dry, the body itches and is rubbed 
against any convenient object; the wool is torn out, he nibbles at his 
flanks, and scratches at his elbows with the hind feet. Search should 
be made for the parasite on the inner parts of the thigh and on the 
sides of the neck. In dogs, there is considerable irritation of the 
skin, and restlessness. When this is due to the presence of lice, a 
careful examination of the head, neck, flanks, and root of tail should 
not fail to find them. 

Treatment. — Lice can be killed in horses, cattle, and dogs, by 
rubbing the animal with the sulphur lotion. (See prescriptions.) The 
application should be repeated within a week to ten days in order 
that all lice which have been hatched, since the first treatment, from 
the remaining nits, which cannot be safely destroyed, may be killed. 

Sheep must be thoroughly dipped in a sulphur bath. 

Ticks.— Wood ticks attack horses, cattle, sheep, and dogs, and are 
commonly seen in various, more or less uncultivated places; they 
live upon bushes and from them are gathered as the animal passes 
through the brush. When the tick has gained lodgment he com¬ 
mences to bore through the skin; this done, he fills himself with blood 
and drops to the ground. 

Symptoms. — Great irritation, uneasiness with scratching or rub¬ 
bing. Examination will easily reveal the presence of the parasite, if 
he is there. If the tick is pulled out before he is full of blood and 
ready to come, the head and a part of the body will be left in the 
skin, causing a local point of irritation, with a small sore. 

Treatment. — Either cover the tick with some heavy oil or 
touch hiin lightly with a piece of hot iron wire, when he will volun¬ 
tarily quit his hold. Flocks of sheep that have become infected 
must be dipped in any good ''sheep dip,” and the best time to do it 
is immediately after shearing. Dipping should be repeated in three 
or four weeks. 


PARASITIC DISEASES. 


1367 


Grubs are found in the skins of horses and cattle. They come as 
a result of the attack of a large which, while resting on the 

animal,^ deposits its egg into or onto the skin. This egg passes the 
winter in the hide of the animal, in a little round sack which is fur¬ 
nished with an external opening, through which he escapes when his 
full growth is reached late in the spring, falls to the ground and de¬ 
velops into a fly. 

Symptoms. — There will be one or many small, hard bunches upon 
various parts of the skin, along each side of the backbone particu¬ 
larly, which, upon being closely examined, will be found to have a 
small hole in its top. 

Treatment.—The grubs should be pressed out of the openings 
during the late winter and destroyed. 

Maggots on the Skin are found on horses, cattle, and sheep. 
Several flies, the bluebottle, the screw-worm, the meat fly and 
the flesh fly, attack sores and wet, filthy places, upon the skins of 
animals, leaving a deposit of their eggs which hatch and develop into 
maggots that may be the source of considerable trouble unless they 
are removed. 

Treatment. — Clip off the hair or the wool in sheep from wet, 
filthy places, pick out the maggots carefully and. apply to the skin 
a mixture of one ounce of oil of tar to six ounces of cotton-seed oil, 
twice daily, for as long as necessary. Or, clean the wound carefully 
with, first, castile soap and warm water, afterwards with a mixture of 
one part of carbolic acid to fifty parts of water. If the maggots are 
in the frog of the foot of the horse; or between the claws of the feet 
in cattle and sheep, clean the parts out carefully, using no water or 
soap, and apply dry calomel to the sores. 

Flies bite horses and cattle, and suck their blood, causing great 
annoyance and sometimes the death of the horse. 

Treatment. — The usual means of reducing the annoyance and 
ill effects to horses should always be undertaken; fly nets, dark stables 
from which the manure is kept removed, etc. Cattle may have 
Persian insect powder well rubbed into the hair, or be bathed with a 
decoction of walnut, elder-leaves, or tobacco. The poisoned bites 
may be treated with a mixture of one part of carbolic acid to twenty 
parts of cotton-seed oil, applied twice daily; or a mixture of one 
dram of carbolic acid, one-quarter ounce of saleratus, to one quart 
of water, may be used instead. This last mixture may also be used 
to relieve the pain caused by the stings of bees, hornets, and wasps. 

5cab in Sheep. — The parasites causing this well-known disorder, 
which largely destroys the fleece and too often the hfe of the animal, 
is to all intents and purposes a form of louse, although he is not scien- 


1368 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


tifically described as such. There are four varieties: one which bur¬ 
rows in the skin; another that simply bites and holds on, the common 
scab through which the greatest losses come; a third, the cause of 
foot scab; and a fourth, the head scab, the smallest of all and scarcely 
to be seen by the naked eye. 

Causes. — The passing of the insect from one animal to another, 
which may take place by the aid of such inanimate objects as fences, 
buildings, railroad cars, etc. But as the insect himself cannot hve 
for any great length of time away from the warm body of the sheep, 
and inasmuch as the eggs are deposited in collections of manure and 
from there picked up by the wool of animals lying upon them, the 
greatest source of its spread is from pastures upon which flocks have 
been grazing, as well as in sheds and railroad cars from which the 
manure has not been properly removed. 

Symptoms. — When first attacked by scab a sheep will begin 
scratching and rubbing himself; he will bite at his wool, pulling it out 
more or less with his mouth, which gives the fleece a moth-eaten 
appearance. As he becomes more affected he is constantly uneasy, 
scratching, pulling at his wool, etc. If such an animal is driven for 
any distance all the symptoms become aggravated. 

Treatment. — The sheep must be dipped,” a process so well 
and widely known that a description of it is not necessary here. A 
number of good ^^dips,” are on sale and can be more easily obtained 
than if made at home. It will be better to use a mixture containing 
sulphur and no arsenic. If a prepared ^‘dip” is used that contains 
no sulphur, it will be better to add sixteen and one-half pounds of 
sifted flowers of sulphur to every one hundred gallons of water used. 

Dip the entire flock immediately after shearing, and repeat the 
process in ten days. Keep each sheep in the bath for two minutes, 
exactly, and dip the head once, at least. Be careful with the rams, 
as they do not submit to the process so quietly as the ewes. Againy 
do not use dips containing poisons. 

Mange. — Affects dogs and horses. 

Causes. — Mange depends upon the presence of a minute parasite 
which fives in the skin, underneath its outer covering, and is conveyed 
from animal to animal, directly or otherwise. 

Symptoms. — The animal begins to scratch and rub; there first 
appears upon the surface of the skin a number of small whitish-yellow 
pustules, which are soon followed by sores, scabs, abrasions when the 
skin is scratched, bitten, or rubbed by the animal; and a thickened 
skin after the disorder has been present for some time. True mange 
is not such a commonly seen disorder as is thought, and inasmuch as 
the symptoms, when it is present, are precisely those of some of the 
forms of eczema, which are frequently seen, it is not possible to separate 


PARASITIC DISEASES. 


1369 


one from the other, unless, upon a microscopic examination, properly 
inade by one who is expert in the matter, the parasite, which is not 
visible to the naked eye, is found. 

Treatment. Clip the hair on horses over the affected parts. 
Soften the skin by bathing it for fifteen minutes at a time with hot 
water, rub it dry and apply the ointment indicated below, once a day, 
until the skin becomes smooth. In dogs shave the hair from the entire 
skin. Soak the anirnal in a hot-water bath for fifteen minutes, dry 
him as soon as possible, and immediately apply the following oint¬ 
ment, which should be well rubbed in, over the entire surface. 

Take of beta naphthol, two drams; flowers of sulphur, four drams; 
balsam of Peru and vaseline, of each, two ounces; rub well together 
and apply once a day as directed above. 

Internal Parasites. 

Tapeworms found in Horses, Cattle, Sheep, and Dogs. 

Round worms found in Horses, Cattle, Sheep, and Dogs. 

Threadworms found in Horses, Cattle, Sheep, and Dogs. 

Bots found in Horses. 

Gadfly foimd in Sheep. 

Tapeworms. — There are a great variety of these, one or the 
other or several of which are found in all of the animals, but in dogs 
and sheep particularly. In sheep they produce results that are 
individual to that animal, as will be pointed out. 

Round Worms are also in great variety of breeds’’ and sizes in 
the different animals, from the large ones measuring some six or 
eight inches long in horses, with a considerable diameter at their 
largest parts, to the small threadworms found in the breathing tubes 
of calves and lambs; and the so-called pin worm” found in the rectum 
of horses and dogs. 

Symptoms. — With some few exceptions, which will be pointed 
out,, intestinal worms produce no symptoms that are distinctive of 
their presence; all that are generally shown indicating no more than 
a persistent indigestion, which refuses to yield to the ordinary treat¬ 
ment for that disorder. The animal may show an occasional attack 
of colic, diarrhoea, and have a persistent dry cough. Dogs frequently 
have repeated attacks of convulsions (fits), or even muscular twitch- 
ings, as in St. Vitus’s dance. All of the animals are dull, have fickle 
or depraved appetites, considerable thirst, and lose flesh rapidly. 

Treatment. — In horses and cattle give sixteen powders, each of 
which contains two drams each of powdered gentian root and powdered 
sulphate of iron, well mixed together. One powder should be given 
night and morning in dampened grain feed, until all have been taken. 
The last powder is to be given in a good-sized warm bran mash; two 


• 1370 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


hours afterward give a good dose of physic, preferably the aloes ball 
for horses (see prescription); and the horse should not be used until 
the effects of the cathartic have passed away, something hke three 
days; he may be used during the administration of the powders. 
Epsom salts will be the best cathartic for cattle. 

In Sheep the proper dose will be: Kamala, three drams; gruel 
made from linseed, six ounces. 

In Dogs this prescription may be used for an animal as large as 
a collie: Kamala, three drams, mixed with one ounce of warmed milk. 
The dog should not be fed for twelve hours before getting the medi¬ 
cine, which will have to be turned down his throat. The evening 
before the animal is to receive the worm medicine in the morning he 
should be given three tablespoonfuls of castor oil. 

These doses will be sufficient for either tape or round worms. 

Gid or Turn Sick in Sheep. — This term is used to describe a 
condition arising from the presence, in the brain, of the larvse (early 
immature forms) of one of the tapeworms. 

Causes. — The eggs of the worm are distributed over the pastures 
by dogs, usually, and the disorder is more particularly seen among 
sheep when dogs are used in connection with their care. The eggs 
of the tapeworm, coming from the dog, are gathered with the grass 
by the sheep, pass into their stomachs, hatch there, and at once bore 
through the walls of that organ, getting into the circulating blood. 
The flowing blood then carries them to all parts of the body; those 
reaching the brain gain a lodgment, become encysted and continue 
to grow until they reach to about the size of a bean. 

Symptoms. — When the worm has reached its size, as developed 
in the brain, which will be in from two to three months after it has 
been taken into the stomach, the sheep is first noticed to be dull, 
grazes indifferently, does not chew the cud well, staggers as it walks, 
finally falling down, as if from dizziness. Or, at other times, while 
grazing, the animal suddenly jumps and runs as fast as he can, for 
some little distance. If the sheep survives so far, he stops eating, 
begins to lose flesh and grow weak rapidly, l^as an anxious look, 
cannot see, and moves about in circles, with the head hanging. If the 
trouble is confined to one side the circle is always in the same way; 
if on both sides, first one way and then the other, until he dies, either 
from interference with some function of the brain, or from exhaustion. 

Treatment. — The only relief to be had is through a surgical 
operation, which includes the removal of a portion of the skull and 
the direct withdrawal of the worm. The operation must be done by 
one who is expert in it. 

It will be better to dress the animal for mutton as soon as the first 
symptoms are shown. 


PARASITIC DISEASES. 


1371 

Preventive treatment will 'be the best of all and may easily be 
accomplished by giving an occasional dose of worm medicine to the 
dogs. 

Hoose-Husk-Parasitic Bronchitis. — This malady seriously 
attects calves and lambs; it also exists, but with far less following 
damage, among cattle and sheep. 

Causes. Hoose is due to the presence of a threadworm, from 
one, to two and one-half inches long, in the breathing (bronchial) 
tubes. They appear to gain entrance to the stomach through the 
water supply, or from grasses grown upon low-lying land, where there 
IS insufficient drainage. It is said that they pierce the walls of the 
stomach and intestines, gain entrance to the circulation and find 
final^ lodgment in the bronchial tubes. This seems to be impossible, 
but it is to be considered that the same worms are occasionally found 
in the heart and blood-vessels; which shows that in some way they 
are present in the circulating blood stream, as well as in the intestines. 

Symptoms. The presence of the parasite in the lung causes 
violent coughing, difficulty in breathing, anaemia, shown by a white, 
waxy appearance of the membranes; the skin grows dry, and in lambs 
the wool has a tendency to fall out; the animal loses strength and 
dies in from one to four months, depending upon its strength and the 
number of worms present. Occasionally one or two of the parasites 
may be found in the matters that are coughed up or sneezed out. 

If the worms are in the digestive organs as well as the lungs there 
will be additional symptoms of indigestion, diarrhoea, cohcky pains, 
considerable thirst, etc. 

Treatment. — As a .preventive measure move the animals to 
higher pasture as soon as the condition is recognized; or, better, do 
not turn them into low, wet pastures at all. Medical treatment con¬ 
sists in inhalation of the gas of burning sulphur or the injection of 
the following mixture into the windpipe: Iodine, one-half dram; 
iodide of potash, two and one-half drams; boiled water, which has 
been allowed to cool, three ounces; turpentine, two ounces; olive oil, 
six ounces; mix the turpentine and oil together, then add the mixture 
of iodine and water to it. When it is to be used, shake the bottle well, 
take from one to two drams of the mixture into a large hypodermic 
syringe, and, pushing the sharp, hollow needle of the instrument 
through the skin and wall of the windpipe, slowly inject the mixture. 
Repeat the process every two or three days for as long as is necessary. 
Both of these methods will be safer if done by one who is expert in 
the matter. 

Bots in Horses. — These parasites come from the gadfly of the 
horse, which, generiilly while the animal is at pasture, deposits and 
glues a small yellow egg on the hair covering various parts of the body. 


1372 


VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


mostly upon parts that are within reach of the mouth. When, in 
licking itself, the tongue of the horse reaches any of the eggs, after 
they are three weeks old, its warmth and moisture hatches them, 
when, as maggots, they enter the mouth and are swallowed into the 
stomach, to the walls of which they fasten themselves by means of 
a pair of hooks that are near their heads, and so remain until their 
full growth is attained; they then loosen their hold and, passing 
through the bowels, are dropped onto the ground with the manure, 
having spent about eight months in the horse. When they reach the 
ground they bury themselves beneath its surface and remain there, 
as a chrysalis, for six or seven weeks, when they come out as a fully 
formed gadfly ready, in their turn, to deposit the eggs upon other 
horses. While it is sometimes true that, if the bots are in large num¬ 
bers, they occasionally cause illness in the horse, there are no definite 
symptoms pointing to their presence; nor is there any special treat¬ 
ment that will dislodge or kill them. Sickness of horses, from bots, is 
of very, very rare occurrence, notwithstanding the wide-spread opinion 
to the contrary. 

Parasitic Nasal Catarrh of Sheep.— This disorder results from 
the attack of another gadfly, resembhng an overgrown horsefly, 
which deposits its maggot-like larvae up in the nostrils of the animal, 
where they remain until they are about three quarters of an inch 
long, when they drop to the ground, bore into the earth and remain 
there, in chrysalis form, for one or two months, when they emerge as 
the fully formed fly. 

Symptoms. — The sheep, on becoming aware of the presence of a 
fly, shakes his head, stamps with the front feet, runs, with his nose 
close to the ground, into the middle of the flock. The whole flock 
become alarmed, put their noses near to the groimd and huddle 
together as closely as possible. 

The young maggots, deposited on the membrane’hning the nostril, 
at once commence to crawl higher up in those cavities, often reaching 
other cavities in the head; these movements cause considerable irrita¬ 
tion in the sheep, evidenced by shaking the head and sneezing. As 
the maggots grow in size the sheep show all the symptoms of a severe 
nasal catarrh, as already described. The duration of the attack may 
be from sixty days to ten months, depending upon the length of 
time during which the maggots remain in the cavities. 

Treatment. — The practical remedy is prevention. This may be 
easily accomplished in small flocks by smearing the noses of all of 
the sheep, by means of a brush, with a mixture of equal quantities of 
tar and grease for at least once a week during the entire fly season. 
Large flocks may be herded on dusty ground, during that part of the 
day in which the flies are most active. 

An ingenious method of prevention has been proposed as follows: 


PAKASITIC DISEASES. 


1373 


Take a square log and bore holes in it with a large auger; in these 
place salt, and dress the edges of the holes with tar. Sheep will then 
apply tar to their noses every time they eat the salt.’’ This method 
might well repay trial, in large flocks. 

Curative treatment is by surgical operation only and must be 
done by an expert. It is not practicable excepting in the case of an 
occasional animal that has an especial value. 



IF GOOD FOR HORSE, WHY NOT 
FOR MAN?— From Lije. 



APPENDIX. 


Methods of Giving Medicines to Animals, 

Balls or Pills are given to horses by first wetting or oiling the 
surface of the ball; grasping one extreme end of it between the 
pointed fingers and thumb of the right hand; pulling the tongue 
well out to the left side of the mouth, with the left hand; and plac¬ 
ing the ball well back in the mouth, and over the belly of the tongue, 
withdrawing the right hand quickly and releasing the tongue imme¬ 
diately. 

Unless one is practised in this operation, the right hand had best 
be covered with a glove to prevent its being scratched by the teeth. 

Drenches or Drinks. — Fluid medicines are given to horses 
by . first passing a loop of rope into the mouth, as a bit is placed, 
slipping a pitchfork tine into the other end of the loop, and raising 
the head so that the medicine will flow dovm the throat. Of course 
the head may be raised in any other way. The medicine having 
been previously placed in a bottle, made of glass or rubber, without 
a shoulder, is then turned into the uplifted mouth, carefully and 
slowly, and the head held up until the medicine is all swallowed. 
Care should be taken not to let the bottle get between the horses’ 
teeth. 

The process of drenching cattle and sheep is much more easily 
accomplished: an assistant holds the head up so that the mouth is 
on a horizontal line with the neck, or a little higher. The dose 
giver, standing at the left side of the animal, pulls the cheek a little 
to one side with a finger of the left hand and turns the medicine 
slowly from the bottle into the pocket so made. These animals 
swallow much more readily than horses; but if signs of choking or a 
desire to cough is shown during the process, the head must be imme- 
mediately released, or the fluid is apt to go into the lungs. This 
same caution should be observed while drenching horses. 

In giving fluid medicines to dogs there is no necessity for opening 
the mouth, in fact it is best not to do so. The head is held up by 
an assistant; a finger inserted at the angle of the mouth pulls the 
cheek out, thus forming a pou6h into which the dose may be slowly 
poured. 

Pills are given to dogs by having an assistant open the mouth 
wide, when the pill is quickly placed as far back as possible and 

1375 



1376 


APPENDIX. 


pushed over the belly of the tongue with a finger or small stick, like 
a lead pencil. 

Externally. 

Liniments and lotions are to be rubbed onto the desired portions 
of the surface of the body. They are generally wasted by being 
used in too large quantities at a time. The harder a stimulating 
liniment is rubbed in, the quicker and greater will be its action. Cool¬ 
ing and healing fluids usually give the best results if they are simply 
sopped’’ onto the parts. 

Blisters. — Before applying any bhster the hair should first be 
closely clipped from the part to be treated. Parts below, over which 
the blister, or the discharge produced by it, are hkely to run, should 
be covered lightly with a httle lard or sweet oil. 

Application of a Blister of Spanish Flies. —The parts to be blistered 
should then be spread with a moderate covering of the ointment, 
which is to be rubbed in with the hand, more of the ointment added 
and rubbed in if necessary; the surface is then to receive a light 
spreading of the ointment, which is to be left upon the surface; and 
the animal should be tied up so that he cannot reach the parts with 
the mouth, or lie down. As soon as the discharges caused by the 
blister have dried, which will be in about three days, the part should 
be carefully washed by sopping it with castile soap and warm water, 
using as little water as possible and considerable of the soap. After 
the parts have become thoroughly dry, from the washing, they may 
receive a very light covering of lard or sweet oil and the animal 
may ^‘have his head” again. The covering with a little lard or sweet 
oil should be repeated every three days until the hair begins to grow 
again. If it should happen that the blister is rubbed by the animal 
upon any other part of the body, it should be immediately washed 
off and the part greased over. The harder a blister is rubbed in the 
greater will be its action. 

Blisters of Red Iodide of Mercury are to be applied by first 
rubbing a little of the ointment well into the parts, using only one or 
two of the fingers, instead of the whole hand. The first application 
should be added to, once a day, until the parts become sore, by 
having a little more of the ointment rubbed lightly onto them. This 
blister is allowed to remain, without washing, until a heavy scab is 
formed, when it may be oiled, lightly, every other day, until it begins 
to be removed by the new-coming hair. The horse should be kept 
standing as long as the ointment is being apphed. 

Poultices may be made of bran, oil-meal, cotton waste, sponge, 
and either hot or cold water; the object being to keep moisture con¬ 
stantly applied to the part under treatment. Poultices are con¬ 
veniently applied to the feet of horses by using a square piece of 
some strong material, as oat bagging, which is large enough to hold 


APPENDIX. 


1377 


the poultice and come up over the hoof to be tied imder the fetlock; 
otherwise they are to be held in place by bandages. 

Fomentations are generally used upon parts where it is impos¬ 
sible to retain a poultice. They consist in frequently sopping the 
parts with hot water for fifteen or twenty minutes at a time. 

Medicines and their Doses. 

For convenience, certain abbreviations will be used, as follows: 
For the animals: H. for horses; C. for cattle; S. for sheep; D. for dogs. 
For the doses: m. for drops; gr. for grains; dr. for drams; oz. for 
ounces; lb. for pounds; pt. for pints; dr. 1 = 1 teaspoonful; oz. 1 = 2 
tablespoonfuls fluid measure; 16 ounces=l lb. dry measure. 


Table of Doses. 


Acetanalid. H., dr. 1-2; S., dr. J-l; D., gr. 3-5. 

Acetic Acid, Dilute. Used only externally, instead of vinegar. 
Aconite, Tine, of Root. H., m. 5-30; C., dr. J-l; S., m. 5-10; D., 
m. i-5. 

Alcohol. H. and C., oz. 1-3; S., dr. 2-4: D., dr. 1-2. 

Aloes, Barbadoes. H., oz. J-l; C., oz. 1-2; S., oz. ^1; D., gr. 20-60. 
Ammonia, Aromatic Spirits of. H. and C., oz, 1-2; S., dr. 2-4; D., 


dr. J-1. 

Ammonia Carbonate. H., dr. 2; C., dr. 3-4; S., gr. 15-40; D., gr. 3-10. 
Ammonia, Water of. H. and C., oz. J-l; S., dr. 1-2; D., m. 10-20. 
Anodyne Hoffman’s. H. and C., oz. 1-2; S., dr. 2-4; D., m. 10-60, 
Antipyrin. H., dr. 1-2; S., dr. J-l; D., gr. 3-7. 

Atropine, Sulphate of. H., gr. 1-2; C., gr. 1-2; S., gr. tV-tV. 

Balsam of Peru. H. and C., oz. 1-2; S., dr. 1-2; D., m. 10-30. 
BeUadonna, Fluid Extract of. H., dr. 1-2; C., dr. 2-3; S., m. 10-15; 
D., m. 1-3. 

Bismuth Subnitrate. H., dr. 2-4; D., gr. 10-30. 

Brandy. H. and C., oz. 2-4; S., oz. ^1; D., dr. 1-4. 

Bromide of Potash. H. and C., oz. 1-2; S., dr. 2-4; D., gr. 5-60. 
Buckthorn, Syrup of. D., oz. 1-2. . , , 

Calomel. H., dr. i-1; C., dr. 5-6; D., gr. 3-5 (smgle doses.) 
Camphor, Spirits of. H., dr. 1-3; C., dr. 2-4; S., m. 1^-60; p.,m. 3-20. 
Carbolic Acid, 90 per cent solution. H. and C., m. 15-30, b., m. 5-10. 
Carron Oil. H. and C., oz. 4-6; S., oz. 1-2; D., dr. 1-8; Foals and 
Calves, oz. 2-4; Lambs, oz. J-1. 

Cascara, Fluid Extract of. D., m. 5-30. 

Castor Oil. H. and C., pt. 1; S., oz. 2-4; D., oz. 1-2. 

Cerium Oxalate. D., gr. 3-5. , ^ j i i. -n k on 

Chlorate of Potash. H. and C., oz. J-l; S., dr. |-1; D., gr. 5-20. 
Cod-hver Oil. H. and C., oz. 2-4; S., oz. J-1, D., dr. 1-3. 


1378 


APPENDIX. 


Colchicum, Wine of. H. and C., dr. 3-8; D., m. 10-30. 

Copper, Sulphate of. H. and C., dr. 2-^; S., gr. 20-40. 

Cottonseed Oil. (See Olive Oil.) 

Cream of Tartar. H. and C., oz. J-1; S., oz. J; D., dr. J-1. 

Croton Oil. H. and C., m. 15-30; S., m. 3-5; D., m. ^-3. 

Digitalis, Tincture of. H. and C., dr. 2-4; S., m. 30-dr. 1; D., m. 5-30. 
Ether. H. and C., oz. 1-2; S., dr. 2-4; D., m. 10-60. 

Epsom Salts. H., lb. J-l; (laxative) oz. 2-4; C., lb. 1-2; (laxative) 
oz. 3-4; Calves and Foals, dr. 2-3; S., oz. 4-6; D., dr. 1-4. 

Gentian, Powdered Root. H. and C., oz. §-l; S., dr. 1-2; D., gr. 5-30. 
Gentian, Fluid Extract. H. and C., oz. J-1; S., dr. 1-2; D., m. 5-30. 
Ginger, Powdered Root. H., dr. 2-oz. 1; C., oz. 1-4; S., dr. 1-2; 
D., gr. 5-15. 

Ginger, Tincture of. H. and C., oz. 1-4; S., dr. 2-4; D., dr. 1-4. 
Golden Seal. Hydrastus Canadensis Powder. H. and C., dr. 2-4; 
S., dr. 1-2; D., gr. 5-30. 

Iodide of Potash. H., dr. 2-4; C., dr. 4; S., gr. 15-30; D., gr. 2-10. 
Iodine. H. and C., dr. J-l; S., gr. 10-20; D., gr. 2-5. 

Iron, Tinct. of Chloride. H. and C., oz. 1-2; S., m. 20-30; D., m. 5-60. 
Iron Sulphate, Powdered. H. and C., dr. 1-2; S., gr. 20-30; D., gr. 1-5. 
Jalap. D., dr. 1-2. 

Kamala. H., oz. 1; D., dr. ^-2. 

Linseed Oil (raw). H., pt. ^1; C., pt. 1-2; S., oz. 6-12; D., oz. ^-2. 
Male Fern, Oleoresin of (for tapeworm). H. and C., dr. 3-6; S., dr. ’ 
1-2; D., m. 15-60. 

Morphine. H. and C., gr. 3-10; S., gr. J-l; D., J-J. 

Mustard (emetic, dog). D., oz. J, in warm water. 

Nux Vomica, Powdered. H. and C., dr. 1-2; S., gr. 20-30. 

Nux Vomica, Fluid Extract, doses same as powder. 

Olive Oil. H. and C., pt. 1-2; D., oz. 2-A. Cottonseed or Sweet Oil 
may be used internally in place of this. 

Opium, Tincture. H., oz. 1-2; C., oz. 2-3; S., dr. 2-4; D., m. 3-30. 
Phenacetin. H., dr. 2-3; D., gr. 3-10. 

Quinine, Sulphate of. H., gr. 5-60; C., dr. i-lj; S., gr. 5-10; D., 
gr. 1-2. 

Rum. H. and C., oz. 2-4; S., oz. J-1; D., dr. 1-4. 

Salicylic Acid. H. and C., dr. 2-6; S., dr. 1-2; D., gr. 5-30. 

Saltpeter, Nitrate of Potash. H. and C., oz. J-1; S., dr. J-1; D., gr. 5-20. 
Soda Bicarbonate or Saleratus. H. and C., oz. J-2; S., dr. J-1; 
D., gr. 5-30. 

Sulphite of Soda. H. and C., oz. 1; S., dr. J-1; D., gr. 5-30. 
Sulphur, Flowers of. H. and C., oz. 2-4; S., oz. J-1; D., dr. ^-4. 

Sweet Spirits of Niter. H. and C., oz. 1-^; S., dr. 2^; D., m. 10-60. 
Tar, Oil of. Oil of Cade. H. and C., oz. J-1; S., dr. 1-2; D., m. 15-60. 
Whiskey. H. and C., oz. 2-4; S., oz. J-1; D., dr. 1-4. 

Zinc, Oxide of. H. and C., dr. 1-2; D., gr. 5-10. 

Zinc, Sulphate of. Emetic only in dogs, gr. 10-15. 


APPENDIX. 


1379 


PRESCRIPTIONS. 


Cathartics 

Horse. 


(1) 

Powdered Barbadoes Aloes 

1 oz. 


Powdered Ginger Root 

i dr. 


Vaseline 

q. s. 


Enough of the vasehne should be used to make the whole mass 
of the consistency of rather hard putty; all is then to be rolled up in 
a piece of brown tissue paper, into the form of a shotgun cartridge, 
and given, as directed, all at one dose. Do not repeat; it should 
show its effects in about twenty-four hours. The dose may be 
strengthened by adding from i-1 dr. of calomel. 

If the ball cannot be given take: 

Powdered Barbadoes Aloes 1 oz. 

Water i pt. 

Mix, and float the aloes down, as a drench. 

Calomel may be added to this dose, as above. 

(2) * Epsom Salts | lb. 

Tincture of Ginger 2 dr. 

Warm Water 1 pt. 

Dissolve the salts in the water, add the ginger, and give all at one 
dose, as a drench. 

(3) Linseed Oil 1 pt. 

Saleratus 1 oz. 

Shake up the saleratus with the oil and give as a drench. 

Cattle. 

(4) Epsom Salts 1-2 lb. 

Molasses 2 oz. 

Powdered Ginger 1 tablespoonful. 

Warm Water 3 pts. 

Dissolve the salts in the water, add the other two articles, and stir 
the mixture well together; give all at a dose, as a drench. The large 
quantity of water is necessary for this dose in cattle. It may be 
repeated in twenty-four hours, if necessary. In a very obstinate 
case the first dose may have five or six drops of croton oil added to 
it. The oil should not be repeated. 

( 5 ) Raw Linseed Oil 1-2 pt. 

Saleratus 2 oz. 

Shake well together and give in one dose, as a drench. 


1380 


APPENDIX. 


Sheep. 

( 6 ) 


Epsom Salts 
Molasses 

Powdered Ginger 
Warm Water 

Mix and give as for cattle. 


6 dr. 
1 oz. 


2 teaspoonfuls. 
1 pt. 


(7) Linseed Oil 

Saleratus 

Mix and give as for cattle. 


6-10 oz. 

1 teaspoonful. 


(8) Powdered Barbadoes Aloes i-oz. 

Tincture of Ginger 1 dr. 

Linseed Oil 6 oz. 

Shake all together and give as a drench. 


Lambs. 

(9) Warm Lard 3-4 tablespoonful. 

Dogs. 

(10) Castor oil 1 oz. 

Syrup of Buckthorn Joz. 

Syrup of Poppies 2 dr. 

Mix and give all at a dose, to a medium sized dog. The dose 
may be increased for larger, or decreased for very small dogs. 

(11) Castor Oil 

Olive Oil, equal portions J oz. 

This mixture may be used for dogs of the size of a fox terrier; 
and is best for all delicate animals. For toy dogs it should be lessened, 
a little. 

Compound Cathartic Pills contain, to one pill 


(12) Extract of Colombo, compound IJ gr. 

Extract of Jalap J gr. 

Calomel 1 gr. 

Gamboge I gr. 


These pills may be got from any druggist. The dose is from 
one-half of one pill for small, to two or three pills for large, dogs., 

Compound Cascara Tablets contain to one tablet. 

(13) Extract of Cascara 2 gr. 

Extract of Belladonna tV gr. 

Podophylin J gr. 

The tablets may be procured from the druggist. The dose is 


APPENDIX. 


1381 

from one half to one or two tablets, given once a day, at night. They 
are very useful in cases of slow digestion with persistent constipation. 

Laxatives. 

Any of these cathartic doses, excepting those containing aloes 
and croton oil, may be so lessened in quantity as to be used as a 
laxative, which may be repeated once each day for as long as is neces¬ 
sary. They should generally be reduced to about one quarter of 
their original strength. 

Horse. Tonics. 

(14) Powdered Sulphate of Iron 

Powdered Gentian Root, equal parts 3 oz. 

Mix well together and divide into twelve powders. A powder to 
be given night and morning in dampened grain feed. A good general 
tonic. To be used when membranes are pale. 


Or, Powdered Golden Seal 2 oz. 

Powdered Nux Vomica 1 oz. 

Powdered Sulphate of Iron 1 oz. 

Bicarbonate of Soda 2 oz. 


This powder must be well mixed; it is then to be divided into 
eight separate powders, one of which should be given night and 
morning in dampened grain feed. The best all-round tonic, especially 
following chronic indigestion, hide-bound, loss of flesh, and in heaves. 

Or, ♦ 

(15) Powdered Gentian Root 4 oz. 

Powdered Sulphate of Iron 2 oz. 

Powdered Ginger Root 1 oz. 

Powdered Nux Vomica 1 oz. 

This powder must be well mixed, and divided into eight equal 
parts, one of which is to be given night and morning, in the usual 
way. It is to be used when a sHght stimulating effect is desired, 
as when the appetite is poor. All tonic powders may be given in 
the form of a ball, by mixing them with a sufficient quantity of 
molasses, and wrapping them in paper; or by simply floating them 
in one half pint of water and giving, as a drench, just after the ani¬ 
mal has finished eating, if they are refused when mixed with the grain. 

^Condition Powder” 

(16) Powdered Bayberry Bark 
Powdered Golden Seal 
Powdered Bloodroot 

Powdered Salt, of each 2 lbs. 

Powdered Charcoal 
Powdered Black Antimony 
Powdered Ginger Root 
Powdered Anise-seed, of each 1 lb. 


1382 


APPENDIX. 


All to be thoroughly mixed. Dose, tablespoonful, twice daily. 
This will be found to be a good mild tonic to be used when the 
animals are in no more than an unthrifty condition. 


'Fluid Tonic 

(17) Strychnine 8 grs. 

Tincture of Gentian Root 
Water, equal parts 8 oz. 


Mix and shake until strychnine is dissolved, 
three times daily. 

Dose, one ounce. 

Cattle. The same tonics in the same doses 
horses, may be given to cattle. 

Sheep. 

as prescribed for 

(18) Tincture of Chloride of Iron 

Tincture of Gentian Root 

2 dr. 

Tincture of Ginger Root, of each 

4 dr. 

Water 

1 pt. 


Mix and give two tablespoonfuls three times daily, if ansemic. 


(19) Tincture of Chloride of Iron 4 oz. 

Ten to twenty drops may be given three times daily on a little 
grain feed. 


(20) Powdered Nux Vomica 2 dr. 

Powdered Bicarbonate of Soda 2 dr. 

Powdered Golden Seal 

Powdered Ginger Root 

Powdered Gentian Root, equal quantities 6 dr. 

Mix thoroughly; divide into twelve powders, and give one powder 
three times daily in a little water, as a drench. This mixture is to 
be used when the sheep continues to be dull, as if the nerves needed 
strengthening. 

Condition Powders for Sheep 


(21) Sulphate of Iron 1 oz. 

Powdered Gentian Root 4 oz. 

Powdered Willow Charcoal 4 oz. 

Powdered Fenugreek 1 oz. 

Powdered Nitrate of Potash (saltpeter) 4 dr. 

Linseed Meal 4 oz. 


Mix all well together. Give one tablespoonful in 
twice daily. 


Tonic for Anemia 


feed once or 


(22) 

Sulphate of Iron 

2 oz. 


Common Salt 

4 oz. 


Gentian Root, powdered 

4 oz. 


Licorice Root, powdered 

8 oz. 


APPENDIX. 


1383 


Mix thoroughly and give one tablespoonful twice a day in grain 
feed, dampened. 

Dogs. 

(23) Pill of Citrate of Iron and Quinine, 1 grain each. 

Give a pill three times daily, for a small dog; double as much for 
a collie, pointer, or setter. A good general tonic; useful after distem- 
per. 


(24) Bland’s Pills. 

Give a pill morning and night to a medium sized dog; one-half 
one to small animals. A good general tonic; useful when the dog is 
not eating well or has palhdity of the membranes. 

(25) Tincture of the Chloride of Iron, 4 oz. 

For a medium sized dog give eight drops, three times daily. It 
is a good appetizer and helps to make red blood. It, however, 
blackens the teeth, temporarily; and when it is being taken a small 
dose of oil will probably have to be given occasionally. 


Fever Mixtures 

Horses. 


(26) Sweet Spirits of Niter 7 oz. 

Fluid Extract of Belladonna 1 oz. 

Sulphate of Quinine 40 grs. 

Dilute Sulphuric Acid 40 m. 


Mix all in a bottle and shake until the quinine is dissolved- 
The dose will be two ounces of the mixture given in a tumblerful of 
cold water, three or four times daily. 

Cattle. The same as for horses. 


5heep. 

(27) Sulphate of Quinine 40 gr. 

Tinct. of Citrate of Iron 4 dr. 

Whiskey 7J oz. 

Mix well together. Shake the bottle and give two tablespoon¬ 
fuls at a dose, in half pint of molasses and water, each four hours, to 
an adult sheep — less in proportion to age and size. To be used in 
Pneumonia. 

(28) Fluid Extract of Belladonna 2 dr. 

Sweet Spirits of Niter 2 oz. 

Muriate of Ammonia 4 dr. 

Water b oz. 

Mix well together and give one tablespoonful at a dose, in one 
third pint of molasses and water, every two hours. 


1384 


APPENDIX. 


Dogs. 

(29) Calomel 4 gr. 

Sub-nitrate of Bismuth 72 gr. 

Phenacetine 48 gr. 

Mix well together and divide into twenty-four powders, of which 
one may be given to a fox terrier as often as each two hours, for not 
exceeding two days, when the powder, if there is further need, may 
be given three times daily. Larger dogs will require double the dose 


or more. To be given dry on the tongue. 

(30) Tincture Aconite Root 20 m. 

Sweet Spirits of Niter 6 dr. 

Bromide of Potash 4 dr. 

Liquid of the Acetate Ammonia 4 oz. 


Mix well together. Give a teaspoonful every two hours, in a 
little cold water. 

Electuaries 

Medicines in this form are to be used when, from soreness of the 
throat or otherwise, the animal is unable to swallow. The method 
of administration is by pressing the quantity onto the outside of 
one of the back teet^, from which it is slowly dissolved. 

(31) Extract of Belladonna 1 oz. 

Chlorate of Potash 2 oz. 

Licorice, not powdered 5 oz. 

Simple syrup, enough to make proper consistency. Mix well 
together. Use one half ounce of the mass, each two hours, for a 
horse, same for cattle, and less for sheep and dogs. 



Liniments 


Soap Liniment 

— Opodeldoc. 


(32) 

Castile Soap in fine Shavings 

3 oz. 


Powdered Gum Camphor 

1 oz. 


Oil of Rosemary 

2 dr. 


Oil of Thyme 

1 dr. 


Spirits of Wine 

I pt. 


Dissolve the soap and camphor in the spirits of wine and add 
the oils. This mixture can be obtained much more easily from the 
druggist. It forms the basis of many other liniments. If rubbed 
onto the skin its action is mildly stimulating. 

Stimulating. 

(33) Soap Liniment 5 oz. 

Turpentine 
Strong Ammonia 

Oil of Origanum, equal parts 2 dr. 


APPENDIX. 


1385 

Shake well together in a bottle. This is the best all-round stimu- 
lating liniment, and can be used upon all the animals. 

Camphorated Oil. 

04) Camphor 1 oz. 

Sweet oil 3 oz. 

Dissolve the camphor in alcohol and add the oil. It is better to 
obtain this ready made from the druggist. 

Aconite Liniment. 

0^) Tincture of Aconite Root 2 oz. 

Sweet Oil 4 oz. 

Creosote 1 oz. 

Mix, and shake Ido ttie. This is one of the good liniments for 
application to a bruise, when the skin is not broken, or to a sprain 
of any kind. It removes and decreases inflammation, irritation, and 
pain. Do not use on dogs. 

Creosote Liniment. 

(36) Creosote 1 oz. 

Turpentine 1 oz. 

Olive or Sweet Oil 2 oz. 

Mix, and shake bottle. This gives relief from pain and is to be 
used for rubbing upon stiff joints. Do not use on dogs. 

For Rheumatism. 

(37) Tincture of Aconite Root 

Oil of Wintergreen 
Chloroform, equal parts 1 oz. 

Soap Liniment 5 oz. 

Mix, and rub well onto the parts, once or twice daily. Do not 
use on dogs. 

Lotions. 

Zinc and Lead. 

(38) Sulphate of Zinc 

Acetate of Lead, equal parts 6 dr. 

Water 1 qt. 

Put the powder into the water and shake the bottle until all 
lumps are dissolved. Very useful in galls and sores on the skin, 
in scratches, and for cooling out swollen legs, etc. The bottle must 
be well shaken frequently while this lotion is being used; and it is 
better sopped than rubbed on. It should not be used on dogs. 

Sulphur Lotion. 

(39) Sulphurette of Potash (liver of sulphur) J lb. 

Water 4 qts. 

Pound the sulphur into small pieces; put it into the water; let 


1386 


APPENDIX. 


it stand, with frequent shaking, for three days, then carefully turn 
off the clear liquid. The lotion should be of a sherry color. It will 
not be of that color unless the sulphur used is fresh and good; there 
is often some httle trouble about getting it so. It will kill lice and 
cure many disorders of the skin in all animals. 

For Scratches. 

(40) 


Impure Carbonate of Zinc 

2 oz. 

Powdered Alum 

IJ oz. 

Precipitated Chalk 

10 oz. 

Creosote 

IJ oz. 

Beeswax 

ij oz. 

Lard 

15 oz. 


The lard and wax are to be melted together and the powders 
are then to be stirred into it. All must be will mixed and should 
be stirred, while cooling, often enough to keep it so. Besides being 
useful in scratches it also answers a good purpose when any ointment 
of zinc is required; and in certain forms of eczema, except in dogs. 
It should be applied twice daily. 

Sulphur Ointment. 

(41) Flowers of Sulphur 2 oz. 

Carbonate of Potash 1 oz. 

Lard 8 oz. 

Mix well together. Is useful in many skin diseases. 

For Itching Skins. 

(42) Thymol 15 gr. 

Alcohol 2i dr. 

Glycerine 5 dr. 

Water enough to make 1 pint. 

Mix and rub well onto the parts twice daily. 

Loss of Appetite in Horses and Cattle. 

(43) Fluid Extract of Red Pepper 2 dr. 

Fluid Extract of Golden Seal 3 oz. 

Fluid Extract of Nux Vomica 3 oz. 

Mix. Dose, two teaspoonfuls on tongue three times a day. 

Hoof Ointment. 

(44) 


Mutton Tallow 

2 

oz. 

Resin 

2 

oz. 

Barbadoes Tar 

2 

oz. 

Yellow Wax 

1 

oz. 

Castor Oil 

1 

oz. 


Melt all together over a slow fire. If it is desired to have it rather 
soft, when the mixture is entirely melted stir in eight ounces of raw 


APPENDIX. 


1387 


linseed oil. This mixture, if used on the hoofs daily, will keep them 
in good growing condition and make them look well. 

Solution of Argyrol for Inflamed Eyelids. 

(45) Argyrol 24 m. 

Water 1 oz. 

Mix. Use two drops three times daily. 

Solution of Lysol. 

(46) Lysol 50 m. 

Water 8 oz. 

Mix. Use freely in dressing sores, wounds, etc. 

Hair Grower. 

(47) Balsam of Peru 4 dr. 

Tincture Spanish Fly . 4 dr. 

Castor Oil 1 oz. 

Lard 1 oz. 

Melt the lard, add the oil and other ingredients. It will cool 
into a soft ointment, which may easily be well rubbed onto the parts, 
once a day. 

Vomiting Powders for Dogs. 

(48) Sub-nitrate of Bismuth 30 gr. 

Oxalate of Cerium 30 gr. 

Mix well together and divide into ten powders. Give a powder 
each two to four hours as required. 

Alterative Powder. 

(49) Flowers of Sulphur 4i oz. 

Saltpeter, powdered 4i oz. 

Black Antimony 12 dr. 

Mix and divide into twelve powders. Give a powder on damp 
grain feed, or in chpful of molasses and water, morning and night. 
These powders will give good results when the skin is in an unhealthy 
condition, or with little '‘boils” upon it, in horses. 

Ichthyol Ointment. 

(50) Ichthyol 1 dr. 

Lard 1 oz. 

Mix well; and use on small patches of eczema. Or in long-haired 
dogs a lotion may be of easier application. Substitute one ounce of 
raw linseed oil for the lard; or one ounce of water may be used 
instead of the oil. 

Antidotes for Poisons. 

First. Send for a veterinary surgeon. 

Second. Induce vomiting in dogs by the use of mustard. To 
the other animals give raw linseed oil, whites of eggs, and milk. 
These last may also be given to dogs. 


1388 


APPENDIX. 


Special Poisons. 

Acids of any kind. Give soap-suds, magnesia, lime water. 
Prussic Acid. Ammonia in water. Dash cold water onto the head. 
Carbolic Acid. Whites of egg, flour and water. 

Potash, Lye, Ammonia. Vinegar and water. 

Arsenic, Paris Green. Whites of eggs, oil, lime water, flour 
and water. 

Iodine. Starch and water, strong tea. 

Opium. Strong coffee, and keep animal moving. 



1389 


POINTS OF THE HORSE. 


POINTS OF THE HORSE. 


The points of the horse will well repay the effort of committing to memory 
by any one who wishes to be a good judge of a horse. For through a knowledge of 
their values it is possible to say by simply looking over an animal, while he is 
standing, for what kind of work he is best adapted and, to some extent, how good 
he may be in his class. 

Plate I. 

1. Poll. 2. Forelock. 3. Ear. 4. Forehead. 5. Face. 6. Nostril. 

7. Upper lip. 8. Under lip. These two together form the muzzle. 

9. Under jaw. 10. Jowl. 11. Throttle. 12. The windpipe. 

13. The crest. 14. The withers. 15. The back. 16. The coupling or loins. 

17. Summit of the croup. 18-19. The girth. 20. The croup. 

21. The dock or root of the tail. 22. The whirl-bone, or hip-joint. 

23. The quarters. 24. The flank. 25. The sheath. 

26. The barrel. This is composed of the chest in front and lying under the 
ribs, and the belly or abdomen lying behind the ribs and extending to the flank. 

27. The shoulder. 28. The point of the shoulder. 

29. The counter or breast. This extends from side to side across the front of 
the animal. 

30. The elbow. The parts lying between numbers 28 and 30 constitute the arm. 

31. The forearm. 32. The knee. 33. The cannon. 

34. The back tendons or cords. 35. The fetlock or large pastem-joint. 

36. The pastern. 37. The heel. 38. The coronet. 39. The hoof. 

40. The stifle-joint. 41. The gaskin or thigh. 42. The hock. 43. Chestnut. 

The further names and locations of the points below the hocks are the same 
as those given for the front legs. 



1390 


PROMINENT ILLS OF THE HORSE. 



PROMINENT ILLS OF THE HORSE. 

1. Dead bone in the lower jaw, 

2. Cataract. Cloudy outer covering, or the disease of eye. 

3. Abscess of salivary glands of throat or under the jaw. 

4. Poll evil. Caused by pressure of bridle or other bruise of the part. The 
swelling may be upon either or both sides of the mane. 

5. vSwelling or open sore caused by collar pressure. If solid and unopened 
called “cold abscess.” Can’t be cut out; treatment difficult; call V. S. 

6. Injury to knee from falling. 

7. Strain of “check” ligament. Small swelling over back tendon on inside leg; 
quite sore on pressure. 

8. Strain of tendons, lifting foot backward, or of suspensory ligament. The 
ligament lies between the back tendons and the bone. 

9. Inflammation where ligament passes over little bones, just above and behind 
fetlock-joint. Looks like “windgall,” but is much harder when weight of horse is 
upon the leg. 

10. Scratches and grease-heel. 

11. Quittor. Also open sore coming from “corn” in the foot; both are open 
sores discharging more or less pus. A quittor may be caused by tread wound of 
coronet. 

12. Seat of ringbone. 

13. Quarter-crack. Begins at hair and moves to ground surface of hoof, on 
inside. 

14. Shoe-ball. Larger or smaller swelling over elbow; may be hard or soft, 
open or unopen, through skin. 

15. Fistula of withers. Larger or smaller swelling to one or other side, or 
covering the whole top of the spines of the backbone of the part. 

16. Hard, smaller or larger swelling directly on top of spines of the backbone 









PROMINENT ILLS OF THE HORSE. 


1391 


of the part; coming from pressure of riding saddle. It may be more or less tender 
upon pressure. 

17. Gall of the hip. Pin-hipped or flat-hipped, in which more or less of one 
of the edgebones is broken and a flat appearance given to the part. 

18. Tumor on end of cord following certain castrations. Surgical operation 
for its removal is the only remedy. 

19. Rectal fistula. Discharges blood and pus in larger or smaller quantities. 
Surgical operation only remedy. 

20. Capped hock. 

21. Seat of curb. 

22. Seat of bone spavin. 

23. Thoroughpin. 

24. Bog spavin. 

25. Toe or sand-crack. Directly in the toe of hoof, beginning at hair and 
extending downward to ground surface of hoof. 

26. Trend wound; may result in quitter. 


1392 


MUSCLES OF THE HORSE. 



MUSCLES OF THE HORSE. 

First. There is a large muscle lying just under the skin, and attached to it, 
which is called the “panniculus,” the action of which is to twitch the skin, as for the 
purpose of removing insects, etc. 

Second. The outer layer of muscles called superficial layer, after that a deeper 
layer which assists the superficial layer in action. These work together so that if a 
failure of full and normal action occurs in a given part, some idea may be obtained 
as to which of the muscles are affected. It is by careful observation only, of the 
movements of the different parts, while the horse is in slow trotting action, that the 
seat of lameness can be discovered, oftentimes. As, for instance, to know whether 
a certain lameness is located in the foot or the shoulder: 

1. Orbicularis Oris. Compresses the lips, also assists in chewing, drinking, and 
the gathering of food. 

2. Levator labii superioris aleoeque nasi. Raises the upper lip and angle of the 
mouth and dilates nostril. 

3. Zygomaticus. Retracts the angle of the mouth. 

4. Nasalis Longus. Elevates and wrinkles the upper lip. 

5. Dilator Naris Transversalis. Dilates the nostrils. 

6. Dilator Naris Lateralis. Dilates the nostril, acting on its external wing. 

7. Depressor Labii Inferioris. Depresses the under lip. 

8. Masseter. Elevates the lower jaw and closes the mouth, important in 
chewing. 

9. Obicularis Palpebrarum. Closes the eyelids. 

\0. Temporalis. Assists in closing the mouth, gives good assistance to No. 8 
in chewing. 









MUSCLES OF THE HORSE. 


1393 


11. Trapezius, ^rmcalis and dorsalis. The first named portion draws the 
shoulder upward and forward; the second, upward and backward. 

A ^he head when the horse stands still; in action 

it draws the shoulder-blade down. 

13. Splenius. One alone is used draws the head to one side; if both are used 
they raise the head. 


.. ,r When the head is held still it advances the entire limb; 

it the legs are still and the muscle on one side only is used it draws the head and 
neck to that side. If both are used together the head and neck are drawn down. 

15. Sterno-Maxillaris. Both acting together brings head downward. One 
alone acting turns the head downward or to either side. 

16. Sub-Scapulo-Hyoideus. Its action is to pull the roots of the tongue down¬ 
ward or backward. 

17. Pectoralis Parvus. Assists in drawing the shoulder-joint backward. 

\S. Antea Spinatus. It serves, as do other muscles of the part, in being an 
active ligament of the shoulder-joint. 

’ 19- Postea Spinatus. Helps to draw the arm outward, in progression. 

20. Teres Externus. When acting with the teres internus, lying under it and 
not shown in the diagram, it bends the shoulder-joint backward. When acting 
alone pulls the arm outward, helping No. 19. 

21. Triceps Extensor Brachii. Its action is to advance the forearm. 

22. Pectoralis Magnus and Anticus. Action to draw the shoulder back and 
the arm towards the body. 

23. Extensor Metacarpi Magnus. It carries the knee forward. 

24. Humeralis Obliquus. Flexes the elbow-joint. 

25. Flexor Metacarpi Externus. It bends (flexes) the knee. 

26. Extensor Pidis. Extends the small bones just above the hoof upon each 
other, and helps to extend the knee. 

27. Extensor Suffraginis. Assists No. 26 in extending the foot. 

28 and 29. Tendons of Flexors Perferans and Perjoratus. Their chief action 
is to flex all joints below the knee. 

30. Suspensory Ligament. Running from lower bones of the knee, joining the 
tendon of the Extensor Pidis. 

31. Flexor Pidis Perforans and Perforatus. Same as 28 and 29. 

32. Flexor Metacarpi Internus, Assists No. 25. 

33. Latisimus Dorsi. In action it elevates the humerus and bends the shoulder- 
joint backward. When the horse is standing still it helps to force air from the lungs. 

34. Inter costales. Their action draws air into the lungs. 

35. Obliquus Abdominis Externus. Help to support the bowels; in action they 
compress the bowels and assist in defecation, urination and parturition, flex the 
backbone, and by compressing the belly aid greatly in forcing air out of and into the 
lungs. 

36. Rectus Abdominis. Helps to support the contents of the abdominal cavity. 

37. Tensor Fasdce Latar. Lifts the thigh-bone upward. 

38. Gluteus Maximus. Draws the thigh backward and assists in rearing. 

39. Gluteus Externus. It draws the thigh outward. 

40. Triceps Abductor Femoris. To draw the thigh backward in action; it assists 
in rearing. 

41-42. Biceps Rotator Tibialis. Draws the leg backward and outward. 

43. Gastrocnemius Externus and Internus. Straightens the hocks on the part 
of the leg, bends the fetlock and pastern joints, and prevents bending of the hock- 
joint. 

44. Plantaris. Assists No. 43 very slightly. 

45. Tendo Achilles. The tendon of No. 43. Passes over point of the hock, and 
is seat of capped hock. 

46. Flexor Pedis Accussorius. It assists No. 47. 

47. Flexor Pedis Perforans. Assists in advancing or bending the hock-joint 
and bends backwards the fetlock and pastern joints. 

47a. Lateral division of No. 47. 

476. Middle division of No. 47. 

47c. Large division of No. 47. They all assist No. 47. 

48. Extensor Pedis. It carries forward the foot and small bones just above it, 
and assists bending the hock-joint. 

49. Peroneus. It assists No. 48. 


1394 


MUSCLES OF THE HORSE. 


50. Extensor Pedis Porevis. It assists slightly in advancing the foot. 

51. The tendon of No. 48 through which assistance is given in bending the 
hock-joint. 

52. Erector Coccygis. When those on both sides act together the tail is raised 
up — one alone, upward and to one side or other. 

53. Curvator Coccygis. To curve the tail and draw it sideways. 

54. Depressor Coccygis. Acting together bend the tail downward. 



SKELETON' OF THE HORSE. 


1395 



SKELETON OF THE HORSE. 

I. Upper jaw. 2. Lower jaw. 

3. Occiput (the high point between the ears). 

4-6. Small bones helping to form the bony covering of the brain. 

7. Upper and under, back, double, or molar teeth; six in each jaw on each 
side; twenty-four in all. 

8. Front teeth or incisors; six in each jaw; twelve in all. 

9. Tusks or canine teeth; two in each jaw; four in all. Mares sometimes do 
not have these teeth. The full mouth of a horse contains forty teeth. 

10. Ihe nasal bone. 

II. The eye socket or orbital cavity; the bony prominent ridge above this is 
called the orbital arch; while, through the bone below, the tear duct runs from the 
eye socket into the nostril. 

12. The atlas, the wings of which form the bony ridges, one each side, just 
behind the ears. 

13. The dentata, the second bone of the neck, which has a long projection into 
a cavity in the atlas. This furnishes the pivot upon which the head turns. ^ 

14. The seven remaining fine bones of the neck or vertebrae. 

15. Superior spines of the back (dorsum), all of them having “bodies” from 
which the ribs spring; eighteen in number. 

16. Other bones of the back, called lumbar vertebrae, to which the short ribs 
are attached; six in number. 

17. Bones of the back, called the sacrum. This has six segments joined together 
and giving no flexibility to the parts. Numbers 15—17 make up the backbone. 

18. Bones of the tail or coccy. , .... 

19. The ribs, eighteen in number, on each side. The first eight, joined almost 






























1396 


SKELETON OF THE HORSE. 


directly to the breast-bone, are called true, the last ten, joined to that bone, are 
called the false ribs. 

20. The edge or pelvic bones. This is framework through which the hind 
limbs are joined to the body. It consists of three different bones on each side, 
but they are so firmly joined together as to be, practically, one bone. This bone 
contains the deep sockets into which the large rounded head of the hip-bones enter 
to form the whirl-bone or hip-joint at Fig. 21. 

22. The thigh, hip, or femur bone. 

23. The stifle-joint. This is made up of the two large bones, working like a 
hinge, together with a little bone. The stifle-bone, like the human knee pan, which, 
placed outside the weight-bearing column, slides up and down to facilitate move¬ 
ment. 

24. The leg or gaskin bones (called also the tibia and fibula). 

25. The hock or gambrel. This is made up of six small bones. The true or 
hinge-joint is between the gaskin and shank-bones. The office of the small bones 
is to glide one upon the other and prevent too much concussion of the part, in 
action. 

26. The shank, cannon, or metatarsal bone, running from the hock down a 
little way on tlie outside and inside of each cannon, are called the splint-bones. 
The small bones shown at the lower end and back of the cannons are not in the 
weight-bearing column, but are simply used as a fulcrum over which the back 
tendons glide; they are called sesamoids. 

27. The large pastern-bone. 28. The small pastem-bone. 

29. The foot or pedal bone; it is entirely contained within the hoof and follows 
it in shape. Behind this, not in the weight-bearing column, is a small bone running 
across the foot, not shown in the diagram, called, from its shape, the coffin-bone, 
also the navicular bone. It is back of the pedal bone, and furnishes a fulcrum over 
which the back tendon glides. 

30. The shoulder-blade or scapular. 

31. The shoulder-joint. 32. The arm-bone or humerus. 

33. The elbow or ulner runs a part of the way down the forearm and is attached 
to it. 

34. Elbow-joint. 35. The forearm or radius. 

35. The forearm or radius. 

36. The knee or carpus, is formed by the lower end of the forearm and seven, 
or sometimes eight, small bones, and the upper end of the cannons. The small 
bones have very limited action, but tend largely to overcome the effects of concussion. 

37. Shin or cannon or metacarpal bone. 

38. Splint bones. 39. Same as described for hind limbs. 


Teeth of the Horse, 



a a 

FOUR YEARS OLD. 


The nippers, aa; permanent teeth, 
66; end teeth, cc, are milk teeth. 



FIVE YEARS OLD. 
The teeth have changed. 



EIGHT YEARS OLD. 



TEN YEARS OLD. 



FIFTEEN YEARS OLD 


1397 




1398 


EXTKUIOH OF THE COW. 





aJJ 



EXTERIOR OF THE COW. 


{With inimberfi shouhng the various parts.) 


, Head. 

1. Back of head. 

2. Frontal crest. 

3. Horns. 

4. Ears. 

5. Forehead. 

6. Face. 

7. Nostrils. 

8. Mouth, with upper and lower lips. 

9. Chin. 

10. Throat. 

11. Cheeks. 

12. Eyes and eyelids. 

Neck. 

13. 14. Nape of the neck. 

15. Throat. 16. Dewlap. 

Trunk. 


Fore Limbs. 

34. Shoulder. 

35. Point of shoulder. 36. Forearm. 

37. Elbow. 38. Knee. 39. Shin. 

40. Fetlock-joint, with the dew-claws. 

41. Pastern. 42. Coronet. 43. Hoofs. 

HiXi) Limbs. 

44. r?'>r)er thigh. 45. Hip-joint. 

46. Stifle-joint. 47. Lower thigh. 

48. Hock. 49. Point of hock. 

From the hock downwards, the 
descriptions are the same as in 
the fore-limbs. 

Value OF THE Various Parts for Beef. 

The prime parts of the animal, for beef, 
are embraced between a line that may 
be drawn from numbers 34 and 29, 
thence to 45 and back to 34. 

The second best are between 34-45-33- 
24, 23 and 37. 

The ribs below a line drawn from 34 to 
45; the flanks 23 to 24, and the thinner 
parts lying just above a line so drawn 
and thence to 21 and 16, the brisket, 
are good corning pieces. Between 
45 and 47 are valuable pieces for 
smoked or dried meat. 


17. Withers. 18. Back. 

19. Loin, or kidney region. 

20. Walls of chest. 21,22. The brisket. 
23. Belly. 24. Flanks. 

25. tipper part of flank. 26. Rump. 
27. Croup. 28. Haunches. 

29. Root of tail. 30. Tail. 31. Tuft. 

32. Udder, with the teats. 

33. The buttock. 
















SKELETON OF THE COW. 


1399 



SKELETON OF THE COW. 

1. Upper jaw. 2. Under jaw. 

3. Occipital bone. This bone helps to form the high ridge between the horns. 

4. Frontal bones. 

5. The bony horns. The horns themselves fit upon the outside of these; 
there is also a communication from the inside of the frontal-bone to the inside of 
the bony horn. 

6-11. Small bones going to make up the face and jaw. 

12. Upper and under back, double, or molar teeth. 

13. Front or incisor teeth. There are six double or back teeth on each side 
of each jaw, twenty-four in all. The under jaw contains eight front teeth, while 
there are no upper front teeth in this animal, their places being filled by a heavy 
gristly or cartilaginous pad against which the under teeth press the food. The 
mouth contains thirty-two teeth; twenty-four back and eight front. 

14-20. The bones of the neck. 

21-33. Spines of the first thirteen bones of the back; the dorsal vertebra3. 
Between each one is a joint, to each of which a rib is attached, allowing the 
necessary movement of the ribs in breathing. 

34-39. Other bones of the back, called lumbar vertebrae, to which the so- 
called short ribs are attached. . . 

40-44. Other of the backbones, called the lumbar vertebrae, are solidly joined 
together, allowing no motion between them. The bones 14 to 44 make up the 
backbone. 45-64. Bones of the tail. 

65-77. The ribs. The first eight are called true, the last five false, ribs. 

78. Breast-bone or sternum; a rather soft bone to which the prolongations 

from the ribs are attached. . 

79. Ischium. 80. Illium. 81. Pubis. 

These bones make up the edgebones, the pelvis. 


The Limbs. 

82. Hip-joint. 83. Thigh-bone (femur). 84. Patula. 
86. Leg-bone (tibia). 87. Heel-bone (calcis). 


85. Stifle-joint. 






















1400 


SKELETON OF THE COW. 


88. Hock-joint 89-92. Small bones of the hock. 

93. Shank-bone (metatarsal). 94. Sesamoid. 95. Pastern. 

96. Coronet-bone. 97. Hoof-bones (pedal-bone). 98. Shoulder-blade. 

99. Point of shoulder (shoulder-joint). 

100. Arm. 101. Elbow-bone (ulna). 

102. Forearm (foreleg — radius). 

103. Knee. 104-108. Small bones of the knee-joint. 

110. Shank (metacarpal). , 

The remaining bones of the fore extremity are named the same as those described 
for the hind leg and feet. 

Fuller descriptions of some of these bones will be found in connection with 
the description of the bones of the horse; their descriptions and functions being alike. 


Teeth of the Cow 



TEETH OF A CALF AT BIRTH. SIX WEEKS OLD. 




TWO YEARS OLD. 




TWO YEARS AXD SIX MONTHS 
OLD. 


SIX YEARS OLD. 


1401 





1402 


SKELETON OF THE SHEEP. 



SKELETON OF THE SHEEP. 


1. Intermaxillary bone. 

2. Nasal bones. 

3. Upper jaw. 

4. Union of the nasal 

and upper jaw-bone. 

5. Union of the molar 

and lachrymal 
bones. 

6. Orbits of the eye. 

7. Frontal bone. 

8. The lower jaw. 

9. Incisor teeth, or nip¬ 

pers. 

10. Molars, or grinders. 
11—17. The seven verte- 
bra3, or bones of the 
neck. 

18— 18. The ligament of 

the neck, supporting 
the head. 

19— 31. The thirteen ver¬ 

tebrae, or bones of 
the back. 


32—37. The six vertebrae 
of the loins. 

38. The sacral bone. 

39—39. The bones of the 
tail, varying in dif¬ 
ferent breeds from 
twelve to twenty- 
one. 

40. The haunch and pel¬ 
vis. 

41—48. The eight true ribs, 
with their cartilages. 

49—53. The five false ribs, 
or those that are not 
attached to the 
breast-bone. 

54. Breast-bone. 

55. Shoulder-blade. 

56. Shoulder-joint. 

57. Arm. 

58. Elbow-bone (ulna). 

59. Bone of the forearm 

(radius). 


60. Knee, with its differ¬ 

ent bones. ' 

61. Metacarpal, or shank 

bones. 

62. One of the sesamoid 

bones. 

63. Two first bones of the 

foot (the pasterns). 

64. Hoof-bones (pedal 

bones). 

65. Thigh-bone. 

66. Patella, or stifle-joint. 

67. Leg-bone (tibia). 

68. Point of the hock. 

69. Other bones of the 

hock. 

70. Metatarsal (shank- 

bone). 

71. One of the sesamoid 

bones. T 

72. Two first bones of the 

foot (the pasterns). 

73. Hoof bones (pedal 

bones). 




















SKELETON AND INTERNAL ORGANS OF THE FEMALE DOG. 1403 







SKELETON AND INTERNAL ORGANS OF THE FEMALE DOG. 


1. Upper jaw. 

2-2. Under jaw. 

3. Bones of the cranium. 

4. Bones of the eye socket. 

5. Atlas, or first bone of the neck. 

6- 6. Other bones of the neck (cervical 

vertebrse). 

7- 7. Dorsal vertebrse. 1 ah of these to- 

8- 8. Lumbar vertebrse. Igether constitute the 
9. Sacral vertebrse. ] “backbone. 

10- 10. Bones of the tail (coccygeal 

vertebrse). 

11- 11. True ribs. 

12. “False rib,” so called because it is 
not connected with the breast-bone. 

13- 13. Breast-bone (sternum). 

14- 14. “Short ribs” (transverse process 

of lumbar vertebrse). 

15. Shoulder-blade (scapular). 

16. Shoulder-joint. 

17. Arm-bone (humerus). 

18. Elbow-joint. 


19-19. Small bone of the arm and point 
of the elbow (ulna). 

20. Bone of forearm (radius). 

21. Wrist. 

22. Metacarpal bones. 

23. Bones of the toes (phalangeals). 

24. Edge or pelvic bones. Three in 

number on each side; all six are 
firmly joined together and the 
sockets of the hip-joints are con¬ 
tained imthem, at 24'. 

25. Thigh-bone (femur). 

26. Stifle-bone (patilla). 

27. Stifle-joint. 

28. Small bone of the leg (fibula). 

29. Leg-bone (tibia). 

30. Point of the hock (os calcis). 

31. Hock-joint (several small bones enter 

into its formation). 

32. Metatarsal bone. 

33. Bones of the toes (phalangeals). 

Trachea, or windpipe. D. Diaphragm. 
F and G. Small intestines. H. Pouch 

K. Liver. L. Pancreas. M. Right 

O. Bladder. 
R. Right Fallopian 


A. Heart. B. Right lung. C. 

Canal from pharynx to the stomach, 
head of large intestines. J. Rectum. i, 

Inev.. N. Tube carrying urine from kidney to bladder. 

Excretory canal of the bladder. Q. Right , , 

De. S. Womb. T. Vagina. U. Vulva. V. Udder. 












































































I 



V 


PEONOMCING- DICTIONAET. — GLOSSAEY. 


Ab-do'nten. The belly. 

A-ce-tab'u-lum. The socket for the 
iiead of the thigh bone. 

Ab-dom'i-nal cav'i-ty. The cavity of 
the belly. 

Ab-duc'tor. A muscle which draws one 
part of the body towards another. 

Ab-sor'bents. Glands and vessels 
which absorb or suck up substances 
from within or without; also, medicines 
which, though nearly or quite inactive 
themselves, absorb, or combine with 
acid matter in the stomach or bowels. 

A-cro'mi-on. That part of the scapula, 
or shoulder-blade, which unites with the 
collarbone. 

Al-bu-gin'e-a. The white of the eye. 

Al'ter-a-tives. Medicines which gradu¬ 
ally reestablish health, without sensibly 
increasing the circulation, or augment¬ 
ing the perspiration, urine, or other ex¬ 
cretions. 

Al' ve-o-lar. Relating to the sockets of 
the teeth. 

Al'vine (AVvin). Relating to the intes¬ 
tines, as alvine discharges, — discharges 
from the bowels. 

A-mor'phous. Having no regular form. 

Am-ni-ot'ic liq'uid. The fluid sur¬ 
rounding the fetus in the womb. 

An-aes-the'sia. Suspended sensibility. 

An-as'to-mose. The uniting of arteries 
and veins by joining their mouths. 

An-chy-lo'sis. A stiff or useless joint. 

An-i-mal'cu-lae. Animals so small that 
they can only be seen with a microscope. 

An-ae'mi-a. Privation of blood; a com¬ 
paratively bloodless state. 

An'o-dynes. Medicines which diminish 
sensibility, abate pain, and induce sleep. 
It should always be remembered that 
anodynes when frequently, and long 
taken, lose their influence in disease. 

Ant-a'cids. Preparations which neu¬ 
tralize acidity of the stomach and bowels. 

Ant-al'ka-lies. Agents which neutral¬ 
ize alkalies. 

An-ta-phro-dis'i-acs. Agents which les¬ 
sen or blunt the sexual propensities. 


An-thel-min'tics. Medicines which de¬ 
stroy and expel worms. 

An'ti-dotes. Medicines which counter¬ 
act and destroy the effects of poison. 

An-ti-pe-ri-od'ics. Medicines which pre¬ 
vent or cure diseases of a periodical char¬ 
acter. 

An-ti-phlo-gis'tics. Medicines or diet 
which remove or appease inflamma¬ 
tion. 

An-ti-spas-mod'ics. Medicines which 
prevent or allay spasms, commonly 
called cramps. 

An-ti-syph-i-lit'ics. Medicines which 
cure syphilis. 

An-ti-sep'ti . Whatever checks or 
counteracts putrefaction. 

An-ti scor-bu'tics. Articles which pre¬ 
vent and cure scurvy. 

A-pe'ri-ents. Medicines which gently 
open the bowels. 

A-pho'ni-a. A loss of the voice. 

Aph-ro-dis'i-acs. Medicines supposed 
to excite and promote the sexual appe¬ 
tite. 

A-pon-eu-ro'sis. The membranous ex¬ 
pansion of tendons and muscles. 

A-re-o'la. A colored circle, as the cir¬ 
cle around the nipple. 

Ar-o-mat'ics. Medicines which have a 
grateful, spicy smell, and an agreeable, 
pungent taste. 

As-phyx'i-a. Suspended animation; 
apparent death. 

As-then'ic. Relating to debility; or to 
disease marked by debility. 

As-trin'gents. Medicines which have 
the power to constringe or pucker up the 
tissues of the body, and thereby check 
discharges. 

At'ro-phy. A wasted condition; lean¬ 
ness. 

Ax-il'la. The arm-pit. 

Aus-cul-ta'tion. The art of detecting 
disease by listening to the sounds of the 
lungs, heart, etc. 

Au-top'sy. Personal inspection,— used 
in the sense of a post-mortem examina¬ 
tion. 


1405 




1406 


GLOSSABT 




' / 


A-zole. Nitrogen; one of the constit¬ 
uents of the atmosphere. 

Bron'chi-a. The pipes which convey 
the air through the lungs. 

Bur'sae mu-co'sa. Small sacs, situated 
under tendons, about the joints, contain¬ 
ing a sticky fluid. 

Cal'cu-lus. A solid, unorganized body 
formed in the kidneys, or bladder, and 
called a stone. The plural is calculi, 

Cap'il-la-ry. Small, resembling a hair. 

Cap'sule. A membranous bag, enclos¬ 
ing a part. 

Car'ti-lage. Gristle attached to the 
ends of the bones. 

Car-min'a-tives. Medicines which ex¬ 
pel wind from the stomach and bowels, 
and allay the pain caused by it. 

Ca-thar'tics. Medicines which purge 
the bowels. 

Cer'vix. The neck. Cer'vix ITter-i. 
The neck of the womb. 

Car'di-ac. Kelating to the heart. 

Car'pal. Belating to the wrist. 

Cat-a-me'ni-a. The monthly flow of 
females. 

Ca-thar'sis. Purging. 

Cath'e-ter. A tube for drawing off the 
urine. 

Cel-lu'lar. Relating to cells. 

Cer'e-bral. Relating to the brain. 

Cha-lyb'e-ate. Containing iron or steel. 

Che-mo'sis. A swelling of the eye, in 
which the eye projects, with a depression 
in th« centre. 

Cho'la-gogue. A medicine which causes 
a discharge of bile. 

Clo'nic spasms. Spasms which are 
rigid and relaxed alternately. 

Col-li'qua-tive. This term is applied to 
excessive and exhausting discharges. 

Co-los'trum. The first secretion of milk. 

Co'ma. Profound stupor, or sleep. 

Con'dyle (kon'dil). A knob; applied 
to certain projections of bones at joints. 

Con'flu-ent. Not distinct; running to¬ 
gether. 

Con-gen'i-tal. Existing at the time of 
birth. 

Con-ges'tion. Distention of parts by 
an accumulation of blood in them. 

Con-junc'ti-va. The membrane which 
covers the eye and lines the eyelid. 

Con'tra-in'di-ca-ted. Not indicated; 
the opposite implied. 

Cord'ials. Medicines which have a 
grateful, warming and exhilarating ef¬ 
fect upon the stomach. 

Coun'ter-ir'ri-tants. Articles which by 
Irritating one part, withdraw blood from, 
4iid relieve another. 

Cri'sis. The turning point of a disease. 

Cu'ti-cle. The epidermis;*the scarf- 
«kin • 


De-cid'u-a. A thin, external membrane, 
within the womb, thrown off after child¬ 
bearing. 

De-liq'ui-um. Fainting. 

De-mul'cents. Medicines of a softening 
nature, which correct acrid conditions, 
and, by their bland effects, soothe in¬ 
flamed and irritated parts. 

De-ple'tion. Diminishing the fullness 
of a part or parts, as by purgatives, or 
bleeding. 

De-squa-ma'tion. Separation of the 
skin in scales; scaling off. 

De-ter'gents. Medicines which cleanse. 

Di-ag-no'sis. The art of determining 
the nature of diseases. 

Di-a-pho-ret'ics. Medicines which pro¬ 
mote sweating. 

Di-ath'e-sis. Any particular disposi¬ 
tion, state, or habit of body. 

Di-u*re'sis. Copious flow of urine. 

Dil'u-ents. Watery drinks, which in¬ 
crease the fluidity of the blood, and ren¬ 
der several of the secretive and excretive 
fluids iess viscid. 

Dis-cu'tients. Medicines which scatter, 
resolve, or disperse tumors. 

Dis-in-fec'tants. Articles which purify 
or cleanse infected places. 

Di-u-ret'ics. Medicines which increase 
urinary secretions. 

Dras'tics. Strong and violent purga¬ 
tives. 

Dysp-ncB'a. DiflSculty of breathing. 

E-me'sis. Vomiting. 

E-met'ics. Medicines which cause the 
stomach to reverse its action, and throw 
its contents up through the mouth. 

Em-men'a-gogues. Medicines supposed 
to have the power of exciting or increas¬ 
ing the menses. 

E-mol'lients. Those substances which 
have the power of softening or relaxing 
the animal flbre, when applied externally. 

En-dem'ic dis-eas'es. Diseases pre¬ 
vailing in certain localities or districts. 

Ep-i-dem'ic dis-eas'es. Diseases ex¬ 
tending over a large extent of country. 

Ep-i-glot'tis. The cartilage, which, in 
the act of swallowing, shuts down upon 
the top of the wind-pipe, and prevents 
food from going into the breath-passage. 

£p-is-pas'tics. Substances which in¬ 
flame the skin, and raise the cuticle, and 
cause what is called a blister. 

Es-cha-rot'ics. Articles which bum, 
corrode, disorganize, and destroy the 
animal tissues, causing what is called an 
eschar, or slough, which is dead matter, 
and falls off. 

Ex-pec'to-rants. Articles which act 
upon the system, so as to make the dis¬ 
charge of mucus and other substances 
from the air-tubes more easy. 



GLOSSARY. 


1407 


Er'rhines. Substances which cause 
sneeziug and a discharge of mucus 
from the nose when snuffed. 

Es^char. The dead part, killed by 
caustic or mortification, which falls off; 
a slough. 

£x-fo-li-a'tion. A scaling off, as a piece 
of dead bone. 

Fau'ces. The back part of the mouth. 

Fe'brile. Belonging to fever. 

Fe'ces. The matter discharged from 
the bowels. 

Feb'ri-fu-ges. Medicines which assuage 
or remove fevers. 

Fla'tus. Wind, or rather, gas, in the 
stomach or bowels. 

FolTi-cle. A little bag or sac. 

Fo-ra'men. A hole or opening. 

For-mi-ca'tion. A sensation like the 
creeping of ants. 

Fur-fu-ra' ceous. Branny or scaly. 

GangTi-on. An enlargement in the 
course of a nerve. 

Gan'grene. Mortification; partial death. 

Gas'tric. Belonging to the stomach. 

Ges-ta'tion. The period of pregnancy. 

Glot*tis. The opening into the wind¬ 
pipe, covered by the epiglottis. 

Gran'u-lar. Like small grains. 

Gran'u-la-ted. Covered with granula¬ 
tions. 

Gran-u-la'tion. The filling up or cover¬ 
ing of a wound or ulcer, with small, red 
elevations, looking like grains. 

Hae-mop'ty-sis. Raising blood from 
the lungs. 

Haem^or-rhage. A flow of blood. 

Haem-or-rba'gic. Having a tendency to 
bleed. 

He-mi-cra^ni-a. Pain on one side of the 
head. 

He-pat'ic. Belonging to the liver. 

Hy-per-ca-thar'sis. Excessive purg¬ 
ing. 

Hy-per'tro-phy. An unnatural enlarge¬ 
ment of an organ, without change of 
structure. 

Hyp-not'ics. Medicines which cause 
sleep. 

Ich'or (Ik'or). A thin, watery, and 
acrid discharge. 

In-ter-cos'tal. Between the ribs. 

Lar'ynx. The top of the windpipe; 
the cavity which contains the vocal liga¬ 
ments. . 

Lax'a-tives. Medicines which render 
the bowels a little more relaxed than 
natural, but do not purge. 

Lig'ate. To secure with a ligature. 

Lig'a-ture. A cord or thread. 

Lo'chi-a. The bloody discharge from 
the womb for some time after child¬ 
birth. 

Lo'chi-al. Relating to the lochia. 


Lymph. A whitish fluid contained by 
the lymphatic vessels. 

Lym-phat'ics. The vessels which carry 
lymph. 

Mac-er-a'tion. The act of softening or 
soaking a thing by letting it stand in 
water. 

Mac'u-lae. Colored spots; blemishes. 

Ma-la'ri-a. Noxious gases from de¬ 
composed matter. 

Mam'ma. The female breast. 

• Man-dib'u-lar. Relating to the jaw. 

Mas-ti-ca'tion. The act of chewing. 

Mas-tur-ba'tion. The act of exciting 
the genital organs with the hands. 

Men'stru*um. Any solvent, or vehicle. 

Met-a-car'pus. Ihe hand, between the 
wrist and the fingers. 

Me-tas'ta-sis. The changing of a dis¬ 
ease from one place to another. 

Met-a-tar'sus. That part of the foot 
between the ankle and the toes. 

Mi-as-mat' ic. Partaking of the nature 
of miasm. 

Mu'co-pu'ri-form. Composed of both 
mucus and pus. 

Mu'co-se'ro-lent. Composed of both 
mucus and serum. 

Nar-cot'ics. Medicines which relieve 
pain and produce sleep. 

Nau'se-ants. Medicines which cause 
sickness at the stomach, ora disposition 
to vomit. They are often used as ex¬ 
pectorants. 

Nos-ol'o-gist (Nose-oVo-gist). One who 
explains and classifies diseases. 

Nu'cle-us. A central spot. 

Nu-cle-o'lus. A spot within a nucleus. 

Or-thop-n®'a. Great difficulty oi 
breathing. 

Os-si-fica'tion. The formation ol 
bone. 

Os u'ter-i. The mouth of the womb. 

O'va. Eggs. 

O'vum. An egg. 

Pa-pil'la. A red, elevated point upon 
thO tongue, or elsewhere. Certain dis¬ 
eases make these points more promi¬ 
nent. 

Par-a-cen-te'sis. The operation of 
puncturing the chest, or the abdomen,, 
for the purpose of drawing off water. 

Par-a-phle' gi-a. Paralysis of the lower 
half of the body. 

Par'ox-ysm. A fit of disease taking 
place periodically. 

Par-tu'ri-ent. Bringing forth, or giv¬ 
ing birth. 

Par-tu'ri-ents. Medicines which pro¬ 
mote child-bed labor, by causing con¬ 
tractions of the womb. 

Par-tu-ri'tion. Child-birth. 

Pec'to-rals. Medicines intended to cure 
or relieve diseases of the chest. 



1408 


GLOSSARY. 


Pel'vis. The bony cavity, or basin, at 
the lower part of the body, containing 
the womb, abdomen, rectum, etc. 

Per-i-ne'um. The part, or space, be¬ 
tween the anus and testicles. 

Per-i-os'te-um. A thin, hard mem¬ 
brane, covering the bones. 

Per-i-os-ti'tis. Inflammation of the 
periosteum. 

Per-i-to-ne'um. A serous membrane 
lining the cavity of the belly, and folded 
over most of the organs contained in it. 

Pet-e'chi-aB. Purple spots which ap¬ 
pear upon the skin in low fevers, looking 
like.flea-bites; called also ecchymoses. 

Pha-ge-den'ic. Corroding, eating,—ap¬ 
plied to ulcers. 

Pha-lan'ges. The bones of the fingers 
and toes. 

Phar'ynx. The upper part of the 
. throat. 

Phleg-mo'nous in-flam-ma'tion. Inflam¬ 
mation marked by redness, heat, and 
pain, and a tendency to form matter. 

Prog-no'sis. The art of foretelling the 
termination of diseases. 

Pty'a-lism. Salivation. 

Pri'a-pism. A continued erection of 
the penis from exciting, morbid causes. 

xie-frig'er-ants. Medicines which les¬ 
sen the heat of the body. 

Re-lax'ants. Medicines which relax 
the tension of the muscles. 

Re-mis'sion. A lessening or mitiga¬ 
tion of the severity of the symptoms of 
a disease. 

Res-o-lu'ticn. Dispersion of an inflam¬ 
mation before pus is formed. 

Re-vul' sives. Medicines or appliances 
which remove a disease by causing a de¬ 
termination to some other part. 

Ru-be-fa'cients. Applications which ex¬ 
cite the skin, causing the blood to flow 
to it, and making it red. 

Sa'nies. A thin fluid discharged from 
ulcers, having some of the properties of 
pus and blood. 

Sed'a-tives. Medicines which dimin¬ 
ish the action of the heart and nerves, 
and which are used when we wish to 
allay any excited action in the system. 

Se'mus. Watery. 

Scro'tum. The bag which contains 
the testicles. 

Scyb'a-la. Hard, round lumps in the 
feces. 

Si'a-la-gogues. Medicines which in¬ 
crease the flow of saliva. 

Slough (Sluff). Any part of the body 
killed by mortiflcation, or caustic, and 
cast off. 

Sper-mat'ic cords. Two cords, com¬ 
posed of nerves, veins, and arteries, de¬ 
scending, one on each side, from the ab¬ 


domen into the scrotum, and suspending 
the testicles. 

Squa'mous. Scaly; having scales. 

Sor'des. The dark matter deposited 
upon the lips and teeth, in low fevers. 

Ster'num. The breast-bone. 

Ster'tor. Noisy breathing, as in apo¬ 
plexy. Snoring. 

Ster'tor-ous. Snoring and noisy, as 
applied to breathing. 

Stim'u-lants. Medicines which in¬ 
crease the activity of the system. 

Sto-mach'ics. Medicines which sup¬ 
port and renovate the stomach, making 
its action healthy. 

Stru'ma. Scrofula. 

Styp'tics. Substances which, when 
applied externally, have the power to 
constringe or pucker up bleeding ves¬ 
sels, and stop the loss of blood. 

Sub-cu-ta'ne-ous. Under the skin. 

Sub-max' il-la-ry. Under the lower 
jaw. 

Sub-sul'tus ten'di-num. Slight twitch- 
ings of the tendons, which occur in low 
forms of fever. 

Su-do-rif'ics. Medicines which cause 
a flow of perspiration, rather more free 
than that produced by diaphoretics. 

Sup-pos' i-to-ries. Solid medicinal sub¬ 
stances, of a conical or cylindrical shape, 
which are placed in the rectum for the 
purpose of relieving constipation and the ■ 
piles, and for removing stricture. 

Syn'co-pe. Fainting; swooning. 

Te-nes'mus. A painful bearing down 
in the lower bowel, and a distressing de¬ 
sire to go to stool. 

Ton'ics. Medicines which gradually 
give tone and strength to w^eakened or¬ 
gans, or to the whole system. Some act 
upon the nervous system, andsomeupon 
the other tissues, by condensing, hard¬ 
ening, and invigorating them. 

Tor'mi-na. Griping pain. 

U-re'ters. The tubes which convey the 
urine from the kidneys to the bladder. 

U-re'thra. The canal which conveys 
the urine from the bladder out of the 
body. 

U'ter-us. The womb. 

Vag'i-na (Vadg'i-na). The passage 
from the external genital organs to the 
womb. 

Va'ri-cose veins. Veins which are 
morbidly enlarged, and present along 
their course soft, knotty, purplish tu¬ 
mors. 

Ver'ti-go. Dizziness; giddiness. 

Ve-si-ca'tion. Blistering. 

Vi'rus. Poison; contagion. 

Vis'cus. A liver, stomach, kidney, 
heart, or any organ within one of the 
cavities of the body. 




,; . iu*i ■ 

; '■, '• N;' " 

• '■■ :■ ■> 

GENERAL INDEX. ' ' 


Abdominal cavity, 128; 
Diseases of, 324. 

Abortion, 464. 

Abscesses, 580; Of the 
Brain, 191. 

Absence of menses, 430. 

Absorbent vessels, 44. 

Accidents, 560; On the 
Water, 563; By Pois¬ 
oning, 564 

Acetate of ammonia,990; 
Of copper, poisoning 
by. 565; Of lead, pois¬ 
oning by, 566; Of lead 
ointment, 1074. 

Acid, acetic, 987; Ben¬ 
zoic, 993; Citric, 987; 
Diluted hydrochloric, 
93T; Diluted hydro¬ 
cyanic, 987; Diluted 
nitric, 987; Diluted 
nitro-muriatic, 987; 
Diluted sulphuric,987; 
Tannic, 988; Tartaric, 
933. 

Acids, poisoning by, 566. 

Acne, spotted, 177. 

Ac mite, 1029; Poison¬ 
ing by, 566; Tincture 
of, 1087. 

Adenoid growths, 240. 

Adipose tissue, 20. 

Adrenalin chloride, 1146. 

Ad/anced life, changes 
in, 550. 

Affections of the bowels, 
951; Of the chest, 
949; Of the ear, 650; 
Of the head, 949; Of 
the stomach, 951. 

Affusion, 914. 

Age, influence of, 131. 

Ague, brow, 231; Fever 
and, 522. 

Ague cake, 523 

Ague root, 1053. 

Air in sick rooms, 119; 
In chest, 290; Supply 
of, 120; Swellings, 
351; And ventilation, 
117.’ 

Air-cells and vesicles,40; 
Enlargement of, 288. 


Alburben, 17. 

Albuminous Foods, 74. 

Albuminuria,. 371; Diet¬ 
ing in, 974. 

Alcohol, 988. 

Alder, tag, 1055. 

Alimentary tube, 36. 

Aliments, fluid, 943. 

Almond mixture, 1072. 

Almonds, 988; Syrup of, 
1083. 

Aloes, 988; Compound 
tincture of, 1089; And 
canella, comp, tinc¬ 
ture of, 1081. 

Alterative inhalant, 273. 

Alteratives, 1106. 

Altered sounds of the 
heart, 308. 

Alum, 988. 

Alum whey, 960. 

Amaurosis, 648. 

Amenorrhoea, 430. 

American Hellebore, 988; 
Ipecacuanha,989; Ivy, 
989; Valerian, 1062. 

Ammonia, aromatic 
spirits of, 990; Car¬ 
bonate of, 990; Com¬ 
pound liniment of, 
1070; Muriate of, 990; 
Poisoning by, 565; So¬ 
lution of acetate of, 
990; W ater of, 989. 

Ammonia-Citrate of Iron, 

1020. 

Amount of food to be 
taken, 88. 

Amusements, 123; Com¬ 
pleteness of life, 126; 
Games for, 124; Light¬ 
er, 125; Selection of, 
124; Value of domes¬ 
tic. 125; Want of, 126. 

Anaemia, 320, 511. 

Anaesthetics, 661. 

Anasarca, 391. 

Anatomy, 16; Of the 
bones, 20. 

Anchylosis, 629. 

Aneurismal tumors of 
the heart, 312. 

Aneurisms, 634. 

1409 


Anger demands absti¬ 
nence, 81. 

Angina pectoris, 289; 

Diet in, 950. 

Anidrosis, 176. 

Animal food, 89. 

Anise, 990. 

Ankle, dislocation of, 624. 
Anodyne poultice, 1080. 
Anodynes, 1108. 

Antefle xion of womb ,447. 
Antiversion of womb,446. 
Anthrax, 588. 

Antidotes of poisons,564, 
1096. 

Antiflogistine, 1146 
Antihemorrhagic inhal¬ 
ants, 274. 

Antimony, poisoning by, 
565. 

Antipathies, 934. 
Antiseptic dressings, 468, 
596; Inhalants, 274. 
Antiseptics, 573. 
Antispasmodics, 1106. 
Aorta, 42. 

Aperient, Metauer’s 1073. 
Apoplexy, 202; Of the 
aged, 557; Pulmo¬ 
nary, 290. 

Apothecaries’ weights, 

984.. ^ 

Apparent death from 
various causes, 560 
Appendicitis, 349. 

Apple water, 957. 
Approximate measures, 
985. 

Aptha communis, 539. 
Apthae, 497. 

Aqueous, the, 55. 
Arachnitis, 189. 
Arachnoid, 50; Inflam¬ 
mation of, 189. 
Arbutus, trailing, 1056; 
Comp. infusion of. 
1069. 

Arm, fractures of, 607. 
Arnica, 991. 

Aromatic confection, 
1066; Powder, 907; 
Spirits of ammonia, 
990 






1410 


GENERAL INDEX. 


Arrowroot, 991; Gruel, 
957; Poultice, 1080. 
Arsenic, poisoning by, 
565. 

Arteries, 42; Compres¬ 
sion. 655. 

Articles for a medicine- 
chest, 983. 

Arytenoid cartilages, 46. 
Ascites, 389. 

Aseptic and septic, 573. 
Asiatic cholera, 362. 
Asphyxia, 560. 
Assafoetida, 991; Comp. 

tincture of. 916. 
Asthma, 301; Of the 
aged, 557; Diet in, 
950 

Astringent inhalent, 274. 
Astringents, 594, 930. 
Atmosphere, pressure of, 
117. 

Atmospheric inhalation, 

280. 

Atrophy of brain, 198; Of 
heart, 313. 

Attendants, unhired,933. 
Auricles, 41, 306. 
Auscultation, 260. 

Backache, 142. 
Bacteriology, 512. 
Baldness, 185. 

Balm, 991; Of Gilead, 
991. 

Balmony, 991. 

Balsam copaiba, 991; 
Tolu, 992. 

Bandages, 674; Wet, 
903. 

Barberry, 992. 

Barber’s itch, 178. 

Bark, when to gather, 
982. 

Barley, 85; Coffee, 955; 

Water, 954. 
Barrenness, 455. 

Base ball, 99. 

Basilicon ointment,!066. 
Bath, cataracts, 909; 
Cold, 895; Effects of 
cold, 896; Cold foot, 
915; Douche, 909; 
Eye and ear, 916; 
Half, 908; Head, 910; 
Hose, 907; Hot, 896; 
Effects of hot, 898; 
Leg, 912; Mouth or 
oral, 917; Nose, 916; 
Pail douche, 910; 
Plunge, 911; Restora¬ 
tion of, desirable, 116; 
Shower, 909; Sitz, 
912; Sluce, 910; Te¬ 


pid, 896; Effects of 
tepid, 897; Towel and 
sponge, 914; Vapor, 
896; Warm, 891; Ef¬ 
fect of warm, 897; 
Wading foot, 915; 

Warm foot, 916; 

Wash down, 914; 

Wash tub, 913; Wave, 

910 

Bathing, 975; And clean¬ 
liness, 110; Sea, 898. 

Baths as a purifier, 112; 
Of the Ancients, 112; 
Cold, 114; Cold affu¬ 
sion, 115; Division of, 
894; Names of, 113; 
Neglect of, 113; Num¬ 
ber and character of, 
112; Reaction after, 
116; Restoration of, 
desirable, 116; Ro¬ 
man, 112; Russian, 
976; Shower, 115; 
Sponge, 114; Turkish, 
976; Vapor, 115; 
Warm, 115; Warm 
for children, 496. 

Bayberry, 992; Oint¬ 
ment, 1074. 

Bean, St. Ignatius, 1053. 

Beans, 78, 87. 

Bearberry, 992. 

Beds and bedding, 105, 
922. 

Bed-bugs, 182. 

Bed-sores, 938. 

Beef, essence of, 958- 
962; Galls, 992; Tea, 
958, 962. 

Beets, 87. 

Belladonna, ointment, 
1074; Plaster, 1077; 
Poisoning by, 567. 

Belly, dropsy of, 389; 
Symptoms affecting^ , 
135. 

Belly-ache, 353. 

Benzoic acid, 993. 

Benzoin, 993; Comp, 
tincture of, 1090. 

Bethroot, 993. 

Bichloride of gold, 1013; 
Of mercury, 1006. 

Bile in stomach, 72. 

Biliary calculi, 332. 

Bilious colic, 354; head¬ 
ache, 230, 233; Re¬ 
mittent fever, 520. 

Binary compounds, 16. 

Bismuth, 994. 

Bites of insects and 
snakes, 599; Of mos¬ 
quito or insect, 1096. 


Bitter-root, 993. 

Bitter-sweet, 994. 

Black alder, 994. 

Blackberry, 994,1097. 

Black cancer, 631. 

Black cohosh, 995; 
Comp. tincture of, 
1090; 

Black oxide of iron, 1020; 
Root 995; Vomit,524; 
Willow, 995. 

Bladder, 39; Acute in¬ 
flammation of, 368; 
Chronic inflammation 
of, 369. 

Bleeding cancer, 631; 
From kidneys, 374. 
From nose, 654; From 
wounds, 656. 

Bleuorrhagia, 404. 

Blistering plaster. 1066. 

Blood, 510; Buffy coat 
of, 577; Composition 
of human, 277, 510; 
In Scrotum, 636; Need 
of good supply of, 64, 
66; Poisoning, 474; 
To stop the flow of, 
658. 

Bloodroot, 995. 

Bloody flux, 363. 

Blue cohosh, 996; Comp, 
tincture of, 1090; 

Blue Disease, 507; Flag, 
996; Pill, 997. 

Body, structure of, 16; 
Chemical properties of, 
16; Lice, 181; Paral¬ 
ysis of one side, 206; 
Paralysis of , lower 
part, 206; Physical 
properties of, 18; Tem¬ 
perature of, 138; Vital 
properties of, 20. 

Boiled flour, 958. 

Boils, 587. 

Bones’ bitters, 1092. 

Bones and muscles, 128; 
Anatomy of,20; Brok¬ 
en, how they unite, 
603; Death of, 626; 
Diseases of, 625; Of 
the head, 22; Of the 
trunk, 23; Of the 
upper extremities, 25; 
Of the lower extremi¬ 
ties, 26; Time required 
for uniting, 604; Ul¬ 
ceration of, 625; Un¬ 
natural growth of, 
626; Uses of, 29; Of 
the hand, dislocation 
of, 620; Of the foot, 
fracture of, 614; Of 








GENERAL INDEX. 


1411 


the leg, fracture of, 
613; Of the nose, 
fracture of, 605. 

Boneset, 997. 

Bony productions of the 
heart, 313. 

Borax, 1050. 

Bowel, falling of, 505. 

Bowels, affections of, 
951; Acute inflam¬ 
mation of. 347; Chron¬ 
ic inflammation of, 
348; Looseness of, 
360; Looseness of in 
infants 503. 

Brachial plexus, 52. 

Brain, 49, 128; Abscess 
of, 191; Diet in affec¬ 
tions of. 949; And 
nerves, diseases of, 
188; Dropsy of, 200; 
Enlargement of, 197; 
Exercise of, 65, 66; 
Fever of. 189; Health 
of, 59; Induration of, 
191; Inflammation of, 
189; Need of a healthy, 
64; Old people’s, 66; 
Overworking in child¬ 
hood, 66; Shrinking 
of, 198; Softening of, 
190; Tumors of, 191. 

Bran, decoction of, 954. 

Brandy mixture, 1073. 

Bread, Franklin mills, 
961; Germ wheat, 961; 
And water poultice, 
1079 

Breast, broken, 477; In¬ 
flammation of, 477. 

Breastbone, fracture of, 
610. 

Breathing murmers, 262; 

Difficulty in, 937; Ob- 
‘ jects of, 118; Philoso¬ 
phy of, 117; Symp¬ 
toms affecting, 135. 

Bright’s disease of the 
kidneys, 371. 

Broiled beef, essence of, 
962. 

Broken bones, 605; 
Breast, 477. 

Bronchial consumption, 
267; Flux, 556; Tubes, 
40. 

Bronchitis, 237; Acute, 
285; Chronic, 287. 

Bronchocele, 635. 

'Broncho pneumonia,300. 

Bronchorrhoea, 556. 

Broth, clam, 962; Mut¬ 
ton, 962. 

Brow ague, 231. 


Bruises, 624. 

Bubo, 395, 404. 

Buchu, 997; Tincture of, 
1088. 

Buckhorn brake, 998. 

Buckthorn, 998. 

Buckwheat, 86. 

Buffy coat of the blood, 
577. 

Bugle-weed, 998. 

Bulbous roots, when to 
gather, 982. 

Bunions, 183, 628. 

Burdock, 998. 

Burgundy pitch, 998. 

Burns and scalds, 589. 

Bust, to enlarge, 1166. 

Butternut, 998. 

Cabbage, 87. 

Calamine cerate, 1065; 
Prepared, 1063. 

Calcined deer’s horn,999. 

Calculus, 387; Fusible, 
388; Mixed, 387; Ox¬ 
alate of lime, 388; 
Phosphate of lime, 
388; Water of am¬ 
monia, 388; Uric acid, 
387. 

Calendar for married 
ladies, 480. 

Calfsfoot jelly, 958. 

Calomel, 999. 

Calvities, 179. 

Camphor, 1000; Lini¬ 
ment, 1070; Water, 
1071. 

Camphorated soap lini¬ 
ment, 1071. 

Canada Balsam, 1000; 
Fleabane, 1000; Snake 
root, 1060. 

Cancer, 629; Black, 631; 
Bleeding, 631; Medul¬ 
lary, 631; Soft, 631; 
Of intestines, 350; Of 
womb, 449. 

Cancrum oris, 498. 

Canella, 1000. 

Canker, 498, 539; Let¬ 
tuce, 1045; Of mouth, 
498. 

Cantharides, tincture of, 
914. 

Capillaries, 42. 

Capsicum,plaster, comp., 
1078. 

Capsules, supra-renal,di- 
j seases of, 370. 

Caput obstipum, 642. 

Caraway, 1000. 

Carbonate of ammonia, 
990. 


Carbuncle, 588; Malig¬ 
nant, 589. 

Cardialgia, 341. 
Cardamom, 1000; Comp 
tincture of, 1090. 
Carditis, 315. 

Care of children and 
their diseases,483,508. 
Care of the eyes, 1162; 
Of the hands, 1158; 
Of the mouth, 1162; 
Of the teeth, 662; Of 
the sick, 62; Of the 
skin, 553. 

Caries, 625; Of the teeth, 
662. 

Carminatives, 1104,1108. 
Carriage-riding as exer¬ 
cise, 102. 

Carrots, 87; Poultice, 
1079. 

Cartilage, 28; Arytenoid, 
46; Cricoid, 46; Thy¬ 
roid, 46. 

Cartilaginous tissue, 19; 
Productions of the 
heart, 313. 

Cascarilla, 1000. 

Casein, 18 
Cassia buds, 1003. 
Castor, 1001; Oil, 1001. 
Catalepsy, 213. 
Cataplasms, 1079. 
Cataract baths, 909. 
Catarrh, nasal, 237; Of 
bladder, 369, 

Catarrhal opthalmia,646. 
Catechu, 1001; Confec¬ 
tion of, 1067; Comp, 
infusion of, 1068; 
Comp, powder of,1081; 
Tincture of, 1089; 
Comp, tinct. of, 1090. 
Cathartics, 1101. 

Catnip, 1001. 

Cayenne pepper, 1001; 

Tinct. of, 1089,1097. 
Celandine, 1002. 

Celery, 1097. 

Cellular tissues, 18. 
Cerates, 1065. 
Cerebellum, 50. 
Cerebrum, 49. 
Cerebro-spinal fever,200. 
Cessation of menses, 439. 
Chafing, 655. 

Chalk, 1002; Mixture, 
1073; Comp, powder 
of, 1081; With opium, 
comp, powder of,1081; 
Stones, 527. 
Chamomile, 829. 
Chancre, 395. 








1412 


GENERAL INDEX. 


Change of circumstances, 
bad effect of, 65. 

Changes occurring in ad¬ 
vanced life, 550. 

Charcoal, 1003; Appar¬ 
ent death from burn¬ 
ing,560 ;Poultice, 1079. 

Chemical food, 1085; In- 
j uries, 589; Properties 
of the body, 16. 

Cherry cordial, pulmonic, 
279; Wild, 1059. 

Chest, affections of, 949; 
Air in, 290; Diseases, 
259; Methods of ex¬ 
amining, 260; Sounds, 
p h i 1 o s o p h y of, 263; 
Symptoms affecting, 
134; Water in, 291. 

Chickenpox, 162. 

Chicken water, 959. 

Chickweed, red, 1044. 

Chilblains, 591. 

Child-bed fever, 474. 

Children, care and di¬ 
seases of, 483; Cloth- 
^ ing of, 483; Food of, 
483; Nursing sick,492; 
Sleep of, 490; Wean¬ 
ing of, 489; Sore 
mouth, 496. 

Chills, 143. 

Chloride of lime, 1025; 
Of zinc, 1063; Of So¬ 
dium, 1050. 

Chloroform, 662. 

Chlorosis, 437, 511; Diet 
in, 948. 

Choice of sick room, 920. 

Cholera, Asiatic, 362; 
Diet in, 952; Infan¬ 
tum,504; Morbus,361. 

Chorea, 213; Chronic, 
215. 

Choroid coat of eye, 54. 

Chromidrosis, 176. 

Chyle, 72; Destination 
of. 72. 

Chyme, 71. 

Ciliary, processes, 55. 

Cinchona, 1036. 

Cinnamon, 1003; Tinct. 
of, 1089; Comp, tinct. 
of, 1090. 

Circulation, organs of,41. 

Cirrhosis of liver, 329. 

Cirsocele, 640. 

Citrate of iron, 1020; Of 
iron and quinia, 1020; 
Of iron and strychnia, 
1020. 

Citrate of potassa, 1041. 

Citric acid, 987; Syrup 
of, 1083. 


Citrine ointment, 1075. 

Clam broth, 962. 

Clap, 404. 

Clavicle, fracture of, 606. 

Cleaning the teeth, 665. 

Cleanliness, 110; In the 
sick room, 924. 

Cleavers, 1004. 

Clergyman’s sore throat, 
240. 

Climate, 79, 131. 

Clothing, 106; As con¬ 
ductors of heat, 107; 
Catching fi r e, 563; 
Color of, 109; Cotton, 
107; Hair as, 108; 
Linen, 107; Shoes,thin, 
109; Should be porous, 
109; Silk, 108; Tight, 
109; Woolen, 108 

Clover, red, 1044. 

Cloves, 1004. 

Clovus, 173, 183. 

Clysters, 1069. 

Coaptation, 602. 

Coats of the eyes, 54. 

Coca wine, 1144. 

Cocaine, 662. 

Cochineal, 1004. 

Cod liver oil, 1004,1142. 

Coffee, 93, 944; Barley, 
955; Crusts, 955; Milk, 
961. 

Cohosh,black,995; Blue, 
996; Tinct. of, 1090. 

Colchicum, comp, tinct. 
of, 1090. 

Cold, e ff e c t s of, 590; 
Baths, 114, 895; 
Cream, 1075; Foot¬ 
baths, 915; Water at 
meals, 70. 

Colds, 253, 1095. 

Colic, 504; Bilious, 354; 
Flatulent, 353; Of In¬ 
fants, 504; Painter’s, 
355; Wind, 353. 

Colica pictorum, 355. 

Colitis, 363. 

Collar-bone, fracture of, 
606; Dislocation of, 
618. 

Collodion, 1004. 

Colocynth. 1005. 

Colombo, 1005. 

Colon, 37. 

Color of clothing, 109. 

Color of skin, disordered, 
175; Patches on skin, 
175. 

Colt’s foot, 1005, 1060. 

Coma,analarming symp¬ 
tom, 937. 

Comedones, 177. 


Comfrey 1005; comp, 
wine of, 1072. 

Common silk-weed, 1005. 

Complexion, 1096, 1153; 
Diet, 1155. 

Complicated wounds, 

592. 

Composition of Blood, 
510. 

Compound fractures,615. 

Compound Infusion of 
catechu 1068; Of gen¬ 
tian, 1068; Of gerani¬ 
um, 1069; Of parsley, 
1069; Of senna, 1069; 
Of trailing arbutus, 
1069; Of resin cerate, 
1066. 

Compresses, 903. 

Compression, 594; Of ar¬ 
teries, 568. 

Conception, 457; Preven¬ 
tion of, 457. 

Concoctions, 967. 

Condoms, 466. 

Confections, 1066; Aro¬ 
matic, 1066; Of cate¬ 
chu, comp. 1067; Of 
senna, 1067. 

Congestive fever, 521; 
Headache, 232; In¬ 
flammation of the skin 
156. 

Congestion of the liver, 
328. 

Conium, poisoning bv, 
567. 

Conservative leaders, 14. 

Conserves, 1066. 

Constipation, 144, 357; 
Cure for, 1206. 

Constitution, 128, 130. 

Constitutional differen¬ 
ces, 268; Treatment, 
275. 

Constriction of the bowel 
351. 

Consumption, 259; A 
general disease, 271; 
Bronchial, 267; Of 
bowels, 346; Causes of, 
265, 269; Can it be 
cured, 270; Constitu¬ 
tional difference, 268; 
Dieting in, 282; Drugs 
in, 284; Exercise in, 
282; Partial sweating 
in, 937; Stages of, 264; 
Traveling in, 284; Tu¬ 
bercular, 263. 

Contused wounds, 592. 

Contusions, 624. 

Convulsions, 937; Diet 
in, 947. 








GENERAL INDEX. 


Cookery for the sick 
room, 954. 

Copper, 1006; Subace¬ 
tate of, 1006; Sul- 
' phate of, 1006. 

Corn, Indian, 86. 

Cornea, 54; Inflamma¬ 
tion of, 647. 

Corneitis, 647. 

Corns, 173, 1096. 

Corpulence, diet in, 971. 

Corrosive sublimate, 
1006; Poisoning by, 
565. 

Coryza, 156. 

Cost of foods, 82. 

Costiveness, 357; During 
pregnancy,462. 

Cotton, 1006; Clothing, 
107. 

Cough, 143, 279, 1095; 
During pregnancy464; 
Symptoms indicated 
by, 136; Whooping, 
502; Preparations, 
1107. 

Counter extention, 601; 
Irritation, 578; Irri¬ 
tants, 1111. 

Coup de Soleil, 204. 

Cow-pox, 162. 

Coxalgia, 627. 

Crab Uce, 181. 

Cramp bark, 1016. 

Cramps, 215; In* stom¬ 
ach, 342, 463. 

Cranesbill, 1007. 

Cranial nerves, 50, 51. 

Crawley, 1007. 

Cream, 941. 

Cream of tartar, 1040. 

Creosote, 278; ointment, 
1074. 

Cricoid cartilage, 46. 

Croton oil, 1008; Lini¬ 
ment, 1070. 

Croup, 500; Dangerous 
symptoms in, 936. 

Crow corn, 1053. 

Crural phlebitis, 473. 

Crust-coffee, 955. 

Crusted tetter, 170. 

Crystalline humor of eye 
55. 

Cubeb, 1008. 

Cucumber, wild, 1059. 

Cultivating trees, 120. 

Culver’s root, 1008. 

Cupping and leeching, 
578. 

Cyanosis, 507. 

Cystine deposits in urine 
386. 

C^stirrhoea, 369. 


1413 . 


Cystitis, 368. 

Dancing, 100. 

Dandelion, 1009, 1097. 

Dandruff, 183. 

Darkening of sick room, 
925. 

Deadly nightshade,1009; 
Poisoning by, 567. 

Deafness, 653, 936 

Deathj apparent, from 
noxious vapors, 560; 
Of the bones, 626; 
Proofs of, 979. 

Debility, 1095. 

Decoction of bran, 954. 

Decoctions, 1067. 

Deformities of spine,640. 

Delivery, 466. 

Delirium tremens, 191. 

Delirium, drunkards ,191. 

Dementia, 221. 

Deposits, cystine, 386; 
Hippuric acid, 385; 
Oxalic, 383; Phos- 
phatic, 382; Urate of 
ammonia, 385; Urin¬ 
ary, 378. 

Depression, 144. 

Derangement of mind, 
218. 

Derbyshire neck, 635. 

Dermoid tissue, 19. 

Deshler’s salve, 1066. 

Diabetes,373; Dieting in, 
974. 

Diaphoretics, 1109. 

Diarrhoea, 360; Chronic, 
360; In consumption, 
280; Diet in, 952; In 
infants, 503; When a 
dangerous symptom, 
937. 

Dictionary, pronouncing, 
1405; Of drugs and 
medicines in Latin 
and English, 1124. 

Diet, a complex subject, 
76; Complexion, 1155; 
In consumption, 282; 
In convalescence, 939. 
In disease and conva¬ 
lescence, 939; During 
confinement, 473; For 
the aged, 551; Of nurs¬ 
ing women, 484; In 
old age, 81; In general 
diseases, 945. 

Dieting in regard to 
health, 970; In disease 

973 

Difficult teeth cutting, 
489. 

Difficulty of breathing. 


937; Of swallowing, 
936. 

Digestibility of foods, 76. 

Digestion and food, 69; 
Symptoms relating to, 
137; Table, 77. 

Digestive organs, 35. 

Dilatation of the ventri¬ 
cles, 310. 

Diphtheria, 247, 533. 

Diseases,general, 510;Of 
abdominal cavity,324; 
Of the bones, 625; Of 
the brain and nerves, 
188; Of the chest, 259; 
Of the heart, 306; Of 
children, 483; Of the 
joints, 627; Of the hip 
joint, 627; Of the liver, 
diet in, 952; Of the old 
556; Of spinal cord, 
201; Of the throat, 
236; Female, 415; Pe¬ 
culiar to modern times 
542. 

Disinfectants, 9^8. 

Dislocations, 617; Of 
ankle joint, 624; Of 
bones of hand, 620; 
Of collar bone, 618; 
Of elbow joint, 620; 
Of hip joint, 621; Of 
knee pan or patella, 
623; Of knee joint, 
623; Of lower jaw,618; 
Of shoulder joint, 619; 
Of wrist, 620. 

Displacement of the 
heart, 322; Of the 
womb, 447. 

Disturbed sleep, 227. 

Diuretics, 1109. 

Dizziness, 227. 

Dock, yellow, 1062; 
Comp, syrup of, 1087. 

Dogwood, 1009; Poison¬ 
ing by, 567; Swamp, 
1055. 

Domestic management 
of the sick room, 920; 
Measures, 985. 

Doses, 984; Frequency 
of, 132. 

Douche bath, 909; Pail, 
910. 

Dover’s powder, 1082. 

Dragon-root, 1018. 

Dress, wet, 905. 

Dresses, tight, 121. 

Dressing wounds, rules 
for, 595. 

Dressings antiseptic 
468. 596. 








1414 


GENERAL INDEX. 


Drinks for the sick, 944, 
955. 

Dropsy of the belly, 389; 
Of the brain, 200; Of 
the cells, 391; General, 
391; Diet in, 948. 

Drowning, 560. 

Dry pimples, 172. 

Drugs and medicines in 
Latin and English, 
1124. 

Drugs, in consumption, 
284. 

Drunkard’s delirium ,191. 

Drunkenness, 192. 

Dumb-bellexercise, 1175. 

Dura mater, 50; Inflam¬ 
mation of, 188. 

Dwarf elder, 1010. 

Dysentery, 363; Chronic, 
364; Diet in, 952. 

Dysmenorrhoea, 435. 

Dyspepsia, 336, 1095; 

Causes of,337; Diet in, 
951, 973. 

Dyspeptics, 89. 

Dystrichiasis, 644. 

Ear, 144; Affections of, 
652; Bath, 916; Drum, 
of, 56; External, 56; 
Foreign substances in, 
655; Wax in, 652. 

Earache, 652. 

Eating rapid, 69. 

Eclampsia, 476. 

Eclectics, 8. 

Ecstasy, 213. 

Ecthyma, 170. 

Eczema, 166. 

Effects of cold, 590. 

Eggs, 941. 

Egg-nog, 962. 

Egyptian ophthalmia, 
645. 

Elbow, fractures of, 608; 
Joint, dislocation of, 
620. 

Elder, 1010; Dwarf,1010. 

Elecampane, 1010. 

Electricity, 554. 

Electro-magnetism, 1010. 

Electuaries, 1066. 

Electuary lenitive, 1067. 

Elixir salutis, 1092; Vit¬ 
riol, 1089. 

Elm, slippery, 1049. 

Elongation of the uvula, 
249. 

Emetics, 1100. 

Emphysema, 288. 

Encephalitis, 189. 

Encephaloid tumor, 631. 


Encysted tumors, 177, 
633. 

Endocarditis, 315. 
Endosmosis, 900. 
Enlarged veins, 464, 637. 
Enlargement of the air 
cells,288; Of the brain, 
197; of neck of womb, 
422. 

Enlargements or hyper¬ 
trophy of the ventri¬ 
cles, 308. 

Enteritis, 347; Diet in, 
951. 

Enuresis, 377. 

Epiglottis, 46; Inflam¬ 
mation of, 227. 
Epilepsy, 211; Fits, 211. 
Epistaxis, 654. 

Epsom salts, 1027. 

Ergot, 1052. 

Eruptions, scaly, 170; 
397; Tubercular, 397; 
Vesicular, 397. 

Eruptic fevers, diet in, 

946. 

Erysipelas, 163; Diet in, 

947. 

Erythema, 165. 
Erythematic stomatitis, 
496. 

Essence of beef, 958, 962. 
Essences, 1067. 
Eustachian tube, 57- 
Eucaline, 1143. 
Excoriation, 655; When 
a bad symptom, 937. 
Exercise, 97; Active and 
passive, 98; After 
meals, 98; Carriage 
riding as, 102; Danc¬ 
ing, 100; Excessive,97; 
For young women, 99; 
For students, 98; 
Horseback-riding, 102; 
In cold weather, 99; 
Passive, 101; Pleasur¬ 
able, 97, 103; Regular, 
97; Running and leap¬ 
ing, 99; Sleigh-riding 
as, 102; Sailing as,101; 
Swimming, 102; Time 
for, 103; Walking, 98; 
Warning against ex¬ 
cessive, 100. 

Exerciser, Whitely,1207. 
Exhalants, 45. 
Exhaustion, headaches 
from, 233. 

Exosmosis, 900. 

Exostosis, 626. 
Expectorant inhalant, 
273. 

Expectorants, 1107. 


Expectoration, s y m p- 
toms indicated by, 
136. 

External irritants, 280. 

External parts,itching of, 

453. 

Extracts, 1067; Fluid, 
1068; Of rhubarb and 
potassa, 1073. 

Eye, 54; Affections of, 
643; Coats of, 54; Di¬ 
seases, headaches 
from, 229; And ear 
bath, 916; Foreign 
bodies in, 643; Globe 
of, 54; Humors of, 55; 

Eyebrows, 56. 

Eyelashes, disorders of, 
644. 

Eyelids, 56, 144; Inflam¬ 
mation of, 643. 

Eyes, care of, 1162. 

Face, do not cover while 
asleep, 105; Symptoms 
affecting, 133. 

Faceache, 217. 

Fainting, 226, 464; An 
alarming symptom, 
936. 

Falling of the bowel,505; 
Sickness, 210; Of 
womb, 445. 

Fallopian tubes, 419; In- 
flamfnation of, 450. 

False grape, 989; Joints, 
605; Measles, 165; Sar¬ 
saparilla, 1049; Uni¬ 
corn, 1015. 

Fat, 17; How to grow, 
970. 

Fathers of our race, 548. 

Fatty degeneration of the 
heart, 313. 

Fatty foods, 83; tumor, 
631. 

Favus, 179. 

Febrifuge inhalent, 274. 

Feeding infants,rules for, 
487. 

Felon, 628. 

Female- diseases, 415; 
Weakness, 429. 

Fern, male, 1027. 

Ferunculus, 533. 

Fever, 144, 145, 516, 

1095; And ague, 522; 
Bilious remittent,.520; 
Brain, 189; Child-bed, 
474; Cerebro-spinal, 
200; Congestive, 521; 
Diet in, 945; Eruptive, 
946; Gastric, of in¬ 
fancy, 506; Intermit- 








GENERAL INDEX. 


1415 


tent, 522; Lung, 296; 
Malarial, 521; Perni¬ 
cious intermittent, 
521; Prognostics in, 
935; Prevention of ty¬ 
phoid, 518; Refreshing 
drinks in, 955; Ty¬ 
phoid, 519; Typhoid 
lung, 299, 517; Yel¬ 
low, 524. 

Feverfew, 1010. 

Fibrin, 17. 

Fibrous tissue, 19. 

Figwort, 1010. 

Fig syrup, 1142. 

Filling teeth, 664. 

Fingers, fractures of,609. 

Fire, clothing catching, 
563. 

Fire in sleeping rooms, 
104. 

First teeth, 665. 

Fish, 941. 

Fistula, 581. 

Fits, epileptic, 211; Cata¬ 
leptic, 213; Of chil¬ 
dren, 508. 

Flag, sweet, 1055. 

Flat-foot, 672. 

Flatulency, 353. 

Flatulent colic, 353. 

Flaxseed, 1011; Lemon¬ 
ade, 962; Poultice, 
1079. 

Flesh, to reduce, 970. 

Flies, Spanish, 1051. 

Flour, boiled, 958; Gruel, 
962; Unbolted wheat, 
79. 

Flowers, when to gather, 
982. 

Flooding, 470, 477. 

Fluctuation, 580. 

Fluid aliments, 943; Ex¬ 
tracts, 1068; Nutri¬ 
tive, 961. 

Fluor albus, 393. 

Folded wet sheet, 906. 

Follicles. 45. 

Follicular in inflamma¬ 
tion of the mouth,497. 

Fomentations, 1068. 

Food, 73; Adapted to 
different periods, 81} 
Albuminous, 74 ; A - 
mount of, to be taken, 
88; And digestion, 69; 
Animal and vegetable, 
75, 89; Articles of, 83; 
Azotized and non-azo- 
tized, 75; Choice of,78; 
Cost of. 82; Digestibil¬ 
ity of, 76; Fatty, 83; 
In winter, 80; For con¬ 


valescents, 940; For 
Infants, 486; Gelatin¬ 
ous, 74; Heat generat¬ 
ing, 75; Heat produc¬ 
ing, 81; In ill health, 
78; In old age, 81; In 
youth and manhood, 
81; Nature and des¬ 
tination of, 73; Oleagi¬ 
nous, 74; Organic, 74; 
Proportion of animal 
and vegetable, 91 ;Sac- 
charine, 74; Starch 
and sugar, 83} 
Strength and warmth 
derived from, 139; 
Value of, 75-85. 

Foot, fractures of, 614. 

Foot-bath, cold, 915; 
Wading, 915; Warm, 
916. 

Forearm, fractures of, 
608. 

Foreign bodies in the ear, 
655; In the eye, 643; 
In the gullet, 656; In 
the nose, 655; In the 
windpipe, 656. 

Fowler’s Solution, 1051. 

Foxglove, 1011. 

Fracture boxes, 603. 

Fractures, 600; Comp., 
615; Of bones of foot, 
614; Of bones of leg, 
613; Of bones of nose, 
605; Of breast bone, 
610; Of collar bone or 
clavicle, 606; Of el¬ 
bow, 608; Of the fore¬ 
arm, 608; Of the hand, 
and fingers,609; Of the 
haunch bone or pelvis, 
610; Of the knee pan, 
612; Of the lower jaw, 
605; Reduction of, 
601; Of the ribs, 609; 
Of the shoulder blade, 
607; Of the skull, 605; 
Of the thigh bone,610; 
Union of, 615; Of up¬ 
per arm bone, 607; Of 
wrist, 609. 

Franklin Mills’ bread, 
960. 

Freckles, 175, 182, 1096. 

Freezing mixtures, 929. 

French, decimal 
weights, 985. 

French milk porridge, 
958. 

Frequency of doses, 132. 

Frost bite, 590. 

Frostweed, 1011. 

Fruits, 942. 


Fumigants, 927. 

Fumigation ui infected 
places, 926. 

Fungus hematoides, 631. 

Galbanum plaster comp. 
1078. 

Gall bladder, 38; Stones, 
332. 

Galls, 1011; Comp, oint¬ 
ment of, 1074. 

Gamboge, 1011. 

Gangrene, 581; Of the 
mouth, 498. 

Gardening as exercise, 
101. 

Garfield tea, 1142. 

Garget, 1039. 

Gargles, 1113. 

Garlic, 1011; Syrup of, 
1083. 

Gastric fever of infancy, 
50o; Juice, 69. 

Gastritis, 334. 

Gastrodvnia, 342. 

Gelatin, 17. 

Gelatinous foods, 74. 

Gengivitis, 497. 

General diseases, diet in, 
945. 

General dropsy, 391 • 
Nerve tonics, 1104. 

General system, diseases 
of, 510. 

Gentian, 1012; Ccmp.In? 
fusion of, 1068; Comp. 
Tinct. of, 1C91. 

Geranium, cemp. infu¬ 
sion of, 1C69. 

Germ wheat tread, 961. 

Ginger,1012; Wild, 1060' 
Syrup of. 1083. 

Ginseng, 1012. 

Glands, 45, 57. 

Glands of larynx, inflam¬ 
mation of, 241. 

Glanders, 668. 

Glauber’s salts, 1050. 

Gleet, 406, 408. 

Globe of the eye, 54. 

Glossary, 1405. 

Glottis, 47; Spasm of, 501. 

Gluten flour, 1142. 

Glycerine, 1012. 

Glycones, 1144. 

Goitre, 635. 

Gold, bichloride of, 1013. 

Goldenrod, hard leaf, 
1015. 

Golden seal, 1013; Comp, 
powder of 1081;Comp. 
tincture of, 1091. 

Golden tincture, 1091. 

Golden wine, 1072. 





1416 


Gonorrhoea, 404. 

Goulard’s cerate, 1065. 

Gout, 527, 1095; Diet in, 
948, 974. 

Granulation, 598. 

Gravel, 378; Symptoms 
of, 380; Uric acid, 380; 
Root, 1043. 

Green sickness, 437; Diet 
in, 948. 

Grippe la, 254, 1096. 

Ground ivy, 1013; Rice 
milk, 958. 

Grubs or worms 176. 

Gruel, 944; Arrow-root, 
957; Flour, 962; In¬ 
dian meal, 961; Oat¬ 
meal, 962; Rice, 956; 
Sago, 957; Water, 956. 

G u a i a c , ammoniated 
tinct. of, 1091. 

Guaicol, 278. 

Guaiacum, 1014. 

Gullet,36; Foreign bodies 
in, 656. 

Gum arabic, 1014; Hem¬ 
lock, 1014; Sweet. 
1055. 

Gums, inflammation of, 
497. 

Gunshot wounds, 599. 

Gymnastics, 99, 1169. 

Habits, 131. 

Haematocele, 636. 

Haema stasis, 1014. 

Haematuria, 374. 

Haemidrosis, 176. 

Hair, 1096-1164. 

Hair as clothing, 108; 
and hair tubes, dis¬ 
orders of, 179. 

Hair-moss, 1014. 

Hair oils and washes, 
1115; Tonic, 1166; To 
bleach or redden,! 166. 

Half bath, 908; Pack, 
906. 

Hamamelis, 1060. 

Hand, dislocation o f 
bones of, 620; Frac¬ 
tures of, 609. 

Han4s,care of,1096,1158. 

Hanging,apparent death 
from, 563. 

Hardback, 1015. 

Hardleaf goldenrod,1015. 

Haunch-bones, fractures 
of, 610. 

Hay asthma, 303; Fever, 
303. 

Head, affections of, 949; 
Bath, 910; Bones of, 
22; Dizziness of, 227; 


GENERAL INDEX. 


Face and neck, symp¬ 
toms affecting, 133; 
Lice, 180; Water in, 
198. 

Headaches, 146,228-233, 
463, 1095. 

Hearing, organs of, 56. 

Heart, 41, 146; Diseases, 
306; Altered sounds 
of, 308; Aneurismal 
tumors of, 312; Atro¬ 
phy of, 313; Bone and 
cartilage in, 313; Dila¬ 
tation of ventricles of, 
310; Displacement of, 
322; Enlargement of 
ventricles of, 308; 
Fatty degeneration of, 
313; Hypertrophy and 
dilatation of, 311; Im¬ 
pulse of, 307; Indura¬ 
tion of, 312; Inflam¬ 
mation of, 314, 315; 
Inflammation of lin¬ 
ing of, 315, 316; Mur¬ 
murs of, 318; Neural¬ 
gia of, 321; Palpita¬ 
tions of, 320, 463; Per¬ 
cussion of, 308; Poly¬ 
pus of, 322; Shrinking 
of, 313; Softening of, 
312; Sounds of, 307; 
Valvesof,306,317,319. 

Heartburn,341,464,1095. 

Heartcase, acute in¬ 
flammation of, 313; 
Chronic inflammation 
of, 314; Water in, 319. 

Heat generating foods, 
75; Incompatible with 
excitement, 81. 

Hectic Fever, 577. 

Hellebore, American,988; 
White, 1059; Oint¬ 
ment, 1076. 

Helonias, 1015. 

Helpless dependence^ of 
the aged, 549. 

Hemicrania, 217. 

Hemiplegia, 206. 

Hemlock, comp, tinct.of, 
1091; Gum, 1014; 
Poison, 1038. 

Hemorrhage, 477; Dur¬ 
ing labor, 470; Of 
Wounds, 593. 

Hemorrhoids, 358, 632. 

Henbane, 1015. 

Hepatitis, 326. 

Herb teas, 944. 

Hernia, 638. 

Herpes, 166. 

Hiccough, 226; When al¬ 
arming, 936. 


High cranberry, 1016; 
Comp, tinct. of, 1091. 

Hip-joint, disease of,627; 
Dislocation of, 621. 

Hippuric acid deposits, 
385. 

Hives (nettle rash), 164. 

Hoarseness, unfavorable 
in small-pox, 935. 

Homoeopathy, 9. 

Homoeopathic treatment 
of diseases, 681. 

Honey disease (honey 
scab), 170. 

Hops, 1016. 

Hordeolum, 643. 

Horehound, 842; Water, 
1058. 

Hornpox, 164. 

Horseback riding as ex¬ 
ercise, 102. 

Horsemint, 1017. 

Horseradish, 1017. 

Horsford’s Acid Phos¬ 
phate, 1143. 

Hose bath, 907. 

Hot bath, 896; Effects of, 
898. 

Hot drops, 1092. 

Houseleek, 1017. 

How to grow fat, 970; 
To lift the sick and 
injured, 568; To nurse 
sick children, 492. 

Human blood, composi¬ 
tion of, 277. 

Human longevity, 140. 

Humors of the eye, 55. 

Hydatids, uterine, 443. 

Hydrangea, 1017, 1098. 

Hydrastine, comp, pow¬ 
der of, 1081. 

Hydrocele, 635. 

Hydrocephalus, acute, 
198; Chronic, 200. 

Hydrochloric acid, 987 

Hydrocyanic acid, 987. 

Hydropathic treatment, 
894. 

Hydropathy, 8. 

Hydropericardium, 319. 

Hydrophobia, 208. 

Hydrothorax, 291. 

Hygiene, 59. 

Hyoscyamus, poisoning 
by, 567. 

Hypertrophy of the brain, 
197; Of the heart, 308; 
Of the lungs, 289; Of 
the ventricles, 308. 
Hypochondria, 224. 

Hypochondrium, 325. 

Hypogastrium, 325. 




GENERAL INDEX. 


1417 


Hypophosphites, comp, 
syrup of, 1084. 

Hyssop, 1017. 

Hysteria, 441. 

Hysterical headache ,231. 

Ice for wounds, 594. 

Ice plant, 1018. 

Iceland moss, 1018. 

Iceterus, 331. 

Idiocy, 221. 

Idiosyncrasy, 131. 

Idrosis, 176. 

Ileum, 37. 

Imperfect vision, 648. 

Impetigo, 170. 

Impregnation, 457. 

Inability to hold urine, 
377. 

Incised wounds, 592,593. 

Incubus, 227. 

Indian corn, 86. 

Indian hemp, 1018; 
White, 1055; Tinct.of, 
1088. 

Indian meal gruel, 961; 
Poultice, 1080. 

Indian turnip, 1018. 

Indigestion, 336; Diet in, 
951; Headache from, 
230, 232. 

Indigo, wild, 1060. 

Indolent ulcers, 586. 

Induration of the brain, 
191; Of the heart, 307. 

Inebriety, 192. 

Infants, exercise of, 491; 
Gastric fever of, 506; 

* Milk for, 486, 956; 
Moral treatment of, 
491; Summer com¬ 
plaint of, 504; While 
sleeping, 490. 

Inflammation, 574; Of 
the arachnoid or pia 
mater, 189; Of the 
bladder, 368; Of the 
bowels, 347; Of the 
brain, 189; Of the 
breast, 477; Of the 
cornea, 649; Of the 
dura mater, 188; Of 
the epiglottis, 255; Of 
the eyelids, 643; Of the 
fallopian tubes, 450; 
Of the gums, 497; Of 
the heart, 312, 315; 
Of the heart case, 313, 
314; Of the iris, 647; 
Of the kidneys, 366, 
368; Of the lachrymal 
sac, 644; Of the larynx 
241; Of the lining of 
the heart, 316; Of the 


liver, 326; Of the 
mouth, 496; Of the 
mucous membrane, 
241; Of the meatus, 
651; Of the neck of 
womb, 420, 422; Of 
the ovaries, 426; Of 
the peritoneum, 345, 
346; Of the pharynx, 
240; Of the skin, 156; 
Of the spinal cord,202; 
Of the spleen, 330; Of 
the stomach, 334, 335; 
Of the tonsils, 250; Of 
the tympanum, 653; 
Of the vagina, 452; Of 
the veins, 636; Of the 
wind pipe, 242; Of the 
womb, 444. 

Inflammatory blush, 165. 

Influenza, 253. 

Infusion of malt, 956. 

Infusions, 986, 1068. 

Ingrowing toe-nail, 654. 

Inhalants, 273-275; Ob¬ 
ject of, 274. 

Inhalation, atmospheric, 
280. 

Inhaling, mode of, 275. 

Inhaling powder, 1082. 

Injections, 899, 1069, 

1115. 

Injured, how to lift them, 
569. 

Injuries, chemical, 589; 
Mechanical, 592. 

Insanity, 218; Causes of, 
222; Cure of, 222; On 
one subject, 220. 

Insects, bites of, 599. 

Insensible perspiration, 

111 . 

Insensibility, 146. 

Instruments for throat, 
244. 

Interalgia, 353. 

Intermarriages, improp¬ 
er, 64. 

Intermittent fever, 522. 

Intestinal obstruction, 
351. 

Intestines, 36; Cancer of, 
350. 

Introductory remarks, 7. 

lodia, 1142. 

Iodide of iron, 1020; Of 
potassium, 1019; Of 
mercury ointment, 
1075; Of zinc, 1063. 

Iodine, 1018. 

Ipecacuanha, 1019; 
American. 989; Comp, 
powder of, 1082; Syrup 
of, 1084; Wine, 1072. 


Iris, 54; Inflammation of, 
647. 

Irish moss, jelly of, 957. 

Iritis, 647. 

Iron, 280, 1019; Am¬ 
monia citrate of, 1020; 
Black oxide of, 1020; 
Citrate of, 1020; Ci¬ 
trate of and quinia, 
1020; Citrate of and 
strychnia, 1020; Comp 
mixture of, 1073; Hy¬ 
drated oxide of, 1020; 
Iodide of, 1020; Lac¬ 
tate of, 1020; Persalt 
or 1021; Phosphate of, 
1021; Powder of, 1021; 
Precipitated carbon¬ 
ate of, 1021; Protox¬ 
ide of, 1021; Protox¬ 
ide solution of, 1021; 
Protoxide solution of, 
with rhubarb and Co¬ 
lombo, 1021; Protox¬ 
ide solution with 
quinine, 1021; Protox- 
i'ie solution with io¬ 
dide of potash, 1022; 
Sulphate of, 1022; 
Syrup of iodide of, 
1022; Syrup of iodide 
and manganese, 1022; 
Tartrate of and potas- 
sa, 1022; Tinct. of mu¬ 
riate of, 1022; Valeri¬ 
anate of, 1022. 

Irritations of the spine, 
640. 

Irritants, external, 280; 
Counter, 1111. 

Ischuria renelis, 375. 

Isinglass, 1023; Jelly,957. 

Itch, 167; Barbers’, 178. 

Itching, 174: Of the ex¬ 
ternal parts, 453; Of 
the genitals, 464. 

Ivy, American, 989; 
Ground, 1013; Poison¬ 
ing by, 567. 

Jackson’s itch, 178. 

Jalap, 1023; Comp, pow¬ 
der of, 1082. 

Jamestown weed, 1054. 

Jaundice, 331. 

Jaw, fractures of lower 
605; Dislocation of 
lower, 618. 

Jejunum, 37. 

Jelly, calf’s feet, 959; 
Irish moss, 957; Isin¬ 
glass, 957; Tapioca, 
957. 

Jerusalem oak, 1061. 






1418 


GENERAL INDEX. 


Jessamine) yellow, 1062, 

Jiu-Jitsu, 1189. 

Joints, 27; Diseases of, 
627; False, 605; Stiff, 
629. 

Juniper, 1023. 

Kidneys, 39; Acute in¬ 
flammation of, 366; 
Chronic inflammation 
of,368; Bleeding from, 
374; Bright’s disease 
of, 371. 

King’s Evil, 529. 

Kino, 1023; Comp, pow¬ 
der of, 1082. 

Knee f r a c t u r e s, 612; 
Joints, dislocation of, 
623; Pan, dislocation 
of, 623 

Kola Koloid, 1142. 

Labor, 466. 

Labyrinth, 57. 

Lacerated wounds, 592. 

Lachrymal canals, 56; 
Glands, 56; Sac, In¬ 
flammation of, 644. 

Lacteals, 37. 

Lactate of iron, 1020. 

Ladies’ Slipper, 1023; 
Yellow, 1062. 

La Grippe, 254, 1096. 

Laryngeal, shower syr¬ 
inge, 244. 

Laryngismus stridulus, 
501. 

Laryngitis, 236; Follicu¬ 
lar, 241. 

Larynx, 46; Inflamma¬ 
tion of, 241. 

Laulanum,1089; Poison¬ 
ing by, 567. 

Laurel, narrowleaf.lOSO; 
Sheep, 1030. 

Lavender, comp, tinct. 
of. 1091. 

Laws, physiological of 
life and health, 59. 

Leal, 1024, Acetate of, 
1024; Colic, 355; Oint¬ 
ment, comp., 1076; 
Palsy, 208; Pipes, 95; 
Plaster, 1079; Plaster 
comp., 1078. 

Leaders,conservative, 14. 

Leaves, when to gather, 
982. 

Leeching, 578. 

Leg, fractures of, 613; . 
Bath, 912. 

Lemon, 1024; Syrup, 
1084; Water, 955. 


Lemonade, 956; Flax¬ 
seed, 962. 

Lemons, 1094; For colds 
and coughs, 1095; For 
complexion, 1096; For 
debility, 1095; For 
dyspepsia, 1095; For 
face, 1096; For fevers, 
1095; For freckles, 
1096; For the hair, 
1096; For the hands 
1096; For head-ache. 
1095; For heart-burn, 
1095; For insect bites, 
1096; For la grippe, 
1096; For mosquito 
bites, 1096; For re¬ 
moving cornsor 
warts, 1096; For rheu¬ 
matism, 1095; For sea¬ 
sickness, 1096. 

Leprosy, 171. 

Lepra, 171. 

Lettuce, 1024. 

Leucorrhoea. 429. 

Leucocytosis, 512. 

Lice, 180. 

Lichen, 172. 

Life, completeness of, 
126; The infancy of 
being, 59; Sickness 
during, 140; Stature 
and length of, 141; 

Life root, 1024. 

Ligaments, 28. 

Ligature, 594. 

Lightening, apparent 
death from, 563. 

Lily, white pond, 1059. 

Limbs, symptoms affect¬ 
ing, 135. 

Lime, 1025; Chloride of, 
1025; Water. 1025. 

Linen clothing, 107. 

Liniments, 1070, 1112. 

Liquors, 966. 

Liquorice, 1025. 

Liver, 38; Acute inflam¬ 
mation of,326;Chronic 
inflammation of, 327; 
Cirrhosis of, 329; Con¬ 
gestion of, 328; Com¬ 
plaints, diet in, 952; 
Of sulphur, 1042. 

Liverwort, 1025. 

Lobelia, 1026; Poultice, 
1080; Tinct. of, 1089; 
Comp, tinct. of, 1091; 
And capsicum, comp, 
tinct. of, 1092; Vine¬ 
gar, 1093. 

Local palsy, 207. 

Locked jaw, 210. 

Logwood, 1026. 


Loneliness of the aged, 
548. 

Longevity, human, 140. 

Long sight, 650. 

Looseness of the bowels, 
360, 503. 

Lost parts, reproduction 
of, 599. 

Lotions, 1113. 

Lower jaw, dislocation 
of, 618; Extremities, 
bones of 26. 

Lumbago, 525. 

Lumbar plexus, 52; re¬ 
gion, 325. 

Lumbricus, 365. 

Lung fever, 296; Ty¬ 
phoid, 299; Other 
forms, 301; Diet in, 
949. 

Lungs,40,147; And heart 
128; Swelling of (hy¬ 
pertrophy of), 289; 

Should be well filled, 

121 . 

Lupus, 172. 

Luxations, 617. 

Lye, poisoning by, 565. 

Lymphatics, 44. 

Lypemania, 220. 

Maculae, 175. 

Magnesia, 1026; Carbon¬ 
ate of, 1027; Sulphate 
of, 1027. 

Malaria, 521. 

Male fern, 1027. 

Malignant pustule, 589. 

Malt, infusion of, 056. 

Mammary abscess, 477. 

Mandrake, 1027. 

Mania, 220; A Portu, 
191. 

Manna, 1028. 

Marks, mother’s, 174. 

Married ladies’ calendar, 

480. 

Marshmallow, 1028. 

Marsh-rosemary, 1028. 

Mastic, 1028. 

Masturbation, 410. 

Materia m e d i c a, 982- 
1064. 

Matico, 1029. 

Mattery pimples, 169. 

Meadow cabbage, 1048; 
Saffron, 1029. 

Meals, number of, 944. 

Measles,! 56; Diet in,946; 
False, 165. 

Measures, domestic, 984, 
985. 

Meats, 85; Americans 
eat too much, 90; Ma- 





general index. 


1419 


jority of mankind eat 
no, 91; Mode of cook¬ 
ing, 551. 

Meatus andetorius, 56. 

Meatus, inflammation of, 
651. 

Mechanical injuries, 592. 

Mediastinum, 40. 

Medical treatment of the 
old, 555. 

Medicated waters, 1071; 
Wines, 1072. 

Medication and tempera¬ 
ments, 129. 

Medicine, progress of, 6. 

Medicine chest, articles 
for, 983. 

Medicines and their pre¬ 
parations, 982; Patent 
and proprietary, 1141. 

Medulla oblongata, 50. 

Medullary cancer, 631. 

Megrims, 231. 

Melancholy, 220. 

Melanosis, 631. 

Mellin’s food, 1143. 

Membrane synovial, 28. 

Menopause (turn of life), 
449. 

Menorrhagia, 432. 

Menses, absence of, 430; 
Cessation of 439; Es¬ 
tablishment of, 416. 

Menstruation, disturb- 
a n c e of, 424; first 
symptoms of, 417; 
Painful, 435; Profuse, 
432. 

Mercury, bichloride of, 
1006; Ointment of, ni¬ 
trate of, 1075; Oint¬ 
ment of red iodide of, 
1075. 

Mesenteric disease, 507. 

Mesentery 38. 

Metastasis, 525. 

Metauer’s aperient,1073. 

Metric weights, 985. 

Metritis, 444. 

Midwifery, 460. 

Milk, 82; Coffee, 961; 
Crust, 170; For con¬ 
valescents, 941; For 
infants, 486, 956; For 
old persons, 552; 
Ground rice, 958; Leg, 
473; Mothers’, 487; 
Porridge, 958; Sick¬ 
ness, 344; Steriliza¬ 
tion of, 488; And soda 
water, 960; Sugar of, 
277. 

Milkweed swamp, 1055. 

Mind, derangement of, 


218; How it gets 
knowledge, 60; State 
of, in dieting, 80. 

Mindererus, spirit of,990. 

Mineral poisons, 565. 

Miscarriage, 464. 

Miscellaneous diseases, 
510; Prescriptions, 
1116. 

Mitral valves, diseases of, 
285. 

Mixtures, 1072. 

Modern diseases, 542; 
Surgery, 572. 

Modus operandi of water, 
899. 

Moles, 175, 179. 

Monkshood, 1029. 

Monomania, 220. 

Moral treatment of in¬ 
fants, 491. 

Morphia, 1034. 

Morphine, poisoning by, 
567. 

Mortality in cold weath¬ 
er, 553. 

Mortification, 581. 

Mosquitos, bites of, 599. 

Mother’s cordial, 1085; 
Marks, 174. 

Motherwort, 1029. 

Mountain laurel, 1030. 

Mouth, care of, 1162; 
Follicular inflamma¬ 
tion of. 497; Gangrene 
of, 498; Inflamma¬ 
tion of, 496. 

Mouth-bath, 917. 

Mucous membrane, in¬ 
flammation of, 241. 

Mucous tissue, 18. 

Mucus, 17. 

Mullein, 1030. 

Mumps, 256. 

Muriate of ammonia,990; 
Of soda, 1050. 

Muriatic acid, 987; Pois¬ 
oning by. 566. 

Murmurs, breathing,262; 
Of the heart, 317. 

Muscae volitantes, 648. 

Muscles, 29; Action of, 
33; And bones, 128; 
Number of, 33; Shape 
of, 30. 

Muscular and nervous 
derangement from 
wounds, 210. 

Muscular tissue, 19. 

Mustard, 1030; Poultice, 
1080; Volatile oil of, 
1030; Whey, 959. 

Mutton broth, 962. 

Myopia, 649. 


Myrrh, 1030; Comp, 
tinct. of, 1092. 

Naevus, 174 

Naphtha, 1031. 

Napthalin, 1031. 

Narcotics, 1108. 

Nasal catarrh,237; Duct, 
56; Shower syringe, 
245. 

Natural surgery, 585. 

Nature and destination 
of food, 73. 

Nausea during pregnan¬ 
cy, 462. 

Neck, symptoms affect¬ 
ing, 133. 

Necrosis, 626. 

Nephritis, 366. 

Nerve root, 1062; Ton¬ 
ics. 1105, 1106. 

Nerves, cranial, 50; Di¬ 
seases of brain and, 
188; Optic, 51, 54; 
Pain of, 216; Of skin, 
disordered, 174; Spi¬ 
nal, 52; Sympathetic, 
48. 

Nerve tonics, 1105, 1106. 

Nervous complications in 
dyspepsia, 336; De- 
rangement from 
wounds, 210; Diseases, 
effects of, 67; Head¬ 
aches, 230, 233; Sys¬ 
tem, 49, 59; System 
sympathetic, 67; Sys¬ 
tem, symptoms affect¬ 
ing, 135; Tissue, 20. 

Nettle rash, 164. 

Neuralgia, 216; Of the 
heart, 321. 

Neutral mixture, 1040. 

Neutralizing cordial, 
1086; Extract, 1073; 
Powder, 1082. 

New Jersey tea, 1044. 

Nightmare, 227. 

Nightnurse, 921. 

Night-sweats, 280. 

Nipples, sore, 463, 478. 

Nitrate of mercury oint¬ 
ment, 1075; Of potas- 
sa, 1032; Of potash, 
poisoning by, 566; Of 
silver, 1031. 

Nitre, 1032; Sweet spirits 
of, 1032. 

Nitric acid, 987; Poison¬ 
ing by, 566. 

Nitric ether, spirits of, 
1052. 

Nitrogenous foods, 75. 

Nitro-muriatic acid, 987. 




1420 


GENPlRAL INDEX. 


Nose, 147; Bleeding 
from, 654; Foreign 
substances in, 655; 
Fractures of, 605. 

Nose bath, 916. 

Noxious vapors, appar¬ 
ent death from, 560. 
Nurse, activity of, 931; 
Wet, 484. 

Nursing bottles, 486; 
Sick children, 492; 
Sore mouth, 477; wo¬ 
men, 484. 

Nutmeg, 1032. 

Nutrition table, 75. 
Nutritive fluid, 961. 

Nux vomica, 1032. 

Oak, white, 1059. 
Oatmeal gruel,962; Poul¬ 
tice, 1079. 

Oats, 85. 

Objects of breathing, 118; 

Of clothing, 106. 
Obstruction of intestines, 
351. 

Oesophagus, 36. 

Oil of cajuput, 1033. 

Oil of mustard, volatile, 

1030. 

Oil of turpentine, 1033. 
Oil glands, 48; Glands 
disordered, 176; Nut, 
998. 

Ointments, 1074, 1076, 
1111 . 

Old age and its diseases, 
546; Diet in, 81; Pres¬ 
ervation of health in, 
550. 

Oleaginous foods, 79. 
Olive oil, 1033. 
Omentum, 38. 

Onion, 1033; Poultice, 
1080. 

Operations, surgical,pre¬ 
parations for, 574. 
Opthalmia, cata r r h a 1 , 
646; Purulent (Egyp¬ 
tian), 645; Of children, 
646; Scrofulous, 646; 
Tarsi, 644. 

Optic nerve, 54. 

Opium, 1033; Camphor¬ 
ated tinct. of, 1092; 
Liniment, 1070; Pois¬ 
oning by, 567; Tinct. 
of, 1089. 

Opodeldoc liniment, 1071. 
Orange blossoms, 1144; 
Peel, 1034; Peel, tinct. 
of, 1088; Whey, 960. 
Orbits, 56. 

Orchitis, 406. 


Organized compounds,17 

Organs, digestive, 35; Of 
hearing, 56; Of circu¬ 
lation, 41; Of secre¬ 
tion, 45; Of sight, 54; 
Respiratory, 40;Vocal, 
46. 

Origanum, 1034. 

Osmidrosis, 176. 

Osseous tissue, 19. 

Otalgia, 652. 

Otitis, 653. 

Otorrhoea, 651. 

Oval bath, 917. 

Ovarian disease, 938; 
tumors, 450. 

Ovaries, 420; Inflamma¬ 
tion of, 426. 

Ovaritis, 426. 

Ovum, 418. 

Oxalic acid, poisoning 
by, 566; Deposits in 
urine, 383. 

Oxide of Iron, hydrated, 
1020; Of zinc, 1063; 
Of zinc ointment, 1075 

Pack, half, 906; Wet 
sheet, 904. 

Pail douche, 910. 

Pain, 148; Of the nerves, 
216; Symptoms indi¬ 
cated by, 136; Sudden 
disappearance of. 936. 

Painful menstruation, 
435. 

Painter’s colic, 355. 

Pallidness, when a bad 
symptom, 936. 

Palpitation, anaemic,320; 
Of the heart, 320, 463; 
Nervous, 320. 

Palsy, 205; Diet in, 948; 
Lead, 208; Local, 207; 
Shaking, 207. 

Panada, 956. 

Pancreas, 38. 

Papillae, 173. 

Papulous scall, 170. 

Paralysis, 205; Of one 
side of body, 206; Of 
lower parts of body, 
206; Of the aged, 557. 

Paraplegia, 206. 

Paregoric elixir, 1092. 

Parilla, yellow, 1063. 

Paronychia, 628. 

Parotid gland, 36. 

Parotitis, 228. 

Parsley, 1034; Comp, in¬ 
fusion of, 1069. 

Parsnips, 87. 

Partridge berry, 1035; 
Comp, syrup of, 1085. 


Passive congestion of the 
liver, 328; Exercise. 
101 . 

Patches,colored, on skin, 
175. 

Patella, dislocation of. 
623; Fracture of. 612. 

Patent and proprietary 
medicines, 1141. 

Patients, how to exam¬ 
ine, 132. 

Patient, position of, 936. 

Peach,1035. 

Pear leaf wintergreen, 
1045. 

Pearlash, purified, 1040. 

Peas, 87. 

Pectoriloquy, 272. 

Pelvis, fracture of, 610. 

Pemphugus, 169. 

Pennyroyal, 1035. 

Pepper, red, 1001; water, 
1058. 

Peppermint, 1035. 

Pepto-mangan, 280. 

Percussion sounds, 308. 

Perennial plants, when 
to gather, 982. 

Pericarditis, 313. 

Pericardium, 41. 

Periods of life, 131. 

Periostitis, 625. 

Peritoneum, 324; Acute 
inflammation of, 345; 
Chronic inflammation 
of, 345. 

Peritonitis, 345. 

Pernicious anaemia, 512; 
Intermittent fever, 

• 520. 

Perpetual calendar for 
married women, 480. 

Persalt of iron, 1021. 

Persimmon, 1035. 

Perspiration, 111; Symp¬ 
toms indicated by, 138. 

Perspiratory tubes, 49, 

111 . 

Peruvian bark, 1035; 
Comp, tinct. of, 1092. 

Pessaries, 447. 

Petroleum, 1037. 

Phagedenic ulcers, 584. 

Pharmacy, 1065. 

Pharyngeal shower syr¬ 
inge, 245. 

Pharyngitis, 240; Folli¬ 
cular, 240. 

Pharynx, 36; Inflamma¬ 
tion, 240. 

Philosophy of breathing, 
117; Of chest sounds, 
263. 






GENERAL INDEX. 


1421 


Phlebitis, 636; Chronic, 
637. 

Phlegmasia dolens, 473. 

Phosphate of iron, 1021. 

Phosphates, comp, syrup 
of, 1085. 

Phosphatic deposits in 
urine, 382. 

Phosphorus, 276, 1037. 

Phrenitis, 189. 

Phthisis, 259. 

Physical culture, 1169; 
And Jiu-Jitsu, special 
course in, 1199. 

Physical properties of 
the body. 18. 

Physiological laws, 59. 

Physiologists, 9. 

Phytoline, 1142. 

Pia mater, 50; Inflam¬ 
mation of, 189. 

Pigeon berry, 1039. 

Pile ointment, 1076. 

Piles, 358, 632; During 
pregnancy 462. 

Pills, 1077. 

Pimples, dry, 171; Mat¬ 
tery, 169; Watery, 165; 

Pin worms, 365. 

Pink root, 1037. 

Pinna, 56 

Pipsissewa, 1037. 

Pityriasis, 171. 

Placenta praevia, 477. 

Plantain, 1038. 

Plants and animals, re¬ 
lation of. 120; Medici¬ 
nal, when to gather, 
982 

Plasters, 1077. 

Plastic lymph, 577; Diet 
in. 950. 

Plethoric headaches, 229, 
232; Causes of, 229. 

Pleurisy, 292; Diet in, 
950; Root, 1038. 

Pleuritis, 292. 

Plunge baths, 911. 

Pneumonia, 296; Bron- 
cho,300; Typhoid,299; 
Diet in, 949 

Pneumothorax, 290 

Podophylin, 1027. 

Poison hemlock. 1038; 
Hemlock ointment, 
1075; Oak, 1039. 

Poisoned wounds, 592- 
599. 

Poisoning, 149. 

Poisoning accidents, 564. 
antidotes of, 564. 

Poisons,antidotes of,564; 
Mineral 565; Vegeta¬ 
ble, 666. 


Poke, 1039, 1098; Oint¬ 
ment, 1075; Root poul¬ 
tice, 1080. 

Polypus, 632; Of the 
heart, 322; Of the 
womb, 442. 

PomphoUx, 169. 

Pond lily, white, 1059, 
1099. 

Poplar, 1056. 

Pores of the skin should 
be kept open, 112. 

Porridge-milk, 958. 

Porridge, French milk, 
958. 

Porrigo, 179. 

Position of patient, im¬ 
portance of. 936. 

Potassa, 1039; Acetate, 
10 4 0; Bicarbonate, 
1040; Bitartrate, 1040; 
Carbonate of, 1040; 
Chlorate of, 1040; Ci¬ 
trate of, 1041; Solu¬ 
tion of, 1041; Solution 
of citrate of, 1041; So¬ 
lution of arsenate of, 
1051; And soda tar¬ 
trate of, 1050; Sul¬ 
phate of, 1041; Tar¬ 
trate of, 1041. 

Potassium, 1041; Bro¬ 
mide of, 1041; Cyan- 
uret of, 1042; Sulphur- 
et of, 1042 

Potatoes, 87. 

Poultices, 1079. 

Powders, 1080. 

Powder of iron, 1021. 

Pox, 394. 

Pregnancy,baths during, 
902; Prevention of, 
465; Treatment of, 
461; Tubal, 454. 

Prejudice and antipa¬ 
thies, 934. 

Preparations of m e d i- 
cines, 982; Pharma¬ 
ceutical. 1065, 

Prepared calamine, 1063; 
Chalk. 1002 

Presbyopia, 650. 

Prescriptions, 1100. 

Preservation of old peo¬ 
ple’s health, 550. 

Pressure of the atmos¬ 
phere 117. 

Prevention of pregnancy, 
465; Of typhoid, 518. 

Prickly ash, 1042; Elder, 
1042. 

Princess pine, 1037. 

Private organs, symp¬ 
toms affecting 135. 


Probang, now superced¬ 
ed, 245. 

Profuse menstruation, 

432. 

Prognostics, 935. 

Progress of medicine, 6. 

Prolapsis ani, 505; Uteri, 
445. 

Pronouncing dictionary, 
1405. 

Proofs of death, 979. 

Proportions of animal and 
vegetable food, 91. 

Prophylaxis, 537. 

Propriety of imparting 
physiological know 1- 
edge, 456. 

Proprietary and patent 
medicines, 1141. 

Protoxide of iron, 1021. 

Prurigo, 172; Of the Vul¬ 
va, 453. 

Pruritis, 174. 

Prussic acid, poisoning 
by, 567. 

Psoriasis, 171. 

Ptisan suet, 794. 

Ptosis, 644. 

Puerile respirations, 263. 

Puerperal fever,474; 
Convulsions, 476. 

Pulmonary apoplexy, 
290; Artery, 42; Con¬ 
sumption, 264. 

Pulmonic cherry cordial, 
249. 

Pulse, symptoms indica¬ 
ted by, 137. 

Pumpkin, 1098; Seeds, 
1043. 

Punctured wounds, 592. 
597. 

Punches, 965. 

Purges, 1101. 

Purple disease, 532. 

Purple spots, 937. 

Purpura hemorrhagica, 
532. 

Purtussis, 462. 

Purulent opthalmia, 
645; Of children, 646 

Pussy willow. 995. 

Pyaemia, 582. 

Pyrosis, 342. 


Quassia, 1043. 

Queen of the meadow, 
1043. 

Queen’s root, 1043. 
Quinacetine, 1144. 
Quinia, sulphate of, 1036; 

valerianate of, 1037. 
Quinsy, 250. 








1422 


GENERAL INDEX. 


Rabies, 208. 

Radium, 670. 
Ramollissement, 190. 
Rashes on children, 493. 
Recipes, 1100. 

Rectum, 37. 

Red chick weed, 1044; 
Clover, 1044; Iodide of 
mercury ointment, 
1075; Pepper, 1001; 
Oxide of lead, Plaster, 
1079; Osier, 1055; 
Root, 1044; Rose, 
1044; Saunders, 1044; 
Willow, 1055. 
Reduction of fractures, 
601. 

Refreshing drinks in fev¬ 
ers, 955. 

Refrigerants, 1109. 
Remittent fever (bilious), 
520. 

Rennet whey, 959. 
Reproduction of life,455; 

Of lost parts, 599. 
Resin cerate, 1066; Plas¬ 
ter, comp.. 1078. 
Resolution, 577. 
Respiratory organs, 40. 
Rest and sleep, 103. 
Restorative, 960; Wine 
bitters, 1072. 
Retention of urine, 376; 
An unfavorable sign, 
937. 

Retina, 55. 

Retroflexion of womb, 
447. 

Retroversion of womb, 
446. 

Rhatany, 1044. 
Rheumatic headache, 

232, 233. 

Rheumatism, 525, 1095; 
Acute, 525; Chronic, 
526; Cure for, 1201; 
Diet in, 948, 974. 
Rhubarb, 1045; Aromatic 
syrup of, 1084; Comp, 
tinct. of, 1092; Comp, 
powder of, 1082; And 
potassa,Comp. powder 
of, 1082; And potassa, 
comp, syrup of, 1086; 
And potassa, extract 
of, 1073; Tinct. of, 
1089. 

Ribs, fractures of, 609. 
Rice, 86; Gruel, 956; 

Water, 954. 

Rickets, 507. 

Riding as exercise, 102. 
Rigors, 936. 

Ringworm, 180. 


Rochelle salts, 1050. 
Roentgen ray, 668. 
Roman baths, 112, 976. 
Roots, when to gather, 
982. 

Rosemary, 1045. 
Roseola, 165. 

Roserash, 165. 

Rose, red, 1044. 

Rose water ointment, 
1075; Willow, 1055. 
Rosin, 1044. 

Rotting of teeth, 684. 
Roman leaved pyrola, 
1045. 

Rubbing, wet sheet, 907. 
Rubeola, 156. 

Rue, 1043. 

Rules for using water, 
901; For feeding in¬ 
fants, 487. 

Running and leaping, 99. 
Rupia, 169. 

Rupture, 638. 

Ruptures, tendons of,625. 
Russian baths, 976. 

Rye, 86; Spurred, 1052. 

Saccharine foods, 74. 
Sacral plexus, 52. 

Saffron, 1046. 

Sage, 1046; Tea 955. 

Sago gruel, 957. 

Sailing as exercise, 101. 
Saint Ignatius’ bean, 
1053; Vitus’ dance, 
213 

Sal-ammoniac, 990. 

Salep powders, comp., 

956. 

Saline mixture, 1074. 
Salpingitis, 451. 

Salt, common, 1050; 
Glauber’s, 1050; Tar¬ 
tar of, 1040. 

Saltness of the ocean, 96. 
Saltpetre, 1032; Poison¬ 
ing by, 566. 

Salt Rheum, 166. 
Sanguinarin, 995. 
Sarsaparilla, 1046; Comp. ^ 
syrup of, 1086; False,' 
1049. 

Sassafras, 1046. 
Savin,1047; Cerate, 1066. 
Scabies, 167. 

Scalds, 589. 

Scaley eruptions, 170,397. 
Scammony, 1047. 
Scarcifation, 598. 
Scarf-skin, 47. 

Scarlatina, 157; Diet in, 
947. 

Scarlet fever, 157. 


Sciatica, 218. 

Sclerotic, coat of eye, 54. 

Scoke, 1039. 

Scorbutus, 530. 

Scrofula, or King’s evil, 
529. 

Scrofulous opthalmia, 

646. 

Scrotum, blood in, 636; 
Water in, 635. 

Scull cap, 1047, 1099. 

Scurvy, 530. 

Sea bathing, 898. 

Sea sickness, 343, 1096. 

Secretion, organs of, 45. 

Sedatives, 1109. 

Seidlitz powders, 1050. 

Self-pollution, 410. 

Semen, 458. 

Semilunar valves, 41; Di¬ 
seases of, 317. 

Seneka, 1074; Syrup of, 
1085. 

Senna, 1048; Confection 
of 1067; Comp, infusion 
of, 1069; Comp, syrup 
of, 1087; And jalap, 
tincture of, 1092. 

Sensations, 61; Agree¬ 
able, 62; Effect on dis¬ 
position, 63; Kinds of, 
61; Moral, uses of,61; 
Strength of, 61; Un¬ 
pleasant, 63. 

Septic and aseptic, 572; 
Wour^^s, 592. 

Septicaemia, 474. 

Serous tissue, 18. 

Setting of fractures, 601. 

Sex, 131. 

Sexual diseases, 394;Pre¬ 
vention of, 409. 

Sexual organs, descrip¬ 
tion of, 419. 

Shaking palsy, 207. 

Sheep laurel, 1030. 

Shingles, 166. 

Shoes, thin, 109. 

Short sight, 649. 

Shoulder blade, fracture 
of, 607; Joint, disloca¬ 
tion of, 619. 

Shower bath, 909. 

Shrinking of brain, 198; 
Heart, 313. 

Shrubby trefoil, 1048. 

Sick, care of, 62; Chil¬ 
dren, how to nurse. 
492; Headache, 230, 
232; How to lift them, 

^ 568. 

Sick-room, choice of,920; 
Beds and bedding in, 
922; Cleanliness in, 







GENERAL INDEX. 


1423 


924; Cookery for, 954; 
Darkening of, 925; 
Domestic manage¬ 
ment of, 920; Fumi¬ 
gation of, 926; No 
cooking in, 922; Preju¬ 
dices and antipathies 
in, 934; Sofa or reclin¬ 
ing chair in, 921; Tem- 
erature in, 924; Un- 
ired attendants in, 
933; Ventilation in, 
922, 

Sickness during life, 140. 

Sight, organs of, 54; 
Long and short, 649; 
Weakness of, 648. 

Signs and abbreviations, 
894. 

Silk clothing, 108. 

Simple ointment, 1075; 
Cerate. 1066; Home 
remedies, 1139; Syrup, 
1083; Wounds, 592. 

Singultus, 226. 

Sinus, 581. 

Sippets, 960. 

Sitz bath, 912. 

Skin, 47, 149: Care of, 
1153; Care of, of the 
aged. 553; Color of,dis¬ 
ordered, 175; Diseases, 
155; Nerves of, disor¬ 
dered, 174; Offices of, 
110; Scarf and true, 
155. 

Skull, fractures of, 605. 

Skunk cabbage, 1048. 

Sleep,103,1161; Amount 
of,106; Disturbed,227; 
Natural position for, 
105; Of children, 490; 
Preparation for, 106. 

Sleeping apartment, 920; 
In small room, 118; 
Room, 104; Room, 
beds and bedding in. 
105;Room, fire in,104; 
Room, nightdress in, 
105; Room, open fire¬ 
place in, 104; Room, 
open windows in, 104. 

Sleeplessness of the aged, 
554. 

Sleigh-riding as exercise, 
102 . 

Slippery elm, 1049; Poul¬ 
tice, 1080. 

Sloughing, 581. 

Sluice bath, 910. 

Smallpox, 160; Diet in, 
947. 

Small spikenard, 1049. 

Smartweed, 1058. 


Snake root, 1047; Cana¬ 
da, 1060; Virginia, 
1058. 

Snakes, bites of, 599. 

Soap, 1049. 

Soda, bicarbonate of, 
1050; Borate of, 1050; 
Sulphate of, 1050; Sul¬ 
phite of, 1050; Tar¬ 
trate of and potassa, 
1050. 

Soda-waterand milk,960. 

Sodium, 1049; Chloride 
of. 1050. 

Soft cancer, 631. 

Softening of the brain, 
190; Of the heart,312. 

Solomon’s seal, 1051. 

Soluble tartar, 1041. 

Soothing inhalant, 274. 

Sore mouth, children’s, 
496; Mouth, nursing, 
477; Nipples, 463,478; 
Throat, clergyman’s, 
240; Throat, quinsy, 
250. 

Sores, 151. 

Soup, vegetable, 958. 

Sounds of the heart, 307; 
Altered, 308. 

Spanish flies, 1051; Cer¬ 
ate, 1066; Liniment, 
1070; Poisoning by, 
567. 

Spasm of glottis, 501; In 
stomach, 342. 

Spearmint, 1051. 

Speculum, 421. 

Spermaceti, 1052; Oint¬ 
ment, 1076. 

Spermatozoa, 458. 

Spiced plaster, 1078. 

Spiders, bites of, 599; 
Web. 1052. 

Spikenard, small, 1049. 

Spinal cord, 47; Diseases 
of, 201; Inflammation 
of, 202. 

Spinal nerves, 52. 

Spine, deformities and 
irritation of, 640. 

Spirits of nitric ether, 
1052; Of ammonia, 
aromatic, 990. 

Spleen, 38; Acute inflam¬ 
mation of, 330; Chron¬ 
ic inflammation of,330 

Splenitis, 330. 

Sponge, 1052; Baths,914. 

Spotted acne, 177. 

Sprains, 624. 

Spurred rye, 1052. 

Squill, 1053; Syrup, 1085; 
Vinegar, 1093. 


Squinting, 650, 936. 

Squirting cucumber, 1059 

St. Anthony’s fire, 163; 
Ignatius’ bean, 1053; 
Vitus’dance, 213. 

Stagger weed, 1057. 

Star grass, 1053, 1099. 

Starch foods, 83. 

Starch and sugar, 83. 

Stature and length of 
life, 141. 

Sterility, 455; Causes of, 
459. 

Sterilization of milk, 488. 

Stethoscopes, 261. 

Stiff joint, 629. 

Stillingia, 1043; Comp, 
syrup of, 1086. 

Stimulants, 1109. 

Stings of insects, 599. 

Stomach, 36 151; Affec¬ 
tions of, 951; Bile in, 
72; Acute inflamma¬ 
tion of, 334; Chronic 
inflammation of, 335; 
Cramp in, 342, 463; 
Movement of, 71; 
Spasms in, 342, 463; 
Ulcer of, 666. 

Stomatitis, erythematic, 
496. 

Stone in bladder, 378, 
387 

Storax, 1053. 

Strabismus, 650. 

Stramonium, 1054;Oint- 
ment, 1075; Poisoning 
by, 567. 

Strength and warmth de¬ 
rived from different 
articles of food and 
drink, 139. 

Stricture, 406; Of the 
bowels, 351. 

Strong lye, poisoning by. 
566. 

Structure of the body, 16. 

Strychnine, 1032; Pois¬ 
oning by, 567. 

Stye, 643. 

Styptics, 594. 

Subacetate of copper, 
1006. 

Subacetate of lead, ce¬ 
rate of, 1065. 

Submaxillary gland, 35. 

Succus, alterans, 1142. 

Sudorific tinct., 1093. 

Suet ptisan, 959. 

Suffocation, 560. 

Sugar foods, 83; Of lead, 
poisoning by, 566; Of 
milk, 277. 






1424 


GENERAL INDEX. 


Sulphate of copper, 1006; 
Of iron, 1022; Of zinc, 
1064. 

Sulphur, 1054; Oint¬ 
ment, comp., 1077. 

Sulphuric acid, 987; 
Poisoning by, 566. 

Sumach, 1054. 

Summer complaint of in¬ 
fants, 504. 

Sunflower, 1054. 

Sunstroke, 204. 

Super-carbonate of soda, 
1050. 

Supertartrate of potassa, 
1040. 

Suppers, late, 106. 

Suppression of urine,375. 

Supra-renal capsules, di¬ 
sease of, 370. 

Suppuration, 580; Of the 
brain, 191. 

Surgery, natural, 585. 

Surgical diseases, 571- 
657 

Sutures, 594. 

Swallowing, difficulty of, 
936. 

Swamp dogwood, 1055; 
Milkweed, 1055. 

Swathing, 463. 

Sweat glands,49; Disord¬ 
ers of, 176. 

Sweating process,903; In 
consumption, 937. 

Sweet fern, 1055; Flag, 
1055; Gum, 1055; Oil, 
1033; Spirits of nitre, 
1032, 1052; Whey, 

960. 

Swelling, 150; Of the 
legs, sudden disap¬ 
pearance of, 938; Of 
the lungs, 289; Of the 
lower limbs, 464. 

Swinging as exercise, 
102 . 

Sycosis, 178. 

Sympathetic nervous 
system, 52, 54, 67; 

Nerve, 52. 

Symptoms, 128; Table 
of, 132-138; That 
quickly tell what your 
complaint is, 142. 

Syncope, 226. 

Synovial degenerations, 
627. 

Synovial membrane, 28. 

Syphilis, 394 

Syringe, laryngeal show¬ 
er, 244; Nasal shower, 
245; Pharyngeal 
shower, 245; Uterine, 


426; Mode of using, 
247. 

Syrups, 964, 1083. 

System, nervous, 49, 59; 
Urinary 39. 

Table exhibiting the dif¬ 
ference between small 
pox, varioloid, scarlet 
fever and measles, 160; 
Of foods, 77, 84, 85; 
Of symptoms of di¬ 
seases, 132. 

Tag alder, 1055. 

Tamarac, comp. tine, of, 
1092. 

Tamarinds and whey, 
960. 

Tannic acid, 988. 

Tansy, 1055. 

Tape worm, 365. 

Tapioca, 1056; Jelly,957. 

Tar, 1056; Ointment, 
1076; Plaster, comp., 
1078. 

Tartar on the teeth, 663; 
Soluble, 1041; Whey, 
959. 

Tartaric acid, 988. 

Tea and coffee, 93; Head¬ 
ache from, 229; Beef, 
958, 962; Garfield, 
1142; New Jersey, 
1044; Sage, 955. 

Teeth, 34; Care of, 662; 
Cleaning of, 665; Com¬ 
position of, 35; Cut¬ 
ting of, difficult, 498; 
Diseased, influence of 
on the health, 666; Fil¬ 
ling, 664; First, 665; 
Names of, 34; Num¬ 
ber of, 34; Origin of, 
34; Rotting of, 662; 
Use of, 35, 

Temperance, 92; Good 
results of, 92. 

Temperaments, 128, 129; 
And medication, 129. 

Temperature of the body, 
138; Symptoms indi¬ 
cated by, 138. 

Tendons,ruptures of,625. 

Tepid bath, 896; Effects 
of, 897. 

Tetanus, 210. 

Tetter, 166; Crusted, 170. 

Thigh bone, fractures of, 
610. 

Thimbleweed, 1056. 

Thorn apple, 1054. 

Thoroughwort, 1056. 

Throat, 152; Diseases of, 
236. 


Throat diseases, curabili¬ 
ty of, 252; Worse at 
night, 243; Instru¬ 
ments for treatment 
of, 243-248; Symp¬ 
toms affecting, 134. 

Thyroid cartilage, 46; 
Tablets, 1142. 

Tic douloureux, 217. 

Tight dressing, 121. 

Tinctures, 986, 1087. 

Tissues, 18, 19. 

Tobacco, 1056. 

Toe-nail, ingrowing,654. 

To stop flow of blood, 658 

To prepare and concoct 
wines, tonics and bev¬ 
erages for the conva¬ 
lescent, 963. 

To reduce flesh, 971. 

To recover persons ap¬ 
parently drowned,560. 

Tolu syrup. 1085; Tinct. 
of, 1089. 

Tomato, 1098. 

Tongue, symptoms af¬ 
fecting, 133. 

Tonics, 1104; And ca¬ 
thartic, 1103. 

Tonsilitis, 250. 

Tonsils, acute inflamma¬ 
tion of, 250; Chronic 
inflammation of, 251 

Toothache, 664; Tree. 
1042. 

Torticollis, 642. 

Tourniquet, 593. 

Towel and sponge bath, 
914; Coarse in bathing, 
116. 

Tracheitis, 242. 

Trailing arbutus, 1056; 
Comp. infusion of, 
1069. 

Trance, 213. 

Traveling, 121; For con¬ 
sumptives, 284; For 
the poor, 123; Means 
of, 122; Seasons for, 
122. 

Treatise on physical cul¬ 
ture, 1169. 

Trees, cultivation of, 120. 

Trefoil, shrubby, 1048. 

Tricuspid, 41. 

, Tricuspid valves, 306. 

True physician, the, 14; 
Skin, 48. 

Trumpet weed, 1043. 

Trunk, bones of, 23. 

Tubal pregnancy, 454. 

Tubercular consumption, 
263; Causes of, 269; 
Eruptions, 397. 





GENERAL INDEX. 


1425 


Tubes, disorders of, 176; 
Perspiratory, 111. 

Tulip, 1099. 

Tulip tree, 1056. 

Tumors, 629; Encysted, 
177, 633; Encepha- 

loid, 631; Fatty, 631; 
Of the brain, 191; Of 
the heart, 312; Of the 
ovaries, 450; Of the 
womb, 448. 

Turkey corn, 1057. 

Turkish baths, 976. 

Tumeric, 1057. 

Turn of life, 439. 

Turner’s cerate, 1013. 

Turnips, 87. 

Turpentine liniment, 
1071. 

Twist in bowel, 351. 

Tympanitis, 354. 

Tympanum, 57; Inflam¬ 
mation of, 653. 

Typhoid fever, 299, 517; 
Prevention of, 518; 
Pneumonia, 299. 

Tylosis, 173. 

Ulceration, 585; And ul¬ 
cers, 585; Of the bones, 
625; Of the neck of 
the womb, 422. 

Ulcer of the stomach,666 

Unbolted wheat flour,79. 

Unhired attendants, 933. 

Unicorn root, 1053; 
False, 1015. 

Union by first intention, 
594. 

Unnatural growth of 

bones, 626. 

Upland cranberry, 992. 

Upper arm bone, frac¬ 
tures of, 607; Ex¬ 
tremities, bones of, 25. 

Urate of ammonia in 
urine, 385; Calculus, 
387 

Ureters, 39. 

Urethra, 39. 

Uric acid calculus, 387; 
Gravel, 380. 

Urinary deposits, 378; 
Organs, diseases of in 
the aged 557; Sys¬ 
tem, 39. 

Urine, 152, 153; Charac¬ 
teristics of, 379; Cys¬ 
tine deposits in, 386; 
Examination of, 379; 
Hippuric acid, depos¬ 
its in, 385; Inability to 
hold, 377; Oxalic de¬ 
posits in, 383; Phos- 


phatic deposits in,382; 
Retention of, 376,93?; 
Sources of, 378; Sup¬ 
pression of ,375 ; Symp¬ 
toms indicated by, 
137; Urate of am¬ 
monia in, 385. 

Urinometer, 379. 

Uses of the bones, 29; 
Teeth. 35. 

Urticaria, 164. 

Uterine hydatids, 443. 

Uvula, elongation of ,249. 

Vaccina, 162. 

Vagina, inflammation of, 
452. 

Valerian, 1057; Ameri- 
'can, 1062; Ammoniat- 
ed, tinct. of, 1093. 

Valerianate of iron, 1022; 
Q u i n i a , 1037; Zinc. 
1064. 

Value of foods, 75-77,84, 
85. 

Valves, mitral, disease 
of, 317; Semilunar, di¬ 
sease of, 317; Mitral 
and tricuspid, 41. 

Vapor baths, 115, 896. 

Varicella, 162. 

Varicocele, 640. 

Varicose veins, 464, 637. 

Variola, 160. 

Varioloid, 162. 

Varix, 637. 

Vaseline, 1064. 

Vegetable foods, 75, 89, 
942; Poisons, 566; 
Soup, 958. 

Veins, 43; Enlarged or 
varicose, 637; Acute 
inflammation of, 636. 

Venereal diseases, 394. 

Ventilation, 65; And air, 
117; In sick room, 119. 

Ventricles, 41, 306; Dila¬ 
tation of, 310; En¬ 
largement of, 308. 

Veratrin, 989. 

Verdigris, poisoning by, 
565. 

Verruca, 173. 

Vertigo, 227. 

Vervain, 1057. 

Vesicles, 40. 

Vesicular eruptions, 397. 

Vessels, absorbent, 44. 

Vinegar, 1057. 

Vinegar whey, 959. 

Vinegars, 1093. 

Virginia snake root,1057; 
Comp tinct. of, 1093; 
Tinct. of, 1089. 


Vision, imperfect, 648. 
Vital properties of the 
body, 20. 

Vitreous humor of the 

eye, 55. 

Vitriol elixir, 1089; 

Poisoning by, 566. 
Vocal cords, 47; Organs, 
46. 

Vomiting, 343. 

Vulva prurigo, 453. 

Wading foot baths, 915. 
Wafer, ash, 1058 
Wahoo, 1058. 

Walking, 98; Of infants, 
491. 

Warm baths for chil¬ 
dren, 496; bath, 896; 
Foot bath, 916. 

Warts and corns, 173, 
1096. 

Wash-down bath, 914; 

Tub bath, 913. 

Washes, 1113, 1115. 
Water, 94, 943; Acci¬ 
dents on, 563; Am¬ 
monia, 989; Brash, 
342; Chemical nature 
of, 94; Cleansing of,96; 
Coldat meals, 70;Cure, 
894; Division of. 94; 
External use of, 281; 
Gruel, 956; H o r e- 
hound, 1058; Impuri¬ 
ties in, 95; In chest, 
291; In heart case, 
319; In the head, 198; 
Internal use of, 903; 
Lime, 1025; Modus 
i operandi, 899; Of am¬ 
monia, 989; Of the 
ocean, 96; Pipes, lead, 
95; Prizing of, 96; 
Properties of, 95;Pure, 
essential to health, 94; 
Rain, 96; Rules for 
using, 901; Salt, 96; 
In scrotum, 635; Sup¬ 
ply, 95; Use of in con¬ 
sumption, 281; For 
wounds, 594; Pepper, 
1058; Quality of, 903. 
Waters, medicated, 1071. 
Watery pimples, 165. 
Wave or sluice bath, 910. 
Wax, 1059; In ear, 652. 
Weakness of sight, 648. 
Weaning, 489. 

Wens, 633. 

Weights, 984; French 
decimal, 985. 

Wet bandages, 903; 
Dress, 905; Nurses, 







1426 


GENERAL INDEX, 






484; Sheet folded, 906; 
Sheetp ack, 904; Sheet, 
rubbing, 907. 

Wheat, 85; Flour, un¬ 
bolted, 79. 

Whey, alum, 960; Mus¬ 
tard, 959; Orange,960; 
Rennet, 959; Sweet, 
960; Tartar, 959; Vin¬ 
egar, 959; With tama¬ 
rinds, 960; Wine, 960. 

White hellebore, 1059; 
Hellebore ointment, 
1076; Indian hemp, 
1055; Liquid physic, 
1074; Oak, 1059; Pond 
lily, 1059, 1099; Pop¬ 
lar, 1056; Swelling,627; 
Vitriol, poisoning by, 
566. 

Whitely exerciser, 1207. 

Whites 429. 

Whitlow, 628. 

Whooping cough, 502, 
936; Diet in, 951. 

Wildcherry, 1059; Cherry 
bark syrup, 1085; Cu¬ 
cumber, 1059; Ginger, 
1060; Indigo, 1060; In¬ 
digo ointment, 1076; 
Sarsaparilla, 1049; 
Snowball, 1044; Tur¬ 
key pea, 1057; Wood¬ 
bine, 989; Yam, 1060. 

Willow, black, 995; 
White, 1060. 

Wind colic, 353. 

W i n d o w s in sleeping 
rooms, 104, 


Windpipe, 40; Foreign 
bodies in, 656; In¬ 
flammation of, 242. 
Wine tor old persons, 
552; Of American ash, 
1144; Of c o m f r e y, 
comp., 1072; Of Gold¬ 
en seal, comp., 1072; 
Of ipecacuanha, 1072; 
Whey, 960. 

Wines, Tonics, etc., for 
convalescent, 963; 
Medicated, 1072. 
Wingseed, 1048. 

Winter, fatty foods in, 80. 
Wintergreen, 1060; Pearl 
leaf, 1045. 
Witch-hazel, 1060. 
Wolfsbane, 1061. 
Woman beautiful, 1148. 
Womb and appendages, 
419; Aritiflexion of, 
447; Anti version of, 
446; Cancer of, 449; 
Displacements of, 447; 
Enlargement of neck 
of, 422; Falling of,445; 
Falling over of, 446; 
Inflammation of, 444; 
Inflammation of neck 
of, 422; Polypus of, 
442; Retroflexion of, 
447; Retroversion of, 
446; Sinking of, 460; 
Tumors of, 448; Ul¬ 
ceration of, 422. 
Woolen clothing, 108. 
Worm powder, 1082. 
Worms, 153, 176, 365. 


Wormseed, 1001. 
Wormwood, 1061. 
Wounds, 5'd2; Bleeding 
from, 656; Contused 
and laceratea, t98; 
Derang-ment from, 
210; Gunshot, ££9; 
How to unite, f.97; In¬ 
cised, 593; Of various 
kinds, 592; Tchcred, 
599; Punctured, f97; 
Rules for examining 
and dressing,595; Sep¬ 
tic, 592. 

Wrinkles, 1166. 
Wrist,disl ocation of,620; 

Fracture of, 609. 

Wry neck, 642. 

X-ray, 668. 

Xanthoxylin, 1042. 

Yam, wild, 1061. 
Yarrow, 1062. 

Yeast, 1062; Poultice, 
1079. 

Yellow dock, 1062; 
Comp, syrup of, 1C87; 
Fever, 624; Jcssam ire, 
1062; Ladies’ slipper, 
1062; Parilla, 1063. 
Youth, diet in, 81. 

Zinc, 1063; Acetate of, 
1063;Chloride of, 1063; 
Iodide of, 1063; Cxide 
of, 1063; Precipitated 
carbonate of, 1063; 
Sulphate of, 1064; Val¬ 
erianate of, 1004. 









INDEX 

TO 

HOMCEOPATHIC DEPARTMENT. 


Abdomen, dropsy of,851. 

Absence of the menses, 
812. 

Abscess, 743. 

Acne, 731. 

After-pains, 818. 

Alopecia, 729. 

Amenorrhea, 812. 

Amblyopia, 700. 

Anemia, 773. 

Angina Pectoris,.9. 

Anthrax, 734, 742. 

Apoplexia, 865. 

Apoplexy, 865. 

Armpits,inflammation of 
glands of, 739. 

Arthritis, 833; Tubercu¬ 
lar, 834. 

Ascites, 851. 

Asiatic cholera, 838. 

Asthma, 721; Bronchial, 
721; Hay, 708. 

Baldness, 729. 

Barber’s itch, 730. 

Beard, ringworm of, 730. 

Bedsores, 836. 

Bilious remittent fever, 
848. 

Bites of insects, 831. 

Blackheads, 731. 

Bladder, inflammation 
of,774; Stone or gravel 
in, 778. 

Bleeding after labor, 822; 
From the lungs, 728; 
From the nose, 703; 
From the stomach, 
757; From wounds, 
829. 

Blepharospasm, 691. 

Blood, from the uterus, 
profuse flow of, 813; 
In the urine, 778. 

Body, ringworm of, 731. 

Boils, 741. 

Bone, death of, 835. 

Bowels, inflammation of, 
846; Looseness of, 758. 

Brain, concussion of ,826; 
Fever, 865; Hypere¬ 
mia of, 862; Inflam¬ 
mation of, 865. 


Breast, broken, 820; In¬ 
flammation of, 820. 
Bright’s disease, acute, 
781; Chronic, 782. 
Broken breasts, 820. 
Bronchial asthma, 721. 
Bronchitis, acute, 719; 

Chronic, 721. 
Bronchocele, 832. 
Bruises, 830. 

Bunions, 837. 

Burns and scalds, 835 

Cancer of the intestines, 
764; Of the liver, 764; 
Of the skin, 736; Of 
the stomach, 763. 
Canker and thrush, 754. 
Carbuncle, 742. 

Care of medicines, 685. 
Caries, 835. 

Cataract, 694. 

Catarrh, chronic nasal, 
706. 

Catarrhal conjunctivitis, 

695. 

Cephalalgia, 858. 
Cerebro-spinal meningi¬ 
tis, 867. 

Cessation of menstrua¬ 
tion, 814. 

Chafing in infants, 787. 
Chicken pox, 795. 
Chilblains, 745. 

Childbed fever, 823. 
Children, diseases of,786; 

Jaundice in, 800. 
Cholera, Asiatic, 838; 
Epidemic, 838; In¬ 
fantum, 799; Morbus, 
761. 

Chlorosis, 805. 

Chorea, 880. 

Chronic nasal catarrh, 
706. 

Climacteric, 814. 

Cold in the head, 705. 
Cold, rose, 708. 

Colic, 798; Painters’,846. 
Concussion of the brain, 
826. 

Conjunctivitis, 695; Ca¬ 
tarrhal, 695; Croup- 
1427 


ous, 696; Diphtheritic, 
69G; Granular, 696; 
Purulent, 695; Scrofu¬ 
lous, 696. 

Consumption of the 
lungs, 725. 

Constipation, 768. 

Contusions, 830. 

Convulsions, 789. 

Cornea, specks on, 700; 
Ulcers of, 698. 

Coryza, 790. 

Cough, whooping, 718. 

Cramps in the legs, 882; 
Of the stomach, 762. 

Crpmp, writer’s, 881. 

Croup, 792; False, 793; 
Membranou s,792; 
Spasmodic, 793. 

Croupous conjuncti¬ 
vitis, 696. 

Crying, 787. 

Cystitis, 774. 

Dance, St. Vitus’, 880. 

Deafness, 689. 

Death of the bone, 835. 

Delirium, drunkard’s, 
863; Tremens, 863. 

Dementia, 887. 

Dentition, disturbances 
of, 788. 

Derangement, mental, 
882. 

Diabetes mellitus, 780. 

Diarrhoea, 758; Chronic, 
759. 

Difficult urination, 819. 

Digestive organs,diseases 
of, 753. 

Dilatation of the heart, 
772. 

Diphtheria, 714. 

Diphtheritic conjunctivi¬ 
tis, 696. 

Diseases of the digestive 
organs, 753 ;Of the ear, 
686; Of the eye and 
eyelids, 690; Of the 
general system, 838; 
Of the genito-urinary 
organs, 774; Of in¬ 
fants and children. 





1428 


INDEX TO HOMCEOPATHIC DEPARTMENT. 


786; Of the nervous 
system, 858; Of the 
organs of circulation, 
770; Miscellaneous, 
838; Of the respira¬ 
tory organs, 703; Sur¬ 
gical, 826; Of women, 
805. 

Dislocations, 828. 

Displacement of the 
uterus, 808. 

Dropsy, 850; Of the ab¬ 
domen, 851. 

Drunkard’s delirium,863. 

Dysentery, 760. 

Dysmenorrhea, 811. 

Dyspepsia, 755. 

Ear, diseases of, 686; 
Eczema of the exter¬ 
nal, 687; Inflamma¬ 
tion of the external, 
686. 

Earache, 688. 

Ears, running of, 689. 

Eczema, 750-787. 

Eczema of the external 
ear, 687. 

Emaciation,extreme,804. 

Enlarged tonsils, 791. 

Enuresis, 777. 

Epidemic cholera, 838; 
Influenza, 709. 

Epilepsy, 874. 

Epileptic Fits, 874. 

Epistaxis, 703. 

Epithelioma, 736. 

Erysipelas, 732. 

Excessive secretion of 
milk, 821. 

Eye and lids, diseases of, 
690. 

Eyelids, inflammation of 
the lining membrane, 
695; Inflammation of, 
690; Twitching of, 691. 

Eyes, rheumatic pains of, 
699; Watery, 700. 

False croup, 793. 

False pains, 817. 

Felon, 737. 

Fever and ague, 847; 
Bilious remittent,848; 
Brain, 865; Childbed, 
823; Hay, 708; Inter¬ 
mittent, 847; Lung, 
723; Puerperal, 823; 
Putrid, 841; Rheu¬ 
matic 848; Scarlet, 
795; Ship,841; Simple, 
794; Spotted, 867; Ty¬ 
phoid, 839; Typhus, 
841; Yellow, 842. 


Fevers, specific indica¬ 
tions for remedies,853. 

Fits, 789; Epileptic, 874. 

Forms of medicines for 
administration, 684. 

Fractures, 828. 

Furunculus, 741. 

Gall-stones, 766. 

Gangrene, 836. 

General conditions, 686. 

Genito-urinary organs, 
diseases of, 774. 

Goitre, 832. 

Gonorrheal conjunctivi¬ 
tis, 695. 

Gravel in kidneys or 
bladder, 778. 

Granular conjunctivitis, 
696. 

Green sickness, 805. 

Grip, 709. 

Groin, inflammation of 
glands of, 739. 

Hardness of hearing,689. 

Hay asthma, 708; Fever, 
708. 

Headache, 858. 

Head, cold in, 705; Rush 
of blood to,862; Swim¬ 
ming of, 861. 

Hearing, hardnessof,689. 

Heart, dilatation of, 772; 
Hypertrophy of, 772; 
Inflammation of the 
membranes of, 770; 
Neuralgia of, 773; Pal¬ 
pitation of, 773;Weak, 
773. 

Hematuria, 778. 

Hemorrhage, 829; Post¬ 
partum, 822. 

Hemorrhoids, 769. 

Hernia, 833. 

Herpes zoster, 749. 

Hiccough, 755. 

Hives, 748. 

Hydrophobia, 872. 

Hyperemia of the brain, 
862. 

Hypertrophy and dilata¬ 
tion of the heart, 772. 

Hypochondria, 887. 

Hysteria, 875. 

Imbecility, 888. 

Incontinence of urine, 
777. 

Indications for remedies 
in fevers, specific,853. 

Indigestion, 755. 

Infants, diseases of, 786. 


Inflammation of the 
bladder, 774; Of the 
bowels, 846; Of the 
brain, 865; Of the 
breast, 820; Of the ex¬ 
ternal ear, 686; Of the 
eyelids, 690; Of the 
glands of the groin or 
armpits, 739; Of the 
iris, 692; Of the joints, 
833; Of the lining 
membrane of the eye¬ 
lids, 695; Of the mem¬ 
brane of the heart,770; 
Of the ovaries, 810; 
Of the peritoneum, 
acute, 843; Of the 
spinal cord, 869; Of 
the spleen, 765; Of the 
testicles, 784; Of the 
tongue, 753; Of the 
uterus, 809; Of the 
urethra, 783; Of the 
vagina, 806; Of the 
vulva, 806. 

Inflammatory rheuma¬ 
tism, 848; rheuma¬ 
tism, chronic, 849. 

Influenza, epidemic, 709. 

Injury to a nerve, 830. 

Insects, bites and stings 
of, 831. 

Insomnia, 861. 

Intermittent fever, 847. 

Intestines, cancer of,764. 

Iris,inflammation of,692. 

Iritis, 692. 

Itch, 747; Barber’s, 730. 

Itching of the skin, 736. 

Jaundice, 766; In chil¬ 
dren, 800. 

Joints, inflammation of, 
833. 

Kidneys, gravel or stone 
in, 778 

Labor, 816; Bleeding 
after, 822. 

La grippe, 709. 

Laryngitis, acute, 711; 
Chronic, 712. 

Laryngismus stridulus, 
793. 

Leg, milk, 825. 

Legs, cramps in, 882. 

Leucorrhea, 807. 

List of remedies, 890. 

Liver, cancer of, 764. 
Liver-spots, 746. 

Lochia, suppression of, 
824. 

Lock-jaw, 872. 





INDEX TO HOMCEOPATHIC DEPARTMENT. 


1429 


Looseness of the bowels, 
758. 

Lung fever, 723. 

Lungs, bleeding from, 
728; consumption of, 
725. 

Maculoe, 746. 

Malignant pustule, 734. 
Mania, 885. 

Marasmus, 804. 

Mastitis, 820. 

Measles, 797. 

Medicine casf^s, 892. 
Medicines, care of, 684; 
Forms of, 684; Select¬ 
ing and using, 684. 
Melancholia, 884. 
Membranous croup, 792; 

Laryngitis, 792. 
Menorrhagia, 813. 
Menses, absence of,812; 

Suppression of, 812. 
Menstruation, cessation 
of, 814; Painful, 811. 
Mental derangement,882. 
Metrorrhagia, 813. 

Milk crust, 787; Exces¬ 
sive secretion of, 821; 
Fever, 821; Leg, 825; 
Scanty secretion of, 
821. 

Miscellaneous diseases, 

838. 

Morning sickness, 816. 
Mortification, 836. 
Mumps, 791. 

Myelitis, 869. 

Nasal catarrh, chronic, 
706. 

Nausea and vomiting, 
757. 

Neck, wry, 832. 

Necrosis, 835. 

Nephritis, acute, 781; 

Chronic, 782. 

Nerve, injury to, 830. 
Nervous system, diseases 
of, 858; Prostration, 
878 

Nettle rash, 748. 
Neuralgia, 876; Of the 
heart, 773; Of the 
stomach, 762. 
Neurasthenia, 878. 
Nipples, sore, 819. 

Night sweats, 852; Ter¬ 
rors and sleeplessness, 
801. 

Nocturnal enuresis, 801. 
Nose, bleeding from, 703; 

Polvpus in. 704. 
Opthalmia, 696; Neona¬ 
torum, 695. 


Orchitis, 784. 

Organs of circulation, di¬ 
seases of, 770. 

Otorrhoea, 689. 

Ovaries,inflammation of, 
810. 

Painful menstruation, 
811. 

Pains, after, 818; False, 
817. 

Painter’s colic, 846. 

Palpitation of the heart, 
773. 

Palsy, 870; Scrivener’s, 
881. 

Paralysis, 870. 

Paronychia, 737. 

Parotiditis, 791. 

Parturition, 816. 

Peritonium,acute inflam¬ 
mation of, 843. 

Peritonitis, acute, 843; 
Chronic, 845. 

Pertussis, 718. 

Pharyngitis, 755. 

Phlegmasia alba dolens, 
825. 

Piles, 769. 

Pleurisy, 724. 

Pneumonia, 723. 

Polypus of the nose, 704. 

Post-partum h e m o r - 
rhage, 822. 

Prickly heat, 734. 

Profuse flow of blood 
from the uterus, 813. 

Prostration,nervous, 878. 

Pruritis, 736. 

Puerperal fever, 823. 

Pulmonary tuberculosis, 
725. 

Purulent conjunctivitis, 

695. 

Pustule, malignant, 734. 

Putrid fever, 841. 

Quinsy, 713. 

Red gum, 786. 

Remedies in fevers, spe¬ 
cific indications for, 
853. 

Remittent fevers, bilious, 
848. 

Respiratory organs, di¬ 
seases of, 703. 

Retention of urine, 776; 
In young children,800. 

Rheumatic fever, 848; 
Pains of the eyes, 699. 

Rheumatism, inflamma¬ 
tory, 848; Inflamma¬ 
tory, chronic, 849. 


Rhinitis, acute, 705; 
Chronic, 706. 

Richitis, 803. 

Rickets, 803. 

Ringworm on the beard, 
730; On the body, 731; 
On the scalp, 730. 

Rose cold, 708. 

Running of the ears, 689. 

Rupture, 833. 

Rush of blood to the 
head, 862. 

Salt rheum, 750. 

Scabies, 747. 

Scalds, 835. 

Scalp, ringworm on,730. 

Scanty secretion of milk, 
821. 

Scarlatina, 795. 

Scarlet fever, 794. 

Sciatica, 877. 

Scorbutus, 746. 

Scrivener’s palsy, 881. 

Scrofula, 740. 

Scrofulous conjunctivi¬ 
tis, 696. 

Scurvy, 746. 

Sea-sickness, 757. 

Secretion of milk, exces¬ 
sive, 821; Scanty, 821. 

Sickness, morning, 816. 

Sight, weakness of, 700. 

Simple fever, 794. 

Singultus, 755. 

Shingles, 749. 

Ship fever j 841. 

Shock, 831. 

Skin, cancer of, 736;Itch- 
ing of, 736. 

Sleeplessness, 801. 

Smallpox, 752. 

Snuffles, 790. 

Sores, bed, 836. 

Sore nipples, 819;Throat, 
711; Throat, chronic, 
712. 

Spasmodic croup, 793. 

Specks onthe cornea,700. 

Spinal cord, inflamma¬ 
tion of, 869. 

Spleen, inflammation of, 
765. 

Spotted fever, 867. 

Sprains, 827. 

Squinting, 694. 

Stammering, 881. 

3t. Anthony’s fire, 732. 

Stings of insects, 831. 

St. Vitus’ dance, 880. 

Stomach, bleeding from, 
757; Neuralgia of, 762; 
Cancer of,763;Cramps 
in, 762. 







1430 


INDEX TO HOMCEOPATHIC DEPARTMENT. 


Stomatitis, 754. 

Stone in kidney or blad¬ 
der, 778. 

Strabismus, 694. 

Strains, 827. 

Strangury, 776. 

Stye, 692. 

Sunstroke, 866. 
Suppression of the lochia, 
824; Of the menses, 
812; Of urine, 777. 
Surgical diseases, 826. 
Sweats, night, 852. 
Swelling, white, 834. 
Swimming of the head, 
861. 

Synovitis, 833. 

Syphilis, 774, 785. 

Teething in infants, 788. 
Testicles, inflammation 
of, 784. 

Tetanus, 872. 

Tetter, 750. 

Throat, sore, 711. 
Thrush, 754. 

Tinea circinata, 731. 
Tinea sycosis, 730. 
Tongue,inflammation of, 
753. 

Tonsils, enlarged, 791. 


Tonsilitis, chronic, 791; 

And quinsy, 713. 
Toothache, 753. 
Torticollis, 832. 
Trachoma, 696. 
Tubercular arthritis, 834. 
Tuberculosis,pulmonary, 
725. 

Twitching of the eyelids, 

691. 

Typhoid fever, 839. 
Typhus fever, 841. 

Ulcers, 744; Of the cor¬ 
nea, 698. 

Urethra,inflammation of, 
783. 

Urinary organs, diseases 
of, 774. 

Urination, difficult, 879. 
Urine, blood in, 778; In¬ 
continence of, 777; 
Retention of, 776; Re¬ 
tention of in children, 
800; Suppression of, 
777. 

Urticaria, 748. 

Uterus, displacement of, 
808; Inflammation of, 
809; Profuse flow of 
blood from, 813. 


Vagina, inflammation of, 
806. 

Varicella, 795. 

Varicose veins, 741. 
Variola, 752. 

Veins, varicose, 741. 
Verrucoe, 738. 

Vertigo, 861. 

Vomiting, 757. 

Vulva, inflammation of, 
806. 

Warts, 738. 

Weak heart, 773. 
Weakness of the sight, 
700. 

Wetting the bed, 801. 
Whitlow, 737. 

Whites, 807. 

White swelling, 834. 
Whooping cough, 718. 
Women, diseases of, 805. 
Wool-sorter’s disease, 
734 

Worms, 804. 

Wounds, 828; Bleeding 
from, 829. 

Writer’s cramp, 881. 

Wry neck, 832. 

Yellow fever, 842. 

Zona, 749. 











INDEX 

TO 

VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


Actionomycosis, 1272. 

Anaemia, horses, 1232; 
Cattle, 1232, Sheep. 
1232; Dogs, 1232. 

Anthrax, 1237; Apoplec¬ 
tic, in sheep, 1242; In 
dogs, 1233; In man, 
1233; Gloss, 1240 ;Pro- 
per, 1239; Throat, 
1241; Tongue, 1240. 

Anthracoid angina, 1241; 
Disease, 1240. 

Antidotes for Poison, 
1387. 

Appearance of mem¬ 
branes. 1220. 

Appendix, 1375. 

Apoplectic anthrax in 
sheep, 1242. 

Asthma, 1297. 

Balls or pills, 1375. 

Big legs in horses, 1336. 

Bleeding, 1287; Spon¬ 
taneous, 1287. 

Blind staggers, 1332. 

Blisters, 1376. 

Blood poisoning, horses, 
1233; Cattle, 1233; 
Sheep, 1233; Dogs, 
1233. 

Blood vessels,diseases of, 
1309. 

Bog spavin, 1347. 

Bone spavin, 1350. 

Bots in horses, 1369,1371. 

Bowels, inflammation of, 
1327;Inflammation of, 
in horses, 1327; In¬ 
flammation of, in 
dogs, 1329. 

Brain, concussion of, 
1331; Concussion of in 
horses, 1331; Concus¬ 
sion of, in cattle, 1331; 
Concussion of,in sheep, 
1331; Inflammation 

of, 1330. 

Breaking wind, 1297. 

Breathing apparatus, di¬ 
seases of, 1291; Ab¬ 
dominal, 1225; Diffi- f 


cult, 1225; Irregular, 
1226; Slow, 1225; Ster¬ 
torous, 1225;Thoracic, 
1225; Quickened, 1224. 

Bronchitis, 1294; Chron¬ 
ic, 1296; Parasitic, 
1371. 

Bronchial pneumonia, 
1301. 

Bums and scalds, 1341; 
From acids and strong 
alkalies, 1343. 

Calves, hoose in, 1371; 
Husk in, 1371; Rick¬ 
ets in, 1344; Parasitic 
bronchitis in, 1371; 
Scours of, 1327. 

Canker of the ear in dogs 
1343; External, in 
dogs, 1343. 

Capped hock, 1348; In 
cattle, 1348. 

Carbuncular fever,cattle, 
1242; Sheep, 1242. 

Catarrh of sheep, para¬ 
sitic nasal, 1372. 

Catarrhal fever, 1291; In 
horses, 1291; In cattle, 
1291; In sheep, 1291; 
In dogs, 1291. 

Catarrhal pneumonia, 
1304 

Cattle,contagious pleuro¬ 
pneumonia in, 1286; 
Choking in, 1314; Di¬ 
seases of the tongue in, 
1309; Expressions pe¬ 
culiar to, 1241; Fever, 
Texan, 1286; Foreign 
bodies in the paunch 
of, 1322; Inflamma¬ 
tion of the stomach of, 
1323-1324; Parasitic 
bronchitis in, 1371; 
Pleurisy in, 1306; 
Pneumonia in, 1303; 
Vertigo in, 1320. 

Cathartics, 1379. 

Cerebral congestion,!332 

Chest, dropsy of, 1307. 

Chest founder, 1352. 

1431 


Choking,1312; In horses, 
1314; In cattle, 1314; 
In sheep, 1314; In 
dogs, 1314. 

Chorea in dogs, 1335. 
Chronic bronchitis, 1296. 
Clingfast, 1351. 
Coffin-joint, disease of, 
1352. 

Colic, spasmodic, 1319; 
In horses, 1319; In 
cattle, 1319; In sheep, 
1319. 

Colic, wind, 1317; In 
horses, 1317; In cattle, 
1317; In sheep, 1317; 
In dogs, 1317. 

Color, livid or bluish, 
1220. 

Concussion of the brain, 
1331; Horses, 1331; 
Cattle, 1331; Sheep, 
1331. 

Congestion of the lungs, 
1299; Plethora, 1230. 
Consumption, 1261; In 
cattle, 1261. 

Contagious pleuro-pneu- 
monia of horses, 1280; 
Of cattle, 1286. 
Contagious ringworm, 

1339. 

Corn, 1358. 

Cough, 1226; Dry, 1226. 
Cow, exterior of, 1398. 
Cow pox, 1270. 

Cow, Pulse of, 1222; 
Skeleton of, 1399; 
Teeth of, 1401. 
Creeping tetter, 1338. 
Crib-biting and wind¬ 
sucking in horses, 1315 
Curb, 1349. 

Definitions, 1219. 
Diarrhoea, 1325. 

Diseases of the breathing 
apparatus, 1291; Of 
the foot, 1352; Of the 
coffin joint, 1352; Of 
the heart and blood 
vessels, 1309; Of the 








1432 


INDEX TO VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


intestines, 1324; Of 
the navicular joint, 
1352; Of the nervous 
system, 1330; Of the 
skin, 1338; Of the 
spinal cord, 1333; Of 
the tongue, 1309; Of 
the tongue in horses, 
1309; Of the tongue in 
cattle, 1309; Of the 
tongue in sheep, 1309; 
Of the tongue in dogs, 
1309; Of the urinary 
organs, 1330. 

Diseased condition of 
joints, 1347. 

Disorders of the organs 
of digestion, 1309; Of 
the stomach, 1316. 

Distemper in dogs, 1281. 

Dog-pox, 1271. 

Dogs, canker of the ear 
in, 1343; Choking in, 
1314; Diseases of the 
tongue in, 1309; Dis¬ 
temper in, 1281; In¬ 
flammation of the 
stomach in, 1323- 
1324; Nervous com¬ 
plications in, 1284, 
1304; Pleurisy in, 
1307; Pneumonia in, 
1283, 1303; pulse of, 
1222; Skeleton and 
internal organs of fe¬ 
male, 1403; St. Vitus’ 
dance in, 1335; Ulcers 
of the eye in, 1283. 

Doses, table of, 1377. 

Drenches, 1375. 

Drinks, 1375. 

Drooling from the mouth 
1311. 

Dropsy of the chest, 1307. 

Dry cough, 1226. 

Dry glanders, 1257. 

Dryness of the mouth, 
1220. 

Dumb madness, 1250. 

Ear, rodent ulceration of 
in dogs, 1343. 

Eczema, 1339. 

Electuaries, 1384. 

Emphysema, 1299. 

Enlarged glands, 1257. 

Epizootic in horses, 1277; 
In cattle, 1280. 

Expression of the face, 
1219. 

Expressions peculiar to 
cattle. 1241; Sheep, 
1242; Dogs, 1243. 

External canker in dogs. 


1343; Parasitis, 1365; 
Temperature, 1226. 
Exterior of the cow, 1398. 
Eye,pink,in horses, 1277; 
In cattle, 1280. 


Face, expression of, 1219. 

False quarter of hoof, 
1357; Ringworm, 1338. 

Farcy, 1252; Acute, 1258; 
Chronic, 1259. 

Fardal-bound in cattle, 
1320; In sheep, 1320. 

Fever, 1288; Carbuncu- 
lar in cattle, 1242; 
Carbuncular in sheep, 
1242; Intestinal in cat¬ 
tle, 1242; Catarrhal, 
1291; Catarrhal in 
horses, 1291; In cattle, 
1291; In sheep, 1291; 
In dogs, 1291; Mix¬ 
tures, 1383; Texan 
cattle, 1286. 

Flatulence in horses, 
1317; In cattle, 1317; 
In sheep, 1317; In 
dogs, 1317. 

Fleas, 1365; In horses, 
1365; In cattle, 1365; 
In dogs, 1365. 

Flies, 1367. 

Fly-maggots in sheep, 
1365. 

Foals, rickets in, 1344; 
Scours in, 1327. 

Fomentations, 1377. 

Foot and mouth disease, 
1286. 

Foreign bodies in the 
mouth, 1311; In the 
paunch of cattle, 1322. 

Founder, 1361. 

Furious rabies, 1249. 

Gadfly in sheep, 1369. 

General diseases com¬ 
mon to all animals, 
1228; Inflammation, 
1288. 

General plethora in 
horses, 1230; In cattle, 
1230; In sheep, 1230. 

Gid or turn sick in sheep, 
1370. 

Glanders and farcy,1252; 
Acute, 1254; Chronic, 
1255; Dry, 1257. 

Glands, enlarged, 1257. 

Gloss, anthrax, 1240. 
Glossitis, 1309. 

Grass ball in cattle, 1320; 
In sheep, 1320. 


Grogginess in horses, 
1352. 

Grubs, 1367; In horses, 
1365; In cattle, 1365. 

Heart, diseases of, 1309. 

Heaves, 1297. 

Hemorrhages, 1287. 

Herpes*circinatus, ,1338. 

Hoose, in calves, 1371; 
In lambs, 1371. 

Horse ail, 1273. 

Horses, big leg in, 1336; 
Choking in, 1314; Con¬ 
tagious pleuro-pneu- 
monia of, 1280; Crib- 
biting in, 1315; Di¬ 
seases of the tongue of 
1309; Inflammation of 
the stomach of, 1322; 
Muscles of, 1392; Pleu¬ 
risy in, 1306; Pneu¬ 
monia in, 1302; Points 
of, 1389. 

Horse pox, 1270. 

Horse, prominent ills of 
the, 1390; Pulse of the, 
1221; Scratches in the, 
1340; Skeleton of, 
1395; Splint, 1346; 
Urticaria in, 1338; 
Teeth of, 1397; Vertigo 
in, 1332; Wind-sucking 
in, 1315. 

Husk in calves, 1371; In 
lambs, 1371. 

Hydrophobia, 1246. 

Hydrothorax. 1307. 

Impaction of the third 
stomach in cattle, 
1320; In sheep, 1320. 

Indigestion, acute, 1317; 
Chronic. 1320. 

Inflammation, general, 
1288; Of the bowels, 
1327; Of the bowels in 
horses, 1327; Of the 
bowels in dogs, 1329; 
Of the brain, 1330; Of 
the spinal cord and 
coverings, acute, 1334; 
Of the spinal cord and 
coverings, chronic, 
1334; Of the stomach, 
1322; Of the stom¬ 
ach in horses, 1322; Of 
the stomach in cattle, 
1323; Of the stomach 
in sheep, 1323; Of the 
stomach in dogs, 1323; 
Of the tongue, 1309. 

Influenza in horses, 1277; 

I In cattle, 1280. 






INDEX TO VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


1433 


Internal form of fever in 

cattle, 1242. 

Internal organs of the 
female dog, 1403; Par¬ 
asites, 1369; Temper¬ 
ature. 1226. 

Intestines, diseases of, 
1324. 

aw, lump, 1272. 
oints, diseased condi¬ 
tion of, 1347. 

Lambs, husk in, 1371; 
Hoose in, 1371; Scours 
of, 1327; Parasitic 
bronchitis in, 1371. 

Lampas, 1311. 

Laminitis, 1361. 

Lice, 1366; On horses, 
1365; On cattle. 1365; 
On sheep, 1365; On 
dogs, 1365. 

Liniments, 1384. 

Livid or bluish color of 
membranes, 1220. 

Lobular pneumonia, 
1304. 

Lockjaw, 1266; In cattle, 
1267; In sheep, 1267; 
In dogs, 1268; Mortal¬ 
ity from, in horses, 
1268; In cattle, 1268; 
In sheep, 1268; In 
dogs, 1268. 

Lotions, 1385. 

Lump jaw, 1272; In 
horses, 1273; In cattle, 
1273; In sheep, 1273. 

Lungs, congestion of, 
1299. 

Lung fever, 1301 

Lymphangitis, 1336. 

Madness, 1246; Dumb, 
1250. 

Maggots, 1367; In sheep, 
1367. 

Mange, 1339-1368; In 
horses, 1365; In dogs, 
1365. 

Medicines and their 
doses, 1377. 

Membranes, appearance 
of, 1220. 

Methods of giving medi¬ 
cines to animals, 1375; 
Internally, 1375; Ex¬ 
ternally, 1376. 

Mouth, drooling from, 
1311; Dryness of. 1220; 
Over-moist condition 
of. 1220; Foreign 

bodies in, 1311. 


Muscles between the 
ribs, soreness of, 1308; 
Of the horse, 1392. 

Navicular joint, disease 

' of, 1352. 

Nervous complications in 
dogs, 1284; system, 
diseases of, 1330. 

Nettle rash, 1338. 

Organs of digestion, dis¬ 
orders of, 1309. 

Over-moist condition of 
the mouth, 1220. 

Pallidity, 1220. 

Paralysis of the muscles 
of swallowing, 1312. 

Parasitic diseases, 1365. 

Parasitic bronchitis, 
1371; In calves, 1371; 
In cattle, 1371; In 
lambs, 1371; In sheep, 
1371. 

Parasitic nasal catarrh of 

sheep, 1372. 

Parasites, extemal,1365; 
Internal, 1369. 

Parrot-mouth, 1310. 

Pharyngitis, 1311. 

Pills, 1375 

Pink eye in horses, 1277; 
In cattle, 1280. 

Plethora congestion, 
1230. 

Pleurisy, 1306; In horses, 
1306; In cattle, 1306; 
In sheep, 1307; In 
dogs, 1307. 

Pleurodynia, 1308. 

Pleuro-pneumonia of the 
horse (contagious), 
1280; Of cattle (con¬ 
tagious), 1286. 

Pneumonia, 1301; Acute, 
1302; Bronchial, 1302- 
1304; Catarrhal, 1302- 
1304; Lobular, 1302- 
1304; In horses, 1302; 
In cattle, 1303; In 
sheep, 1303,1304; In 
dogs, 1283,1303,1304. 

Points of the horse, 1389. 

Poisons, antidotes for, 
1387; Special, 1388. 

Poisoning, blood, in 
horses, 1233; In cattle, 
1233; In sheep, 1233; 
In dogs, 1233. 

Poultices, 1376. 

Pox, 1269; In horses, 
1270; In cows, 1270; 
In sheep, 1271; In 
dogs, 1272. 


Prescriptions, 1379. 

Prominent ills of the 
horse, 1390. 

Pulse, 1221 ;Of the horse, 
1221; Of the cow, 1222; 
Of the sheep, 1222; Of 
the dog, 1222; Beats, 
symptoms afforded by 
the variation in, 1222. 

Pulsation of the veins, 
1224. 

Puppies, rickets in, 1344. 

Pyaemia, 1233. 

Quarter crack, 1356. 

Quittor, 1361. 

Rabies, 1246; In the 
horse, 1248; In cattle, 
1248; In sheep, 1249; 
Furious, 1249; Furi¬ 
ous in dogs, 1249. 

Respiratory function, 
symptoms afforded by 
variation of, 1223. 

Rickets, 1344; In foals, ' 
1344; In calves, 1344; 
In puppies, 1344. 

Ringbone, 1351. 

Rinderpast, 1286. 

Ringworm, contagious, 
1339; False, 1338; 
True, 1338. 

Roaring in horses, 1294. 

Rodent ulceration of the 
ear in dogs, 1343. 

Round worms, 1369; In 
horses, 1369; In cattle, 
1369; In sheep, 1369; 
In dogs, 1369. 

Sand cracks, 1356. 

Scab, in the sheep, 1365- 
1367. 

Scalds, 1341. 

Scours, 1327; In foals, 
1327; In calves. 1327; 
In lambs, 1327. 

Scratches in horses,1340. 

Seedy toe, 1360. 

Septicaemia, 1336- 

Sheep, choking in, 1314; 
Diseases of the tongue 
of, 1309; Expressions 
peculiar to, 1242; In¬ 
flammation of stomach 
of, 1323, 1324; Para¬ 
sitic nasal catarrh in, 
1372; Para itic bron¬ 
chitis in, 1371; Pleu¬ 
risy in, 1307; Pneu¬ 
monia in, 1303-1304; 
Pox, 1271; Pulse of, 
1222; Scab in, 1365- 






1434 


INDEX TO VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 


1367; Skeleton of, 
1402; Turn sick in, 
1370; Vertigo in, 1320. 

Shoeing, 1363. 

Side bone, 1355. 

Skin, diseases of, 1338. 

Skeleton of the horse, 
1395; Of the cow, 
1399; Of the sheep, 
1402; Of the female 
dog, 1403. 

Sores of the tongue in 
horses, 1310; In cattle, 
1310; In sheep, 1310; 
In dogs, 1310. 

Sore throat, 1292. 

Soreness of muscles be¬ 
tween the ribs, 1308. 

Spasmodic colic in horses 
1319; In cattle, 1319; 
In sheep, 1319. 

Spavin bog, 1347; Bone, 
1350. 

Special poisons, 1388. 

Spinal cord, and its cov¬ 
erings, 1334; Acute in¬ 
flammation of, 1334; 
Chord, chronic inflam¬ 
mation of, 1334. 

Spinal cord, diseases of, 
1333. 

Splint in horses, 1346. 

Spontaneous bleeding, 
1287. 

Stomach, inflammation 

of, 1322; In horses, 
1322; In cattle, 1323; 
In sheep, 1323; In 
dogs, 1323. 

St. Vitus’ dance in dogs, 
1335. 


Strangles, 1273; In dogs, 
1277. 

Sunstroke, 1332. 

Swallowing, paralysis of 
muscles of, 1312. 

Symptoms afforded by 
the variations in the 
pulse beats, 1222; Af¬ 
forded by the varia¬ 
tions of the respira¬ 
tory functions, 1224. 

Table of doses, 1377. 

Tape worms, 1369; In 
in horses, 1369; In cat¬ 
tle, 1369; In sheep, 
1369; In dogs, 1369. 

Teeth of the horse, 1397; 
Of the cow, 1401. 

Temperature, external, 
1226; Internal, 1226. 

Tetanus. 1266; In horses, 
1266; In cattle, 1267; 
In sheep, 1267 ;In dogs, 
1268. 

Tetanus, mortality in, 
in horses, 1268; In cat¬ 
tle, 1268; In sheep, 
1268; In dogs, 1268. 

Texan cattle-fever, 1286. 

Thoroughpin, 1348. 

Thread-worms in horses, 
1369; In cattle, 1369; 
In sheep, 1369; In 
dogs, 1369. 

Throat anthrax, 1241; 
Sore, 1292. 

Thrush, 1359. 

Ticks, 1366; In horses, 
1365; In cattle, 1365; 
In sheep, 1365; In 
dogs, 1365. 


Toe crack, 1356. 

Tongue anthrax, 1240; 
Diseases of the, 1309. 

Tonics, 1381. 

True ringworm, 1338. 

Tuberculosis, 1261; Ab¬ 
dominal, in cattle, 
1263; General, in cat¬ 
tle, 1263; In horses, 
1265; In cattle, 1261; 
In sheep, 1265; In 
dogs, 1265; Of the 

. udder, 1263. 

Ulcers of the eye in dogs, 
1283. 

Urinary organs, diseases 
of, 1330. 

Urticaria in horses, 1338. 

Variola, 1269. 

Veins, pulsation of, 1224. 

Vertigo in cattle and 
sheep, 1320; In horses, 
1332. 

Veterinary medicine, 
1217. 

V omiting, 1316; In horses 
1316; In cattle, 1316; 
In sheep, 1316; In 
dogs, 1316. 

White skit, 1327. 

Wind colic, 1317; In 
horses, 1317; In cat¬ 
tle, 1317; In sheep, 
1317; In dogs, 1317. 

Wind-sucking in horses, 
1315. 

Worms in animals, 1369. 

Yellowness, 1220. 













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